Last week, Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel made history, becoming just the eighth pitcher to record 400 or more regular season saves.  For those of you who (like me) are wondering what a save is, my husband says it’s when a pitcher comes into a close game when their team already has a lead, and helps them go on to win the game.  There are lots of specific criteria that need to be met in order for the pitcher to get a “save”, so it’s a remarkable accomplishment, because not every game is a save opportunity.  Saves are a big deal–anyone who is a Phillies fan knows how heartbreaking it is to see our team get off to an early lead, only to go on to lose!  Relief pitchers like Craig Kimbrel have an important spot on the team.  They often aren’t as well known as starting pitchers.  And it might seem like they get paid an awful lot of money to pitch just one or two innings a game.  But without good pitching in the late innings, it’s nearly impossible to have a winning record!

Hearing about Craig Kimbrel this week got me thinking about how each of us has a unique role to play on Team Lima.  Each of us has a unique blend of gifts and skills, and if we each do what we’re equipped to do, we can help Lima Church become an even more vibrant and vital congregation!  Last week I mentioned our Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s new initiative, focusing on five measures of church vitality:  worship attendance, new disciples, participating in small groups, engaging in community ministry, and giving money to missions.  Lima is blessed with many ministry strengths.  But each of us has gifts we can use to help make the church stronger.

One of those gifts is simply the ability to be present.  I know that many people, once in a while, wake up on a Sunday morning and think, “I’m not really in the mood for church today.  I think I’ll skip it.”  Well!  Thanks to our online service, you can participate in worship each week whenever it’s convenient for you, and from wherever.  You can even stay in bed!  But whether in person or online, don’t let a week go by without worship.  By cultivating your own habit of weekly worship attendance, you’re actually also encouraging others to worship as well.  Everyone has the power to positively impact our church’s vitality.

That is such an important sentence, I’m going to say it again.  EVERYONE has the power to impact our church’s vitality!  In our scripture lesson today, we hear Paul testifying about his experiences as a person of faith.  For many years, Paul was known by the name of Saul, and he lived according to the strictest rules in Judaism.  He was righteous, devout, and passionate about opposing the name of Jesus.  He went from synagogue to synagogue to find out who in each place believed in Jesus, and he found ways to have those people arrested and punished.  He thought he was doing the right thing by purifying Judaism from heresy.

But, in due time, God showed Saul the error of his ways.  Saul was struck blind and heard the voice of God asking him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  He heard Jesus telling him to let his eyes be opened to the truth.  He heard Jesus give him a new name, Paul, and call him to be an evangelist and help others find their place on the team.  He went on several missionary journeys and preached the good news of Jesus Christ in many different places.

Paul was arrested and beaten on several occasions for his bold preaching.  But he did not give up.  He kept telling his story over and over again.  At one point when he was arrested, he appealed as a Roman citizen to be able to tell his story in court in Rome, the highest court in the land.  Amazingly, he could have been set free from prison had he not appealed to Rome.  But Paul wanted to personally witness in the most powerful place in the world in his day.  He knew that by being present, that just by being there, he had the power to make a difference.  His presence positively impacted the church’s mission and ministry.

Now, we don’t claim to be a church full of people as passionate, daring, persistent, and we could even use the word “crazy”, as Paul!  But for each of us, there is great power in showing up.  By worshipping each week, we are engaging in spiritual formation—we are putting ourselves in the position to have our souls formed as Christ would have them.  Our participation in worship encourages others to participate in worship, too.  And collectively, when we choose to worship, we offer a witness to the world, that we believe Jesus is alive and worthy of our time and attention.

Every time you wake up on a Sunday morning and aren’t sure you really feel like worshipping, but you decide to get dressed and come anyway, OR you log onto your computer and tune in to worship anyway, we should credit you with a save!  Seriously!  If you want to encourage your pastor, staff, and leaders in the congregation, come to worship.  Online or in person, doesn’t matter.  Come to worship.  Do your part for Team Lima.  Your attendance matters!  And not because we have to fill out a form and record our attendance.  Your attendance matters because you matter!  When you come to worship, your energy comes.  Your spiritual gifts come.  Your unique combination of likes, dislikes, experiences, preferences, and passions come.  You are saving Lima from the loss of not having your good graces blessing the congregation.

Summer is an important time for rest, refreshment, travel, and fun.  I am a big believer in the importance of summer as a time of restoration.  It should be a season to savor many of the joys of being alive.  Warm days, starry nights, special family gatherings, so many fun activities.  I hope you pack a lot of re-creation into your summer!  But I also hope you will continue or strengthen your habit of regular worship attendance.  For one, God is worthy of our praise, in every season!  And secondly, there is power in your presence.  You being here adds something holy, something that perhaps can’t be articulated clearly, but is felt and experienced and known.  Your being here matters, because you matter.

