Today, I have been thinking about the fact that all of you are away from home.
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Home is a place where we return to rest after being away for a while. It is also a place that we leave behind again because we know it waits for us to return. It is that comfortable place where you can be you in any way you choose, wear whatever you like, look the way you feel without make-ups and still loved as who you are. It is where you let all your joy, sadness, laughter as well as tears, hurt, pain, anger, and brokenness hang out in their beauty and ugliness. No matter in what shape you are, you return and are welcomed, cared for, and loved just as you are. And... when you are ready for the world again, you go because you know you will return soon enough.
As a Christian, I learned early that worship service is like being at home. It sounds a bit strange to say this out loud, but it is true for me. Wherever I went, even in different countries where cultures were unfamiliar, being part of worship made me belong and be part of the family there as if I arrived at home. In worship I found out that I shared my presence and spirit with all those who were at that worship, was cared for, nourished, restored, and was sent away with love filled with expectations of many joyful reunions.
Initially when you enter any building that is new, including churches where we have never been, you feel very uncomfortable. It feels awkward as if you are entering into someone else’s space. You become a visitor and try your best to be a good visitor. When you go to a church near where you have moved to for the first time, the newness of surroundings make you feel that you do not belong there.
It took a long while before I realized that this was not the way to approach a worship service. It dawned on me that I belonged in all worship services as much as anyone else because I was one of God’s people. I was baptized in the name of God the Creator, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. I was called by Christ and have been living as a Christian. There was no reason for me to think that I was a visitor crashing into other people’s holy activities. Since that realization, I have attended worship services not as a stranger or a visitor but as a family member returning home. Worship service is a very place where I get to hang with Christ and his people. Because I am one of them, they are my sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, daughters, sons, (sad to say because I am getting that old) and grandchildren.
Sunday worship services are like weekly gathering of my spiritual family. When I enter to worship, I feel as if I have entered my own home. There, I can relax, be accepted as who I am, share joy, happiness, and all that was wonderful during the week. I also feel secure and loved enough to share sadness, tears, hurts, difficulties and pains because I know everyone, especially God who is present, loves me and cares deeply for me. There, I am given a place of welcome, restoration, care, compassion, and love whether I want them or not.
At the end of the service, when I have to return to the world, I am able because I feel rested enough, strong enough, filled enough with hope, and loved enough to face another week. This is why I go to worship whenever I am able.
I know that you feel like a visitor in a strange church gingerly trying to be a good guest. But what if you think of attending worship as returning home for an hour or so? Because you are coming home as a child of God to the house of God... You are as much a Christian, loved and given life by Christ and was created in God’s image. You are not a visitor, but a family member. At worship, I hope you find home. It is my prayer that you feel and experience home when you worship wherever you are.
Home by Young Friends is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at younyfriends.blogspot.com.
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