The Sunday Morning Crowd: Finding God in the Everyday
“Don’t let Sunday mornings be your only time with God for the week.”
“Don’t just be a Sunday morning Christian.”
“Don’t just talk the talk. Walk the walk.”
The admonitions of well-meaning pastors and Sunday school teachers (or connection class for all of you younger folks), imploring us to spend daily time with the Lord. We’ve heard them all before. From behind the pulpit or the modernized tall table, pastors encourage congregations to not merely talk about the aspects of being a good Christian, but to apply action to words.
For many, however, this is the struggle. Finding God outside the walls of our physical church, in the boring, everydayness of our lives. We may feel ill-equipped, without the necessary resources. We may feel more in touch with God at church, unsure of what it means to ‘find Him’ at home.
God, it seems, is easier to find when we are ushered right to Him through liturgy, worship music and a prepared sermon. The days we find ourselves not in a pew but in a computer chair, bible open and coffee steaming in the low light, His presence feels dulled, or, more accurately, our sense of His presence is dulled.
If I learned nothing apart from the new rules of a COVID society and extended time attending a virtual church, God will not be confined by the limitations we place on Him. He will not be boxed up and kept in a church building simply because that is where we are most comfortable being in relationship with Him. He is the God who bursts through the locked doors of our hearts and our homes to meet His people wherever they are, be it inside the church, in a local park, or in my living room.
Where’s the rub?
Why is it such a struggle for us to find God outside the walls of our local church? Why are our spiritual senses less attuned to his presence when we exit the church parking lot, or even pass through the doors? Three commonly cited reasons for God’s presence at church versus His ‘lack of presence’ elsewhere are fewer distractions pull our attention away from Him at church, liturgical practices usher us closer to God in familiar and proven ways, and listening expectantly at church for God to speak.
Fewer Distractions
The most obvious reason we find God so easily on Sunday mornings is there are much fewer distractions in a sanctuary than there are in our own homes. Being around our own things brings a surprising amount of distraction when we try to sit still, pay attention, and focus on the word of God. The enemy knows our weaknesses and he knows our brains are fickle little things that follow whatever they may. Our enemy does not want us in the practice of regular relationship with God and actively attempts to prevent us from deepening our knowledge and love of the Father. Add young children or infants into that mix and it’s nearly impossible to focus for any length of time on anything at home, let alone an intellectually and spiritually stirring sermon.
In many churches babies and toddlers spend the morning in the nursery, while parents get much needed time away in the sanctuary. While we hear lessons about deeper theological truths, kids learn more age-appropriate lessons about God and how to make sense of Him in their lives.
Liturgy
Whether you worship at an Anglican, Catholic or Southern Baptist church, liturgy is ingrained in every aspect of our Sunday morning rhythm. Liturgy is simply the way we come together to worship, which are much more formal in some churches than in others, help to get us in an attitude prepared for worship. But we also need liturgy for the rest of our week too.
“Our Sunday liturgies teach us a particular idea of the good life, and we are sent out into our week as people who bear out that vision in our workaday world. There is nothing magic about any particular church tradition. Liturgy is never a silver bullet for sinfulness. These “formative practices” have no value outside of the gospel and God’s own initiative and power…As we learn the words, practices, and rhythms of faith hewn by our brothers and sisters throughout history, we learn to live our days in worship.”
– Tish Harrison Warren
We light candles, pray specific prayers, sing songs, and recite passages to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and the word He prepared for us at the time.
Listening with Expectation
For many of us (myself included), we train our ears to only hear God in the thinly cushioned pew, nowhere else. Expectation precedes reality, meaning if I expect to hear from God, I’m more likely to open myself up to hearing what He says. Entering a space with an unwilling heart, even one you aren’t aware you have, will prevent you from hearing God’s voice in your life.
We keep ourselves busy and surrounded by the buzz of social media, podcasts, audiobooks, and keeping up with the latest tragedy in the news. Most days our lives are simply too loud to hear God’s gentle whisper.
If you’re looking to encounter God in more than just your church building, stick around for a while. Over the next few posts I’ll be digging deeper into this issue and what practices you can use to begin to find God in your everyday life.
