A Gathering of Regulars and Christmas Pilgrims

I was glad when they said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”  Psalm 122:1

In ancient Israel, people who didn't live near Jerusalem did not see the Temple on a regular basis. Synagogues didn't appear until the time of the Babylonian exile, so prior to that there wasn't anything comparable to our neighborhood church. I suspect that some people didn't have much regular contact with formal, authorized religion. For many of these, a trip to the Jerusalem Temple would have been a much anticipated pilgrimage, not unlike some Catholics making a trip to Rome or Muslims on the hajj to Mecca.

I wonder if this sort of pilgrimage doesn't also get enacted by some who will journey to church sanctuaries tomorrow evening. (Brief commercial: our family service is at 4:30 and our lessons and carols candlelight service is at 8:00.) A fair amount of disparaging of these once or twice a year worshipers goes on in church circles. Some of it has warrant, but some of it is rooted in the institutional nature of church congregations. Unlike the Jerusalem Temple or other pilgrimage sites, we cannot stay in business if we are dependent on irregular pilgrims. We need regulars who show up to volunteer and who provide a steady stream of income.

However, the nearly every-week-regular does not necessarily have any better handle on faith than the once-a-year pilgrim. Granted, regular participation holds within it the disciplined activity that is needed for being a disciple of Jesus, but not every discipline is connected to Jesus. I've known my share of church folks over the years who seem to derive a great deal of satisfaction out of their church participation but who seem hardly at all interested in what Jesus says they should do. Perhaps they would embrace Jesus if he showed back up, but I suspect many of them would be modern day versions of the religious folks who rejected  him. (I suspect I am in that camp myself at times.)

By the same token, there are irregular church pilgrims who practice disciplines in their lives that seem very much in keeping with some of Jesus' commands.

As so often happens when I begin writing one of these little reflections, I don't really know where this is headed. But I wonder if all of us who plan to show up for the big celebration tomorrow night - whether we are pilgrims or regulars - wouldn't benefit from an examination of our own reasons for being there. Why is it we made this pilgrimage? Why is it we show up the rest of the year, too?

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