Pastoral Claims Stated 4

A roving spirit of unhallowed curiosity causes many to be very irregular in their attendance at their own place of worship. Is there no such malady now, as that which partially infected the churches in the apostle's time, and which he denominated, "having itching ears?" Is it not a very widely spread, and still more widely spreading, epidemic?

There are some people who act as if they believe that novelty is the spice of religion, as well as of life. Not a charity sermon is anywhere preached—but they are sure to be there to hear it, although the funds are rarely the richer for their munificence—funeral sermons have an irresistible attraction—and it would be thought by them almost a sin not to run after every popular preacher of every denomination who happens to come to town; and, as they have a taste for music, Sunday concerts, whether performed in a protestant or a catholic chapel, in a church or a meeting house, for most have them by turns, are an object of great delight; because they can thus, as they suppose, unite the pleasures of faith and of sense.

But is this a spirit becoming the sobriety, seriousness, and steadiness which should ever characterize religious profession? Few and rare are the occasions on which a person should allow himself to be absent from his own accustomed place of worship. Were I a hearer, instead of a preacher, I think it would be my effort to try, and my exultation to find, what temptations I could resist, what occasional sacrifices I could make, rather than be absent from my own pew on the Sabbath day.

And this steadiness of attendance should be maintained, not only when your own pastor is at home—but also, when he is abroad; for there is something quite childish in running away from an occasional supply, because his voice is unmusical, his imagination dull, his style not classical, or his preaching not impassioned. What is this—but to treat the house of God as a theater, ministers as actors, and sermons as mere performances. Curiosity, such as that I have been describing, is distinct and separate from a thirst after truth, and from the sober, serious disposition with which truth is pursued.

It is an unhallowed propensity, a babyish taste, the mark of a light and frivolous mind, which, with childish instability, is ever seeking after some new toy, and cannot be pleased with any one for a long time. I am anxious to see the Christian world purified from all its follies, and to see the professors of religion manifesting, even in minor points, the dignified steadiness and sobriety which comport with their principles, hopes, and aims; and the absence of which must abstract from their profession much of its consistency, beauty, and attractiveness.

I said that your attendance upon your minister should be PUNCTUAL. Come to the house of God in time; for late attendance, which is a crying sin in all our congregations, is an excessive annoyance to the more serious and orderly worshipers, is disrespectful to the preacher and an insult to God.

And come SERIOUSLY. Come from the closet to the sanctuary; from private prayer to public worship—from the act of praying for the minister, to the act of hearing him preach. It is at home that the fire of devotion should be kindled, the preparation of the heart effected, and the soul reminded of the solemn nature of the service in which she is about to engage.

We should always go up to the house of the Lord, remembering that we are entering into the presence of the Eternal, before whom angels veil their faces, to commune with him on his throne of infinite majesty and heavenly grace, and to listen to his terms of life and salvation. The most sublime spectacle on earth, and the most interesting and encouraging to a minister's heart, is a large congregation, assembled punctually on a Sabbath morning, waiting in solemn silence for their teacher; whose devout appearance seems to say to him as he enters, we are all here present before God, "to hear all things that are commanded you from God."

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