Worship in the Days of COVID-19

Tonight I had the opportunity to share some words at our first Parking Lot worship service.  I am posting what I wrote here as well:

How many times over the years have we taken Sunday morning for granted?  How many days have we assumed that getting up, getting dressed, and spending 3-4 hours at church is just what happens every Sunday morning.  And yet, this assumption has left us in these past 3 months.  We now know that gathering to worship is not something to take for granted.  Yet, I maintain that despite the fact that we have not gathered in our sanctuary, we have worshipped.  So, I began to wonder.  What is worship?  What does it mean to truly worship?   

I was recently asked the question “what is your favorite part of the church service – the one thing that you love?”  I began listing different aspects that touch me:  the music, the message, the community.  Yet, as I dug into worship, none of this captures the original meaning of the word.  I looked up the original Hebrew and Greek words for worship.  In Hebrew, it means to bow down and in Greek, it means to prostrate oneself.  You see, neither of these definitions say anything about worship being about us.  Worship is 100% about the love we bring to God.   

Romans chapter 12 verse 1 supports this idea when it says “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship.”  The idea of worship is that we are giving of ourselves.  Over time, we have defined that as a coming together, singing, and time of learning.  However, the past 3 months have taught me some things about worship.  Worship will not always look the way I think that it should yet that does not make it a solitary experience. It may happen at my kitchen table on a Sunday morning with my family gathered together. Worship may happen through my computer screen on a Zoom call or watching a service.  It just may look different than what I am used to experiencing. 

I love to go into bookstores.  I haven’t been in at least 3 months, but I love the smell and feel of a bookstore.  I remember one day coming across a book called The Upside Down Bible.  I haven’t read it, but the idea stuck with me.  Jesus was all about turning the world upside down.  He dined with tax collectors, talked with Samaritan women, and turned the tables of the money collectors upside down.  For me, worship has also been turned upside down over these past 3 months.  Today, it looks different from what we expect in worship.  If you had ever told me that I would be glad to stand in a parking lot and worship, I may have laughed at you.  Teddy Roosevelt once said,  “You may worship God anywhere, at any time, but the chances are that you will not do so unless you have first learned to worship Him somewhere in some particular place, at some particular time.” You see, the ability to learn about and grow in worship only happens as we teach each other and model worship.  That happens in our sanctuary, on our Zoom calls, in our online worship, and in our parking lot.  That is one of the beautiful things that happens as a church gathers.  

I am convinced that the rest of Romans 12 is also true.  It says: 

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.' 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

Friends, whether we are in a parking lot, on a zoom call, or in our sanctuary, we need one another as we worship together.  We need all of the parts of this body in order to be God’s church. If we are to share God’s love, we cannot do it alone.  We need to be devoted to one another.  We need to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.  We need to bless those who disagree with us and persecute us.  We need to share in each other’s victories and tragedies.  We need to live in love with one another and we need to bring grace to one another.   

If ever there is a chapter in the Bible that captures where I feel we are in this day of 2020, this is it.  You see, we are upside down.  We struggle to know what is right and how to act and where to go.  Yet, if we will focus on overcoming this world with good, I am convinced that we will be fulfilling God’s call in this world.  So, for today, being joyful in hope and patient in affliction looks like yard chairs in a parking lot.  Today, being devoted to one another in love means taking care of each and every one of our members and neighbors to help keep us all healthy.   

Today, let us be overcome with good.  Let us go and be the hands and feet of Jesus in this flipped upside down messed up world and let us continue to do that over and over again until we find ourselves being told “well done, my good and faithful Servant.” 

Hope

I just wrote a piece on my teacher blog and found that it was relevant to share here. So, here it is:

Trail Journeys - teaching blog.... here it is (if you don’t want to click the link):

Summer is melting before my eyes. Tomorrow will begin year 12 of teaching for me. Awaiting my arrival is a new flexible seating plan (stools, rolling chairs, camping chairs, and a rug), enough summer PD to make my brain fill full and almost overwhelmed, and six lists of new names to learn.

