Gathering Together

Now don’t get me wrong; I love my home church congregation. The body of Christ gathers there, and the Spirit is at work there. I’ll get back to that in a bit.

But there is something very special about going to churches that aren’t my home church; churches where I am a “stranger.” A Roman Catholic church in northern Michigan, where I experience the sense of holiness, as well as the deep emotions evoked by the smell of candles and incense (I was born in and spent my early childhood in the Roman Catholic church). A church service in an open-walled shelter in Nigeria, where everyone in the congregation has some type of musical instrument that they use in worship. An Eastern Orthodox church that meets in an elementary school gymnasium in Wisconsin, where I recognize that we are worshipping the same Jesus, but am overwhelmed by traditions strange and wonderful to me. A choral evensong service at York Minster in northern England, where I weep as the boys’ choir sings Psalms in a soaring space under 13th-century windows. A Chicagoland megachurch with a contemporary band and passionate congregational singing. A Word-centered Lenten service at a sparsely attended Lutheran church, where the people gather for a meal beforehand and are oh so welcoming. A Christmas Eve service in an ancient church in Brittany, France, where glorious church bells call the faithful to worship and I comprehend maybe 10% of the speaking but am able to sing along with familiar carols.

I understand people who are uncomfortable going to a worship service where they don’t know anybody. But for me, it is a revelatory experience: a reminder of the worldwide nature of the Church, of how many people there are outside of my own local church and tradition and nation who gather together on the weekly anniversary of our Lord’s Resurrection, who all sing or chant and break bread and read the same Word and bear witness to the life of the New Creation — the New Creation where the barriers that separate local churches and traditions and nations dissolve in the face of the glorious Resurrection hope that unites us. In Christ there is no CRC or RC, there is no Canadian or American, there is no East or West, for we are all one In Christ Jesus.

So yes, I love being part of my local Church. In fact, when I think about it, I consider it to be a privilege. I love worshiping and working with a community where I am known and with whom I have a history. But I hope I will always have occasion to visit brothers and sisters that I don’t know, but with whom I will be Resurrected and spend eternity, to remind me that the “Together” in our “Gathering Together” means far more than the treasured people in my home congregation; it means a great host throughout the world and throughout history, ultimately gathered together around the throne and singing the praises of the Lamb.