So I
think I’ve found my Denver church home.
Pretty exciting! A friend
described finding your church as that overwhelming sense of being “home.” I feel that there. What is neat is that it is a new campus, a
satellite campus, of a church here that was growing and growing and needing to
expand. So Easter Sunday was the grand
opening, and that was my first Sunday there too. So I feel like I am a part of it in this special
way; I feel connected already in that we are all starting new together.
And I
feel it, every week - that sense of being home.
And every week, I cry. I cry during a worship song, or the sermon,
or even sometimes something they say during the announcements brings tears to
my eyes.
And
it’s not the only church that has made me cry – in fact, I probably cry more in
church services than anywhere else. My
best friend and Mom can attest to this.
So on Sunday, as we sang, “there is love, that is as strong as death…” and tears filled my eyes, I stopped
and wondered why. Why does church always
make me cry? And this C.S. Lewis quote
immediately came to mind:
"If
I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the
most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
By
“other world”, to me he obviously means Heaven.
We know as Christians that this world, this life, is filled with
heartache, loneliness, hurt, pain, the list goes on… and only in Heaven will we be fulfilled
and experience true fullness of JOY and perfect peace. And this sadness, heartache, tears – what it
really is – is homesickness. For my real
home. So why do my tears flow like
rivers every time I am in church?
Because
it is a gathering of believers, of followers of Jesus. A group of people coming together for the
sole purpose of worshipping the LORD and drawing near to Him.
It is the closest experience to Heaven
that we can have here on earth!
So my tears come because its almost like
my soul is reminded of what her real home is like…a place where she internally knows she is meant to be. That no matter how great this one is, I’m
meant for something (or some-place) more.
Romans 8:23 says, “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly
as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
Meaning, we who have put our faith in
God’s saving Love have an inward thirst that cannot be quenched until we are
adopted into His family and brought to our new home. The surrounding passage in Romans 8 uses the
analogy of pregnancy. In The Message
translation, Romans 8:22-25 says this,
“All around us we observe a pregnant
creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth
pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is
arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and
barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting
does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We
are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But
the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.”
I’ll
admit – that is a pretty visual analogy…but so true! Just as with each new day a pregnant woman is
longing more and more to see her new child, so we should feel a desire to be
reunited with our Heavenly Father and eternal family. And I think I feel that each time I’m in
church worshipping with a small part of that family.
And then I just sit and imagine it…when we are all reunited there with Him –
millions and billions of Christians joining together in the greatest worship
service ever – and that inward longing and desire will be fulfilled….won’t that be full of JOY? J
Here is Brooke Frasier's song interpretation of the C.S. Lewis quote, take a minute and enjoy.
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