Midweek Message: March 10

Last Sunday, I stood with the children in the front row of the balcony and looked out across the congregation. The kids and I have been going on a Lenten journey during worship these last few weeks, making stops all over the sanctuary. We started at the front steps, where we usually meet, then travelled to the Bible that sits at the front of the sanctuary, reminding us to keep scripture central in our worship and our lives. The next Sunday, we moved to the organ, where the organist showed us how the organ works, and we talked about how important music is in our worship service.

Then, this past week, our journey sent us all the way up to the balcony. The kids were tickled at being allowed to leave the sanctuary during worship. It was funny for me, too, to be leaving the whole congregation behind as we went down the aisle and out into the hall. (“This is the best one so far!” one of them said to me on the way up the stairs.)

Once we got upstairs, we waved to parents and friends down below. “How does it look from up here?” I asked.

“Dangerous!” one of the kids said, to much laughter.

“You can see everything,” another said in wonder.

And it was true; we could see everything. We could see the people who had come to worship, pray, and praise. We could see the choir, ready to lead us in song. We could see the communion table, where the feast had been set. We could see the cross that hangs at the front of the sanctuary, high above the baptistery. It’s there every week, but somehow it looked different from so high up and far away.

It’s good to get a new perspective sometimes. It’s good to get out of our routines, travel to unknown places, to get out of our comfort zone. That’s what Lent is, after all. It’s a journey that pushes us out into the wilderness and makes us look anew at the cross that has been there all along.