Why go to church?  How would you answer the question?  Perhaps some of you might say, “We go to church because we’re supposed to go to church.”  It is similar to going to school.  Why do children go to school?  The answer is – they’re supposed to go to school.

But do children go to school simply because they’re supposed to?  Do they not go to school in order to learn, get educated, and develop skills so that their lives will be somewhat productive so they can get a good job and earn a good living?  So, going to school must have practical value.  Education must be relevant.  Would you send your children to a school if they gained no benefit, if there was no value, no relevance to what was being offered?  If children go to school or teenagers to high school simply because they’re supposed to they will merely put in their time, daydream in class, learn absolutely nothing and gain no value from their so-called education.  They might as well stay home.

Often in the beginning of Confirmation Class I would ask the children the question, “What did you learn in school today?”  Usually, they are able to come up with something they learned.  If not, I ask, “If you didn’t learn anything, why did you go to school?”  The answer would be, “Because I’m supposed to.” 

While the government says that children are supposed to go to school, whoever said that you are supposed to “go to church?”  Probably your parents!  After all, they might have felt that good, religious, moral people “go to church.”  At very least they went to church at Christmas and Easter.  This was a post-war attitude.  For many, “the church” was an institution to which they belonged and a building in which they sat.  When they go to church they sing a few songs, follow an order of service or a liturgy which for the most part they do not understand, and try to listen to a sermon which perhaps has minimal impact on their lives.  BUT – they went to church!  They can go home feeling good about themselves.  In their way of thinking, they are good religious people because, as you know, good people go to church, unlike those “other people” who are out playing golf, at home reading the paper, or still in bed. 

By going to church are you obeying a moral law that is a part of the definition for "being good?"  Does the Third Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy,” command us to “go to church?”  No, it really doesn’t!  The “Sabbath Day” is Saturday. In the Old Testament, keeping the Sabbath Day holy meant that you rest, do no work, as God also rested on the seventh day.  All of us therefore technically break the Third Commandment.  The Seventh Day Adventist group believes that keeping the Sabbath Day holy is probably necessary for salvation.  But according to the teachings from the New Testament, we are not under the Law.   In the Small Catechism, Luther accurately taught that we break the Third Commandment by despising preaching and the Word of God.

What about the New Testament?  Are Christians commanded to “go to church?”  No! For the first Christians the church was not an institution to which they belonged nor a building in which they sat.  Nowhere in the New Testament will you find an admonition instructing Christians to “go to church.”  But you will find admonitions instructing believers in Jesus Christ to get together with the other believers in Jesus Christ in their community.   In Hebrews 10:25 we read, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.”  These “Christians” met together in homes.  They sang some songs, listened to teaching, prayed, had the Lord’s Supper and ate together.  They did not “go to church.”  They were “the church.”  The Greek word we translate as “church” is ekklesia.  It means “called out.”  These people, who gathered together, usually on the first day of the week since the Person in whom they believed, the Lord Jesus Christ, was raised from the dead on the first day of the week, were the CHURCH.  The people called by God to believe in Jesus.  They gathered together with other believers in Jesus Christ to be strengthened in their faith and to learn more about God's love for them in Christ Jesus. 

Why did these people believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and therefore gather together?  The answer is simple – they needed to believe in Jesus.  It was a matter of life and death.  Jesus was the only solution.  They realized that they were living in darkness, controlled by their sinful nature, deceived by the wiles of the devil, condemned before God, destined for judgment and doomed to hell and that Jesus saved them from such a horrible destiny through his death and resurrection.  They believed in Jesus because He was the only Way out.  It’s that simple!

So I guess the initial question has to be revised.  The question should not be “Why Go to Church?” but rather the question should be “Do you need to believe in Jesus?”  Is it a life and death matter?  If you answer the question by saying, “No, believing in Jesus is not one of my basic needs,” you really have no reason to go to church.  You are not a part of the people who do gather together on a Sunday morning because they believe in Jesus.  Those who need to believe in Jesus will come together with their fellow believers, hear the Good News of God’s grace and gather around the table of the Lord because, regardless of how hot it is, this is something they need.

People who think they are good enough and do not fear the judgment of God have no reason to believe in Jesus.  They do not need to hear the Good News of God’s grace.  Contrary to popular opinion, the gathering on Sunday morning is not for so-called good people but for sinners only – those who are convinced of their sinful nature, fear the judgment of God, and know that their only hope is in Jesus Christ.   

I read recently about a church, after 146 years in the present location, made the difficult decision to close their doors.  Many mainline churches are in the same condition.  Why?  Obviously the people in the community no longer want nor need what is being offered.      

There are some church guru’s who believe that the church must change what it offers in order to meet the felt needs of people.  What the people want, not what the institution stands for, should determine what the church provides and how it provides it.  Some of these so-called "churches" draw many people because their felt needs are being met.  As far as I am concerned, this is similar to educational gurus suggesting that the students themselves should set the curriculum for High School since many young people feel that they no longer need math, science, history and English?  Rather, they offer skate-boarding, tattooing and piercing, movie reviews and popular rock music.  Wow!  What teenager wouldn't love to go to school?  Duh!

This creates a flip side to the problem.  Considering the state of some "churches" today and what is being offered, people who need to believe in Jesus and go to church to be strengthened in their faith and grow in their knowledge of Christ because they know of their lost and sinful condition may have difficulty finding a place where both the judgment of the Law and the grace of the Gospel are clearly proclaimed on a weekly basis. 

So, on your way home from church next Sunday ask yourself the question, “What did I learn today about Jesus and His love for me?  What did I learn about the goodness and grace of God to sustain me in the midst of doubt, fear and uncertainty?  How was I strengthened in my faith to live each day in the assurance of God’s love, to know I am forgiven and have eternal life?”  If you cannot answer the questions, you might ask yourself another question - why did I go to church?