Every year, my family takes a vacation to Hilton Head, SC. I've been going there every summer since I was six years old. We stay at the same place, swim in the same pool, go to the same beach, eat at the same restaurants, etc.
One thing that we started doing about fifteen years ago was to go to church on Sunday morning while we are down there. I don't know how many of you go to church while on vacation, but we do. There are some great churches down there, and we always enjoy going.
The tradition after going to church is to eat brunch at Hilton Head Diner.
We always vacation at the height of the season and the place is always packed. Most of the time there is a wait, especially for a family of eleven people. Sometimes it is literally shoulder-to-shoulder while waiting. As we waited in line, packed in with people wanting to eat there, I began to ponder and reflect.
"How many of these folks took an hour out of their Sunday morning to worship God?" I mused. "I doubt that any of these people missed a meal while here on vacation. Why? Because they get hungry. I get hungry. When I'm hungry, I know exactly where to go. I know exactly what to do. That isn't something I've learned, it's just something that is natural."
I continued to think and ponder. "I don't want to go anywhere near a restaurant when I'm not hungry. It has no appeal to me whatsoever. However, when I'm hungry, all I can think about is food."
When I'm physically hungry, all I can think about is food.
When I'm spiritually hungry, all I can think about is God.
But who is spiritually hungry these days?
If you are physically hungry, you want to go to a restaurant. When you are spiritually hungry, you will want to go to a church. Do you describe yourself as spiritually hungry?
How many church members, this past Sunday, stayed home from worship? Not because you were traveling or out of town or sick, but simply just didn't show up? Any given Sunday, I would imagine that over half of church members don't attend the church they claim to be members of. Now, this probably boils down to one of two things: one, the people have spiritual hunger and the church doesn't satisfy that hunger, or two, the people aren't spiritually hungry.
How about you? Would you describe yourself as spiritually hungry?
Is there an animalistic drive to worship God within you? You know what hunger pangs feel like. Are there worship pangs within you that unsettle you, demanding to be satisfied, not settling for milquetoast religion and easy answers, but only reaching satiation when you encounter God, living and personal? Is there a hunger, a thirst, that makes your spiritual tongue stick to the roof of your mouth and makes you crave the living water offered by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
I think as a pastor my prayer for my church is simple: "Lord, put a hunger for You within the people."
Hilton Head Diner didn't have to send out reminders for the people to eat. Hilton Head Diner didn't have to follow up with missing diners. Why? Because the internal hunger of the people drove them there. In the same way, churches shouldn't have to send out invitations to their members, reminding them of Sunday worship. The internal hunger for God that should be present within every Christian should drive them there. Christians should have a need, a tangible unsettlement, a burr under the saddle, a pebble in the shoe, a grain of sand within the eye that will not allow rest until worship has happened.
The problem is quite simply that many of us have lost our hunger for God. We have lost our hunger for worship, for fellowship, for intimacy with God. We have filled our spiritual stomachs with entertainment, money, and idolatry; dulling our appetite for heaven and squelching any and all thirst for an encounter with God.
After all, who wants a restaurant when your stomach is full?
In the same way, Christians who are spiritually full want nothing to do with God. That's a scary statement, but one that, if we were honest with ourselves, probably describes many of us.
The challenge for the Christian is to constantly empty ourselves of things that fill us so that our animalistic hunger for God can surface once again. We read our physical cues very well- the growl of the stomach, the dryness of the lips, the increasing ill temper- but do we read our spiritual cues very well?
Here are the cues of spiritual hunger: lack of forgiveness, lack of patience, suspicion of others, gossip, slander, making mountains out of molehills, a critical spirit, lack of peace, a foul mouth, lustful eyes, and lack of joy. These happen in the absence of worship, in the absence of quiet time with God, in the absence of fellowship with other Christians. Many times, when these cues happen, we go to the internet, watch tv, get online, check our Twitter feed, or something else. In these moments, what we need is worship. Honest, knee-bending, heart-breaking, authentic worship.
Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? I would love to pastor a church filled with hungry people. I would love to pastor a church where people have an insatiable hunger for God. A church where sitting at home on a Sunday morning watching tv is not an option. Where every excuse is rendered meaningless, where complacency is dashed to pieces, where lukewarmness is obliterated, where the people have a thirst for God that exceeds anything we could ever ask or imagine.
Is that your church? Is that you? Is that your family?
If you have no hunger for God, look at what is filling your life. You were meant to hunger for God. You were meant to thirst for Him. You were meant for intimacy with God. Don't sell yourself short.
