Author Kurt Senske wrote: "The gift of our being with God enables our doing for others with compassion."
Lutheran worship is unique. We believe that when we gather in church on Sunday morning, God is present and He "serves-us." He opens His hands and pours out blessings upon us. He speaks His Word of forgiveness and removes our guilt and shame and gives us peace; He speaks His Word of salvation and removes an uncertainity we might have about eternity and gives us hope and a reason to live; He offers His invitation and we come to His table and feast on His body and blood which assures us that nothing can seperate us from God's love. At the end of the "serve-us," in the Benediction, God puts His Name on us and sends us out into the world as His child, a member of His family.
Our response to receiving these gifts of grace is to offer our praises to God in word and song; to offer our prayers with confidence that God hears us and answers us according to His Will and for His Glory; we give our offerings so that His mighty Word might continue to be proclaimed in our church, community and world.
But there is more. We also respond to God's service-to-us by serving those around us. This is love in action - a love that is motivated completely by God and seeks to offer God's compassion and care for others.
We all want our lives to count. We want our lives to have meaning and purpose. There is no real, lasting meaning and purpose to life apart from Christ. But with Christ at the center of our lives, we are filled with faith and forgiveness and love and we want to share these precious gifts with our family and friends and the world.
We are equipped to do this sharing by first being with our God each Sunday in worship. Then, having been blessed and fortified, we go into the world and do for others with compassion and love. In doing and serving others, those around us see Christ Jesus. And isn't that what we want?
See, you do have reason to be in church this Sunday! God be with you.
