Because we get to read The Story

In preparation for Children's Chapel, I went around to all the classrooms this morning to introduce the preschoolers to worship in the chapel.  I asked them a bunch of questions and one of them said, "Why do you think we are quiet when we enter the Nave?"  One child mumbled, "because we get to read the story."  I am not sure exactly what he meant but this is what I took from the exchange.

I am never sure how to prepare for Children's Chapel.  I do not consider teaching children to be one of my strengths.  I have a hard time translating adult learning into children's learning.  So I really never know if I am presenting age appropriate material.  In short, I feel like that all my efforts to say just the right thing get in the way of really hearing God's story.

This reflection reminded of two things about worship.  First of all, going to worship is not a "have to" it is a "get to" thing.  What a wonderful privilege to worship God in beauty and in truth.  In addition, I was reminded to listen in worship.  As a preacher, it is easy to become preoccupied with what I am going to say or do next.  So my challenge is to learn how to listen and reflect on God's story better in the context of worship.

The story of God in scripture is the story of how God has relationship with his creation.  We get to read the story.  We also get to be a part of that story.  It is a story about grace, failure, redemption, salvation, doubt, and faith.  In the end, the story is fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

We get to be a part of the story of grace thanks be to God in Christ.  In his letter to the Ephesians (2:8-10), Paul sums up the gift of being a part of that story when he says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."   

What a wonderful, sacred, and mysterious story we have through the work and grace of Christ Jesus.  We don't have to be a part of the story, we get to be a part of the story because it is a gift.