What If?

Across the country, I'm watching as churches wrestle with how to be The Church in this new normal. I'm watching congregations return to sanctuaries despite growing numbers; I'm watching congregations shutter their sanctuary doors for the foreseeable future. Mostly, I'm seeing the in between. Churches who don't know what to do next.

And then I came across one pastor saying this:

The question I plan to pose to our church is, “What if the church decided to not use all of its energy contemplating and debating if we are going to gather in-person next week (and next week, and next week), but instead used that energy to creatively explore what it means to adapt being church while we suspend gathering in our sanctuaries until after Jan 1, 2021?”

Could we gather in peoples homes in groups of 5-7 for Communion, study, and prayer?

Could we gather in a small group to explore ways to serve our communities?

Could we be church?

Suddenly, I was aware that we're going about this all the wrong way!

The question we are asking is a question of public health and safety.

The question we should be asking is a question of identity.

What makes us The Church?

More specifically, what makes us The Church in this space and time?

The world around us has changed, my friends.

We feel this deep in our bones.

Things that were once simple - going to the office every day - are now complicated. 

Visiting a vulnerable person is strongly advised against.

If you are a vulnerable person, you're wrapped in deep loneliness because of your lack of companions.

No longer is our health something we take for granted on the daily. Some of us had to be extra careful before there was a global pandemic, but now all of us need to be extra careful. We feel the fatigue of it all. We long for the old ways, the simpler times when we didn't have to mask and sanitize and keep a physical distance between ourselves and those we love (or even strangers). We want things to "go back to normal."

But "normal" as we knew it in December is gone - at least for a good long while if not forever.

In the midst of the sadness and grief, God has brought forth new wine, though!

There is much for which to rejoice!

We have rediscovered a slower pace, a joy in being at home with those we love, we have rallied around a cause. We have been creative and inspirational in the ways we have connected to one another. The Creative Spirit of God is alive and at work in the midst of COVID-19.

We have seen it in our churches, too.

Sanctuaries that once held 25% of their capacity now stand empty while screens full of participants join Zoom. Those who haven't attended church in years are with us online. Friends from far away have been able to peek in to their home church every week, no matter where they live. 

Pastors have doubled-down on their attention to worship. Y'all, if you haven't thanked your pastor lately for all they are doing, stop reading right now and go do it. I live with a pastor; I see it. The hours of video editing, praying, calling, writing timely liturgies, editing, re-editing, recording and editing some more. They were not trained to be production designers and they figured it out - usually in less than a week's time. Your pastor is more committed than ever to reminding us to be The Church!

Book studies, Bible studies, kids' groups, choirs, committees, task forces, and on and on. We've found a new way to be The Church! And we all long for the day when it's safe to once again hug anyone we wish. But we know that day is not coming soon.

The new wine is pouring forth and God is at work, Church!

And we all know what happens when new wine pours into old wine skins.

***

So what is it that keeps pushing us to be back in the sanctuary?

If we're not singing or reading together (as is advised), if we're not taking communion together (keep your saliva under your mask at all times, please!), and we're not even able to sit next to one another in the pew, what is it that draws us to the sanctuary?

I suspect it's a longing for "normal."

It feels like things are "getting back to normal" if we're allowed to be in the sanctuary.

It feels like we have this one area of our lives over which we have some control.

If we can just get back into the sanctuary, we can stop worrying about whether or not the church will survive.

It will all be ok if we can just get back to in-person worship in the sanctuary.

But "normal" is gone.

Going back to the sanctuary doesn't make "normal" return; it just highlights how different things really are.

I get it, my friends.

I really do!

I love corporate worship!

But, like the pastor said above, "What If?"

What if ...

What if we stopped asking when can we return to the sanctuary?

What if we stopped asking what will our protocol be for when we come back?

What if we stopped worrying about setting a date to return?

Instead, what if ...

What if we started asking how can we better use our time and creative energies?

What if we started asking how can we reach more people with mission and ministry right now?

What if we started pouring massive amounts of energy into creativity rather than hand-wringing?

I can only imagine all the great things we could do!

I do, however, know a few things we could stop doing!

We could stop looking at case counts.

We could stop worrying about schools being open or closed.

We could stop having meetings to rehash the same, already tired, conversations about masks and sanitizer and cleaning supplies.

We could stop stagnating where we are.

New wine cannot be poured into old wine skins without them rupturing.

The Church has been given a great opportunity!

You've been allowed to strip away all that can draw your focus away from mission.

You've been given a great new wine.

New wine needs time to breathe.

It needs space and air and time in order to mature into all it is meant to be.

Wine worth savoring takes time and creativity.

Don't risk putting your brand new wine into old wine skins.

Instead, let's use this time to sew new wine skins!

Let's allow the Spirit to continue to lead us wherever she wishes!

Let's stop fretting about being back in the sanctuary and begin crafting a new vessel for this fresh new gift from God.

What If ...

What if we trusted God fully with this new wine?

What if we trusted that the Spirit has an abundant future planned for us?

What if we allowed God to work in and through us to create something we could never have imagined in 2019?

The Church that asks those questions is The Church I want to be!

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wine skins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wine skins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wine skins."

Mark 2: 21-22 NIV