The Church gathers weekly. This has been a core practice for hundreds of years. It is both epic and pathetic. Epic in the sense that God, the Lord of Lords, Jesus of the cross and resurrection, the Holy Spirit, meets us. Pathetic in the sense of the offerings we often bring (if we bring any). One of my favourite moments of our gathering is the the call to worship. I don’t think worship begins with the call to worship for as people even begin to gather in a place, begin to setup, serve, pray corporate worship is being offered. But there is this moment. When we stand together and hear a call to worship. An invitation to all turn our hearts and faces towards the Lord. And in the moment that follows many people enter in, and many people withdraw. There are hands raised, hands open, and hands in our pockets.
As I’ve been reflecting upon this I have also considered the fact that the gathering, while a significant moment of the week, is really a small portion of the week. We spend a lot more of our week in coming and in going. Though we need to work together and mature in our corporate practices of gathering, what are the practices of coming and going that we are developing.
The gathering of God’s people is a gift. A gift of unity. A gift of the word. A gift of space to worship. A gift of ministry. A gift of grace. One of the questions I am wondering is are able to receive and carry these gifts into our lives. My dream is that the gathering of God’s people in a place is the celebration and remembering of a week that has past (that we had gone into), and a week that is coming, that we are invited into.
My thoughts are still developing and I would appreciate feedback or questions of clarity.
