By Rev. Tyger Penson
I Peter 1:3-7
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Last Sunday I went to “church!” I worshiped and experienced the love of God. Wow! But, you say, how? We are in the midst of stay-at-home orders—away from people. We are social distancing. Yet, here is how it happened.
After an early morning walk through a golf course, my husband and I took a freshly baked roll and a cup of McDonald’s coffee to the campus of the Methodist Church near-by. There we found a bench in the Meditation Garden surrounded by a labyrinth. We had our “communion” of sweet roll and coffee in this quiet, peaceful setting. I walked the labyrinth reflecting upon Psalm 23 word by word as my prayer. Then we returned to our home and watched, listened, prayed and worshiped on-line with the help of Faith’s broadcast. We were part of a worshiping community even if we were hundreds of miles away.
In preparation for the worship, we read I Peter 1. It seemed particularly apropos for our time. We can sing out with joy with the knowledge of hope in God: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” We can be relevant also in acknowledging that we are at a time when we “suffer various trials.” What has affirmed my belief that the church is “people” more than a building is your witnessing of being God’s helping hands toward others—calling friends or family to check out how they are doing, dropping off groceries to those in need, being a smiling face to neighbors. It represents the “genuineness of your faith.” That is what God needs from us these days.
An old saying goes, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” The Faith Lutheran Church building will be waiting for you with open doors one day soon. I can’t wait to be greeted with those six foot long words, “Welcome Home!” In the meantime, keep safe and well. God bless you.
Song: 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!