Why Church? John 6:22-35
Last week I met a woman at the hospital who was dealing with the end of a family member’s life. We had the opportunity to talk for a few minutes. Through our conversation it became apparent she had faith and that she was worried about whether or not her loved one believed and was going to heaven. I told her I was willing to talk with this person and I asked if their minister was coming to talk with him also. She told me, “Oh, we don’t go to church.” This got me thinking why; why people don’t go to church.
I want to first explain what I mean by “church”. This is a beautiful and historic building, a church. But a church can easily be a store front or someone’s living room. We start every week by remembering that Jesus says, “Where two or more gather in my name, there I am with them.” I do this to remind us that Jesus is here with us but I hope it also points out to you that if your family offers grace at a meal, Jesus is there; if you are in a hospital room praying with or for the sick, Jesus is there; if you stop and help an elderly couple with a flat tire and offer them a blessing before you leave, Jesus is there.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19, ‘Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” The church of God is the body of every believer. When I say “church” it can be a place like this or it can be a gathering of people to talk and worship God, but for today let’s look at “church” on the more formal side, a place like here.
So what are some reasons people don’t go to church? I remember years ago a woman said she didn’t go to church because she felt God set her up to fail, that by allowing her to sin God is setting her up to be punished.
Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ’Let us make them in our image, after our likeness.’” We are made to be like God; we can think and reason and evaluate and choose. God knows we will not always choose his way but he didn’t set us up to fail, he gave us a way out of our mistakes; Christ at the cross.
Other people have told me that they don’t have time for church; the kids have a game, it’s the only day I get to sleep in. Let’s look at what scripture says. Genesis 2:2-3, “And on the seventh day God rested…he blessed the day and made it Holy…”
God rested, being made in his image we are not meant to work all the time. Like God we are to take time to reflect on creation, to relish and enjoy all the wonders God made.
God made the day “Holy.” He wants us to know him, to come to him, to talk with him. He wants this so much that he set out the time of the week for us to do just this.
Act 2:42-44, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship…and all who believed were together and had all things in common.” Worshiping together lets us share the joys we have in Christ with each other. It lets us learn from and to teach each other. It helps us come closer to God.
Now what about those people who come to church for the wrong reasons; and yes there can be wrong reasons to come to church. In our reading there is a crowd seeking Jesus out. People are in that crowd for different reasons; some may have been invited to come and listen to this new rabbi, some may have heard him speak before and came to listen again, some may have heard of him and now that he is close they want to hear what he has to say for themselves, and of course there are those who come just to see what they can get. Verse 26, “…you are looking for me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”
People come to church for a variety of reasons. Some come so their children have some sort of “religion” in their lives but they’re not really invested in their faith. Some come simply because it became a habit, they also have little invested in their faith. Some come because something happened in their life but as the event fades into the past they again stay away.
In 19th century China people converted to Christianity for one reason; they were hungry. There was a famine and once they joined the church they were supplied with food. They joined the church like the people Jesus is talking to did, just to get their physical needs met. Once their situation changed and the famine ended, they drifted away. This is why they are referred to as “rice Christians.”
Similarly, in East Germany and Romania during the Cold War era people came to church when the ministers were preaching against communism. After the liberation and breakup of the Soviet Union the crowds stayed home and the churches were abandoned.
People throughout the ages have gone to church for many reasons; food, politics, even fear. People have sat in countless pews and heard thousands of sermons and walked out no closer to God than when they walked in.
Now before someone questions me later I want to say that I do believe in the power of God through the Holy Spirit. There will always be people who come to church for the wrong reason that the Holy Spirit opens to the truth and they will come to believe and accept Christ as their savior.
So what are the right reasons to go to church? Jesus tells us in verse 27, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.”
When we come to church it can make us feel closer to God. We come to learn; for some, they learn about Jesus and salvation so they can make a decision to accept Christ. For others, we come to church to learn more, to see the nuances of our faith. We come to grow stronger in our faith. And we come to share our faith.
Hebrews 10:25, “(do) not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but let us encourage one another…” When we come to together god doesn’t want us segregate, he wants us to come together to talk and to share. We should be telling each other the things God has done for us, what he’s doing in our lives. By doing this we start to look at ourselves and recognize the things God has done that we may have missed. By sharing, we can help someone else who may think God isn’t helping them; we can help them see God’s work in their lives. Paul tells us this is one reason to worship together in his first letter to the Thessalonians; 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up…”
Jesus is on earth to reset so to speak, the message of the prophets. He is here to reestablish God’s message of love and grace, a message we’ve seen demonstrated through events like Noah and the flood, Exodus and other Old Testament accounts.
We can see that like any other charismatic speaker Jesus gets lots of followers and some follow him for the wrong reasons. When we follow Jesus, when we come to church, God should be the reason.
God tells us he wants us to come together to worship; it builds a community, it builds a family. It helps us to see God in our lives and to uplift one another. God doesn’t want us to come together in church to take us away from something fun; he wants church to set you up for his blessing.
Now I know the realities of our lives; many work on weekends, I do myself; work, kids, obligations can all keep you away but time with God is important to every believer, don’t let the excuses become the norm. And for those times when you cannot worship with your church family, I ask you to please set time aside for God. Set time to talk with him and time to enjoy his creation.
I had a conversation with the pastor of the Ravena Congregational Church this week. He reminded me that some people stay away because of the one doing the preaching. Remember pastors are human; we have our good days and our off days.
The other thing I ask people to keep in mind; when you come to church you may not always hear what you want to hear, you may not get a “feel good” message.
We saw several weeks ago that Christianity can be hard. We need to look at ourselves and see the sin in our lives and then believe Jesus is our savior; and that’s just the beginning. Remember the stories I told a few weeks ago. We need to live with the faith of Jodi Eareckson-Tada, a woman who broke her neck at age 17 and is a paraplegic, a woman who praises God and devoted her life to God.
We need to live with the love of the Amish families in Pennsylvania, who had their children killed by a gunman. After the funerals they went to the gunman’s home and blessed his wife and family; they recognized that that family was hurting as much as their families.
We need to live with the forgiveness of the woman whose son was killed over a pair of sneakers. When her son’s killer went to prison she visited him his entire time in jail. When he got out she brought him into her home and helped him finish high school and then college. Her forgiveness allowed her to be the instrument God used to save that young man.
A truly devoted Christian life is not always easy. As Christians, whether our lives are easy or hard God is still sovereign and he still deserves our praise and worship. Psalm 103:12 tells us, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
As believers nothing can come between you and the love of God. Amen.