COUCH
CHURCH: REALLY?
Introduction:
When you
consider the term loneliness, who comes to mind? If you guessed older adults,
mental health experts say you're right, in part. But during the COVID-19
pandemic, they say this is affecting people of all ages. Executive Director of
Mental Health Minnesota, Shannah Mulvihill, said, "We can't acknowledge
enough that this is impacting all of us."
"I
think that after we are sort of through the COVID-19 pandemic, I believe that
we are going to see a mental health pandemic," added Dr. Kreitzer, from
the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing.[1] How will we handle this
mental health Pandemic?
Growing
up in India, for me, going to church on Sundays was a necessary social custom.
Only on certain occasions while traveling or sick, I would skip church;
otherwise, my parents made sure that we went to church every Sunday without
fail. Having one side of grandparents as pastors, going to church became all
the more a critical part of my life.
I
have never been in a situation where I didn’t go to church for three months and
where I did not worship the Lord with other believers. Thanks to COVID-19, the
declining Church attendance in the west has taken a further beating in recent
months. Church buildings have to close down, and in-person gatherings had to be
canceled. All of a sudden, both Mega and smaller churches locked their
buildings and became online churches. We were no exception.
On
the one hand, I am excited that we are reaching more people now through our
Livestreaming and Zoom meetings than before. On the other hand, I grieve over
the losses of personal contact, singing together, enjoyment of sweet fellowship
over potluck meals, hearing the playful laughter of children during social
events. Am I the only one who is feeling that way? Maybe you too! Why do we
feel the way we feel? How can we regain these losses?
Over
the past three months, we have gotten used to attending church from the comfort
of our homes. Some of us, due to health reasons, may have to stay back and join
our Church service via live stream for some more time. However, I want to urge
those who are healthy and able should come back to church, taking all the
precautionary measures possible.
In
the long run, being isolated in homes without fellowship with other believers
is detrimental for our spiritual, emotional, and physical lives. Why? According
to David Gundersen in his article “Ten reasons to come back to church after
COVID-19,” We are embodied, creatures
We’re not ethereal beings made to
float in virtual space.
We’re
not just pixels and screennames, headshots on Zoom, and Facetime. We’re human
beings. We’re designed to see and hear and taste and touch and feel our way
through the physical world God’s made.” The reason why we feel isolated and
lonely is that we are created for relationships, to live in vibrant and healthy
communities, and to do life on life with one another.
During
the “shelter in place” days, we have tried hard to maintain our connections, and
it is time for us now to come back together as a church cautiously to strengthen
those connections. It is good we follow the advice of our Governor and the CDC
authorities, but how about following the most authoritative advice of not
abandoning our meeting as believers? Hebrews 10:15-25. In this passage, the
author highlights the need and the significance of living in a community with
other believers by reminding them of God’s covenants with His people.
I. THE NEW COVENANT (15-16)
In verses 15-16, we read about a new covenant.
“And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, “This is the
new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put
my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” What we see
here is a repeat of chapter 8:8-12, as was often the practice of the
interpreters.
In
the OT, we read about God making covenants with his people at various times and
places. For instance, the terms of the agreement of Mount Sinai included the
Ten commandments. (Ex 31:18). After forty years of wandering in the wilderness,
while the Israelites were in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River, Moses
carefully reviews and explains God’s covenant with his people with more
additional terms and conditions.
The
essence of the Old Covenant was that God’s people must only worship God and
never to abandon Him and turn to other gods. The burden to keep the covenant
was on people. But as we know, the weight was too heavy, and the people often
broke their covenant with God.
Knowing
how hard it was for people to keep the Old Covenant, God promised to make a new
covenant Jeremiah 31:33, “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people
of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep
within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and
they will be my people.”
The
New Covenant is grace-filled. God himself will put his laws in the hearts of
his people and enables them to follow his ways and live in harmony with Him and
with others. God in Jesus put an end to our sins, and He will never remember
them again. Jesus, our great High priest by his death, opened a new and
life-giving way for us to live. That is our Hope in Christ.
II FIVE “LET US’s”
FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH. (Vs. 22-25)
Those who have accepted Jesus as
their Lord and Savior are called to be part of his new covenantal community.
Like with any covenant, there are terms even with the New Covenant. By his,
Spirit Jesus spelled out specific conditions for us to abide by and live in His
community. My wife Wilma stresses
the nutritional value of lettuce. She encourages us to eat it to remain
healthy. Similarly, in verses 22-25, we will find five Let Us’s for our
spiritual, emotional, and physical health as we are committed to living in
Jesus’ New Covenantal Community.
