"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." (Psa. 122:1)
Those words of the Psalmist David came to mind when I began thinking about our editorial lesson for today. With what mental agility I possess, I think I understand why David penned those words. Why he was "glad" when the appointed time and date came around to go to the "house of the Lord." I think that it was for the same reasons that I too am "glad" when the Lord’s Day appears. Let me tell you why I believe that David was, and I am, "glad" on these occasions.
I don’t really know how old David was when he wrote those words, but in my humble opinion I feel that he must have been in the upper years of his life. The reason I feel this is because I believe that it’s us older folks who really appreciate "going to church" but, that’s not saying that the young-uns do not. I just think that having lived longer, experienced more, seems to cause us to appreciate more the blessings God has bestowed on us. Going to church allows us to join with each other in praising God and thanking Him for those blessings.
In one respect, we’re sort of like little children. They love to go to Sunday School, don’t they? Why is that you might ask? Well, it’s because they get to see their friends and sing songs and hear Bible stories and make crafty things that relate to those stories. Think about it - with the exception of the "crafty things," isn’t it pretty much the same for us older folks?
This touches upon why I believe that God designed the Church in the manner that we find in His Word. IE: a social entity, a family, so that Christians are to meet together often and thereby be encouraged and strengthened by each other. And, as a group of family members, we join together in praising Him and Jesus Christ. Now don’t get me wrong here, the worship and praise of God comes first before any benefit of a social nature. But always keep in mind, that the "church" is designed as a group endeavor. As a preacher friend of mine once said, "There are no Lone Ranger Christians. There has to be Tontos."
Today though, following our worship service, we as a family here at Highland get to participate in another great benefit seen in the form of a family get-together. We could say that it’s another example of the church being a social entity and is something that is of great benefit to a family - we get to eat together. Yep, today is pot luck day. And just as the family is strengthened by uniting in the worship of God, we’re strengthened both physically and spiritually by uniting in another family occasion.
With the definite danger of dating myself, I can recall when they were called by other terms. Terms such as "covered dish dinners" or "dinner on the grounds." By knowing terms like those automatically puts you back in the "olden days." Well, I don’t care if by knowing those terms I’m seen as old, it just means that I’ve had a lot of experience in "pot lucks" and I feel blessed by having all that experience.
My pot-luck career spans the years from when I was kid running around playing with the other kids while waiting for the grownups to get things in order so we could eat to this day when I’m one of the older grownups trying to get the kids to quiet down so we can get started. So that a brother can offer the blessing and thank God for the food and the "hands that prepared it for the nourishment of our bodies." I can’t tell you how many of them I’ve enjoyed in my pot-luck career, but I can tell you that I’ve enjoyed each and every one of them.
Another interesting phenomenon I’ve noticed at pot-lucks is that everyone wants to be in the first part of the food line. I guess that maybe we think that there won’t be enough food to go around and that they might run out of something before we get there. Again, in my vast experience of attending these events, I’ve never witnessed a pot-luck that didn’t have enough food. Truthfully speaking, it might actually be a blessing in disguise if I were to miss a portion or two.
There exists another interesting aspect of pot-lucks and that is what I’ll just call a "gentle warfare." You know what I’m talking about. It’s the efforts put forth by our wonderful "sisters" of the congregation to prepare the best-liked dish among all the choices on the table. I applaud their efforts in these types of battles and I add that I’ll be the first to volunteer to "go to the front lines."
I can’t leave the "interesting" aspects of pot-lucks without mentioning one more. And that is, try as we might, with all the good intentions we can muster, we eat too much. Yes, we fill our plates, sometimes more than once, and eat like there’s not going to be any more food on earth. Which gives credence to the "unofficial" statistic that says: "More Americans commit suicide with a fork than any other weapon." Then, you know what we do? We tell ourselves that we’ll never do that again and you know how long that resolve lasts, don’t you? Until the next pot-luck.
Yes, we do often times over indulge in the pot-luck goodies, but there are some really good things that come from these affairs. Let’s discuss a few for a moment. In our earthly family, one of the best, family-strengthening things we can do is gather together at the dinner table. By the simple act of eating together we maintain a closeness to each other. Because we talk to each other. I personally feel that this a major factor in families with internal problems. By not having personal communications between the members, we drift apart and this isn’t good.
By the same token, this principle applies with our church families. We sit down together and enjoy a meal while at the same time we’re getting to know each other better and family ties are strengthened. All because we use this occasion to communicate with each other. You know, a spiritual family needs the same closeness and unity as an earthly family. It’s an easy equation - the closer the members are, the stronger the entity. The stronger the family, the more glory goes to God.
It’s just a wonderful occasion when the "family" spends time with each other, isn’t it? When we gather on the "battlefield" of the "gentle war" and become strengthened as a unit in the army of Christ and thus, are better equipped to fight the "real" (spiritual) war with Satan and his army.
In closing, as a word of encouragement to all "family" members: please don’t neglect to gather with the saints, not only in worship service, but on occasions such as pot-lucks. If for some reason you’re not there, I can only echo the words of Jonathon, David’s best-friend, when he spoke about the possible absence of David and said: "thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty." (1 Sam. 20:18)
Ron Covey
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