Worship, Marriage, and Covid-19
Due to Covid-19 Mimi and I, last Sunday, sat in a church pew for the first time in exactly seven months. It was a great feeling. Such a seat — even when padded — is not usually spoken of in those terms, but it felt so good it’s now become a memorable experience. Before that we’ve been “going to church” on YouTube and the internet. Last Sunday, after in-person church I even attempted to take in the worship service of the church in Hawaii where I last served. It was 8 a.m. there — 2 p.m. here; the same time my favorite NFL team was playing. So, I watched the game (without audio) while simultaneously “going to church” using my laptop until quite suddenly my Sunday nap kicked in — i.e. I went to sleep on the couch and missed both.
What about you? If you’re a church-goer you’ve missed out, too, on all the good stuff that happens when people meet together to worship God. Maybe you don’t go to church, or haven’t gone in a long time. So what is this “good stuff” we’ve missed? Since last Sunday I’ve been thinking about that. What is missed by not going to church — i.e. not meeting in-person with others, even in light of virtual high-tech gatherings? Certainly there’s more than just keeping us from distractions and from taking naps. Why can’t we just worship by ourselves — God and me? What is the need of gathering with other people in a church building, or wherever, to worship God? It’s a good question. It leads to a basic question — What is worship, anyway?
More than Marriage
Ironically, the Bible gives no definition for the most important act there is — the Worship of God. (The Bible does explain that it’s technically impossible to “go to church.” The word “church” comes from ekklesia — simply meaning “believers.” Church is not a place — it’s people. To be precise, people don’t “go to church.” They “go to worship.”) Though “worship” is not defined, it’s described by words like praise, thanksgiving, adoration, and exaltation. Worship is the highest, most profound, form of devotion — more devotion than the most dedicated spouses show for each other. “He worships the ground she walks on” sounds good but it means deity has been assigned to one who isn’t God. The adoration showed by Mary (the immoral woman whom Jesus had forgiven) when she washed his feet with her tears — kissing them, and pouring expensive perfume upon them — wasn’t just adoration (Luke 7:37). It was worship. In fact, the Greek word used most in the Bible that translates worship is two words combined — pros (toward) and kuneo (to kiss). So proskuneo means literally to embrace God. This is the reason why many don’t go to church. How so?
Why People Don’t go to Church
Atheists aside — there are many reasons people avoid church, ranging from feeling inappropriately dressed to feeling nervous around people they don’t know. Wow! Just those two would do me in. Mimi always looks fantastic. She knows how to dress — not overly dressed but not sloppy either. I don’t know how to dress. If it wasn’t for Mimi watching out for me I would draw some stares. And nervous? New people scare me. Hear this: It doesn’t matter what you wear, and if you’re shy around new people look for a pillar to sit behind. The real reason people don’t go to church is not this outside stuff. It’s the inside stuff. People feel inadequate around a Holy God. They feel guilty being around God’s good, righteous, virtuous, innocent people. BALONEY! There’s nobody there like that! Everybody’s inadequate and feeling guilty (or should be) — bowed and awed before a Holy God seeking forgiveness and thanking him for it — the essence of worship.
What’s the Good Stuff?
Here’s what happens to you in church: Your conscience is awakened by the holiness of God; your mind is fed with the truth of God; your heart is opened to the love of God; and your will is devoted to the purpose of God (author unknown). I’ll restate that: Your right/wrong sensor is recalibrated; you learn to better discern what’s true (people training to spot fake bills do so by handling true bills); you become able to do what can be difficult — receive God’s love, grace, and forgiveness; you receive God’s personal guidance — fulfilling you and glorifying him. All this just by showing up. It doesn’t matter where you go to Church — be it a room, a basement, a gym, or a cathedral — Just so it’s a place where they worship the God of the Bible. Yes, you can worship alone, but wherever two or three come together in honor of [Christ’s] name, [he] is right there with them. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together… because we need each other! In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other on (Matt.18:20 & Heb.10:24).
My clearest memory of the importance of worship was in basic training at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. I ignored the rituaI and I don’t remember the preacher, the guys around me, or much of anything else except that there was a Bible in the pew rack in front of me and God was there. God loves you and is eager to connect with you. True, he can do that without church. But don’t play hard to get. Just show up.
(Thumbnail photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels)