Have you ever seen a three-year-old walk up to a communion table during a worship service, reach up and put on it a book that has been read to him, in order to dedicate his learning to God? I have. Last night, at The Gathering Church. Everyone attending was invited to bring something used in their learning and education to place on the table. This little guy couldn’t wait, and was ready to make a dash to the table as soon as the service started. I think that one arm is longer now, after his mother held him in place until the invitation was given to come forward.
It was inspiring to see people of all ages bring something to the table. We then considered what the best outcomes from our learning may be. The Bible passage found in Matthew 22:34-40 gave us the answer. In that passage, Jesus is asked a trick question about what was God’s greatest commandment. His famous answer was two-part: to love God with everything that we have, including our mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Worship and Service – the best outcomes of any endeavor, including education. That we might more effectively love God and love people.
It’s not always easy to know how our education helps us to do those things, especially if the default drive is to serve ourselves, advance our position in the world. The ideal got messed up in the Garden when one of the first things we ‘learned’ was to distrust God; go our own way. What got created, now needed to be redeemed, restored, fixed. That’s what Christ did. He lived the model of worship and service, and by dying he both judged the result of our mess–up and accepted it as his.
So, our hope is that God will experience love from our learning, and people will experience something good.
Among those approaching the table last night was a university professor. In his hands was a paper that he has been working on, that will be submitted for publication. It’s a study that will affect the medical care of senior citizens. He shared with us that his vision for that paper changed during the service, as he realized its best potential. What had been a pressing deadline became an occasion for worship and service.
Worship and Service. May they be the outcomes of what we learn.
PS. Another Day I will tell you about the fifteen-year-old who responded when I asked the congregation how come we have never seen a true drawing of the atom ,with this simple answer: “Because of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.” Then he explained it. Needless to say, a lot of learning goes on at The Gathering Church.