Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

• Matthew 6:5-15

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

• Luke 18:9-14

But Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the Lord with unauthorized fire.

• Numbers 26:61

Boilerplate

I’m Harold Dykstra.  I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story.  My time is well spent.  A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel.  I did not know she was an angel at the time.  The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone.  And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy.  She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others.  She changed my life.  Oh, excuse me, angels have no gender, but the angel indwelled a doll named Bountiful Babs.  After seeing the angel in that form for over a year, I cannot see her in my mind in any other form.

This Week’s Question

In the last episode, Babs cleaned the house, sort of, once we got home and that caused her to wonder what the word “home” means.

Once Babs realized that going to church was very important, we never missed a Sunday.  We went to a variety of denominations and worship styles.  We just went to a church that was handy near where the hotel was where we were staying.  If we were on the road, we would do an internet search for towns in the vicinity of normal worship service times and pull over for a couple of hours to attend Sunday school and church.  The Sunday school time might have been considered a waste.  There was no continuity.  It was the book of Acts one week, thirteenth chapter.  That was followed by a study of forgiveness the next week.  Then a heated discussion about David and Jonathan the next.  Interesting, sometimes instructive, but disjointed.

Sadly, we will only get a couple of Sunday school classes in a row at my home church before we are back on the road.  And just like in meeting my children, Morrie and Villie, the church members hugged and kissed Babs as if she had always been by my side, but they also talked about how they had prayed for me while I was on the road.  They thought I should have been given more time to grieve.  But in saying that, they turned to Babs and praised her for being there to keep me company and keep me safe.  She deflected the praise, saying God kept me safe and she was just my travel buddy.  And no one had any sideward glances about me and a much younger woman together on the road.  It seemed everyone accepted Babs as a family member.

Upon our return home, Babs went upstairs and changed clothes.  Oddly, I had not given all my wife’s clothing away.  There was one box left and Babs loved the warm bathrobe.  She would wear the blouse and shorts that I gave her for Christmas, buying it after I got home to get my checkbook.  Then the bathrobe kept her warm, as if an ‘other living’ needed the warmth.

She walked downstairs.  All I had done was to remove my coat, shirt, and tie.  I removed my socks and shoes and put on my house slippers.

She handed me her bulletin from the worship service.  “Let’s study this thing.  What did they call it?  A Bulletin?”

I laughed, “Yes, a bulletin, but in what way are we studying it?”

Babs asked, “What is God stuff and what is man stuff and what is filler?”

I snickered, “Let’s look at the Sermon on the Mount and what Jesus said about prayer.”

Babs started reciting the Lord’s Prayer and I stopped her.

I shook my head.  “Nope, what does he say first, before He teaches us what to pray?”

She scrunched her nose.  “Oh, the hypocrite stands up and boasts of things, while the humble man prays in private, and God hears his prayers.  That reminds me of the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18.  So, what about the people who were dressed in holiday finery?  What about the people dressed in football jerseys?  And what about the guy on the back row in coveralls and a white shirt and no tie?  What was for show?  And what was for worship?”

I smiled, “We don’t know what was in their hearts.  My wife used to say that we were going to see the king.  We should dress appropriately.  So, those in their finery, I cannot judge them for getting dressed nicely, but a few of them only come to church at Christmas and Easter.  The ones in the football jerseys were worshipping their god, the one the jersey represents more than the true God, but again, I do not know what was in their hearts.  The show of the jersey, which is very expensive, shows what was on their mind and how they spent their money.  A nice dress shirt and a tie would be far less expensive.  We are all sinners, but some show it more readily.  The guy in the back with the coveralls?  Yikes!  Did you notice his shoes?  They were a designer brand and highly polished.  The shoes did not fit the rest of his attire.  If the coveralls were the best he could afford, he might well be a guy who goes into his closet to pray.  He could have gotten those shoes as a present at the homeless shelter.  But I have seen people drive up to church in a rusty old car and wearing clothes that were thread bare.  But then you see the same couple dressed in the latest fashion and driving a luxury car during the week.  They do the poor act on Sunday morning so that the church expects little of them.  But was this man like them or was he honestly someone who was needy?  Again, I cannot judge that.  But if I lived here all the time and saw those people each day and talked to them about their attitude about this and that, then I might have enough information to judge them, caution them, try to shed light on what they are not understanding.  But do you want me to start looking at your bulletin?”

Babs giggled, “Bulletin, please!”

I said, “I used that preamble to Jesus’ instructions on prayer to illustrate that the prayer He then teaches is really a worship service.  We are as a congregation worshipping God, and the elements of the prayer should reflect that.  So let’s see how much of the service was like the Lord’s Prayer.  The prelude is music to get us into the attitude of worship.  People screw that up by chatting with one another.  Then the pastor has to get loud to get everyone into the attitude of worship.  I like hearing the music and preparing myself.  I write headers in my notebook so that I can distinguish between my sermon notes from one week to the next,”

Babs giggled, “And since I have no money unless you give me the money, I hope you like the notebook I bought you.  Your old one was getting nasty looking, and it was almost full anyway.”

I swallowed hard.  My wife had been sick for so long.  She had loved to shop for everyone, including herself – not trusting my choice of scents or styles – and Babs had watched me carefully, and picked out something that I could use.  “Thank you, Babs.  It was a gift from the heart.  I will cherish it forever.”

I continued, “Then the pastor provides a welcome statement.  If you were not ready to worship, then you better get that way fast.  Then there is a Call to Worship.  Those can be a statement and response so that everyone says some of it, but sometimes it is a unison reading.”

Babs laughed, “Or a unison mumbling.  Harold, you don’t read out loud very well.  You are a great teacher, but you get behind so easily.”

