The presence of God is everything
There's so much that COVID has spoiled. To gather with friends and family. To marry. To travel. To be educated. To eat out. To exercise. On and on the list goes with varying degrees of extremes. For Christians, we especially feel the spoiling of the gathered church. YouTube and Zoom are a pale reflection of the gathered church we're so used to. One where more than our own voice is heard in praise. Where faces are not digitalised and are many. Where warmth fills the air as we join together to be buoyed by each other's presence. The gathered church is not just nice for us, it's meant for us. It's biblical. It's right we miss it and long for it. I know I do. However, what is of greater value and worth is not merely the presence of others but the presence of God. That's ultimately what sets the church apart from every other thing in all the earth.
I'm sure you'll remember Moses' resistance to continue the journey to the promised land if the presence of God did not go with them, "What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" The presence of God is everything. It's everything for us personally and collectively. It's not limited to a gathering of people nor is it restricted to it - quite the opposite, the presence of God dwells in each of us. We are the church. The church is not a gathering we attend it's a mission we carry. As its work, the work of the gospel takes root in our lives and in a sense gifts itself to us, we carry its values, it's purpose, it's distinctiveness with us.
The church, that's you and I, concerns itself with devotion to God. None of which is lessened or made harder by a global pandemic, it's actually made easier. Access to church is easier, not better but certainly easier. And really, it's the bare minimum. To read your bible. To pray. To break bread. To fellowship. To listen to teaching. The world devotes itself to all sorts of things in the pursuit of all sorts of things. Christians devote themselves to God in pursuit of the presence of God. We ought to be equally as devoted, if not more.
God loves to take things that are spoiled and turn them into good. It's his desire to share his presence with us. May we not bemoan our lack but his abundance. May we remain steadfast in faithfulness and use what's spoiled to turn us warmer for the presence of God, not cooler. I long for the day of the gathered church, where the presence of God is magnified by the gathering of the many but in the meantime, I refuse to let that which is spoiled allow me to forget that it's His presence above all else that gives meaning and comfort, hope and joy, healing and assurance.
May his presence be a comfort to you all in this season.
- Pastor Jacob
