Last Sunday our visiting preacher, the Rev. Andrew Nugteren, used a phrase in one of his sermons that has stuck with me during the week: He mentioned that “seeking the Lord” was not something that we can do on auto-pilot.   Andrew was referring to the fact that sometimes we get very comfortable in our routine of worship – so much so that we go through the routine of worship without really engaging our minds.

Worshipping on auto-pilot is very easy.   We sing a well-known song during worship and then at the end of it we realise that while we did sing, our mind was actually elsewhere.   It was familiarity that enabled us to sing the hymn on auto-pilot.   The same is true for prayer.   We hear the words being prayed but we don’t really make them our own.   Or there’s our giving.   We keep an eye on the collection bag coming and we put in our contribution but there was no real thought that we were actually presenting a gift of thankfulness to the Lord for His goodness to us.

Sitting in the pew again last Sunday also made me aware again that listening to a sermon also involves effort.   Please don’t think that I’m suggesting for a moment that it was hard work listening to Andrew.   To the contrary – it was a delight to sit under his ministry.   I’m merely making the point that listening to a sermon is also something that should not be done on auto-pilot.

Someone once commented on the crazy, upside-down values that have become part of our contemporary culture.   We worship our work, work at our play and play at our worship.   In that sort of environment the idea that worship is something we should work at is quite foreign.

Maybe I could put it another way.   Most of us realise that relationships require effort.   In fact if we want to take relationships seriously then we know that they are often hard work.   The reality is that relationships don’t work on auto-pilot either.   Many a marriage has failed because one or both parties were on auto-pilot.   If that’s the way it is with our relationships on the human level then how much more true that is in terms of our relationship with Almighty God.   And the reality is that God still chooses to grow us in our relationship with Himself through our public, corporate worship.

When we read through the Psalms and listen to the Prophets and Apostles then we understand that that our relationship with God requires diligent effort.   We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.   That’s not do-able on auto-pilot.   If we come to church on a Sunday just to gain the satisfaction of being able to tick it off as a testimony to our faithfulness then we’ve missed the boat.

The New Testament uses the expression “make every effort” eight times (NIV).   It applies to everything from making every effort “to enter through the narrow gate” to making every effort “to be found at peace with Him”.   Auto-pilot is fine for pilots in modern aircraft but unfortunately auto-pilot just doesn’t cut it when it comes to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

John Westendorp