The Imperfect Church

Why am I looking forward to church this morning? Why does anyone look forward to it?

I'm not talking about the need for church or the biblical mandate to faithfully attend; that's a whole other thing. A whole other, true and serious thing.

This morning I am looking forward to attending church. Not because my church has perfect anything. We don't have that perfect building- the one with the comfortable, numerous bathrooms. Nope. We have one toilet, unless you want to wade through the babies in the nursery to get to toilet number two. We don't have a Women's Meeting Room or a room strictly for the use of our Session. We don't have a great and beautiful space for showers and teas. Nope. None of that. What we do have is a leaky roof and a prayer closet/copy room.

Our church doesn't have great programs. We attempt children's events and women's events and men's groups. We don't have an award winning worship team or a youth group that travels the globe.

Our church is a teenaged church, meaning that we aren't fully formed yet. We don't have our own elders and deacons yet. That is coming.

Our church doesn't have members who have it all together. Nope. Our congregation is actually pretty broken. Divorced, widowed, depressed, confused, disabled, and anxious- this is our group.

So why would I look forward to this bedraggled and ragamuffin gathering?

Because Jesus is there. In the midst of a broken people who are all out of options, Jesus is leading the way. Our musicians might mess up a song, but they just want to worship the only Hope they have. Our prayer team may look weak, but we have a strong and mighty Father who listens to us. My church is my family. We pour the Spirit back and forth between us and see the Father's pleasure in each other's smile.

And because this is truly a means of God's grace to me. To hear the Word, to respond in praise, to pray together, and to run to the Sacrament of Communion. This is the day that I get to hang out with my Father and my fellow misfit children and be reminded that it's all gonna be alright. He's making all things right.