As I told you all in my last entry I was heading down to Melbourne for the World Cup game between New Zealand and Canada. It was a great weekend, great to get away, with little pressure on my time for two days..
The game itself was a great spectacle. My seat was on the halfway line, in the third tier of the stand. I enjoyed seeing the teams run onto the field… maybe my heart really is in New Zealand, because a chill really did run down my spine, as the New Zealand National Anthem was sung, and also the song Pokarekere Ana, (sung by Hayley Westenra).
The Canadian’s played really well, but the result was pretty much as predicted – New Zealand winning 68-6.
I had a really lazy Saturday, it was nice to enjoy the sun, and sit on the banks of the Yarra, watching the rowing crews going through their strokes.
But with the rugby there has come some guilt. To go to the New Zealand v Canada game, I missed Bible Study, and (if, when) I go to the New Zealand v Wales game I will also be missing church. (Going to church in the morning, as I am going to do, is not really the same).
It’s quite a hard one really, because I don’t really want to miss church, and when I bought the tickets I was not sure that it was a Sunday. I know the ‘heretic’ comment is a joke, and a joke in part I’ve taken on, but it is painful … painful because I don’t know that there is anything wrong with it and also because I also feel there is an element of truth in it.
But what’s everyone’s line of thought here? – I am not looking for justification, if rebuke is appropriate, then even if my ears don’t really want to hear, they need to hear it.
I know that the church is not the rain-shelter, but the people, having said that it’s still a break of fellowship, a break from fellowship, and fellowship is important, to deny fellowship with them is to keep the gifts that God has given me (the gift of faith, of hope and of love, expressed through service), to myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment