Why Church?

My focus for the last week has been the sermon that I preached for our Christian Education Sunday. As this is not my primary call, sermon preparation is labor intensive for me. The text was Psalm 78:1-8, often called the Christian Education psalm, and one that has an important message about passing on the sacred stories. One illustration that I used has meaning to all who try to make a case for children to attend church.

Anne Lamott has a chapter in her book Traveling Mercies title, “Why I Make Sam Go to Church.” Sam is Lamott’s son, and he is less than enthusiastic about church going. But, Lamott writes that she still requires him to go and says:

"I want to give him what I found in the world, which to say, a path and a little
light to see by. Most of the people I know who have what I want…which is to say,
purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy – are people with a deep sense of
spirituality. They are people in community, who pray, or practice their faith;
they are Buddhists, Jews, Christians – people banding together to work on
themselves and for human rights. They follow a brighter light than the
glimmer of their own candle; they are part of something beautiful."