Jesus woke up early today. He was so excited because today is Sunday, the first day of the week! This is the day the church comes together to worship God! Oh, indeed, how wonderful it was going to be! To see like-minded people coming together to sing praises to our Creator, to lift up prayers to Him, and to listen to God’s Word being proclaimed as everyone’s heart and attention would be focused on bringing glory to His name – how thrilling it would be! As Jesus prepared for worship, He began to rejoice knowing that God will be in the presence of that assembly while the church cheerfully gives back a portion of that with which they had been blessed and as they would participate in the memorial supper, remembering the sacrifice that Jesus had made for them long ago. Jesus was so excited! His mind and emotions were prepared to enter into that assembly and join the joyful chorus! He couldn’t wait to see His church, His brethren!

As Jesus arrived early at the church building, He entered with a smile and a glowing exuberance. Sadly, no one paid any attention to Him. No one greeted Him or shook His hand. “Well,” He thought to Himself, “they’re just busy getting prepared for worship! I’ll just make my way inside and get seated.”

As He entered the auditorium, He noticed there weren’t many people seated inside. A few minutes later, the song leader announced the “opening song” number and without much enthusiasm. Dispassionately, the few that were seated, began to sing. Jesus was a bit confused, but He joined in the singing, as He struggled to understand why so few were there. Ten minutes or so into the worship hour, Jesus noticed some quite distracting sounds and chatter in the foyer behind Him. People were talking and shuffling about as they were haphazardly entering worship during the singing and even during prayer! It was difficult for Jesus to concentrate during the prayer because of all the bothersome commotion. Many more people were now seated in the auditorium. Several continued to linger in the foyer. Jesus thought, “I wonder what must have happened to cause so many to be late? Was there an accident, perhaps?” Again, He

Shortly afterward, the preacher got up to speak. “I love this part!” Jesus said, “We get to hear God speak to us through His word!” But, the preacher only briefly mentioned a verse here and there and didn’t even open the Bible he held in his hand. He just told some cute stories and made everyone laugh. Jesus was now visibly disappointed. He began to just concentrate on Communion. “Maybe they’ll show a little more respect during this part of worship,” He thought. But, at the moment the servers were making their way to the front, several people got up to go to the bathroom. People were still talking in the foyer. Surprisingly, everyone did seem a bit more solemn and focused during the actual partaking of the bread and juice, but as soon as it was completed, more people got up to go to the back … and some even left!

After the final prayer was offered, Jesus was exiting the auditorium when the preacher grabbed His hand to shake it and said, “It was so great to see you! Hope you enjoyed the service!” Jesus slowly walked back to His house. Jesus wept.