Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord
Psalm 122:1
Introduction.
No doubt we will be saying this whenever we resume our in-person services (Psa. 122:1).
We miss you all deeply and are eager to resume them!
I’m so glad for phones and other means of communication to help keep us sane.
And I’m thankful for the internet that we can share the message of Christ online.
But nothing can really be a decent substitute for worshiping God together.
Here are some things I’ve learned during this pandemic that I’d like to share with you.
At the same time, hopefully we can share some words of encouragement at this time.
I also have a concern as we move forward.
Before this pandemic, there were churches who would live stream their worship.
The concern many had, and I have, is that some will use it as a substitute and say, “I’ve worshiped from my living room, so why do I have to bother to go?”
It’s not a huge leap, then, to say, that worshiping from home is perfectly acceptable with or without a live stream.
“I can worship from home just as easily as I can there.”
And now, we’re all doing that—so what’s the message we’re sending people?
Why is it okay to do this now, but it wasn’t okay then?
Preview.
What We Miss.
In the Present Distress.
Body.
What We Miss.
We miss first and foremost, worshiping together.
There are two main aspect to worship: a vertical aspect and a horizontal one.
We can engage in this vertical aspect of worship wherever we are.
That is the great thing about God, His omnipresence and omniscience means He is always there with us, He knows that we worship Him and when—He knows our hearts.
But let’s not forget the horizontal aspect—this is in relation to those around us.
We can only benefit and edify one another when we are present with one another.
One very familiar verse to us perfectly shows both aspects very clearly (Eph. 5:19).
“speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
Our singing is meant to teach and admonish one another (Col. 3:16), and we are greatly encouraged when we all sing together—even if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket.
Joy made a comment the other day that it was nice to hear Victoria singing on the live stream. Yes, when I lead singing on here, she is present with me and can be heard on the feed. And I know many of you love her voice, and I’m sure are encouraged by it—I certainly am.
But it’s not just singing, it’s the Lord’s Supper as well.
We miss Communion together.
Recall the lesson we had a few weeks ago about the Lord’s Supper.
Another name the Scriptures use is Communion, while another is breaking bread.
We see in every example, they are together.
“The disciples came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7); “when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper” (1 Cor. 11:20).
But recall, we proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes (1 Cor. 11:26).
Who are we proclaiming it to when we partake of it alone in our house?
Let us also not forget, it is called Communion, a fellowship with our Lord.
But just as there is a vertical aspect of worship, there is also the horizontal aspect.
We show that, by being in communion/fellowship with the Lord, we are also in communion/fellowship with each other.
In this simple meal, a little bread, a little juice, we see that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, partaking of His death together.
We can do that apart, but it’s just not the same.
We miss the encouragement.
Another oft-quoted passage among us tells us one reason why we gather together (Heb. 10:24-25).
When we come together to worship, to sing praises to God, to pray together, to take the Lord’s Supper, to read and study a portion of Scripture, we do far more than we realize.
We stir up one another to love and to do good works.
Love, at least loving our neighbor, does not always come naturally.
We must constantly be encouraged to show our neighbor love.
Why? Because it’s so easy to be mean, to lie, cheat, and steal for our own personal gain.
It’s also very easy to do when they have wronged us in some way, if they lied to us, cheated us, or stole from us.
That cycle of hate continues unless we stop it with love and forgiveness.
When we come to worship, we are encouraged to love our neighbor as ourselves!
To show that love, we are encouraged to do good works.
Why? Because it’s easy to be lazy or be self-centered.
When we gather together, and I hear of Lynn doing something for someone, that encourages me to do more.
When I hear of all the great activities that we are up to, I am encouraged to be a part.
When I look out and see your faces, I am encouraged at what I see—each face encourages me more and more.
Each face lets me know all the more that our labor is not in vain, that our work here means something.
And I’m sure I’m not the only one encouraged—we all are the more faces we see!
It’s something we sorely lack when we can’t meet together.
And it’s sad that when we could meet, so many people still chose to stay home or go do something else.
We miss good habits.
It’s a good habit to establish, to come to worship every week, and really to be here whenever the doors are open.
This is good for at least two reasons.
Recall that “evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Cor. 15:33).
The more we’re here, the more we’re around our fellow Christians, the better influence we can be on each other for good.
So the contrary, “good company helps to establish good habits.”
We help each other do better, to live better—we help each other get to heaven.
We are to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2)—how can we do that if we aren’t here?
Another is the spiritual growth that we experience here—when we aren’t here we lack in that growth.
Sure, you could go online and find a study there, listen to some preaching, but there are several reasons why that’s inferior.
