“I Love This – Church!”
February 1, 2009
“How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
“Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” Psalm 84:1-7, 11
“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD."
Psalm 122:1
I was a little reluctant about preaching this sermon. It seemed a little sacra religious to me to compare the church with a bar. But the Holy Spirit kept unfolding it in my mind. Even so, at one point I said, “I’m not going to preach this sermon! I’ll do something else!” But the Holy Spirit said, “Yes you are. This is what I want to say this week. If Elijah could cook food with manure and Hosea could compare the Church to a prostitute – you can compare it to a bar.” And I couldn’t sleep thinking about it. I said, “Lord, let me sleep for a few more hours!” He didn’t. Finally I got up and started writing.
So here’s what started it. I had my radio tuned to the country and western channel instead of the Christian channel, 94.1, where Tim is the DJ. I heard the song Toby Keith sings called, “I love this Bar”. Here’s how the first verse goes:
We got winners, we got losers. Chain smokers and boozers. And we got yuppies, we got bikers
We got thirsty hitchhikers. And the girls next door dress up like movie stars. Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
We got cowboys, we got truckers, Broken-hearted fools and suckers. And we got hustlers, we got fighters.
Early birds and all-nighters. And the veterans talk about their battle scars. Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
[Chorus:] I love this bar. It’s my kind of place. Just walkin’ through the front door. Puts a big smile on my face
It ain’t too far, come as you are, Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar.”
Now, I have to tell ya, about 40 years ago I spent some time at a few bars. None of them were like Toby Keith’s bar. There was a lot of anger and sadness and hopelessness. But the song illustrates a deep seated longing in every heart. And that is a place to belong; a place that puts a big smile on your face when you walk through the front door; a place where everyone knows your name – and likes you. Here’s another song about a bar. Remember “Cheers”.
“Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn’t you like to get away? All those nights when you’ve got no lights, the check is in the mail. And your little angel hung the cat up by it’s tail. And your third fiancé didn’t show!
Sometimes you wanna go.. Where everybody knows your name. and they’re always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, the troubles are all the same. you wanna be where everybody knows your name
You roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee is dead, the morning’s looking bright. And your shrink ran off to Europe, and didn’t even write. And your husband wants to be a girl! Be glad there’s one place in the world -
Where everybody knows your name. and they’re always glad you came. You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same. You wanna go where everybody knows your name.”
So the Holy Spirit started talking to me about the church and bar songs. Can you handle it? Here’s a few things I learned. First – the disclaimer. Those songs romanticize the bars and beer joints. They are not like the songs. They are dangerous in so many ways. Their purpose is to sell alcohol. They don’t care about you. They want your money. If alcohol is addictive and destructive and will ruin your life – it doesn’t manner to them – if they can get your money. If you spend your check boozing it up instead of taking care of your family – they don’t care. If you spend your time at the bar sipping suds instead of spending time with your mate or family – they don’t care. They don’t care if you destroy your life and neglect your family and you and your kids all wind up in hell. They are there to separate you from your money. Those songs are all lies. Paul says the devil comes as an ‘angel of light’. Those songs make bars and beer joints sound pretty appealing – but so is a worm to a fish – until the hook is set.
The first thing I want to share with you about this subject is that people have a deep seated longing to belong. We all long to belong to a place where everyone knows our name and don’t care is we have faults or what kind of job we have or don’t have. We crave friendship. We crave fellowship. We yearn to belong. God created us this way. He created us to be a part of His eternal family. He doesn’t want you to go to a bar to try to belong. He wants you to find your family, your soul group – in church.
You need to know that the people you work with, the people that live around you, folks that you meet every day – have this deep seated longing. Many of them would love to go to church with you – if you only asked. Many of them would take to the fellowship like duck to water – if only they understood it to be the place where their needs are met. God created each of us with this need to belong – and it can only be fulfilled HIS way.
Secondly, Church needs to be a positive, friendly, happy place. Everything touches people, music, worship, preaching, talking before and after the service. Every time we experience something – it is a plus or minus. Every interaction – either attracts or repels. It’s kind of like – someone snaps you in the forehead or caresses your cheek, with every look, every conversation, every experience. If you get too many snaps – you want to avoid the pain. If you get a lot of caresses –it makes you want more. Churches that want to hold on to visitors need to maximize the caresses and minimize the snaps. Listen to those words again:
Just walkin’ through the front door. Puts a big smile on my face. It ain’t too far, come as you are, Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar. (I love This Bar”
Sometimes you wanna go.. Where everybody knows your name. and they’re always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, the troubles are all the same. you wanna be where everybody knows your name
Wouldn’t it be great if our church was like that? What if everyone who came to church had a big smile on their face and everyone knew their name and everyone was always glad they came? Wouldn’t that be great? But shouldn’t it be that way? I hope our church can be the happiest place in town.
