September 16
DebDay 186: Wedding Celebration
Just about every church in America is experiencing the same phenomena, ours included. Not everyone is hanging around. Even limiting our affiliations to connecting via Zoom feels old and tiresome. No longer worth even that marginal effort, for some.
It may be the absence of face-to-face fellowship and collective worship has not resulted in their hearts growing fonder. Or it may be that the isolation from other believers has raised questions even of faith.
It may just be that over the past 6+ months, some cultural church-goers are coming to terms with themselves - that they're just not that into Jesus anymore. Exposing the possibility they never really ever were. The benefits of faith and practice don't seem to outweigh other life's wants and priorities anymore.
We Christians need to be reminded and refreshed in the gospel, more often than any of us will realize or admit. When (some of) the trappings of religion are no longer accessible, what is left to us?
Tim Keller (much more astute than I) has said the following, as a timely and needed reminder to us all:
"Our living and active faith in Jesus, expressed communally gives us:
*a meaning in life that suffering can’t take away
*a satisfaction not based on circumstances
*a freedom that doesn’t turn community and love relationships into thin transactions
*an identity that is not fragile, not based on performance or exclusion
*a way to deal with guilt and a means to forgive without residual bitterness or shame
*a basis for seeking justice that doesn’t turn you into an oppressor yourself
*a way to face not only the future but death itself with poise and peace
See that your indelible needs and longings for these things are actually echoes of your need for God."
It's my sense the base issue with so many of us (leaving their church, or sticking it out) is this: We don't really get or regard the holiness of God. And if we're unwilling to comprehend the holiness of God, we're certainly not going to get the value of Jesus being anywhere near us.
My smart Canadian friend, Glenn Watson, said it this way: "If we don’t truly understand the holiness of God we won’t truly understand or appreciate the significance of the presence of ‘God with us.’"
Admittedly, it's sometimes (okay, often) a challenge to sense the presence of Jesus in the life of ours, or any church. The hustle to pull off a Sunday worship service, (in our case, even find a place to gather), accommodate the kids, and sit still for even an hour in the midst of mindless distractions is ongoing and relentless.
But, and somehow, the presence of God is to be found and experienced in the life of the Church. As imperfect the Church is, we do remain "the Body of Christ." And someday, the imperfect Church will be presented to her Husband as a perfect, sinless, glorious Bride, prepared for the perfect wedding ceremony that never ends.
I just want people to be around to see and experience this wedding celebration. To experience the presence of Jesus in part, and to anticipate the day being face-to-face with Him forever.
-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau
