Waiting

Thank God for those mother’s we got to celebrate with face to face this Sunday! There’s joy in receiving letters, texts, video calls and things like Zoom, Skype, and Marco Polo have made it more convenient than ever. But there is always something special about being with someone face to face. Ask someone deployed overseas if it’s easy to do especially over long periods of time. Talk to someone locked away how it affects their family life. And, if it’s true for you, how the quarantine has stirred up your longing to be with someone. 

This is how John rights to his church.

2 John 12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

We are missing something when we aren’t together. As I preach, I miss being able to see the faces of the people I am preaching to and thinking how this Word of God connects with them. To be honest, joy flows into the sermon a lot easier that way.

 After church, the conversations very often aren’t deliberate (it’s sometimes seems if that on video calls that needs to be the case) or have any other purpose but to enjoy one another. John recognizes there’s a lot that can be said even when he was separated, but some of it is better off for when he was with his people- face to face. 

 A longing that drives us…

We can get this intense longing to be face to face. It’s a good thing! That’s where everything becomes real- where we find that there’s so much more to communication than just a message seeing someone. All the nuances of communication come out! As Christian’s we can relate. We can’t wait for to our relationship with our Savior to turn into a face to face. That is why sometimes we struggle as believers. We don’t have Jesus face to face with us. We have his “letter” his Word that tells of his relationship to us, and expresses his love, and works it in us. But not to see… that leaves us aching for the day we can. Is that maybe why sometimes it’s so difficult to stick to his written Word? Only about 14% of Americans are daily Bible readers, and it’s often easy to stray away from our reading plans. We would rather be with Christ rather than wait to be. 

It will be great when we are! Not to get ahead of ourselves, but think of all the unspoken things that our Savior has to share with us when we do see him standing before us! The glorious relationship we’ve craved and the glorious peace we’ve longed for. That will be the day! Until then, we are here waiting with the message of the Word reminding us that our Savior has all of that for us right now, waiting for all the nuances of our relationship that we have yet to experience and enjoy.
 
I look forward to seeing you all again soon. It feels like it will be soon, but we will wait to see what our leaders decide this week. Until then…
 
God’s Peace
Pastor