In the Fullness of Time: Better Late than Never

I was late for an afternoon class in high school and when I entered the room the teacher questioned my tardiness. I joked that there was a power failure at the mall and I was stuck on the escalator. Perhaps not fully believing that a student would joke in such a way, or because he fully expected a smart-alecky response, he just ignored me.

But on a brighter note, my mother always told me, “better late than never.” It didn’t seem to matter why I was late, or what I was late for, the advice remained the same. And I might add, she was right, late is better than never. In a very real way that is what Back to Church Sunday is all about.

People make-up lots of excuses for not being a part of a Christian community. Some excuses are quite legitimate because Christian communities are not perfect, we make mistakes and we sin. But we are never stuck on escalators. And if we are five minutes late coming to a Church service or five years: it is always better than never.

Christian communities sometimes get overly excited when someone new ventures in our doors. It’s as if a miracle has happened and we see a new envelop holder, or a new treasurer, or a new Sunday school teacher. Acclimatizing to a new community is sometimes difficult and it is our hope that we can provide a friendly, safe and not overbearing community.

Be assured that our joy is firmly rooted in the belief that God calls us all here, to worship and celebrate together. The joy we have is a joy shared by God because we have responded to God’s invitation to enter a relationship with God and with other followers of God’s way. The phrase, “in the fullness of time,” is sometimes used in our prayers, and each time it means, “when God gets around to it.” So rather than thinking that we are late, let’s start thinking we are right-on-time!