One particular Sunday, I sat down fully dressed for church with a hot cup of coffee. My children were also ready for church on time, and we made it out the door with minimal chaos. It was quite the opposite of how the previous Sunday looked (or how most Sundays look, if I’m honest).
Most Sunday mornings at our house are pure chaos. My stories of Sunday morning adventures are endless. There was the time a bird flew into our house, and then another when one of our children pooped all over my dress during church. Isn’t the joke, “Whoever wrote ‘Easy Like Sunday Mornings’ never had to get kids ready for church”? While it’s true Sundays can be difficult, this un-rushed Sunday reminded me that Sundays aren’t all hard or even always hard. Satan whispers, “Sundays are always hard,” so we either don’t prioritize church, or so that we do so with grumbling or drudgery. Instead of believing this lie, let’s realize the Gospel applies to every part of Sunday mornings, from the rush to get out the door, to the attempt to engage in conversation with another mom.
At creation, Adam and Eve not only had a perfect relationship with each other, but also with God. “Worship” wasn’t reserved for an hour on Sunday mornings, but everything they did was pure worship to their Creator. God created Adam and Eve to be worshippers of him, and commanded them to fill the earth with more worshippers of Him (Gen. 1:28). This is how God intended things to be.
Yet, we know we’re far from Eden. God created us to worship, but we misdirect our worship toward the created instead of the Creator. Weekly corporate worship helps us redirect our worship and gaze to the Lord. Truly, every difficulty about Sunday mornings is a result of the Fall. From the never-ending search for shoes to snapping at our children while they get ready, the Fall impacts our Sundays. As our culture grows increasingly post-Christian, the Sunday morning battle rages stronger. The battle is no longer just shoes and attitudes, but priorities. With sports, activities, and jobs, our culture doesn’t view Sunday as a unique day, so we must fight against that in order to keep the local church a priority in our families.
The effects of the Fall don’t magically disappear at our salvation, but Jesus’s rescue redeems our Sunday mornings. In Christ, the Spirit empowers us to redirect our worship where it belongs, God alone. The entirety of our lives should be worship unto the Lord, but the weekly gathering is a necessary part of the Christian life (Rom. 12:1-2). Gathering with believers is so vital that we’re commanded not to forsake it (Heb. 10:25). Weekly corporate worship remind us to turn our eyes to Christ. It edifies and strengthens us to continue live faithfully for Christ in our very fallen world. Also, Jesus’s rescue exchanges our old desires for new and better ones. We love what Christ loves, and he loves his Bride, the church. The Spirit shifts our priorities to love hearing the Word taught, singing with fellow believers, and more. Jesus’s rescue also provides forgiveness. Therefore, when we sin against our children or husbands in the rush to get out the door, there’s grace for us. That one sin doesn’t define us or the rest of our day. The Lord gives new mercies to walk by the Spirit in future difficult moments. On the other hand, when we’re the one sinned against, we look to the cross and remember the undeserved grace Jesus pours on us, so we can give grace to the one who hurt us. While it’s easy to focus on the difficulties of Sunday mornings, Jesus’s rescue reminds us of why he came— to give abundant life (John 10:10). Satan wants to destroy any joy we may have as we head to worship with our church family. However, in Christ, we can experience abundant life as we dress toddlers and look for shoes. While the Fall impacts our Sunday mornings, Jesus’s abundant life means it’s not all bad. Sure, some Sundays are more difficult than others. Even on those, if we look at them with hearts of rejoicing, we’ll see there were beautiful moments woven within the hard.
One day, Christ will return and all will be as he intended before the Fall. We’ll no longer battle the temptation to prioritize other things above gathering with believers. There won’t be lost shoes or tantrums moments before we need to leave for church. Like at creation, our worship will always be rightly directed to God. Best of all, we’ll be with Christ for eternity, the One whom we spent so many Sundays learning and singing about.
Take heart that the Lord is with us on Sunday mornings. He sees us as we button dress shirts, comb hair, and remind children to brush their teeth. He sees us when we sin against our children, and his grace meets us there. Our worth isn’t found in how well we get our family ready for church, but in knowing and loving Christ. On easy and difficult Sunday mornings, let’s fix our eyes on Christ. Trust that he uses these moments to teach us and our children more about himself. Praise God for giving us the church! What a beautiful gift we have to come alongside other believers and worship our Savior together!
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