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Look for God at the Church HouseAs spring turns into summer, nothing beats getting up to the mountains again. Some of my best times with the Lord have been had on a mountain. In the solitude of the mountain, the Lord doesn’t have to raise His voice to be heard over all the other noise of regular life. I completely understand why people go to be with God in the mountains. What I can’t understand is why they go looking for Him in the mountains on Sunday morning.Jesus said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matt 18:20). Therefore, the mountain isn’t the best place to look for Jesus on Sunday morning because He is with His people at the church house on Sunday morning. If I’m looking for someone, I like to go where I know they’ll be, and I know Jesus will be at the church house on any given Sunday morning.Therefore, if you’re looking for Him, come to the church house, and you’ll find Him. Jesus isn’t one to not be where He’d said He’d be. That said, I have the sneaking suspicion that most folks go to the mountain on Sunday morning to simply enjoy what God has made without the hassle of a real encounter with God. That’s because real encounters with God can be overwhelming. Just consider the Israelites who really did encounter God up on Mt. Sanai. Let’s just say that they were more than content to let Moses go up and talk with God. God is a living God. Therefore, He is a God that can’t be managed. Suspecting this very thing to be true, most people avoid places where they might encounter God because they don’t really want to be troubled by Him. Therefore, when folks tell me that they don’t need to come to the church house on Sunday to meet with God because “they can find Him in the mountains,” I can’t help but think that the simple fact of the matter is that they aren’t looking for God on the mountain; rather, they’re hiding from Him on the mountain. They don’t want to risk a real conversation with Him as that would mean having to listen to Him. The same phenomenon is at work in those who say that they can meet with God at home while listening to a sermon on tv. In fairness, I’m grateful there are sermons on tv for the folks who have physical difficulty getting out of the house. However, a tv preacher is no substitute for a flesh and blood pastor. A preacher on tv can be turned off if you don’t agree with them. They can be easily ignored. They aren’t going to show up in person at your house. In short, they are very easy to manage. I suspect that to be their real appeal.If anyone wants to follow Jesus, it must ultimately come down to what He said, and He said that His own shouldn’t neglect to gather together (Heb 10:25). If you can believe it, He doesn’t even excuse His church from gathering together in the summer. Gathering together is important because Jesus is, in fact, present in the midst of His people, and it is also important so that believers can “stir up one other to love and good works” (Heb 10:24). If anyone has ever tired while running a race, you know how much it helps to have others run beside you and encourage you to finish. Gathering at the church house with other believers in the presence of Christ is encouragement.Now some may say, “pastor, coming to church isn’t encouraging. It is nothing but heartache and trouble.” I understand that sentiment. God’s church is made up of sinners saved by grace and our relationship with our fellow Christians, because it is real, isn’t an episode of Leave It to Beaver. However, the family of God is the family of God related to one another by the blood of Christ, and they grow in love and grace together or not at all. As John records for us, “If anyone says, ‘I?love?God,’?and?hates his?brother, he is a liar; for he who does not?love?his?brother?whom he has seen cannot?love?God?whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). How can one say they love Christ and hate the church that is His own Body, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh? May I gently say that such a thing is impossible. It is in church that one begins to learn to serve. It is in church that one learns to love other struggling sinners. It is in church that one learns to give mercy and grace in addition to receiving it. It is in church that we learn, together, to follow and imitate Christ. Therefore, if you are a Christian who has been avoiding the church house, come and join your fellow believers this Sunday. They will rejoice that you have come home. Finally, if you are just someone who’s been hiding from God, either on the mountain or in your living room. He wants to meet with you, and I invite you to come and meet Him at the church house. He’ll be there. ................
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