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The Necessity of Being Together
 
“They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching, and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common...”
Acts 2:42-44
 
I am so grateful for this above passage from Luke’s Book of Acts. Often, people ask me to “describe what it means to be a ‘church?’” And when that question comes up, I will turn to this passage. Here, we have one of the earliest snapshots of a post-Ascension “church.” By “post-Ascension,” obviously I mean Jesus has ascended, sent the Holy Spirit to fill those early believers – and now, what you and I know as “the Body of Christ,” is beginning to take shape.
 
What do we read here? “They,” and that implies something very, very important. The Christian faith is not an exercise of spirituality practiced in a silo of singularity, though there are clearly pieces of the faith that are, such as coming to Christ, growing in faith, prayer, etc. Yet, “the church,” as the Bible describes it, is the coming together of those individuals to produce what Paul would eventually tell us is “the Body of Christ.” (Read I Corinthians 12.)
 
You cannot have a “they” when there is only a “me.” “They” means more than one and it is manifested in the moment of being “together.” The high Holy moment of gathering Christians is the Eucharist. Jesus inaugurated this meal, not with one Apostle, but with all of them (Mark 14:1-26). I could go on here, but you get the point.
 
With that intro (Please forgive the “longer than usual” Daily Word.), I am going to ask you to consider something – seriously.
 
I have run into a lot of you, our members, in the grocery, at restaurants, at the gym, etc. Many of you are slipping back into Church, but some of you have not.
 
Please, take this in the spirit with which it is intended. (When someone says that, you know they know they are at risk of offending – and that is NOT my intent here.)
 
Since we “went” virtual, it has been an important outreach during these pandemic times, and for some (those immobile, those home- or hospital-bound, those sick) it has been a welcome gift and will continue to be.
 
However, I am running into people who are telling me that they actually could come back to Church, but they have gotten used to watching it on television from home “in my pajamas...drinking my coffee... eating my breakfast..." There is a danger here – and I mean that quite seriously.
 
My friend Sam Candler has been the Dean of St. Philip’s Cathedral in Atlanta, Ga., for many years now. I regularly read his musings and recently he wrote one titled, “Flat Screens Make Flat People.” It is a great piece that set me to thinking; so, with his permission, I share it with you now. (Again, please take this in the spirit with which it is intended!)
“This Advent season, I am giving thanks for the gradual return of Incarnation. In 2021, after 20 months of pandemic practice, the season of Advent means the expectation, and the desire, and the hope, and the love, for Incarnation itself. O come, O come, Emmanu-El, 'God With Us.'
“I give thanks every day that people are gradually returning, physically, to church and to local communities of faith – safely and vaccinated! Almost every week here at the Cathedral Parish of St. Philip, I see someone whom I have not seen in 20 months. Each of them often says something like, “Well, I’ve been online and I’ve sure seen YOU!” And that is true. I give thanks for the church’s online presence and prayer; my own church has been blessed with the resources and staff to do screens very well, and we have benefitted.

“I admit I have enjoyed much of this screen experience! Certainly, we have needed online presence and Zoom meetings and screens. But I also know that our engagement of the world through screens and clicks can make us passive and selfish. Screens tend to make us think that we can view, or get, whatever we want – just by changing the channel, or the website address, or the social media platform. And, surely, we have read about our social media platforms’ tendencies to show us mostly the views with which we already agree; those tendencies are narrowing us.
“Further, I wonder about the rush we get by clicking on things. I have certainly enjoyed that adrenaline rush that comes from the instant gratitude of clicking. But it’s almost too easy to think I am doing something constructive just by “liking” a post, or a channel, or a site. Are we living only for those adrenaline rushes? Those who like to talk have found that screens and online meetings can amplify their authority, making it seem like no one else might have another point of view at all. Screens can amplify absolutism.
“Okay, when we have no other entry to a reality, screens are helpful. And they certainly help sustain previously existing relationships (note the joyous FaceTime calls between distant family members)! And screens can be effective in delivering “one-way” information (maybe like YouTube video instructions …or even some sermons!). Ultimately, however, I believe screens are unable to deliver the depth of the social reality that human beings need. Screens are flat. My sense is that screens have flattened us. Their artificial intelligence algorithms are not human yet, and yet we are being tempted to dumb ourselves down to what they offer.
“Thus, my saying that 'Flat screens make flat people!' Flat screens simplify us, and they simplify us negatively, often reducing us to mere opinions and statements and positions. Flat screens do not, and cannot, deliver the fullness of personhood to each other. Flat screens do not communicate the fuller mystery of human interaction, human community for the common good. It’s a reason that many of us sense more political and social polarization in the past twenty months; we have been labelling each other simplistically. We have been unable to shake hands, to hug bodies, to sense the twinkles in eyes and the delights in smiles, to feel the intricate facial and body expressions when someone is speaking to us. We have been unable to taste and see, to smell and touch. Screens have been sadly simplifying us, dumbing us down.
“The Christian Church, a wonderful and mysterious incarnational community, is built upon the truth that our God became human flesh. The word 'incarnation' means 'in the flesh!' I believe that God continues to become flesh; God continues to be real in our human flesh. Thus, we need to be with each other fully, in the flesh...”
What my friend Sam has written here has made me think. With what have I (yes, your Rector) grown comfortable in this long season of distanced-flatness that is, in fact, making me a flat person? May I invite you to think on that with me?
 
Yes, we can be Christians on our own, but we are only the “body” when we come together. So, for those of you who can – maybe it is time to turn off the tele, close up the laptop and come back to Church.
 
I had a good friend of mine, who is rector of a Church, recently tell me he had a member tell him, “I am tired of you making me feel guilty about not coming to Church.” Maybe it was not my friend’s plea, but the hearer’s heart trying to tell him, “I am tired of being alone... let’s get back in the game.”
 
Oh, and if you think this is a new problem, it is not. The unknown author of Hebrews wrote the growing body of Christians who were beginning to slack off a bit on gathering. He, or she, wrote, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – all the more...” (Hebrews 10:25)
 
So, as the year winds down and the time for making New Year’s resolutions creeps upon us, let’s get together... seriously... let’s get together. See you around... and see you at Church!
The Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr.
Rector
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