Shifting Focus
I remember the last truly excellent sermon I heard. It was October of last year and it was on worship music. I talked a little about it at the time. In fact, I did a series of Sunday Thoughts on the different ways we speak to God (and God speaks to us) through music. It was our worship leader who gave the sermon. I let myself be taken up in the nuances of what music does to me and the whole thing carried me straight up to God in a way I hadn’t spoken of, or to, Him in years.
Here’s the sad thing – that was ten months ago. That’s all your fingers or all your toes. That’s a decade of months. That’s the big double-digit birthday. The chunks of time between truly impactful sermons shouldn’t be that big. And it’s not the skill of the pastor or the comfort of the seats or the temperature outside or the temperament of my kids or the lineup of songs. It’s me. It’s all me.
C.S. Lewis, in Letters to Malcolm, writes:
A good shoe is a shoe you don’t notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about eyes, or light, or print, or spelling. The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.
I agree with this. It works on so many levels. The best makeup is the kind you don’t notice (in my opinion). The best hike is the one where you forget how tired you are because it’s so beautiful. The best film is one that takes you into it, rather than leaving you analyzing the cinematics (although that’s fun too). The best friends are those whom you easily slip into rhythm with each time you meet. The best people and things are those that point you out and away from your own self.
And yet…
I don’t think all the onus is on the makeup, the trail, the friend, the pastor…I think a large part of it is on us.
I pride myself on my ability to focus. I can hunker down with a book to read or an article to write and get it done. But when it comes to church…well, I’m all over the place. I’m listening to the air conditioner kick on and off. I’m looking at peoples hats or shoes or kids. I’m unable to think past the crying baby in the back. I’m checking the clock, not because I’m in a hurry, but because I’m worried for our pastor who always runs over and then berates himself for it. These are my thoughts and this is my attitude in church.
I’ve never been a good meditator either. And prayers for me are best said in the car or on runs or in the grocery store. I am better without the pressure to “center myself”. But like I tell my kids, sometimes you have to turn your thought spotlight on whatever (or whomever) is in front of you and NOT LET GO.
If I really want the “meditation of my heart” (Psalm 19:14) to be pleasing to God, I’m going to have to give it the same level of focus as I would anything else. God asks so little of us really. He asks us to show up and love Him and love others for Him. That’s it. And the loving gets easier the more time you spend with Him.
So, it’s the middle of summer and life feels like a free fall into a hot and sweaty abyss, but here’s to holding that spotlight steady on God. At least a little longer than normal. At least enough to forget ourselves for a bit.
Sunday Thoughts Link Up
*Note for next week: I will be out of town and will pick back up with a new link up on 7/28! Please send a few prayers our way, as we are a pack of seven flying across the country to spend eight days in the mountains. Lord, help us.
Sunday Thoughts Weekly Reminder
Sign up to get a reminder each week when the Sunday Thoughts Link Up goes live!
A big thank you from Jamie on The Mom Gene!
