Heaven can wait

Oh, well...I am going to rant a while; you may want to tune out.

My current peeve of the month is:

Worrying about the Sunday morning service running over the appointed one hour.
Last Sunday, we had a young man come forward who even apologized about "prolonging" the service. Then there is always the confession and the tacit apology given in second service for "running over."

In her book Keeping the Sabbath holy, Marva Dawn writes, "The corporate worship in which we engage...is the main event that puts us in touch with the eternal presence of God." She later says, "We do not go to church; we enter into a worship experience." Sometimes, it seems to me, that it is an experience some cannot wait to get out of. It is not easy for me to watch when people get up to leave after communion so they will not have to suffer through the final hymn and ministry moments. (Maybe that is fodder for putting communion earlier in the service, Brandon.)

I wonder what it is that is so important that they have to get to...lunch? football game? baby's nap? Now those are really important eternally. I know there are occasions when one must leave early; however, that is not under discussion. Lunch can be found in almost any restaurant until 2:00 p.m. Football games are very minor eternally. Babies can cope with missed sleep; they have for generations. Then there are of course, the people keeping the nurseries, etc. If those who have volunteered to keep those cannot stand it for a few minutes longer, then perhaps they need not to volunteer.

Where is there time for the flow of the Holy Spirit if the worshippers are always "on the clock"? Is there time given for people to truly respond to God?
Is there time for silence in the service? Are worshippers given time to let the exalted feeling of heart-felt worship linger? Is there time for a more prolonged communion service or are the emblems passed as if there were a race on? Is there time for greeting the visitors?

It seems to me the answer is to announce that the Sunday morning worship service will no longer be contained in an hour or even an hour and thirty minutes, but will proceed as long as needed. That would give those who are frustrated when the time runs over an opportunity to go somewhere else.