The other day I was in the hospital visiting with someone who had a heart attack.  As things go, it is important to respond as if someone was having a heart attack.  While I visit with the family, I begin to read words from scripture that SHOULD be of comfort and consolation.  HOWEVER, I choose to read these words...."The Lord has mercy on those who respect him, as a father has mercy on his children. He knows how we were made; he remembers that we are but dust. Human life is like grass; we grow like a flower in the field. After the wind blows, the flower is gone, and there is no sign of where it was."- Psalm 103:13-16 As I finished reading, I began to laugh like a kid in the back of class that couldn't stop laughing to tell everyone what was so funny.  The family smiled and looked at me with strange curiousity.  It was at that point I blurted out: but dust...we are butt dust.

I laughed more at myself than at those words.  God has a great sense of humor.  Humor is all about timing.

I am amazed at how much I hear about attendance as a pastor.  When I first arrived at St. Mark's a little over a year ago, people would tell me on their way out the door on Sunday; "Pastor you won't see us next week, we will be up north."  It took me sometime but I began to realize that up north is not just a location but a state of mind.  In Wisconsin, it happens during the summer.  We go on vacation from God.

My reply to people that told me the same thing in different ways was something to the effect of - "The great thing about our organization (the Church) is that we are everywhere."  Of course, I meant that as a way of encouraging people to find a place to worship when they are away (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

i don't take attendance, and neither does God.  It is funny to me, especially as a people who claim grace (getting what you don't deserve) as one of the most important aspects of faith.  AND that grace is what keeps us from taking attendance.

SO, it is with that, I heard a friend of my speak to this aspect of attendance that really moved me.  He said the only people taking attendance for you (as an act of worship) are the people around you.  The only people taking attendance are the soccer coach who schedules a game on Sunday morning, the friend you went out drinking with the night before to take you to brunch, the neighbors who check to see if your car is still parked the same place it was the night before. These are the only people that mater when it comes to taking attendance.  THAT should have a huge impact on what it means for us to be followers of Jesus.  In a statement of faith that Jesus is THE most important relationship I have and that God comes first, what are we telling the people around us who are taking attendance?

Praying attention, but not taking attendance - Pastor Andy