March 23, 2020
Though my formal and official installation by Presbytery as Senior Pastor of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church has been postponed until we’re able to gather for corporate worship again, I have begun my new role today as we have been planning all along - and what a strange set of circumstances in which to take the baton from Carl! To be unable to assemble for worship or to meet in groups greater than 10, to be practicing social distancing, not to be able to meet for breakfast or lunch or coffee or visit you in your home - pastoral ministry will have to look very different from what I’m used to in some ways for the foreseeable future. In that light, I have been so thankful that our elders have continued to shepherd the flock, that our deacons have continued to serve those in need, and that our staff have tirelessly worked to make sure that we can worship through our live-stream and that the operations and ministry of the church persist as much as possible as this pandemic unfolds.
The weirdest part of this coronavirus crisis for me is our inability to meet for corporate worship. Such has been the case in previous pandemics, though, and we ought to give thanks to God that we live in a time when the internet exists and we can still worship the Lord together, albeit separately in our homes. And we must not forget that because of our spiritual union with Jesus Christ, even when we are absent in body, we are present together in spirit. The Bible, particularly the apostle Paul, strikes this note in several ways that are instructive for us in a season of pandemic.
Our Savior is absent from us in body, but present with us by His Holy Spirit. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7; see also John 14:16, 26). Jesus is the Head of the church and we are His body. Because He is absent yet present with us by His Holy Spirit, in union with Him we are able to present in our spirits with one another even when we are absent in body.
Our bodily absence yet spiritual presence ought to motivate each of us to pursue holiness. Paul wrote to the Colossian church, “For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ” (Colossians 2:5). He wanted the believers in Colossae to continue to walk by faith in Jesus even though he was not, and likely never had been, with them physically. He speaks in similar ways to the church in Philippi: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents…Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 1:27-28; 2:12-13). Recalling the spiritual presence of our absent brothers and sisters in Christ, even of your absent pastors, is a strong incentive toward godly living. Certainly I can say with Paul that I long to hear that the saints of POPC are growing in grace even while we are physically separated from one another!
Our bodily absence should drive us to pray for one another earnestly. Paul remembered the saints to whom he wrote in far away places, and he prayed for them: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy…” (Philippians 1:3-4). When we cannot be present physically, we can be present spiritually with our prayers for one another. Mine the Scriptures, especially the prayers of Paul for the churches, as you pray for your church family. Pray with joy as you remember one another and long to see each other again.
Our bodily absence should create a deep longing to be restored to one another physically. In I Thessalonians 2:17, Paul writes, “But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face.” Knox Chamblin, one of my seminary professors at RTS, used to say, “The same sun that melts butter hardens clay.” Being away from one another and from corporate worship will either cause your heart to long all the more to be reunited with the saints in the presence of God, or will lead you to be even more careless about worship and about the people of God. Which will it be for you? Again, with Paul, as your pastor, I long to be together again, to see you face to face. As he writes in I Thessalonians 2:19-20, you are my glory and my joy, my hope and my crown of exultation, when Jesus Christ returns to be physically present with us once again.
May the Lord restore us quickly to one another, and may He be with us and watch over us while we are absent from one another!