Why do you want to be back in Church?

 "I just wish we could be back in church!"

How many times have you said that over the past 10 months? I know that I have many times! And yet, of course, we know that the building is not the church. Now more than ever we know that. We know that we as the people of God are the Church of God, the living stones of the temple of God with God's own Spirit dwelling in us.

For the churches that I pastor, we stopped in person worship last March, then were back together again for outside worship over the summer, then stopped in person worship again, then were back together for in person worship inside, then stopped again when Heather and I were quarantined, then back, and then stopped. Whew! It's like we never knew week to week what we would be doing. You can probably identify with that as well, right?

And so we lamented, "I just wish we could be back in church!"

And I agree. 

But today I wonder...why?

That might sound like a strange (or loaded) question, but I am serious. 

Why do you want to be "back in church"?

This week I picked up an 86 year-old church member and drove him to the church building so that he could go in and pray. He used to be in the building 3-4 times a week, watering flowers, checking on the building to ensure nothing needed to be fixed, and sitting in prayer. Now he is unable physically to go on his own as he is on oxygen constantly, so I picked him (and his O2 tank) up and we drove to Telford UMC.

We sat in the dimly lit santuary withour any other light except for the hazy streams coming through the stained glass. We talked for a moment about the beauty of the place, and the serenity and peace that he felt while here. We prayed and I anointed him with oil. 

And then he told me that he only had a little more than 20 minutes left in his oxygen tank, and asked me if I had any work I needed to do in the office. 

He is rarely subtle, but I picked up on his need, and I left alone to pray for the next 20 minutues. 

I believe that he appreciated the time he spent with me. I believe that he genuinely appreciated praying with me. And I believe that he was blessed by the oil we shared. 

And yet there was something more that he needed. 

He just wanted to be back in Church, just like we all have been saying. And yet as I stood behind this man as he prayed, I wonder if we share the same reasons for our want.

Why do you want to be back in Church? 

Is it that you miss being around others, in particular your church member family? This is not a bad reason at all! 

Christian fellowship is vitally important to who we are as disciples, and integrated into the very fabric of what being a cohesive "body" is about. In fact, Hebrews 10:25 reminds us to "not give up meeting together". Part of this is because we need one another to "spur (us) on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24), but also because we were created to be in community. 

And we have been, even in our distance. Thanks be to God for this wonderful age that we live in where we have been able to remain connected in some ways, even when we have been physically apart. 

Or maybe your reason for wanting to be back in Church is to be reconnected with a mission or ministry that your Church has been involved in that has been altered over the past year. That is not a bad reason at all! 

In both Churches I serve, there are ministries that have been forced to stop due to this pandemic. But, there are new ministries that have emerged, as well. 

We have a desire to serve others, that is at the core of who we are also. We strive to love by living out the words of Jesus that, "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me" (Matthew 25:35-36).

Or maybe your reason for wanting to be back in Church is to sing. And that is not a bad reason at all!

I think back on all the conversations that I have with church members over the years about singing and music in worship, and how many times these conversations centered around what they "liked" in worship, i.e., Contemporary and praise bands or Traditional with a robed choir, or some blend in between. I wonder if when we are able to once again safely gather inside a building for worship and sing together if we will still care so much about that, or if we will simply be so grateful to stand with others and sing praises that we won't care if we are accompanied by an organ or a band. 

The book of Psalms, the prayer book of the Bible, says much about singing. In fact, the beginning of the 105th chapter tells us to "Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name, let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!" (Psalm 105:2-3). I have heard it said that to sing is to pray twice. I love that image. We were in years past known as the "Singing Methodists". What a beautiful accolade! When we are so full of joy we sing. When we are struggling in despair and pain we sing. When we gather together we sing. I picture the Sulphur Springs Camp Meeting worship services as I think of this singing. Hundreds of people of all ages, gathered outside on wooden pews, singing praises that fill the air, echo through a community, and bless the heart of God. 

And yet we can still sing. We can sing as we make our morning coffee, we can sing as we drive to work, we can sing in our hearts as we "give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever!" (Psalm 106:1). My bathroom is filled with singing every morning as my wife gets ready for her day. I have seen some amazing and uplifting videos where people sing in thier own homes, and then their songs are integrated with others from around the world singing the same song. Songs sung by different people, in different places, at different times, sometimes even in different languages, but brought together digitally in one voice of praise. (Thank you to our global United Methodist Church for the connections we have with this "UMC Virtual Christmas Choir").

Or maybe your reason for wanting to be back in Church is to hear a rousing sermon by the preacher you love. And that is not a bad reason at all! 

Bishop Richard Looney served at Telford UMC from 2009-2012

Craig Zirkle heard his call into pastoral ministry at Telford and is currently serving a charge in the Three Rivers District

One of the things I miss the most is preaching about the love and grace of God to a gathered together in-person group of people, and interacting with them through the dialogue of the sermon and Scripture. 

And yet we all have access to a wealth of sermons from books and the internet to TV. And while none of them can replace hearing "your" pastor speak directly to you (because she/he is the one who knows you and what you are going through and how the Scriptures directly relate to where you find yourselves), there is a good word in there to hear. 

And hopefully your pastor had been already teaching and preaching in a way to prepare you to hear words from others, and rightfully discern what is true and what is right, taking what you need and leaving what you don't.

As I write these words I would also say that I am teaching more now than I ever have. From Sunday morning worship services, to Facebook Live Bible study that is co-led with my wife, to a virtual Children's Sunday School and an upcoming Youth ZOOM group, the opportunities to engage have grown as opportunities to by physically with one another have been altered.  

So, why do you want to be "back in Church?"

While all of the reasons listed above, and probably more (yes, like potlucks!) are valid reasons that we can all identify with, I wonder if the real reason for us is that for perhaps for many years, this has been a place for us to feel the presence of God in a unique way. Yes, of course, God is always with us. There is no where that we can go that God is not (Psalm 139), and the Spirit of the living God dwells within us. 

But there are some places where we feel more, well, connected. And I wonder if the sanctuary, this "safe place", is one of these distintively special and holy places. 

I wonder if our reason for really wanting to be back in Church is as pure as the man I took to pray. 

A holy want and desire to simply sit in the presence of his Lord, to feel a sense of peace in a world that has been anything but peaceful in many ways as of late, to be in a place free of distractions and noises and competing voices so that the small, still, loving and accepting voice of the Holy Spirit could be heard, and discerned. 

After our 20 minutes were up I took him home. Then I went back to the sanctuary and sat in the darkening quiet space myself. And I realized in that moment why I want to be back in Church.