Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.

• 2 Kings 16:18

Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.

• 2 Chronicles 2:4

On the altar of the Lord that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord, according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for the Sabbaths, the New Moons and the three annual festivals—the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles.

• 2 Chronicles 8:12-13

The Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one took his men—those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off duty—for Jehoiada the priest had not released any of the divisions.

• 2 Chronicles 23:8

The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.

• 2 Chronicles 36:21

I was talking to my son the other day.  It was late on Saturday.  He was talking about how he had been so horribly exhausted, it was going to be good to sleep in the next morning.  After all, he was about to have an end to his summer off (a teacher).  But then he said something like “Rats!”  He had signed up to play in the church orchestra and he had a solo the next morning.  He was unable to sleep in.  He had to get up even earlier than normal.

And that got me to thinking.  My wife and I had played that game when he was small.

If either of us had to teach Sunday school, we had to be at church.  We are always faithful when we had an obligation, but lift the obligation, and we might miss a Sunday – not regularly missing, but we would miss once a quarter or twice, just to rest.

There is an element of resting within the Sabbath rules, but we are supposed to be praising and giving God the glory.  Thus, attending church is the New Testament Sabbath observance, if you will.

So, do you need an excuse to show up?

My wife and I were church leaders at one time or another.  They did not really take attendance for that, but we felt that we should set an example.  We taught Sunday school.  One Sunday recently, I was not feeling well, not sick, just washed out, and Sunday school had been cancelled due to the summer schedule.  I went to church anyway, due to having to put something in the offering plate.  Yet another excuse to be there.

But our excuse for attending is that we love Jesus and want to honor and glorify our Heavenly Father.

If we need an excuse to avoid the extra hour or two of sleep, then we need to reexamine our priorities.

Near the end of her life, my wife missed church a lot, but when she arrived, in a wheelchair, she greeted everyone with a smile.  She wanted to show God’s love.  But there were so many Sundays when she had her clothing laid out, knowing exactly what she wanted to wear and she did not have the strength to get into a standing position to get those articles of clothing on.  She would call me on her cellphone from the bed to tell me to go on without her.  And if I was not teaching Sunday school that Sunday, I would stay with her.  It was hard going to church and not knowing how badly she really felt.  But she would generally be safe, usually watching a few television sermons or simply going back to sleep.

This little bit of writing was all about having excuses to “have to” go to church.

I did not need to discuss excuses in staying home.  We have probably all used those by the hundreds.

But God knows our heart, and maybe some of us need to be reminded that going to church is our response in loving, praising, and glorifying the God who will be with us for eternity.  An hour per week is nothing compared to that.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.