Today, I logged into our online grading system and began looking over the lists. I have been checking daily for weeks and this is the day that they became available. I read the names a few times over to myself and found myself wondering what new insights they will bring to my class. As I looked at the names, I was reminded of why I cycle back in each year…with each name, there is hope. There is hope for inspiration. There is the hope that students will become better thinkers and readers. There is the hope that this thinking and reading will spark positive change in their life that also makes a difference in our country and world. As I look at my list of names, I realize that teachers across the country are doing (or will be doing) the exact same thing.

That, my friends, is a magnitude of hope

The Curse of Things

Each day, summer ticks forward and I can feel the school year creeping upon me.  I had my first dream about school two whole weeks ago and found myself standing in my classroom facing an unfinished room and panicked about what I would teach.  The unfinished room part is currently a reality, but it won't be for long.  I moved classrooms this summer and in the process, I have purged (and will continue to purge) so many things that I have held in my room for years.  This purging has carried over to my house and I now find myself looking at cabinets that actually have space and shelves that are not completely full because I have begun a great purge.

Just moments before this picture, these shelves were completely full!  That was a lot of throwing away.

I find that as I look at these things, I am struck by how much clutter I have - it is all clutter that I originally thought was most definitely a necessity.  So, I have begun to question what it is that I need?  What do I need to fill my shelves and my house and even my heart?  My first answers come quickly and obviously:  my faith in God, my family, my friends.  Yet, I am part of the American "want society."  I shop Amazon Prime Days and was there when the dogs of Amazon prime popped up immediately because consumer American had shut down the site.  I considered Build A Bear build your age day (but fortunately we were already booked that day).  For me, it seems that that there is always a desire for more - of whatever is being marketed. 

I want to work on this within myself, so I am reaching out....what tricks do you have for managing the "stuff" and for minimizing when there is just too much?!  I would love to hear ideas, and perhaps even try (and chronicle) some of them too!

Alarms off

Last night, I was drifting off to sleep when I suddenly remembered an important summer ritual.  It was time to turn the alarms off!

Clicking the button that says 5:40 am School from on to off felt liberating to say the least.  However, when this first glorious morning of summer rolled around, I woke anyway.  It seems that my body must be programmed to get up and get moving on Mondays.

Turning that alarm off means more than simply not having to rise and shine each day.  The daily routines and busyness of the school year are also turned off as we move to summer.  My girls have schedules that will allow them to rest, to play, and to grow in different ways through the summer.  They will spend time with me, with their grandparents, and with friends.  There are camps, vacations, and Vacation Bible School all to enjoy over the coming months  There will be routine, but there will also be a lot of fun.  Last night, my youngest daughter caught her first lightning bug of the summer.  It was the sign that summer has officially arrived.

So what?  Why does this matter?  For many, summer still means early days of work and regular routines.  For children, though, everything changes for the summer.  Whether summer is spent with a family member because parents are at work, at day camps, or with friends, summer means a time of rest and rejuvenation.  The reality is, we all need a metaphorical summer:  a time where our bodies and minds can rest and rejuvenate.

Our days are crammed with a variety of stresses.  Our bodies and spirits cannot maintain those stresses long term.  We need to find ways to destress, take a break, and rejuvenate.  It is opposite what society mandates, but it is critical.  Just like my body is programmed to wake up each day, and just like it will take a few days for me to decompress and fully relax, our minds need time to decompress also.

Imagine what would happen to your relationships when we can take the time to just spend time.  Imagine what would happen to your spirit when we can take the time to focus on your relationship with God and/or your inner self.  Imagine what could be.

I am not sure what every individual's "summer" looks like.  Perhaps it is simply finding 30 minutes each day for yourself.  Perhaps it is a vacation that is not cram packed with things to do/see.  Perhaps it is a weekend with no schedule or even all alone.  But, I know this....we all need something to help us keep finding ourselves over and over so that we do not become lost in the everyday mundane and so that our spirits can breathe.