The sweetness of meeting together
One of the cruelest blows this pandemic has struck us is breaking apart in-person fellowship for a season. While by now most churches have begun meeting again, many members and attenders have still not returned. Phone calls, letters, and brief visits notwithstanding, many are unlikely to ever gather with us again.
We’ve learned how to engage on social media. We have all become televangelists of a sort! Live-streamed services fill my Facebook feed every Sunday morning from fellow pastors and sister churches. One or two joining online for staff or deacons meetings are a norm now. All things considered, these technological gifts have been a blessing which past generations could only have dreamed of. But most would admit, it just isn’t the same.
The silver lining that has come out of this dark cloud is we now value what we once took for granted. We have recognized a new sweetness to the church gathered. To look in the face of a smiling sister, to embrace a hurting brother, to hear their voices unfiltered by Zoom, to be in the same room singing, has reminded us of why the church has always found it necessary to come together. As our Lord modeled for us, incarnational ministry matters. For many in church history, and still throughout much of the world, it is worth risking your lives for it every week.
For me, segments of the Scriptures broke open with a new sense of this sweetness. The Bible encapsulates relationships through the medium of ink. However, in that very medium we can read this longing for the sweetness of in-person fellowship:
“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you- that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.” - Romans 1:11-12
“For though absent in body, I am present in spirit;” - 1 Corinthians 5:3
“For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.” - Colossians 2:5
“But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face.” - 1 Thessalonians 2:17
“As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.” - 2 Timothy 1:4
“Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.” - 2 John 1:12
“I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.” - 3 John 1:14
Meeting matters. We should be very hesitant to ever give up this treasure again. I am not trying to offer easy answers to hard questions. The safety of the flock must be a genuine concern for any shepherd. We protected the vulnerable, and many of our elderly saints with comorbidities remain at high risk from this virus. Waves of Covid-19 cases still ebb and flow with new variants, and pastors are sometimes left with nothing but difficult options. All that being said, have we not learned that the sweetness of in-person fellowship cannot be substituted, regardless of what we decide to do?
At a time when it is more faddish to deemphasize the Sunday gathering in favor of casual weekly get-togethers, to elevate the church scattered over the church gathered, we learned what Christians in the catacombs and in house churches throughout Asia have found, the saints must congregate.
May God show his grace to us all and let this pandemic pass. But when it does, may we never again take for granted what it means to be together. It is a sweet foretaste of Heaven divine.
Rick Harrington is a pastor at First Baptist Church - Haverhill in Massachusetts. He is the author of the books "How to Find a Church: Seven Steps to Becoming Part of a Spiritual Family" and "The Weight of Preaching: Heralding the Gospel of Grace". You can follow his writing on his blog The Lamp Post.
