The Imperfect Sunday

You wake up at 6:30am on Sunday morning, tired. Roll out of bed, sulk in the shower, grab a banana, and leave without time to make coffee.

Ah… You’re on setup. And if you have kids the above timing does not exist. You arrive at the school and find half your CG members are late. You start the worst part of the morning with the least amount of people- the mats.

Then unpack the storage closet, dragging the worship equipment up the ramp with a sound more piercing than a braking B line train (don’t get this reference? Consider yourself blessed). Nothing is where it’s supposed to be in the closet, and supplies magically go missing week to week. Finally finish setup with the most monotonous task- the chairs.

Moving onto our other Sunday morning volunteers- the struggles don’t cease with setup team. Propresenter slides aren’t working. The projector is broken in CoaH Kids. The music stands for the band are missing. Communion isn’t ready to go.

All things considered Sunday morning often feels like a train wreck. For the past two years as the Kid’s Director I’ve been at church each Sunday around 8am, just a little after the setup team. Every morning carries almost the same feelings of angst for me- we’re behind on setup. Kids supplies are missing (or I forgot to get something). Volunteers aren’t on time. How is this Sunday even going to work? Can we just cancel CoaH Kids? The whole gathering? Can we all just go back to sleep for awhile?

But alas despite the countless problems, difficulties, struggles, and sleep deprived souls it’s always worked out, and I’ve come to a couple conclusions in the process…

God’s Effectiveness isn’t Dependent upon Ours

Turn to many of the figures in the Bible and you’ll find a storyline similar to this- God calling an unqualified and ineffective individual. Said individual questions God’s choosing of him or herself. But then God does mighty things for his glory through them, regardless of their abilities.

Admittedly this isn’t how all of us feel with the Lord at the present moment. But I think if we step back, corporately, and look at CoaH we would all agree that Sunday mornings sure feel that way. A group of sinners setting up a gathering centered on a Savior. We have a lot of high capacity, skilled, educated, hard working people at CoaH but none of us are qualified to do Kingdom work on our own merit. But luckily that doesn’t matter as our qualification comes through Christ alone. Our ability to be effective comes through God giving us the means to make his name known.

The Small Things Matter

I get frustrated with small tasks. Sometimes rightfully so. But I often forget that many small tasks done well equal big results. Take this past weekend for example- Setting up one chair may seem like a tiny, insignificant thing. But the person that sat in that chair got to hear how every single book of the Bible pointed to Christ (check out that awesome moment at 22:00 here). Cutting out paper figures before service in CoaH Kids allows teachers to remind the children how Jonah points to Jesus through a craft. My mind goes to a little boy giving Jesus five loaves of bread and two fish, and God took that and fed over five thousand. Small moments of labor, small instances of sacrifice, are often used in mighty ways.

The Gospel is Still Heard

Even if things don’t come together on Sunday morning- if volunteers are late, if we’re missing supplies, if the slides don’t work, the gospel is still preached. The gospel of Jesus Christ was never dependent and never will be dependent on man’s labor alone. We can strip Sunday down and just sit on a bare gym floor and the same gospel is still preached as those who hear it with a brand new church building.

Therefore...

Brothers and sisters, hear me rightly when I say that God still calls us to strive for excellence in what we do on Sunday- and every day- and to put forth our best effort. But his excellency is not dependent on ours. He graciously honors our imperfect efforts as he is our perfect Savior. Let us remember that we are fortunate to even come together for a reason so great as the gospel in the first place. Therefore let the imperfections we see on Sunday mornings turn into praise! That God is still good, and that God still chooses us for mighty works, for his glory. That God often does wonders through the small, seemingly unimportant labors. That God blesses the many through the few!