Size Doesn’t Matter
This is the transcript of the ACTUAL radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland.
Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees the South to avoid a collision.
Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees the North to avoid a collision.
Canadians: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.
Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.
Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, I SAY AGAIN, THAT’S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.
Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.
Sometimes we aren’t as big or important as we think we are.
The PCUSA has 11,000 churches, and of these, 8,000 are considered small churches. By definition, a church that has an average worship attendance of 100 or fewer people is a small church. Small churches represent almost 73% of the churches in our denomination.
As we gather today we celebrate the ministry of small churches. And, as members of a small church, we’ve all met attendees of large churches who have the attitude of that aircraft carrier. Many people feel “bigger is better”. But as Rev. Susan Andrews, moderator of this year’s 215th General Assembly said, “Small churches are the heart of who we are.”
I, for one, feel blessed to be in a small church. I love the feel you get when you walk into our little church. I like the “family” atmosphere you often find in small churches. I know that many of you all are related but even so there is a sense of “family” in small churches. Small churches in small communities seem to have a different outlook on life. We don’t have so many members that we need to wear nametags to tell who we are and that’s good.
I like the curved pews and the double aisles leading to the chancel area. The acoustics are wonderful here in the sanctuary. Every window in this 111-year-old building is stained glass. Look at the outside and can you help but think of a Norman Rockwell painting? It’s a beautiful little country church.
A person used to Crown Point 1st, or 4th Pres. in Chicago might look down their noses at our “quaint” little church. Maybe we don’t have our own preschool, a separate room for each S.S. class, a state of the art sound system, weekday programs, a handbell choir and full orchestra, a large staff with an associate, a music minister, a certified Christian Education person, and a secretary. Maybe we don’t have 5,000 members. But to that I say, “So what? To God, our little church of 162 members and our ministry is just as important and just as valued as the ministry of that big church of 5,000 members.”
Church people have been described as transient. They will attend a church for a while but when that church fails to meet their needs they move on to another. There is no sense of commitment; no sense of loyalty. I know many of you are life-long members of Bethel Presbyterian Church. Are there any here that have been members longer than 50 years? Stand up, please. 60 years? 70 years?
We have people here today who have been faithful members for many years. We have others here today who have been members for as little as 2 years. And we have still others who aren’t members but are faithful attendees.
And for all of you I have some questions. Why are you here? Why do you come to this building? Why do you attend church? And by that I mean, why do you attend worship services?
Have you ever really thought about why you’re here on Sunday morning? Of the many things I learned in my Lay Pastor training, several stick in my mind. One I’d like to ask you is, “When we are gathered in this building for worship every Sunday, who is the audience?” (Solicit answers, but don’t give answer, yet).
Many people come to church on Sunday mornings in order to re-energize themselves. The worries and concerns of the other six days are put aside for one day in order to bring peace and serenity back into their lives. They need this time of worship to equip them for the week ahead.
Others come to be blessed by the worship experience. At church, in the worship experience, they can reconnect with their emotions and they feel better.
Some of you come because your parents (or maybe your kids) make you come.
Some come because they want to be part of a larger community of believers, something bigger than themselves.
Maybe some of you come out of habit. You’ve been coming since you were children and this is what you do on Sunday. It’s a part of your lives that you sometimes enjoy, sometimes don’t enjoy, but it’s a part of your lives that you want to keep. It’s a family tradition that keeps everything in its place.
These are all good reasons for “attending worship” every Sunday, but they should not be our reasons for worship.
It is true that we may find ourselves reenergized in worship – but that’s not why we’re here.
It’s true that the worship experience may be a blessing – but that’s not why we’re here either.
It may be true that someone makes you come.
It’s true that worship can bring us closer together as a body of believers, and unite us as a family – but that shouldn’t be the reason for worship.
It’s true that the ritual and sameness of worship that helps bring comfort to our hectic lives – but that’s not the reason for worship.
None of these reasons are the proper reasons for worship. They all have praiseworthy and noble elements, but they all fail to be the reason for our worship. They fail because they all focus on us, on what we get from worship.
Worship is not primarily for us. We may benefit from participating in public worship, but it is not FOR us. Have you figured out who the audience is when we gather here to worship? I’ll give you a final hint. The dictionary defines worship as “reverence toward a divine being”. Worship is for God and God alone. He is the reason for worshiping every Sunday here in our little country church.
I’ve always liked hearing oxymorons, or self-contradicting phrases. Here are some of my favorites. Jumbo shrimp. Freezer burn. White chocolate. Plastic silverware. Sanitary landfill. Airline food.
And, here’s another self-contradictory phrase: boring worship. If you think about what worship is, how can it be boring?
That reminds me of the little boy who asked his mother if she could remember the highest number she ever counted to. The mother didn’t know so she asked him about his highest number. He answered, “5,372.” The mother was puzzled and asked him why he stopped at that particular one. The boy responded, “Well…church was over.” Let me ask you, “What is the highest number you’ve ever counted to?”
Have you ever thought about what happens in worship, even when you’re not in the mood and when the singing and preaching aren’t as enjoyable as you might like? It may not look like much, but when we worship, we come before God.
There is another story that is told of a tourist in Washington, D.C., who telephoned the minister of a church where President Franklin Roosevelt often worshipped. The tourist wanted to know if the president was expected to worship there that Sunday. The minister said, "That I don’t know for certain, but I can tell you that we are expecting God to be here, and we hope his presence will attract a sizable crowd."
We need to remember that when we gather to worship we are standing before the very presence of a Holy God, we are in His house, standing in His presence, on Holy Ground. Our minds need to be on Him. He deserves our respectful reverence.
Unfortunately, we come to worship the Lord, but then we hurry to get it over with. We’re more focused on where we’re going for lunch, or staining our deck, or reading the Sunday paper. I’ve heard about people in this congregation, every church has them, who are the “official timekeepers”. We figure, we’ll give an hour to God and that’s it.
If the sermon runs a little long, people tend to get nervous. I’ll tell you what, the sermon is between me and God. What I share with you on Sunday is whatever He gives me to share with you. Until I run through it on Friday, I have no idea how long it will be, but I can guarantee you, it will be exactly as long as God needs it to be. And if God needs it to be 18 minutes long, and the worship service runs longer than the “norm” of 1 hour, well then, some people may get a little upset. Just remember, we can’t see the beauty of God if we’re looking at our watches.
It is important that we keep the main thing, the main thing, and the main thing of the church is simply this, to glorify, or to worship God. Worship is important to God, so much so that out of the 10 commandments, the very first one deals with the subject of worship. Exodus 20:3, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
The neat thing about all of this is that size doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if a church has 10 members or 10,000 members. We can worship God no matter how many members we have, no matter how big our Sunday School is, no matter whether we have 1 or 3 worship services on Sunday. Size doesn’t matter.
God is concerned with who has clean hands and a pure heart. God wants worshippers who do not lift up their souls to what is false or swear deceitfully. We may be a small church by man’s standards, but if we worship God with all of our being, then we’re measured by God’s standards. And God measures us not by the size of our membership rolls, but the size of our hearts.
