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On Sunday morning, January 14, Pastor Carolyn delivered the second in a series of sermons looking at the vows we take as United Methodists.
The topic for the day was “PRESENCE,” and yet there I was, newly appointed Associate Pastor, stuck watching the service from a hospital bed on the 7th floor of Emory University Hospital on Clifton Road.
My new church home of Saint Mark was talking about the importance of being present, and I was experiencing a forced absence.
The distinction was not lost on me.
As I participated in the worship service online (we should never think of it as simply “watching”), I found myself thinking about all those who were diligently working to make our Facebook live stream possible. And I soon found my disappointment changing to gratitude. For while worshiping online is not the same as worshiping in a congregant setting, it is indeed a great blessing to many.
Our online worship allows “shut-ins” and others to experience worship with the congregation in real time. It allows individuals with COVID or other immuno-compromised situations to stay safely connected to the vibrant heart of our communal life. It allows folks traveling for work or school to maintain their relationship with Saint Mark.
And I’ll tell you something else: I would bet that sometimes, for those experiencing depression and/or grief, the ability to worship online provides a lifeline and hope when getting out of bed and physically interacting with others is just too hard.
Yes, there’s no doubt about it. We need to celebrate our online ministry and take active steps to enhance and promote it! And when you are away from the corner of 5th and Peachtree on a Sunday, I hope you and your family will take advantage of this great gift.
But we should never forget that there is indeed something special about being physically present together for corporate worship.
There is something mysterious about the powerful effect that corporate worship has upon us. It may be as simple as the promise found in the scriptures, that wherever 2 or 3 are gathered together in Christ’s name there, too, will the holy presence of God abide. It may be that our social anthropology is predisposed to needing the community of sisters and brothers.
Whatever the reason may be, I am reminded that we need each other. And that means we are at our best when we are present with and for one another. I need you, and you need your neighbor.
As Christians, we get to do life together, and that is both a challenge and a blessing. But regardless, we must remember that however messy and complicated it may become at times, we are called to be church TOGETHER.
There is an oft-quoted story about the parishioner who told his pastor, “I’m not sure that I need to be in church every Sunday, because I can practice my spirituality as an individual just as well alone out on the golf course,” to which the pastor replied, “yes, you can, but will you?”
We all need accountability. We need it in our personal lives, our professional lives, and our spiritual lives. There was logic in Christ’s calling together a band of disciples, when he could have just mentored individuals.
Moreover, as United Methodists and Wesleyans, we are acutely aware that the spiritual holiness we are called to is ultimately a social holiness. Ours is not a holiness of asceticism and pious isolation. It is an ongoing transformation of the heart such that we might becoming more loving towards one another. It is an explosion of inward love that finds expression in meeting the needs of our neighbors in all of the world’s most broken places. It is a holiness that is ever seeking the other, in order to serve.
We need one another’s presence. And I’m grateful for every day I get to be present with you as a part of Saint Mark United Methodist Church.
Grace & Peace –
Andy
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