In our scripture lesson today, Paul gives a long testimony about his experiences as a person of faith.  Through thick and thin, he has sought to serve God, and he has suffered significantly for this.  But he goes on to say, “But I have had God’s help to this very day.”  Paul is a person who persevered in the faith.  He knew his presence, his faithfulness, his commitment mattered.  Do you know that, too?  Persevering in the faith is so important.  Just like the Phillies getting an early lead but not being able to hang on to it, think how sad it would be to lose your faith partway through your life.  Worship attendance helps us stay grafted onto the vine, it helps us stay connected to the love of God and the hope, peace and joy life in Jesus’ name offers us.

Recently I was talking with my spiritual director about the idea of persevering during hard times, and she said, “There is a great need for affirmation.”  I thought that was very interesting.  One thing that helps us persevere in the faith is being reminded of how much we matter.  You may have heard me mention Dr. Alan Zimmerman, who does a lot of corporate consulting and speaks on motivation, goal setting, achieving our dreams, and thinks like that.  He says the number one complaint American workers have is not feeling appreciated.  You can do a million things right, and no one ever says thank you.  But do one thing wrong?  You hear about it right away, and probably more than once.

So I would like to go on record as saying, “Thank you for attending worship.”  Your presence means a lot.  It means a lot to me, it means a lot to the other staff and leaders of the church, it means a lot to the God, it means a lot to the world.  You are using your valuable time to worship, to focus in on God, to hopefully receive in return a dose of joy, peace, love and hope.  I want you to know that your presence makes a difference.  It is a blessing.  It is a holy endeavor, attending worship.  Whether online or in person.  We were created to worship God.  We were created to live in relationship with God.  By spending time every week in worship, we are honoring the most sacred parts of our created selves.  And anytime we set out to do something as holy as that, well, I don’t think that goes unnoticed by God.  There is power in your presence.

Thank you for each week you choose to attend worship.  I think it matters so much, I would like to offer a challenge to us this summer: that every week, each of us finds a way to worship somewhere.  When I was growing up, my Presbyterian congregation worshipped jointly with the United Methodist congregation down the street for the months of July and August.  This arrangement allowed the pastors and organists from each church to get four whole weeks of vacation each summer.  Can you imagine!  It also allowed the people in the two churches the chance to get to know our neighbors better, and expand our understanding of God and God’s people.  One of my favorite things about attending the United Methodist church is that they had communion at the rail.  There was no kneeling at my church!  I also thought they had a lot of great zippy hymns in their hymnal that my Presbyterian church didn’t have.  For some reason, I remember those few summer Sundays each year so vividly.  They stand out in a way all the weeks in my home church didn’t.

So if you find yourself on vacation this summer, or away for a weekend, see if you can find a church for worship.  Phil and I love to visit United Methodist churches in other parts of the country.  Sometimes we attend different denominations, too.  Let the Spirit lead you!  There is no one right way to worship.  Everything from Quaker silence, to Pentecostal dancing in the aisles, is acceptable to God.  Have a new experience!  Just as there is power in showing up to the same church week in and week out, there is power in novelty. There is power in traveling to new places.  Bring back a bulletin if you can.  Bring back an insight.  Bring back a memory of seeing God at work in ways you didn’t expect or never encountered before.  Enjoy being a “guest” in worship with no responsibilities other than to praise God!

Truly, attending worship is one of my favorite things to do on vacation.  There is power in being there, online or in person.  We are finishing our reading of the book of Acts this week, and moving into Romans.  I hope you have enjoyed reading these stories of adventure.  The book of Romans ends by giving us a summary of Paul’s situation.  He did indeed get to testify in Rome.  He spent two years there, boldly and without hindrance preaching the kingdom of God.  People came to his house from all walks of life to hear him teach about Jesus. The impact of Paul’s presence cannot be measured, but because of his faithfulness, the church was strengthened.

None of us is Paul.  We weren’t created to be Paul.  We were each created to be ourselves!  And you, you with your unique gifts and talents, your unique experiences and perspectives, your unique passions and needs, you matter.  The impact of your presence cannot be measured.  But because of your faithfulness, the church will be strengthened.  We can’t all be closing pitchers whose careers end up in the record books.  But we can all record a save every week, by choosing to spend time in worship.  Amen.