Pastor Klemme

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! These are the joyful words of Easter. We hear them every year during this time of the Easter season. It gives us joy, peace, and hope in a world which is dead in sin. He is living and reigning for all eternity. Because He lives, we too shall rise and live with Him forever. These are the words of Gospel assurance. Every year folks come out of the proverbial woodwork to hear these words of victory spoken. Attendance is up, and the churches are more full than at any other time of the year, including Christmas. It is an encouraging and wonderful sight to see.

Then comes the anticlimactic first Sunday in Easter, and then the second Sunday in Easter, and these are always notoriously the most poorly attended services of the year. We go from one extreme to the next. Why? Why is there such a sharp and obvious drop off in worship attendance on these Sundays? One of my elders said to me “I understand the C&E people not coming the next week, but why do so many of our regular members stay away?” That’s a very good question. I have pondered upon that many times over the years. I don’t think there’s just one answer, but rather a multitude of issues are at work in our people’s lives.

Perhaps, for some, the whirlwind of Holy Week with its extra services, then culminating in the triumph of Easter is just too much church. Some may feel they need a well earned break. Perhaps, for others, worship in general is not seen as a priority in their lives, but something that may fit in if there’s time. It’s a matter of priority. I truly don’t know the reason/s. What I do know is what can be observed. There is always a sharp decline in attendance after Easter, and this year it is very apparent.

As a pastor, this is very disconcerting to me. But what can I do? I can’t change the hearts or minds of people. I have a difficult enough time trying to deal with my own heart and mind, let alone other’s. There is absolutely nothing that I can say or do that is going to motivate people to give more money, attend more church, be involved in regular Bible study, or volunteer to serve their church and community. The stewardship of time, talent and treasures is a personal response to God and His great love for us.

So, how are hearts and minds changed? They can only begin to be changed by and through the Word of God. Only God has the power to change a person’s mind and soften a hardened heart. Over the course of the centuries God’s faithful prophets and pastors have declared His Word. Some of the Gospel seed fell on rocky soil. Others were sown among the thorns of life and it’s stresses and worries, and choked the life out of them. Only a portion of the seed seems to fall upon good soil that produces abundant fruit. In Matthew 13 Jesus tells the parable of the sower. This is what happens in people’s lives even unto this very day. Some lose the Gospel seed because it fell on thin soil, and other concerns came and gobbled it up. Some fell upon the thorny soil of our messy lives. The worries and cares of this world sweep it away by choking the life out of it. In both cases other priorities dominated. Only in a portion did the seed of the Gospel fall on good soil where it was able to sprout, grow and bear lasting fruit.

The seemingly ideal church is illustrated in Acts 2:42-47, 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Look at what is happening here among this small body of believers in Jerusalem. They devoted themselves! They devoted themselves to the Word of God. They devoted themselves to daily worship. They devoted themselves to the Lord’s Supper. They devoted themselves to each other in fellowship. They devoted themselves to their community and willingly sold all they had and gave it to the poor and to help anyone who was in need. This was radical! This was unique! This was unheard of! Yet, look at what the result of all this was, “and God added daily to their numbers those who were being saved.” God blessed the sowing of His Gospel seed.

This idyllic congregation did not last long. We see right away in the following chapters division and fear creeping into the infant Church. Where people were giving up and selling all they had, Ananias and Sapphira try to deceive Peter and the Church by lying that they indeed sold everything, when they purposefully kept back things for themselves. The not selling of all their property was not the sin. No one was forced or even expected to sell their property. They did so as a fruit of faith; a result of God’s love for them. They didn’t do it because Peter and the Apostles were cultish leaders who demanded all worldly good to be relinquished in order to earn salvation. Not once did Peter ever even mention it. The people, out of their love for the Lord’s great love for them, responded freely and naturally by wanting to sell their possessions and devote themselves to the means of grace without distraction. Then this “delightful” couple is caught in a boldfaced lie, and they fall down dead! Lies and division already entered the body of believers.

Then Stephan is stoned to death on account of the faith. The body of believers is scattered from Jerusalem in fear. Yet, in their scattering they took the Gospel with them and scattered it beyond the confines of Jerusalem. The Word of the Lord went forth and accomplished the purpose for which it was sent.

The trouble began in the hearts and minds of sinful people. Sin was allowed to take root. Many stopped devoting themselves to the teachings of the Apostles and began to neglect the means of grace.

We see this happening throughout the New Testament. Paul is writing to the divided congregation at Corinth admonishing and exhorting them to put divisions aside and live as the disciples they truly are by grace through faith. He has to write to the Galatians also admonishing them from turning away from the one true Gospel to that which is not a gospel, at all. The seven churches of Revelation all were turning away from their “first love”, becoming “lukewarm”, making compromises with the culture and politics, trying to stave off persecution. Thinking that they could worship both God and false gods, that all paths lead to heaven, among other damnable beliefs. In each case the goal Jesus had for these wayward sheep was repentance. Not destruction. Rather to “remember the heights from which you have fallen and do that which you did at the first, otherwise I am coming to take away your lamp stand.” The lamp stand is a symbol of the Church and refers back to Mt. 5:13-16.

The repentance of these churches came only through God’s effective Word. God’s Spirit gave them the repentance of heart and mind, and turned them back to their “First Love.” He is calling out to you and me today. He is calling out for us to remember our First Love. To do the things we did when we devoted ourselves to God’s Word. Look what we can do when we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ! Take our eyes off Jesus and we sink like a stone, just as Peter did.

The Western Church is sinking. Many have lost their first love and have grown lukewarm; having an appearance of righteousness, but only a mere facade of an appearance.

Our Good Shepherd is calling us back to Himself. We may come up with every lame excuse under heaven and earth of why church is optional, or not necessary. We may claim its boring. It’s filled with hypocrites. That we have too much going on in our busy lives to devote even an hour a week to being fed by our God. Believe me, I have heard it all! I’ve seen people get sheepish and rather embarrassed in my presence, and say things like, “Well pastor we haven’t been in church much since Covid. We’ve been meaning to get back to coming. But life just gets in the way. You know how it is?” I definitely know how it is. I’ve used many of the same excuses in my life over the years. I was dead wrong, being lazy and neglectful of God’s grace. This led to a malaise in faith. It led to cheaper grace. It led to justifying every other priority in life other than our highest priority in Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is what happened to me during my years when I was off the roster. However, God called to me. He didn’t allow me to languish in apathy or neglect of His grace. He convicted my sinful heart and mind, changed it only by and through His Holy Spirit, and brought me gently back to Himself, not only in church attendance, but back into the Office of the Holy Ministry. I swore I’d never go back into ministry! I learned never to say never to God.

So it is for you , too. Our Shepherd wants us all back in the fold of His pasture. There He feeds us, leads us to streams of living waters, and protects us from all the attacks of the Evil One. He wants us all to come home. He wants us to come back to Him, who is our First Love. He wants us to remember the heights from which we have fallen and to do that which we did at the first, to devote ourselves to seek His Kingdom and righteousness above all else. It starts right here and now inside our hearts and minds. Our Shepherd is calling out to us. Do you hear Him? He is speaking to us through His Word. We know His voice, for we have heard it before. We can still hear Him crying out, “Come home and be fed and filled. Be equipped then to go and work today, for field is white and harvest waiting, who will bear the sheaves away?” It is ONLY by and through His means of grace that we can respond as Isaiah did, “Here am I send me! Send me!” Amen!