Standing At The Door

There’s a tradition in many churches that at the end of a worship service, the pastor walks to the back of the church and stands by the doorway and shakes everyone’s hand as they leave the building.  When I first became a pastor, I upheld the tradition, but it was awkward at first.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I wasn’t yet comfortable with my new role. Over time, I have come to look forward to this part of the service.  I get to greet everyone who has come, those I know well and those I don’t, those who come regularly and occasionally, and those who have come for the first time.

I don’t know how this tradition began, or whether there was any sort of theology behind it, but to me it’s symbolic of the reality that God cares about each and every person there, regardless of age or attendance practices or social standing.  Every person there is a child of God.

Since a fire burned our sanctuary last December, we’ve been meeting for worship in our fellowship hall in the center of our education building.  I am thankful that we have this space so that we can continue to meet together, but I am sad that during this time we have gotten away from the tradition of the pastor standing by the door.   It hasn’t been intentional, it’s just that there are multiple doors now, and everyone goes a different direction.  The main door to our worship space isn’t the only door, and it’s not the door to the outside, just one door to the rest of the building.  So I stand by a door, but not everyone comes by.

The pastor at a church we attended for many years used to say that his job was to keep standing in the door.  What he meant was that he was called to pastor the people inside the church AND those outside the church, and to welcome those from the outside to come in, to find God’s love and grace.  I think about that pastor’s words when I’m standing at the door.  Before our sanctuary burned I would sometimes stand on the steps in front of the door to say a prayer for the neighborhood around us, and the city and its people.

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Two weeks ago we began once again worshipping in our sanctuary and I am again standing by the door.  Last Sunday we welcomed our neighborhood and our city and those from our past and our present and our future as we came together in our newly-renovated sanctuary to celebrate its rededication to God’s service.  At the end of the service, I stood by the door and shook hands as people filed out.  I’m sure some were impatient at the long line to get outside and over to the fellowship hall where a BBQ dinner was waiting, but I was thankful for the opportunity to meet people I’d heard about but never seen before, to thank friends who came through the rain from other cities and other churches, and to greet old friends.

For me, one of the great joys of my position is engaging with people, and I am thankful for all the opportunities I get to do that, including standing by the door.

Praying Without Ceasing 2.0

Pray without ceasing. –1 Thessalonians 5:17

I hold your right hand. --Isaiah 41:13

Be still and know that I am God. --Psalm 41:10

Yesterday I preached about praying without ceasing (listen here), and demonstrated God’s constant presence by having someone stand next to me holding my right hand as I spoke, just as Isaiah says that God is always doing.  I said that since God is always there, when we are not acknowledging his presence we are ignoring him.  If someone is in the room with us, we talk to them and it is rude not to.  Likewise, since God is always there, we can always talk to him.  This doesn’t have to be out loud with words, of course, but can just be ongoing in our thoughts.  This understanding of God’s constant presence is key to being able to pray without ceasing.

What I didn’t get a chance to talk about is how that analogy grows along the lines of a long-term relationship.  When our relationships with people grow to a deeper level, we can be with them without speaking to them, without having to fill the awkward space with conversation, and I think this is true even more with God.  We grow in our sense of his presence to the point where we can know his presence and his peace without having to always say something . . . a different understanding of the call to “be still and know that I am God.”

Although I am growing in my understanding of God’s presence, I still need to put some words into it, to say in little prayers throughout the day that I know that he is there, because this reminds me that he is.  I think maybe I need these little prayers the most when I am in the midst of a difficult situation, when I am seeing things “head south” and I have no idea what to do next.  “God, be near to all of us here right now and guide this conversation,” or sometimes even just “God, help us.”  And I’ll admit that after saying that I forget to notice what God then does to guide us, or to say thanks afterwards for whatever resolution has come.  And I might even get all the way to the end of the day before I am conscious of God’s presence again.

Oswald Chambers says that there comes a time when we no longer have to put so much deliberate thought into these sorts of things and we just do them.  I am thankful that this is true for some aspects of my life with God, and am trusting that God is teaching me where that needs to be true more.  I do find that talking about them gets us going in the right direction, and so I am curious how praying without ceasing works for you?  Is this a brand new idea or one that has become second nature? 

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  –2 Corinthians 3:14

Holding Hands with God

For I hold you by your right hand--I, the LORD your God. And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you. (Isaiah 41:13)

As I read this verse from Isaiah I find myself looking at my right hand and imagining what it would be like to truly have God in the flesh…Jesus…literally holding my right hand.  Would I be like the star-struck fan who gets a kiss or a handshake from their favorite singer or actor and then says with a dreamy look in their eyes, “I’ll never wash this hand again?”

Was this what the woman felt like who was in the midst of the crowd trying to reach Jesus?  She only managed to touch the hem of his robe—she didn’t even touch his flesh—but still that was enough to heal her of the bleeding that she’d had for years. I can imagine her sense of wonder and accomplishment.  “I did it!  I touched him!  And I’m healed!”

For I hold you by your right hand…

I cannot see or feel anyone holding my hand at this moment.  But this verse says “I hold you…” in present tense.  This very moment God is holding my right hand…even as I type this.  And he was holding it already before I read this, and he will continue holding it even though I stop thinking about it and move on to other things.

How would life be different if I could always remember that God is always holding my hand?

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My soul follows hard after you: your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63:8)

Nevertheless I am continually with you: you have held me by my right hand. (Psalm 73:23)