Going to Church at Home

Sunday, March 29, was an odd experience for me. We had 18″ of snow in Hutchinson from Friday noon to Saturday noon. Combined with the wind, there was drifted snow as much as 4′ or 5′ deep. Even though the snow stopped and the sun came out Saturday afternoon, it wasn’t viable for us to have church on Sunday.

That made Sunday morning different than virtually every other Sunday morning in nearly forty years. My wife  and I thought about going to church “somewhere,” but every other United Methodist congregation in town was also closed. Besides, even though we had  shoveled out our driveway, it didn’t look like we could get very far on the street. Plus, the county authorities were strongly advising people to stay home unless it was an “absolute emergency.” Somehow, church didn’t quite fit that description!

So that left us with the option of “going to church at home.” We could have sat and read our Bibles and perhaps sang a song or two. There was the possibility of watching one or another service on television. However, we opted to watch the “live streaming” broadcast of worship from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS.

The senior pastor, Adam Hamilton, focused on the events the Thursday of Holy Week–both Jesus’ “last supper” with his disciples and also his time of agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Adam had actually preached from Jerusalem the two previous Sundays, and he had just returned from Israel the previous week.

I always learn a great deal whenever I hear Adam speak, teach, or preach. He has the capacity to invite you on board with what he sees and where he is going, and he helps you feel at ease with where you are in the process.  Sunday’s experience was no exception.

I particularly liked Adam’s reminder that “Maundy Thursday” was actually the time when Jesus gave us “mandates” for how we are to live our lives as followers of Jesus. These mandates include Jesus’ directives–or commandments– for us to:

• eat the bread [and drink of the cup], “in remembrance” of Jesus (Luke 22:19-20);
• love one another,” as Jesus has loved us (John 13:34). This doesn’t  mean having “warm, fuzzy feelings” for one another but to seek what is best for them even when we don’t feel like it and they don’t deserve it; and
• serve one  another, following the teaching and example of Jesus who came among us “as one who serves”(Luke 22:27).

I don’t remember Adam saying it quite this way, but these three mandates are not multiple choice. They are not “pick and choose.”  They are not based on our own feelings. They are to be grounded in faith, which is God’s free and gracious gift. And they are to be done, just like Jesus said!

When the service was concluded, I felt spiritually refreshed and renewed. I don’t know how soon I will again “go to church at home,” but I now know where to go and what to do! In the meantime, I have the needed reminders of what Jesus says I am caled to do.