Excuses, Excuses
Many years ago, when our children were younger and still living at home, we had a song we would sing when we were traveling. Back in the day you could slip a little cassette tape into a player in your car and enjoy whatever kind of music you wanted to hear. We happened to have a tape of the Hardeman Boys’ Quartet from Freed-Hardeman University, and we loved to play and sing along as we traveled.
One of their songs we particularly liked was “Excuses, Excuses.” We knew every lyric and the chorus by heart. I have since learned that it was sung by the Kingston Quartet and written by Jim Kimberley and William Topley, but the Faughn family only knew it the way the Hardeman Boys sang it. It was fun for us to sing and the lyrics went like this:
Excuses, excuses, you’ll hear them every day.
The Devil will provide them if from church you stay away.
When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always loses.
So, to keep those folks away from church, he offers them excuses.
In the summer it’s too hot, in the winter it’s too cold.
In the springtime when the weather’s just right, there’s someplace else to go.
Well, it’s up to the mountains, or down to the beach, or to visit some old friend.
Or, just stay home and relax, and some kinfolks start dropping in.
Well, the benches are too hard, and the members sing too loud.
And you know how nervous you get when you’re sitting in a great big crowd.
The doctor told you, you better watch out, those crowds will set you back,
but you go to that old football game, because it helps you to relax.
It’s a headache Sunday morning, and a backache Sunday night.
But by worktime Monday morning, you’re feeling quite alright.
While one of the children has a cold. “Pneumonia do you suppose?”
Well, the whole family had to stay home, just to blow that poor kid’s nose.
Well, the preacher he’s too young, or maybe he’s too old.
The sermons, they’re not hard enough, or maybe they’re too bold.
His voice is much too quiet, or else he’s way too loud.
He needs to have more dignity, instead of stomp and shout.
Well, that preacher that we’ve got must be “the world’s most stuck-up man.”
One of the ladies told me the other day, “He didn’t even shake my hand.”
Excuses, excuses, you’ll hear them every day.
The Devil will provide them, if from church you stay away.
When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always loses.
So, to keep those folks away from church, he offers them excuses.
Those lyrics are really funny, aren’t they? Are they??? Oh, it’s fun to sing the song, but when I really take a look at the lyrics, it’s not so funny.
How good are we at making excuses to stay away from the assembly with other brothers and sisters in Christ? How sad were you when we had to sit at home and watch worship on a screen? How excited were you when we were able to come back together as a family of God’s people and worship in spirit and truth?
May I end by reminding you of a passage written by the author of Hebrews:
“…let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment…” (Hebrews 10:22-27, emphasis added)
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AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
