The Six Toed Jesus

In my quest to find my home church continued today, as I went to another church. The only reference to the name, of this place of worship, will be the denomination. It was of the United Methodist denomination. I don’t know if I have ever been to this particular branch, of the Methodist denomination. I know that I have been guilty of sitting under the teaching of the Methodist people with no problem, several times in my life. When I was growing up I was friends with a Methodist minister.

Let me start by telling you about the Sanctuary. It was huge, with several, very tall stained glass windows. I was blessed with being able to sit by the one, of Jesus on the cross. There were several with Jesus one the cross, but somehow I think this one was special.

I am really a stickler for detail. I tend to notice the small stuff that others don’t tend to see. The first thing, that I noticed about, this special window is that it had a very special Jesus.  What do I mean by a very special Jesus?   This Jesus had six toes on His foot!!  I kept thinking that one of them had to be on the foot, behind the front foot. However, the bone structure would not allow that to be true. Sure enough I sat beside a six toed Jesus!!

The Sanctuary was absolutely immaculate. The ceilings were approximately forty feet tall, with columns running throughout. The pews were long, and padded for comfort with a red fabric. The music was supplied by a great pipe organ, and a grand piano.
I really got excited when I was looking at this extra-large program of events that were offered throughout the week. They had a mission statement, and their vision, on the front cover. The vision included such word as, passionate worship, intentional discipleship, salty service, extravagant generosity, and radical hostility.

Sound pretty good so far. The people that came to greet me, where really, I have to use this word, they were really sweet people. They were all older than me, but older folks tend to be the most friendly I find inside, and outside of the church.

I think that it is time to talk about the service.  It opened with music, and then the pastor, or the reverend; both titles were on the program. He welcomes us into the presence of God!!   There were two folks that walked down the aisle, on carried a cross, and one carried the fire. The cross was planted up front, and two candles were lit.

Then the choir came while singing, and took their place, in the back of the staging area. This is actually the last good thing that I have to say about this service. I did enjoy looking at all the windows, and listening to the way that they praised their version of God. I quickly understood that this was not the way, which I choose to worship Father. I had this amazingly peaceful feeling as I waited to hear the Word.

They read scripture from the Old Testament twice and, from the New Testament twice also. I really like to hear the scriptures read, in a worship service. Everything that they did was written out of the program. The only thing, which diverted from the program, was when the crowd clapped twice.

They took up the offering, and then sang the doxology. They sang more songs, and then had what they called, a responsive litany. If you don’t know what that means, like I didn’t know, it is simple. The pastor says one thing, and the crowd follows with a response. Then the pastor prays a written out prayer, and we have another song.

I am growing weary by this time waiting for the Word. I am almost at the point of aggravation, but I knew that it had to be next. Once we were finished singing that song the pastor stood behind the pulpit. He raised his hands above his head, and spoke these words, “Go in peace.”

This was the first time, which I was in a worship service, where the Word of God, was not preached!! I was more than a little upset. There was not a mention, of the blood shed by my Savior. There was not a mention, of the cross that He gave His life on, for the sins of the world. There was not even a mention of the word sin. I was beginning to understand, the six toed Jesus hanging on the cross, on the window.

They had not even mentioned the name of Jesus. They had not said the name Father, or Holy Spirit freely. They might have said the name in one of the readings, but not in a loving way. They didn’t seem to know Jesus in the way that I do. They didn’t act like Jesus had Saved them, from the sins, and consequences, that Jesus has Saved me from. Was there one person in that church that knows who Jesus is?

I left immediately when the pastor said, go in peace. In was so upset, that I simple had to get out of there. I didn’t process all of this, until I had been home, for a couple hours. I really feel sorry for them, because apparently they don’t know Jesus. That is probably the reason that the sanctuary was less than a quarter full. This is proof that it really don’t matter how grand a sanctuary that you have, if you don’t know our Savior, who was born in a stable!! I believe that these folks need our prayer!!         Ain’t God good?

                   ….Much Love