“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one Body.  And be thankful!  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” - Colossians 3: 15-17

I am extremely grateful to my friend and colleague, Rev. Bill Smith, who preached one of the best Stewardship/Passionate Faith sermons I think I have ever had the pleasure of hearing!  With his excellent preaching, the wonderful music from the Senior Choir at 8:30am, and JIFY at 11:00am, the moving Gratitude Moment/Faith Story from Sandy T. and the excellent call to action for the Thanksgiving Baskets by Alana T., at both services, even after cutting many elements out of the worship, both went and hour and a half, something that is highly unusual here at Christus Victor Lutheran Church.  And yet, the overwhelming response from those who attended worship on Nov. 7 was enthusiasm and gratitude!   Both worship services were very moving and powerful, touching people’s minds, hearts, and souls with the Gospel of Christ Jesus, stirring people’s faith.

As I’ve been processing the dizzying amount of emails and facebook postings about the worship services, what struck me was one question by a high school student, “Why can’t worship be like this all of the time?”  That got me reflecting on what was it about yesterday’s worship that was so powerful to most people?  What was different from our average worship services, which are typically not as long or always as moving as yesterday?

The seemingly obvious answer was Pastor Bill, our guest preacher.  And while he is an incredibly gifted and passionate preacher, there were also a lot of people who knew he was coming and were, therefore, filled with great expectation.  They were looking forward to the sermon!  Added to that expectation, the choir changed their anthem in honor of Pastor Bill and with special musicans gave a passionate, spirit-filled performance.   Added to that were the excellent talks by both Sandy T. and Alana T.; passionate, moving, faith-filled, and very well done.  Do you see a pattern?  There was a critical mass of people who had expectant hearts and who had been preparing diligently for worship.

Take a second look at the Colossians text and notice the word “LET.”  “LET the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…LET the word of Christ dwell in you richly…”  In other words, be open and welcome Christ into  your hearts and lives.  Jesus promised, that wherever two or three are gathered together in his name, he is there among them and with them.  The issue is not, as a few have suggested, that Christ was more present this past Sunday than on any other Sunday, because Christ promises to be present always through the Word and Sacraments in our worship.  Perhaps the lesson for us is to be open to Christ, be expectant for Christ, be prepared to do our part well, whatever it may be.  So that, as the peace and word of Christ dwells in us richly, we may proclaim Christ in our words, in music and singing, in our prayers, in our confessions of sin and faith, in our passing of the peace of Christ, in the eating of the bread and the drinking of the wine.  The result of which is GRATITUDE – hearts and lives filled and renewed through faith in Christ Jesus.

May we come every week expectant and with diligent preparation, especially of our hearts and minds, to worship our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.