I nodded, “I think it came from reading the Bible at home before bed.  I would stammer or pronounce a word wrong.  Instead of getting instruction, I got ridicule.  My fears come out every time I try to read out loud.  For me, I would get more out of it by not saying anything out loud, but the point is that we are participating as a church family, all together.”

Babs asked, “And what is the Advent Candle thing about?”

I looked at her as if I did not know her.  She did not understand?  That was odd for Babs. “Advent only comes once each year.  An anticipation of Christmas and celebrating Christmas, but the root of that worship is the anticipation that Christ will come again.  A lot of the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament pointed directly to the Jesus that came to earth as a child and died on the cross, and of course, rose from the dead.  But when the prophecy talks about all nations bowing down, everlasting peace on earth, Israel not having any enemies…  All those things apply to Christ’s return and many to the millennial reign of Jesus.  But as for the candles, they represent hope, peace, joy, and love.  There are four candles around the center white candle.  Each week of advent they add one more candle to light.  The joy candle is pink, while the others are purple.  On Christmas Eve, they light the white candle to say that our anticipation of the Christ child is over.  He is here.  It is just a way to focus people on the fact that we should be anticipating the return of Jesus every day.”

Babs smiled, “Thank you, Harold.  But it’s already Christmas Eve.”

I replied, “The Christ candle is lit tonight.”

Babs got excited, “Can we go?!”

I nodded, “Yes, but we have to finish this study of a bulletin.  The next thing is a hymn.  The hymn is about the coming of Jesus’ birth.  Then we have a moment of confession.  The Lord’s prayer talks about us being forgiven as we forgive others.  Jesus brings that point home in the passage from Matthew 6.  All of that is followed by the Gloria Patri.  The Doxology is after the offering has been blessed.  One uses ‘glory’ and the other uses ‘praise’.  Both look at the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer.  God reigns in heaven and we want His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.  We recognize that God is in charge of everything.  We praise God and Glorify His Name.  Then we have the passing of the peace.  People get up and walk around to greet everybody else.”

Babs chuckled, “We didn’t.  Everyone came to our pew and pinned us in.  They wanted to know how your trip was and they wanted to hug me.  It was a blast!”

I laughed, “Okay, I had last been there, alone, when my wife had recently died.  There was a lot of catching up.  But back to the bulletin.  Scripture is then read, but only after a prayer for illumination.  Sometimes, they just recite Psalm 19:14 or maybe modify it just a little.  The pastor is about to speak and he is asking the Holy Spirit to guide the words of his mouth, but also the meditations of all our hearts.  You need both for us to get anything from his sermon.  Then the pastor asks us to give an offering.  The Lord’s Prayer talks about God giving us our daily bread.  We acknowledge that God has a lot to do with meeting our needs, far beyond the bread, and we illustrate that faith that God will provide by giving to the church.  Now the announcements could be left out.  They are in the bulletin, but we have a functional illiterate society.  They can read, they just don’t read.  So someone announces what everyone should already know by having read the bulletin.  That is the only man thing, but even then, some is a God thing, talking about special offerings or special worship services like we have later today.  Then the service is ended with a pastoral prayer that covers local, national, and worldwide prayer concerns, ending in the Lord’s Prayer.  Then a song and the benediction.  The benediction is usually a blessing and many of them come straight from the Scriptures.  So, it is mostly a God thing.”

Babs scrunched her nose again, “But Nadab and Abihu were killed because they played with the fire.  We had candles lit.  There is a candlelight service tonight.  Are we doing it right?”

I said, “That is an individual question to ask each person, and please do not ask them.  The entire worship service is designed to bring us into a close presence with God, although He is everywhere anyway.  But is our heart right?  It is that ‘meditation of our heart’ that makes it a God thing or ‘Preacher, will you get to a conclusion with your rambling sermon, the ballgame starts soon!’”

Babs snickered, “I saw that man a couple of rows in front of us look at his watch.  He shook it.  He put it to his ear to hear it.  That was funny.”

I nodded, “But his antics were not funny.  He was telling the preacher to shut up and sit down.”

Babs’ eyes got wide, “Oh!”

Then I asked, “Which service are we going to go to?  The first will have a lot of children with a pageant.  The late service is the candlelight service.  The ushers light their candle from the Christ candle.  They pass down the aisle to light the first candle on each pew and then each person lights their candle from the previous person’s lit candle.  Then the pastor tells us to put the candle down low.  By this time, the lights are out, and the room gets dark.  Then the pastor talks about the darkness of sin in our world.  He tells us to lift our candles high, and he talks about Jesus, the Light of the world who has come to save those who believe.  So, which one?”

Babs again scrunched her nose.  “I would love to see the little children, but I can’t wait to light a candle.  Can we?”

I laughed and nodded, “Yes, Babs, we will do both!”

I laughed.  She ran around the kitchen table and hugged me.  “Harold, you are such a wonderful man!  I’m going to wear that new dress you got me for Christmas!”

And off she went to her bedroom upstairs, in Villie’s old bedroom, since Morrie’s room was full of all the stuff I needed to sort, give away, or throw away.  I had not looked yet.  Babs said it was full, floor to ceiling.  But that could wait for another day.  We would be back on the road in a little over a week’s time.

Credits

All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife.  We would talk about anything and everything.  And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.

The bathrobe was due to my wife always being cold.  And my wife did ask me to dissect the bulletin one time, she wondered if it was the proper way to worship, but it really comes down to what is in our hearts.  And the pastor needs to keep everything within the framework of the Bible.

And I have seen the antics to check if the watch is still running, but when they hold the watch over their heads and point to the watch so that they get the preacher’s attention…  That is going way too far, but I have seen it on numerous occasions.  Praise the Lord, the pastor never missed a beat.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.