Territorial Bloggings

Church this morning was a mix of good and bad things. But I guess that’s to be expected isn’t it…

The good:

• The new LSBs were in the pews, and we sang all the hymns from them. They’ll be dedicated next week, and I would guess that in about a month or two we’ll start to see the use of liturgies right from the book. This is cool. This is good.
• The sermon was a very good application of Law & Gospel, with the Law convicting us of our inability to walk Jesus’ walk, and the Gospel sweetly comforting us & keeping us safe in the sure knowledge that when God looks at us, He sees Jesus and the results of His walk, not the failure of ours.
• The Lord’s Supper, the celebration of which is always a comfort.

The bad (or at least not-so-good):

• Pre-service music included “God Bless America”, which of course meant that someone had to stand up & implore everyone to, “Sing the words everyone!” I really don’t like it when the pre-service preparations are disturbed by this type of thing (sort of like how I detest it when folks clap after a chorale during the service), even if/when/though well-meaning. Neither do I like it when nationalistic stuff from the Left-hand Kingdom bleeds over into the Right-hand Kingdom.
• Post-Benediction recitations of pledges of allegiance to the Christian and American flags. I’m not a big fan of services on/around July 4. I’m proud to be American and I’m certainly thankful that God saw fit to bless me & my family by being Americans. However, I still don’t like having the divine service turned into a service of nationalistic cheerleading. Frankly, once I enter into the sanctuary, I wouldn’t care if the folks worshipping with me are Americans, Germans, Turks, or even Iraqis. What matters in that context is that they are fellow Christians. My goodness, what if a foreign national had been there today? I dare-say that they would’ve been unnecessarily offended by the unwarranted nationalism on display.
• A reminder/update on the process of finding a DCE. This is an ongoing thing that is causing a not-small amount of angst within the congregation, as well as amongst some of the boards. To get into it in any more detail here would be neither productive, nor proper, so I’ll just leave it that it continues to be a thorn in my side.
• Helping serve the Lord’s Supper. It’s part of my duties as a member of the Board of Elders, but it’s one that I’ve never gotten fully comfortable with, as I’m a supremely unworthy sinner. I wish that I didn’t feel so conflicted about these duties, but that probably won’t happen until such a time as we change up how the elements are distributed.
• Non-Every Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Supper. I wish that we could get to the point where folks understood that offering the Supper every Sunday is the right & proper thing to do. I truly don’t understand how some can argue that offering it at every service somehow devalues it by making it more “common”. Is the air we breathe less “special” and/or “meaningful” merely because it’s so abundantly common? I think not.
• The Territorial Daughter being squarely in a phase where she really, really doesn’t want to go to church. This makes every Saturday night/Sunday morning a battleground - one that makes me feel both powerless and like a failure.

All in all, it wasn’t all that bad. It’s just that the things that irritate me are very difficult for me to set aside, even (especially?) when I know that I should.

-ghp