Why We Go

 “But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

(Matthew 4:4 ESV)

We are approaching the time of year when our confirmands will stand before us confessing their faith in Christ. We’re approaching the time of year when we’ll celebrate our high school graduates, as many of them prepare to move out of the area. And, statistically speaking, this is the time when many of them stop going to church.

Many, as they are confirmed, view it as a graduation of sorts. As they have made it through confirmation, they now view church attendance as an optional exercise. And many parents, at this point in their child’s life, no longer insist on church attendance.

As our young people move out of their parent’s home, and experience independence for the very first time, they also tend to stop attending church. They stop attending church, preferring to sleep in on Sunday mornings. And they stop attending church as an expression of questions and doubts which have been present for some time.

And let’s face it: Many adults view church attendance as optional as well. We view it as unnecessary. We see it as a tradition. We view it as something to do when we don’t have other plans. And we attend seeking to feel good about ourselves.

It’s true, of course, that we don’t earn God’s forgiveness and mercy by going to church. We must not make our worship of the Lord a legalistic exercise. But we fail to realize that, by our failure to worship, we miss out on the blessing of God.

Attending worship, you see, isn’t so much about doing something for God. It’s not an act on our part to please him. And it’s not an act by which we merit brownie points. 

It’s about receiving a blessing that God has for us. It’s about receiving the grace of God, offered to us in his Word and Sacrament. It’s about being fed with that which nourishes us for life eternal.

This is what Jesus was getting at in the passage above. This is what was being emphasized in Deuteronomy 8:3, which Jesus was quoting. Our life isn’t sustained by bread alone. It’s sustained by the Word of God.

Just as we understand food to be necessary for life, so should we understand the Word of God. Apart from the Word of God, we cannot have faith. And, apart from the Word of God, we cannot be saved. 

Scripture tells us that we are brought to faith through the Word of God (Romans 10:13-17). It tells us that, as we hear the Word of God, we are enabled to believe.  And, in this way, we receive the grace of God.

In addition, this is how our faith is nourished. It’s how our faith is sustained. And it’s how our faith in Christ grows.

Realizing this nurturing aspect of God’s Word, then, we naturally desire to receive it. We naturally desire to hear it as it’s taught and preached. And we naturally desire to gather with our fellow believers to study it.