Ed, my neighbour next door, was off to Edmonton for Easter. Family pressure there resulted in Ed being obliged to attend church with his relatives. He whined about it to his wife Ruby who told him that it wouldn?t hurt him any, and in fact, it might even be good for him.
There was an informal singing of hymns to begin the service. Those in the congregation were invited to name their favourite Easter hymn and then they all sang a couple verses of each hymn suggested. Ed informed me he could only come up with the name of three hymns and he didn?t offer them, as he had no idea if they were Easter hymns or not. He wanted to know if Away in a Manger, Jesus Loves Me, and Rock of Ages were Easter hymns.
?Pretty close,? I answered. ?They are all good hymns worth singing,? I added. ?How did going to church work out for you?? I asked Ed.
?It actually wasn?t too bad! I was surprised when they had people playing guitars, keyboard and drums. The words were on a big screen for everyone to follow,? Ed added. ?When I go to churches for funerals, the music is usually with a single organ, which is either so loud that is all you hear, or so soft the front of the church is singing a line or two ahead of the people at the back.?
?So you found the music better than you?re used to?? I questioned.
?Not necessarily better, but a real change from what I have experienced before,? commented Ed.
?How was the sermon?? I inquired.
?Glad you asked,? Ed said with a grin. ?No dry as sawdust sermon like you give, but a neat drama. They had a make-believe Jesus and make-believe disciples and a-make believe doubting Thomas. It was much less painful than a preacher talking at you for hours and hours,? Ed elaborated with way too much enthusiasm.
?You know Ed, there are churches around here that have worship or praise bands with guitars, drums, etc. Those churches have big screens to show song words, video clips, special effects and power point presentations as part of the church service. It sounds like that is where you should be worshiping,? I said to Ed.
?Not really. Their message was like yours in the end,? Ed answered. ?They had a power point presentation after the dramatization, and it was clear that in their minds, there is no dodging the need to stop doubting Jesus is alive from the dead. I am not ready to do that just now, or maybe ever. I like to keep my options open.? Ed admitted.
?If you don?t attend church, you can skip the hard questions about God and your relationship to Him. No matter how the churches seem different, they all get around to the challenge - the need to believe Jesus is alive and to know how you will serve him.? I stated.
?They all get around to an offering too,? said Ed with contempt.
?You are right, but more importantly, there is the hard giving of your time and talents in service to a living Christ,? I observed.
?That is the point of it all. If I stopped my doubting, I would need to change and that is my problem. It is easier to serve myself than God,? Ed honestly answered.
