Sabbath Glory

Sabbath Glory

It was an ordinary Sunday, and I followed my ordinary Sabbath routine: a mug of steaming coffee, a hot shower, a few minutes of quiet in my green “guest” chair with Burley stretched out nearby, and then preparation for church.

Dressed and ready, I fastened my watch on my wrist, stuffed my teaching notes in my Bible, grabbed my keys and an insulated cup, and opened the garage door with the remote. In the process I spilled a little coffee on my hand and shirt, giving thanks that I’d at least had the foresight not to wear white.

When I parked my car in my church’s tiny parking lot, I heard the sound of singing upstairs. That muffled music made me glad to belong to a family of wounded saints who gather together in spite of the messy demands of everyday life.

I chatted my way through the downstairs hallway, jotted a brief outline on our classroom wall, and waited as the chairs filled. We’re learning to love the Word, and it’s the Word we come for.

From behind the lectern I saw them shine, these saints. I swear they did. This gathering of dear ones from different places and races and generations and families of origin, they dazzled me to no end. They always do.

Then we made our way into more glory: voices blended in worship and words of the Nicene Creed proclaimed together: “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God . . .” When we began the solemn movement forward for Communion—couples, families, single moms with young children, teenagers, and young adults—I couldn’t take my eyes away or stop the tears that slid down my cheeks. So much beauty at that table and beyond it.

“What did you do today?” a friend asked later. “Just went to church,” I said, and my face burned at the way I’d shrunk so much glory into four small and ordinary words.

A terrible beauty, O God, streams from your sanctuary. It’s Israel’s strong God! He gives power and might to his people! O you, his people, bless God!

Psalm 68:35, MSG