November 1

Day 232: Together

So today is November 1. All Saints Day on the liturgical calendar. It's also my father's 92nd birthday. For our family, he is the patriarch of patriarchs. It's like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all rolled into one.

It's also a test day for our church. Because of a sizable uptick in recent Covid positives, our church is meeting, all of us on Zoom. It's test day, not because we're not accustomed to Zoom. It's test day because perhaps some of us will think it the best possible scenario, others will not think it enough. Or perhaps others will view today as a day off.

I am the first to admit, it's not ideal. Because of the "waves of rain" (NOAA's term) we're experiencing, and because of unknowns (differences of interpretation) regarding how many people can currently (thus legally) meet together, we chose what we thought the most viable option. Stay home under cover.

We won't have any singing (because I'm saving you the horror of listening to me sing acapella.) We won't be sharing communion. We won't be able to hang out and talk afterward, while the kids continue to play in the rain, like we usually do. So why bother at all, you might ask (?)

Because we need to. We're all needy for the relationships we share around the gospel of Jesus.

I remember in 1979 when my three traveling buddies and I were invited to a church gathering outside of St. Petersburg, Russia. In a forest. In the dark. Everyone standing in a circle. Speaking Russian. (I didn't get too much out of the sermon.)

But gather they did. Under governmental threat. I felt the threat. But they gathered because they felt they had to.

My birthday boy father lives in a nice retirement community. He lost his wife (my mother) this past December. He not only sees relationships as essential, he is a conduit; a catalyst for gospel relationships. I'm told some of his fellow residents refer to my dad as "the youth pastor." He is a creative, fun guy after all.

Paul Tripp has written, "An isolated, independent, separated, and self-hiding Christian life is alien to the Christianity of the New Testament. Biblical Christianity is thoroughly and foundationally relational."

So while it's certainly not ideal, we will gather together in just a just an hour or so. We will devote ourselves to what the elders (in Acts 6) devoted themselves to: prayer, and the ministry of the Word.

Because we need to. We're all needy for the relationships we share around the gospel of Jesus. The Christian life is a corporate life.

Even if only on a digital screen. But together, none the less.

(I will be gathering with some pastor friends out of town, tomorrow through Wednesday. "See" you again later in the week.)

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church Juneau