I Miss Your Smile

During this time of quarantine there have been many things that we haven’t been able to do, that we were used to doing. The stay-at home order made me even more aware of the simple little things that I would often take for granted. Honestly, I never even really liked going to Wal-Mart until I was told to stay home and not go, or that when I did the number of people would be limited. Going to the gym, to the mall, or even to church, are all things that we have not been able to do during this time (honestly, I don’t go to the gym but it sounded good when I wrote it).

            My point today is that there are many things that we miss. I have been thinking about what I miss the most. No, going to the gym isn’t one of them. The worship and community life of the church is something that I miss, and being a pastor that is probably a good thing. I miss visiting people in their homes, and making rounds to the nursing homes where I have members staying as residents. I even miss going to the hospital and seeing some of my chaplain friends.

I miss going to the store and talking to a cashier without a plexi-glass barrier between us, and I miss standing in line without 6 feet of required distance in between me and the other person. OK, so I don’t really miss standing in line either, but I was just making a point about the social distance.

            But all of these regulations are for good reason, and should be taken seriously. Of course there are other things that we can do even in the midst of what we can’t right now.

            Of all these things, however, the one thing that I miss the most is seeing people’s smiles.

            When we wear a mask it’s hard to see the smile.

            1 Corinthians 3 tells the story of Moses meeting with God on the mountain and wearing a veil, or a covering, over his face when he came back among the people. The reason was because Moses’ face was shining so brightly with the glory of God that it would literally freak the people out if they saw it themselves. So, Moses covered it up when he was around the people, he wore a veil over his face. But when he went back up the mountain to be in the presence of God, he would take it off.

            Now I know that the reason we wear masks today is not to cover up the glory of God from other people seeing that on our faces, but rather to cover up the possibility that we would get others sick from what is coming out of our mouths. But, work with me here for just a minute.

            It is recommended that we cover our faces when we are around other people for the time being. And there is good reason for that. But when we are alone in the presence of our Lord, we can take that mask off.

            “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord”- 1 Corinthians 3:18.

            So here’s what I am thinking, since our mouths are covered with our masks, and other people can’t see our smile, then we have to let that smile shine with more than just our mouths. We need eye-smiles. Smiles that let another person know, even from behind the mask, that this will all be OK, that this will all be well, and that God is with us. And when we come before the Lord and have our time alone with him, remove that mask, that veil, and as you do allow His grace to remove any mask that is covering who we really are, so that our authentic selves may be in communion with our Creator.

            I miss seeing your smile. So when we pass by one another, even at a 6’ distance, let your smile shine with more than just your mouth. Allow that God-glory to radiate from you. Because right now, we all need that.

Smile on!

           

Church in 2020--Stay Home

Easter Sunday 2020 will be remembered a lot longer than most of our previous Easter Sunday celebrations. For my family we were not able to all be together, and I missed that. We were not able to have a big choral cantata celebration, and I missed that. We were not all able to gather together for Easter pictures as a family, or as a church family, and I missed that.

            But we were still able to gather for worship, to share in Holy Communion in a new way, and we were still able to proclaim, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!”. We were able to hear sermons from a bunch of different preachers, and even virtual choirs coming together through Zoom and a little editing software to bring us glorious Easter hymns like “Christ the Lord is risen today!”

            Yes, Easter was different, but wasn’t it a memorable day?

            And now Eastertide, the season of Easter that leads us to Pentecost in May, will be different as well. I don’t know when the churches where I serve as pastor will be back together for in-person worship. I know that there are area churches that are still worshipping together in the same building, but we will not be doing that until the health concerns and our stay-at-home orders are lifted.

            So what do we do in the meantime? Online gatherings have offered one way to stay connected, whether that be through Facebook live or Zoom meetings. Personal phone calls are still a great way to stay connected, and I have received more cards in the mail over the past 2 weeks than I have in a normal year.

            But here’s the other thing that I want to remind us of today. This is a great opportunity to grow in your faith, and to impact the faith of those in your own household. This is an incredible discipleship moment.

            At the end of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church he wrote, “The churches here in the province of Asia send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Pirscilla and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings” (1 Corinthians 16:19).

            Church meetings in the home. That was how our faith gatherings began, not in buildings or even in large groups. It was never about that. It was about “house churches”, which was families who learned the faith by living it out in relationship with those closest to them. They read, studied, and discussed the Scriptures, not because they each had their own copy, but from an oral tradition that was handed down within the family unit. The house church. The family church living out faith, singing the hymns and psalms, and even breaking bread and sharing meals together. A holy act when the Lord is invited to be present.

            I am not loving this time of quarantine and the restrictions imposed upon us, but I do believe that we can learn something here where we are, and that we can grow in our faith here where we are. And maybe there is a tradition for those “who gather in their home for church meetings” that can be reclaimed for the glory of God in this time as well.

            We are the church. Not the building. Not the preacher. Not the choir. Not the stained glass windows. I would rather be preaching every Sunday from the pulpit. But I don’t think that would be wisest course of action at this time for the people who I minister to, the people who I love.

            Staying apart is hard. But perhaps we can reclaim a home-church model that will deepen the faith of those who are trying to live it out, so that when we come back together we will be able to live out this deeply disciplined faith as a truly dispersed church in the world.

            How are you deepening your faith while at home? Are you connected in an online small group? Do you think that the small-group house church model is a way to reach new people who would never come into a traditional church building? I don’t have all the answers, but I would love to hear your thoughts.