Some Folks

Some folks spend every Sunday in the pew, but have never been to church.
Some folks serve on every board in their congregation, but have never been to church.
Some folks have spent a fortune gussying up their sanctuaries, but have never been to church.
Church is a matter of heart--not a matter of status, of image, of power, of wealth.
We have been to church when our hearts have been so transformed that our highest priority becomes not the building, not the boards, but the willingness to welcome in and tend to the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the outcast, the foreigner, and the broken ones.
Not to throw a few nickels their way when we see fit, after we've spent tens of thousands on a more beautiful building for ourselves first.
Not to keep them confined to a social agency downtown because our houses of worship are 'too nice' to risk allowing them in.
When we can be bodily present alongside those we fear and despise the most in our society,
and become friends and neighbors,
When our houses of worship are houses for everyone
and tables for everyone
until everyone is fed, and sheltered, and loved,
Then, we begin to see as God sees.
For God, all the rest doesn't begin to matter.