Optional or Essential?

I guess it doesn’t really matter in the end whether or not my icicle lights are working. Christmas will still go on!

Yes, I realize I should have checked them out before I hung them across the front of the house. Before I spent half an hour untangling the lights out of the box. Before I spent another hour and a half attaching the stupid things to the house, in the blistering cold and bone-chilling wind.

My good neighbor, John, was kind enough to point out, as he observed me struggling to sort out the stringy mess, that I should have done this when it was still warm outside. He smiled, but didn’t offer to help.

By the way, what in the world happens in that box during the 11 months the lights sit in the attic? Do they become so disgruntled that they revolt by twisting themselves together? I am pretty sure that when I took them down last year I coiled them neatly before gently placing them in their storage. Were they so angry at not being used that they took revenge by making it nearly impossible to unravel them?

I really don’t understand. Nor do I get how it is that half of the lights decide to quit working. They were doing fine last year. They showed up to work on time, did their job well, filed no complaints. Did they form a union and go on strike? The ones that are working are like the scabs, scorned by the brotherhood, and will no doubt pay the price when they get tucked back inside the box after the holidays?

Anyway, you can’t just have some of the lights working and others not. It takes all of them to get the job done. So unless we get some warmer weather when I can go out and try to negotiate with the union boss, I guess there won’t be any decorative lights brightening up the house for Christmas. It’s all right, though, my neighbor, George, has enough going to cover for me. Maybe I need to ask him what kind of pay and benefits his workers are getting.

Either way, Christmas is not in danger. Hanging up the lights and enjoying their glow is optional.

Unfortunately, it seems many Christians view church attendance in the same way – as optional. “Yeah, it might be nice to go,” they say, “but, hey, it’s optional. If I feel like going, I will. But if there’s something else I’d rather do, then I’ll do that.”

I don’t understand this attitude. Consistent involvement in the church ought to be essential, not optional. The Bible spells it out clearly in Hebrews 10:25: “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.” Friend, maybe you don’t realize that your absence from our worship assembly serves as a source of discouragement rather than encouragement to your fellow Christians.

Don’t get me wrong. There are sometimes legitimate reasons for not coming to church. You may be sick and contagious. You may be at the bedside of a dying loved one. You may be called in to work in an emergency. And please understand that I am very grateful and thrilled that so many do make it their priority to be in the house of the Lord every Sunday morning. But to schedule an event that causes you to miss church, to intentionally plan something else on Sunday morning instead of meeting together with fellow believers to worship God – this I don’t get.

Like a string of Christmas lights, it takes all of us to get the job done. We as Christians have a mission, an assignment from our Savior and Lord. If you’re not in fellowship and cooperation with the church, the work of Christ suffers. His Kingdom will still go on, but you’re missing out on the joy of sharing in the work, and the world is missing out on the beauty of the church’s glow.

Besides, you need the nourishment of the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. You need the fellowship of God’s people. You need the outlet to use your spiritual gifts to serve as you’re called to do.

I urge you to heed this message, to see your participation in church as essential – not optional – and join us this Sunday morning. Sunday School is at 9:30, and our worship service begins at 10:40.

This Sunday we have a special guest speaker coming, so you don’t even have to listen to me preach! That ought to be incentive enough for you to come! Personally, I’m excited to welcome Brad Vinyard from Harrisburg to be with us. Brad and his family are currently in process to becoming full-time international missionaries. You’ll want to hear his story. See you then!