Being the Church Outside of the Sanctuary

    Yesterday, Bishop Trimble of the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church called for a four week suspension of worship services including Easter. This creates an opportunity for us to be yet more the church in the world and not merely in the sanctuary. It serves as impetus to be creative in how the church can be relevant to the world.

    As the popular hymn sings “We are the church together”!

   Let us be the church and show love for others by not placing them in danger of contracting this virus. One never knows from whom or where one may have already been exposed to the Covid 19 and then may unawares pass it along to someone else, someone with a compromised health condition.

Surely we would not want the sanctuary to be the place that someone is infected.

    Let us be the church in solidarity with those who have lost jobs, put plans on hold, and have had to dramatically change the routines of their lives. Let us make phone calls to others and speak an encouraging word. Pray with others over the phone. If you are uncomfortable creating your own prayer, recite the Lord’s Prayer. Often, in solidarity with those who suffer cancer, people will sympathetically shave off their hair. Somewhat the same, suspending worship services for a few weeks can let people know that we walk with them during this crisis.

    Let us be the church in humility. When Jesus was tempted by the Devil to throw himself off of the pinnacle of the Temple and rely upon angels to protect him, he declined to make a “show-off” display of his relationship with God. Jesus relied upon Scripture and said “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Likewise, we should not test our God by intentionally placing ourselves or others in danger by insisting upon gathering in buildings during this time.

    In the “united in Christ” section of the United Methodist hymnal we find the song “We Are the Church”.  Oh, how many times we have sang that song and embraced its sentiment. Especially during this time we have an opportunity to actually live out what we have been singing…

” The church is not a building;
the church is not a steeple;
the church is not a resting place;
the church is a people.

I am the church! You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus,
all around the world!
Yes, we're the church together!”