Jesus came to church the other day ...

Jesus Came to Church the Other Day…

Last Sunday, started off like every other Sunday morning. My irritating phone alarm buzzed at 7:15am and slightly annoyed, I slowly got up (I’ve been meaning to change my alarm tone for months! I’ve been thinking of a lullaby tone). As per daily routine, I made my way to the kitchen like a zombie still struggling to open my other eye. Once I had placed five weetbix (reduced from seven once my diet started) in my cereal bowl, and ignored the ratio of the only three milk drops left in the bottle to five weetbix, I sat down and enjoyed my extra crunchy dry breakfast. Fast forward. I was having a break from leading the service and so I found a comfortable spot to enjoy worship and to hear what God was saying to me that morning. With people still arriving, and the soft sound of the organ playing some meditative tunes I noticed in the corner of my eye a small figure coming towards me from the right hand side. I looked up and there he was – it was JESUS! I was in awe! Was I still asleep!? I greeted Jesus, “Good morning, Jesus.” He didn’t reply but he knew I was there so I just smiled. He sat about two chairs from me. I looked around and some of the congregation looked at us smiling. It was a great feeling: Jesus was at church – OUR church - sitting next to ME! The service started, and Jesus sung along with us to the first hymn. His voice was young and pure and it sounded like he was singing in a different language – maybe Hebrew or tongues. I kept glancing over at him to see if he was okay. As the preacher that morning led us in prayer I closed my eyes and slowly zoned into prayer mode. Suddenly, there was a ruffling sound. Reluctant to react, I quickly opened my eyes to check on Jesus – he was okay – but he was opening a small packet of chips and began eating from it. I closed my eyes again. “Crunch, crunch,” was the sound as he chewed quite noisily – similar to my breakfast sounds. At this point, I had totally disregarded the prayer as I was officially distracted. At “Amen” I looked over to where Jesus was sitting and he was gone! He was now walking around in between rows and leaving a trail of chips as he wandered. By now, the preacher had lost us as more and more added to the challenge of “hushing” Jesus. Jesus must’ve been terrified as people around him were saying, “Jesus, shhhh! Keep quiet!” As many people picked him up in an attempt to control him Jesus started crying. His mother, now embarrassed, decided to pick him up and take him out of church so not to disrupt the service – after all, we were about to hear a sermon on Jesus! As they left his cries became more and more distant. Jesus never came back that day. Jesus never came back.

“Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples scolded the people. When Jesus noticed this, he was angry and said to his disciples, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’” (Mark 10:13-14)

If JESUS comes to YOUR church this week – please tell Jesus we are sorry and ask him to forgive us. Perhaps YOU will welcome him/her better?

Blessings,

Rev. Gary Mauga