The Extraordinary, Ordinary Sunday
Sunday mornings don’t always feel special. When we commit to gathering with God’s people for corporate worship we limit your travel plans, we restrict the freedom we have to spend our time, and we surround ourselves with people that we may not have a lot in common with. Sometimes corporate worship just isn’t the thing we’d most prefer to be doing after staying up a little too late on Saturday and feeling sleep-deprived on Sunday morning. Yet, no matter what your week has looked like, and no matter what Monday holds for you, the best thing you can do on Sunday morning is set aside some time to gather with people to worship the living God.
When the church gathers together for worship on the Lord’s day, there is more going on than meets the eye. There really is no such thing as an “ordinary Sunday gathering.” Even when the music isn’t all that great, you’re distracted by a million things spinning around in your head, and the sermon really isn’t hitting the spot, when God’s people gather for corporate worship something glorious and supernatural happens.
On any given Sunday, we observe many things with our natural senses. Our eyes may notice every little flaw in the sanctuary, from a stain in the ceiling to the bald spot of the man sitting in front of you. When we look around at who else is in the room, we may see a small collection of unimpressive people who don’t quite have it all together this morning. Our ears may notice that the music really is slightly off-key and the preacher is speaking a little too loud for how early it is on Sunday morning. We may even taste coffee that’s a little burned and watered down, not working to keep us attentive as we’d like to be.
It’s true enough that when it comes to what is seen, there really may not be anything special about a particular group of people coming together, singing, listening to a sermon, and participating in religious rituals. It all seems ordinary and unremarkable. However, if we only determine the value of the Sunday gathering by what we see, we’re only taking half of the universe into account.
When we think about corporate worship, we have to consider both halves of reality, both what is seen and what is unseen. The universe is more than what we can see. There is a natural (or seen) aspect to the world and a “supernatural” (or unseen) aspect to the world. We are instinctively drawn to emphasize what is seen and ignore what is unseen, but the Bible recognizes the reality of both the seen and unseen.
Not only is the unseen real, but we play a significant part in the unseen world as we worship the Lord and obey his commands. Francis Schaeffer helpfully points out the relation between the natural and supernatural worlds in Luke 15. Jesus teaches his disciples that when a sinner repents, angels in Heaven (what is unseen) rejoice. Events in the seen, natural world have effects in the unseen, supernatural world. The Apostle Paul has a strong encouragement for those of us who tend to emphasize the seen over the unseen: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
So what are these unseen things that happen when God’s people gather to sing God’s praises and sit under teaching from God’s Word, even when we’re distracted and the service is kind of boring? Here are just a few:
God is worshiped
It’s easy to overlook just how supernatural corporate worship is. Each one of us were enemies of God, disobeying and ignoring him in the world he created. We were once dead in our tresspasses and sins, without hope and without God in the world. We exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator. And every time we gather we gather for corporate worship, we are declaring that that is not who we are anymore. God in his great love and mercy made us alive together with Christ in ways that are unseen, so when we were once orphans come together to worship as adopted sons and daughters, something truly supernatural is happening.
2. God’s Spirit is at work
Every Sunday is glorious because when the Word is read and preached, the Holy Spirit is working. Even when we are distracted and the sermon is boring, God’s Word is at work in ways that we don’t see, conforming us into the image of Christ. We may not feel any different after the benediction, but God has promised that when His word goes out, it will not return to him empty. Isaiah 55:10-11 read: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Imperfect people and churches cannot prevent God’s Word from accomplishing everything that He intends for it to do.
3. God’s gospel encourages us
By the time Sunday morning rolls around, many of us are already thinking about the various tasks and trials that the start of the workweek on Monday morning will bring. The “Sunday Scaries” threaten to steal our ability to enjoy the day that God has set aside for us to rest and worship Him. Isaiah 40:8 reads: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” What awaits us on Monday morning will certainly come and go, but God’s Word in the gospel is relevant in every situation we will ever face. When we gather for worship and hear the gospel proclaimed, we are encouraged to take an eternal perspective on the week ahead of us. We are reminded that what’s most true about us is not our work, or our school, or anything else on this earth. What’s most true about us is that we have been brought into God’s family by grace alone, and there’s nothing that we will face on Monday morning that can take that away from us. The simple gospel encourages our downtrodden hearts.
These are all unseen, and you and I can take hold of each of these benefits every Sunday as we participate in a Sunday gathering by faith. We need faith to believe that despite every distraction and imperfection we come across on Sunday morning, God’s word is living, active, and bringing grace to us. God is creating worshipers for himself, bringing people from death to new life in Christ. The Holy Spirit is conforming us more and more into the likeness of Christ as we sit under imperfect preaching. And the gospel comforts our weary hearts as we anticipate another workweek.
So when you gather to worship God next Sunday, remember that what you see with your eyes is only half of reality. On ordinary Sunday mornings, extraordinary things are happening.
