04-23-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
April 23, 2023
About a month ago, as I was driving to church on Sunday morning around 6:30am, I dropped by the convenience store for caffeine. I was dressed up, wearing a tie, and someone in the store made a comment. I said, "I’m headed to church." He says, "Oh, it is church day." I laughed, but that phrase sort of bothered me as the day progressed… even though I’ve probably used it at some point myself. To assign church to a single day of the week is a mistake, even if what we are intending to say is worship. When we begin to imply limitations and restrictions on when and where the church exists, there is a problem. The church will gather today in settings around the globe, and then the church will disperse, but in that dispersing, it will be no less than it was when it gathered.

Holy God, whether those who follow Jesus are sitting in the same space or not, let us never forget that each of us is the church, the manifestation of the Gospel in the world. Amen.