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1 Corinthians 11:33 – Don’t Be Late
A priest was being honored at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician who was also a member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner. He was delayed so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited.
“I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place.”
”The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his place of business, had an affair with his boss’s wife, taken illegal drugs, and even more I am too embarrassed to mention.”
”I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full good and loving people.”
Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and give his talk.
“I’ll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived,” said the politician. “In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession.”
Moral: DON’T EVER BE LATE
In a survey someone once took in their congregation, several mentioned the same deficiency – Late Arrivals. While mentioning this situation, they also echoed another important thought – they would rather people be late than not come at all. Knowing that there are times when anyone can be late due to traffic, children, and just life in general (as I often say, “Such is life!”), please allow me to make a few comments.
First, let me affirm that it is better to be late, than not here at all. I agree with the sentiment of others in that, as I am sure all do.
Second, the person who took the survey spoke personally to one concerned saint, and made the point that there is no scripture that demands people be on time, therefore he was limited in what can be scripturally said. In fact, due to cultural situations in the first century, Paul admonished people to “wait on one another” (1 Corinthians 11:33) before taking the Lord’s Supper. That might be why today we serve the Lord’s Supper further into the service than right at the very beginning – although communion is the main reason we come together (Acts 20:7).
Third, however, noting those caveats, maybe we could make some positive observations. These apply to both those who are late and also to those who barely arrive on time. And let’s start with the assembly – which means if you are late to it, you are actually two hours plus late since we start at 9:00 AM!
What are the benefits of arriving before services begin?
- It gives all an opportunity to have our prayer requests made known.
- It allows us to hear the announcements and other prayer requests. The purpose of the announcements is to allow us to better know what is going on in the life of the church and of one another.
- It makes a good impression on visitors who, upon entering, see people who are interested in being here.
- It shows our priority to our children in that we strive to arrive on time for school, work, and even movies.
- It permits us to fully participate in worshipping God. Think with me on this last benefit. If we are here on time, we get to raise our thoughts in prayer together – being late we might miss the opening prayer. We also get to raise our voices in song – being late we might miss singing to God and to one another in the first song. If we are listed as one of that day’s service leaders, but are late, we miss getting involved in serving…and serving is the essence of Christianity in all its forms. Worshipping together is a privilege and an honor, one that we are looking forward to doing for an eternity.
While anyone can be late sometime, let’s all make an extra effort to be here before services begin. Someone spoke once to a relative who was chronically late to everything except for work. When asked why, he replied, “I have to be on time for work.” While we don’t “have to be” on time for services, should we “want to be?”
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