One is you don’t get the personalized touch. Your preacher ideally is familiar with you and with your needs. He will choose topics for the congregation, perhaps with the elders’ input, and explain them to help as many people in the congregation as possible.
Another reason is that, even if you don’t understand, you have his ear and can ask him questions to help in your spiritual growth.
In the Present Distress.
Why is it okay now?
Okay, preacher, you’ve told us why we should meet together—for worship and encouragement and for spiritual growth.
But why is it okay now? Why is it okay not to gather together and experience all of that today?
The answer boils down to this phrase: the present distress.
This is a phrase found in 1 Cor. 7:26 concerning marriage.
In context, Paul is discussing certain things on this important topic.
Then he says in 1 Cor. 7:25 …
Virgins were generally understood to be unmarried women who were still under the care of their fathers.
He states that he has no commandment regarding them, but makes a judgment call—a divinely inspired judgment call, but still, a judgment call nonetheless.
This judgment call is concerning this “present distress” that they are facing (1 Cor. 7:26).
This is the persecution that they are dealing with, or will soon be dealing with.
A man (or person) should remain as he is—don’t seek marriage at this time (1 Cor. 7:27).
This isn’t a ruling for all time; he even states that if you do marry, you have not sinned (1 Cor. 7:28).
Paul states the consequences, however: you will have trouble in this life.
Throughout Scriptures we see allowances being made.
We see that if one had been unclean or traveling during the Passover, they could take it the following month (Num. 9:10-11).
This was even done for the whole nation when Hezekiah was king of Judah and not enough of the priests were consecrated yet and the people hadn’t had the chance to gather at Jerusalem (2 Chron. 30:1-4).
We see throughout the OT Law, that if you’re poor, you offer different sacrifices.
We see Jesus commented on the allowance of divorce “because of the hardness of [their] hearts” (Matt. 19:8).
The showbread was only meant for the priests to eat, but an exception was made for David and his men when they were hungry (1 Sam. 21:1-6).
This fact Jesus commented on when His disciples were plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath—another allowance made (Mark 2:23-28).
In the book of Judges, we see the judges rise up as military leaders among the people when that was not the normal state—the Lord was to be their leader and king.
We see the people demanding a king, and the Lord allowing it, though it was not what He wanted (1 Sam. 8; 12).
Application.
The Lord is a perfect judge.
If there is a legitimate and honest reason why you cannot fulfill His commands, He understands.
But you better make sure you’ve exhausted every avenue to do what He has said.
Today we have a pandemic, a highly contagious disease that can be deadly, particularly to older people with certain conditions.
So we find authority for suspending in-person services in the present distress.
Some will liken this to the persecution the church faced in the first century, and even in certain parts of the world today.
They still gather to worship, so why shouldn’t we?
First, they gathered in smaller groups because of the persecution.
They even scattered after Stephen was killed (Acts 8:4; 11:19).
They still protected themselves as much as they could and still meet for worship.
Over a century ago during the Spanish Flu pandemic, churches of Christ suspended services, but they didn’t have the internet like we do.
They met in smaller groups in people’s houses to worship together just as the church did under persecution.
Not that they were persecuted, but they were in a present distress.
Is our worship situation ideal? No, certainly not, but the pandemic certainly isn’t.
Our situation today.
When we decided to suspend in-person worship, the elders and I sought to find some way to serve the church here, particularly helping our newer converts.
It’s so important early on to establish good habits of attending worship regularly.
But how do you do that when we have canceled in-person services?
So this is a stop-gap measure, far from ideal, but it’s something, and definitely better than nothing.
It’s feeding the flock, though we still miss out on so much.
Even when we resume in-person services, we intend to continue live streaming for those not willing to take the risk of coming here with so many others.
Only you can judge for yourselves whether or not to take that risk—weigh the pros and cons.
But for what it’s worth, I really hope I get to see you when we resume, all of you. But if not, I certainly understand.
Conclusion.
I pray we get to resume in-person services soon.
But it is up to our elders to decide when and how best to do that.
We should pray for them to make wise decisions concerning this situation.
It would be a decision somewhat based on emotion to resume sooner rather than later.
We should have a measured response.
After all, how would we feel if someone here were exposed, infected, and died from one of our services?
Granted, they took the risk in coming, but I doubt we would feel any less guilty about it.
In this present distress, let us pray …
That the pandemic will pass over us quickly.
For the safety of this state, our country, and the world.
For our members as we navigate these uncharted waters.
And for our elders as they have our best interests’ at heart, an interest in our souls.
That said, our souls are so precious.
To God, all our souls look the same.
It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside or where you came from.
What matters is where your soul is.
Is it part of the body of Christ, part of His church, or not?
If it is, only then can you truly say, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord’” (Psa. 122:1).
Here’s how you can have your soul added to His church …