The
five Let Us’s. Vs. 22-25, 1. Let us go right into the presence of God with
sincere hearts, fully trusting him. 2. Let us hold tightly without wavering to
the hope we affirm. 3. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of
love and good works. 4. Let us not neglect our meeting together. 5. Let us
encourage one another. Here I see a collective call for Christians.
This five-fold new way of living is
essential for our spiritual growth and meant to be practiced collectively. For
our time together, I will focus on two of the Let Us’s.
III COUCH CHURCH:
REALLY?
In
the past several months, we have been live streaming our services. We praise
God for this wonderful opportunity to do so. As a result, we have created quite
an online community of friends from different parts of the world. I am grateful
for a dedicated team who works very hard each Sunday to bring our Church
service to you so that you could be refreshed spiritually.
We
have grown comfortable to participate in the service from our couches. I
understand for various health and other reasons some of you may not come to church
for our in-person gatherings yet. Whenever you think you are ready, please come
back and worship with us.
However,
my appeal is to all those from Hope Church and virtual community who perhaps
have grown too comfortable attending I would say Couch Church: Really? Your couch
can not necessarily meet your inner need for a person to person contact, which
we all have.
The
author gives us a remedy for our loneliness’ and depression due to our
isolation. Vs. 25, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people
do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is
drawing near.” In this verse, the author urges us not to neglect the practice
of meeting together and encouraging one another, especially as we see the day
of our Lord’s return is drawing near. The end times began when Jesus came into
this earth in human form over two thousand years ago. We are now living in the
latter part of the end times.
We
are seeing several end-time signs being fulfilled in front of our very eyes,
such as wars, famine, earthquakes, and pestilences, etc. All these indicate
that the end of the world will come sooner than we expect. One of such sins is
“Sin will be rampant
everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.” (Matt 24:12). We see so much
wickedness around us these days.
Amid such
troublesome and evil times, how could we maintain our salvation? In the phrase,
let us not neglect our meeting together, the Greek word translated as “meeting”
speaks of assembling together at one place. It doesn’t merely denote the
worshipping assembly of the church from which some were likely to be absent
themselves.
But the
gathering for corporate worship not as a solitary or occasional act, but as
customary act. For
that reason, even though our physical, structural church building was closed,
we kept up with our virtual gatherings around live-stream for worship, Zoom
Bible times, and Wednesday Prayer times. However, there is nothing more
powerful and uplifting to a believer than when they come together with other
believers in worshiping the Lord.
There is so
much joy in collective worship. The Psalmist David enjoyed worshipping the Lord
with other people. Psalm 122:1, “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to
the house of the Lord.” Coming back to our text, the Greek word translated as
“neglect” (ESV), “give up” (NIV) speaks of “desertion and abandonment.” It is
not about just not coming to church but is betraying one’s attachment to Jesus
Christ and our responsibility to other believers in their spiritual and
physical well-being. We are called to encourage one another, especially now.
Due to the
COVID-19 many churches have been forced to be deserted and abandoned. The
congregants have been isolated in their homes without coming together for
regular worship, discipleship, and fellowship. In recent months, we’ve seen the
power of our online world.
But we’ve
also felt its limitations. For example, no loving couple gladly accepts a
“long-distance relationship” as ideal. Neither should we a loving church
family. That’s why we need to come back to church. Last Sunday, we were simply
delighted to see each other and be in one another’s presence after a long time.
We enthusiastically waved at each other.
I understand
if you have to stay back home for some more time due to health reasons, don’t
feel pressured and condemned. Under the New Covenant, we don’t live by the law.
There is plenty of grace and mercy for all of us. If you stay at home, you are no
less spiritual than the ones who venture out to come. But if you are healthy and
able by all means, you should come.
As we are
living in the end times, I urge you not to neglect our meeting together, even
if it is uncomfortable to wear masks in the service. You will be doing a whole
lot of good to yourself and your brothers and sisters in our family and for the
advancement of God’s Kingdom. In closing, we are Hope Church and not a
Couch Church, therefore Psalm 95:1-7 “Oh come,
let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our
salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a
joyful noise to him with songs of praise!.... Oh come, let us worship and bow
down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are
the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” Amen!
[1] https://kstp.com/coronavirus/loneliness-during-covid-19-pandemic-how-to-help-yourself-loved-ones/5724011/