To all the Christians out there I say simply two words: "Stay Hungry."
One thing that we started doing about fifteen years ago was to go to church on Sunday morning while we are down there. I don't know how many of you go to church while on vacation, but we do. There are some great churches down there, and we always enjoy going.
The tradition after going to church is to eat brunch at Hilton Head Diner.
We always vacation at the height of the season and the place is always packed. Most of the time there is a wait, especially for a family of eleven people. Sometimes it is literally shoulder-to-shoulder while waiting. As we waited in line, packed in with people wanting to eat there, I began to ponder and reflect.
"How many of these folks took an hour out of their Sunday morning to worship God?" I mused. "I doubt that any of these people missed a meal while here on vacation. Why? Because they get hungry. I get hungry. When I'm hungry, I know exactly where to go. I know exactly what to do. That isn't something I've learned, it's just something that is natural."
I continued to think and ponder. "I don't want to go anywhere near a restaurant when I'm not hungry. It has no appeal to me whatsoever. However, when I'm hungry, all I can think about is food."
When I'm physically hungry, all I can think about is food.
When I'm spiritually hungry, all I can think about is God.
But who is spiritually hungry these days?
If you are physically hungry, you want to go to a restaurant. When you are spiritually hungry, you will want to go to a church. Do you describe yourself as spiritually hungry?
How many church members, this past Sunday, stayed home from worship? Not because you were traveling or out of town or sick, but simply just didn't show up? Any given Sunday, I would imagine that over half of church members don't attend the church they claim to be members of. Now, this probably boils down to one of two things: one, the people have spiritual hunger and the church doesn't satisfy that hunger, or two, the people aren't spiritually hungry.
How about you? Would you describe yourself as spiritually hungry?
Is there an animalistic drive to worship God within you? You know what hunger pangs feel like. Are there worship pangs within you that unsettle you, demanding to be satisfied, not settling for milquetoast religion and easy answers, but only reaching satiation when you encounter God, living and personal? Is there a hunger, a thirst, that makes your spiritual tongue stick to the roof of your mouth and makes you crave the living water offered by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
I think as a pastor my prayer for my church is simple: "Lord, put a hunger for You within the people."
Hilton Head Diner didn't have to send out reminders for the people to eat. Hilton Head Diner didn't have to follow up with missing diners. Why? Because the internal hunger of the people drove them there. In the same way, churches shouldn't have to send out invitations to their members, reminding them of Sunday worship. The internal hunger for God that should be present within every Christian should drive them there. Christians should have a need, a tangible unsettlement, a burr under the saddle, a pebble in the shoe, a grain of sand within the eye that will not allow rest until worship has happened.
The problem is quite simply that many of us have lost our hunger for God. We have lost our hunger for worship, for fellowship, for intimacy with God. We have filled our spiritual stomachs with entertainment, money, and idolatry; dulling our appetite for heaven and squelching any and all thirst for an encounter with God.
After all, who wants a restaurant when your stomach is full?
In the same way, Christians who are spiritually full want nothing to do with God. That's a scary statement, but one that, if we were honest with ourselves, probably describes many of us.
The challenge for the Christian is to constantly empty ourselves of things that fill us so that our animalistic hunger for God can surface once again. We read our physical cues very well- the growl of the stomach, the dryness of the lips, the increasing ill temper- but do we read our spiritual cues very well?
Here are the cues of spiritual hunger: lack of forgiveness, lack of patience, suspicion of others, gossip, slander, making mountains out of molehills, a critical spirit, lack of peace, a foul mouth, lustful eyes, and lack of joy. These happen in the absence of worship, in the absence of quiet time with God, in the absence of fellowship with other Christians. Many times, when these cues happen, we go to the internet, watch tv, get online, check our Twitter feed, or something else. In these moments, what we need is worship. Honest, knee-bending, heart-breaking, authentic worship.
Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? I would love to pastor a church filled with hungry people. I would love to pastor a church where people have an insatiable hunger for God. A church where sitting at home on a Sunday morning watching tv is not an option. Where every excuse is rendered meaningless, where complacency is dashed to pieces, where lukewarmness is obliterated, where the people have a thirst for God that exceeds anything we could ever ask or imagine.
Is that your church? Is that you? Is that your family?
If you have no hunger for God, look at what is filling your life. You were meant to hunger for God. You were meant to thirst for Him. You were meant for intimacy with God. Don't sell yourself short.
To all the Christians out there I say simply two words: "Stay Hungry."
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