How to Go to Church: A Verse Relevant to Being On Time

You think I’M adamant about getting to church in time to hear the Scriptures!

I’ll begin by freely admitting I can be hard on those who habitually show up to church late. You may have already noticed that.

But during Lent, I make a point to be hard on myself. Even I need to do that at times. And I noticed one of my sins of omission is neglecting a certain book in the Bible even though I love it — Proverbs. Years ago I had the habit of reading through Proverbs with stops at each verse I felt I particularly needed to work on — yes, that meant I read it slowly, very slowly. But that method helped me be a slightly less Bad Christian. At least I hope so.

But, still being a Bad Christian, I’ve neglected that in recent years. So I’ve made it one of my Lenten disciplines to resume slowly reading Proverbs as in the past, with stops and reflections at verses I need to work on. I recommend that discipline by the way.

While so doing, as a bonus, I discovered I was more right than I knew about showing up to church on time. For I came across a verse I had forgotten, Proverbs 28:9.

If one turns away his ear from hearing the law,

even his prayer is an abomination.

When I read that, a certain type of bad churchgoer came to mind. Many of you know the sort already — someone who habitually shows up so late, they miss some or all of the reading of Scripture. They might even miss part of the sermon. Yet they still present themselves to receive the Holy Sacrament. I’ve briefly written before how that is not good and even dangerous.

And for the sake of not inviting the judgement of God to rain down upon you, do not show up very late to the service and presume it’s still okay to receive the Body and the Blood. I can really rant about that and probably will another day. A common rule is those who show up after the reading of the Scriptures should not present themselves at the altar rail to receive. And that makes sense. Someone who can’t be bothered to show up early enough to hear the word of Christ should not presume to receive the Body of Christ.

Maybe you are fortunate and know of no one like that. But there has been such a presumptuous woman at my parish. And she was disrespectful in other ways: yakking at the communion rail (until one Sunday this layman had enough and shushed her), playing a video with audio for a child during the sermon. And she had attended for a long time. She surely knew better.

One does not have to attend Roman Catholic churches often to notice they tend to have at least one or two of these people. They show up late and then often leave as soon they receive the bread and wine. They treat Mass as nothing but a vending machine for the Sacrament and downright disrespect the rest of the service.

While I’m on the subject, Roman Catholics are often so poorly catechized that they think little of the reading and teaching of Scripture. I’ve been shocked at the attitudes I’ve heard from even TradCats. Of course, many very Protestant sorts instead care little for the sacraments. Those rare Sundays in which crackers and grape juice are passed down the row might even be seen as an inconvenience that makes one later to lunch. Traditional Anglicans have it right on their good days — both word and sacrament are important and necessary in right worship. In any case, catechesis should include the importance of all of Sunday worship and of attentive respect for that.

Heretofore, I asserted out of common sense that it is disrespectful and displeasing not to bother to hear Christ’s words but then presume to receive Christ’s body and blood. But there wasn’t a chapter and verse that came immediately to mind. But, thanks to stumbling upon Proverbs 28:9, now I have one. Yes, I’m weaponizing Scripture.

And Proverbs 28:9 is even stronger stuff than my rantings! If one “turns one’s ear away” from hearing God’s word — such as habitually* showing up so late to church that one misses hearing some or all of the Scripture reading and preaching — then presuming to barge late into His presence, even with prayer, is offensive to Him.

So don’t do that. First, you listen to God. You listen to Scripture and the preaching of it. Then, with holy fear, you venture to pray for help in obeying His word and for His presence in your life. Why should God listen to you if you can’t be bothered to listen to Him?

Now, of course, one of the messages of Scripture and of Lent is that God is ready to receive the penitent and their prayers. So if you realize you have not been hearing His word as you should — and as I’ve already admitted, that’s me, too — repent of that, get on your knees and confess that sin to God with sorrow and ask for His forgiveness and for His help to sin no more. Then you stand up and get to church on time and pay attention when Scripture is read and preached.

Who knows how God will then bless your repentance? With His help, you will not only get to church on time and benefit from the whole service; you will become less of a Bad Christian than me.

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*Please note that I’m addressing being habitually late. Especially for those with small children, stuff happens that makes one late on occasion. I am not writing here about that and instead think highly of those who do their best to get to church when that is not easy to do. God bless you!