Here’s a third thought. You need to be a regular. If you ever watched “Cheers” you remember Norm and Frasier and Sam Malone and all the others. They were regulars. Norm would come through the front door and the whole joint would shout “Norm!”
One of the problems we have today is sporadic attendance. Too many Christian just go when they feel like it. If they aren’t too busy; if they don’t have company; if there aren’t any games on TV; if they don’t have a cold or feel down or have the slightest physical problem – they might go to church.
When God was expressing His will through Moses and in particular, prioritizing the top ten, He made weekly worship one of the most important of the most important. It’s like He is saying if you really want to do my will – here is what I consider most important: I need to be number one in your life. Don’t make anything else your God. Don’t misuse my name (matter of respect). And remember to worship me every week. Make one day a week separate and different to honor me.
In the New Testament, with the New Covenant God made with man, He said,
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25
Apparently some Christians in the early church were in a habit of not meeting regularly. After all – they weren’t under law. But they should have been bound by the Law of Love. Even in the early church, there were problems and disagreement and division. But it wasn’t an excuse. Jesus set the example of regular attendance – even through the church WAS full of hypocrites and sinners and even demon possessed people.
The problem so many Christian have is they go to church for THEM. It’s to meet their needs. That’s not biblical. We don’t go to church to be minister unto – but to minister. Too many people try to find the perfect church that will meet all their desires and spiritual needs. There ain’t no such place, folks. And that’s a carnal and selfish way to find a church. Pastor’s do it. Layman do it. It’s a carnal, selfish immature tendency we have. But you know what? We are given gifts and talents to serve. We are given a command to meet weekly – and serve. If you want to be a growing, maturing Christian – find a church you can meet a need in, instead of finding one that will meet your needs.
And that brings me to the one last thing, Church is suppose to be sacrificial. Did you get that? Church is suppose to be sacrificial. Church is suppose to cost you. You are to give of yourself to the church.
King David sinned. It wasn’t a big sin. He only counted how many he had in his army – but it showed a lack of faith in God. God doesn’t need numbers. He only needs willing people. David forgot that. When God reminded him of it – David wanted to worship the Lord. Someone came to him and offered him his property and the wood and animals for the sacrifice. Listen to David’s response”
“…the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing " So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” 2 Samuel 24:24
Worship without cost – really isn’t worship at all. It ought to be a sacrifice to go to church. It ought to cost us time and energy and talent and – yes, even money.
Paul was teaching the Roman Christians about “the Way” – or about the Christian way. And He taught:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God— this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1
The spiritual act of worship always involves sacrifice. Worship that is holy and pleasing to God is sacrificial. Do you see how we have it wrong today? We don’t want church to cost us. We don’t want to sacrifice and serve. We want others to sacrifice to us. We want church to ‘pay’ us. We want to be rewarded for going.
What if all of us had a sacrificial mindset? What if everyone interacted with each other sacrificially? In other words, we had their best interests above our own. What if we all came to church anxious to be a blessing to the others? Can you imagine what a wonderful experience Church would be?
God is creating His ‘forever family’ with the ‘church family’ right now. We have disagreements and personality clashes and difference in so many areas. Can you understand that these are opportunities to grow in relational graces? We are learning to be non-judgment and forgiving and loving and patient and kind – and all that spiritual stuff that God wants us to become. Church is where that happens. But one day it will be over. And what a grand day it will be when we are welcomed into the Heavenly Family.
Last Sunday, right after church, when I got home tired and emotionally spent, I plopped into my easy chair and turned the TV on. The last few minutes of “Titanic” was on. In the conclusion, Rose (Played by Kate Winslet) is an old woman. She lost the love of her life in the sinking of the ship many years early and had told her story. Now she lies down, shuts her eyes, and breathes her last. Her spirit goes down into the cold water to the ship below. As she nears the ballroom, the ship reverts back to it’s former glory and she is transformed to her former youth and beauty. As she goes through the door, all her old friends are waiting for her with huge smiles and loving eyes. Her love (Jack), in all his handsome, manly, youth waits lovingly for her on the stairs with arms open. They fall into each others arms and kiss. (show youtube clip of Titanic ending)
It occurred to me that, Jack represented Jesus. When we come to the Home we were created for, to the Love we were created for – it might be something like that. All our old friends and the family that loved us so dearly – will be waiting lovingly for us. What a joyful day it will be. How happy and full of love we will be. (Show Titanic Ending)
Friends, the sacrifice will be worth it. All the pain and problems; all the trials and temptations will be worth it. The growing and maturing will pay off.
Keep up the good work. Live sacrificially. Love purely. Use every opportunity to grow. The rewards will be out of this world.
“’Tis a Glorious Church”.
