Why do I go to church?

The following is reprinted from my column in the Grace Episcopal Church newsletter, Grace Notes, dated September 2018.

The concept of community has been on my mind of late.  In his farewell sermon on Sunday, August 12th, Patrick Keyser (our summer seminarian) preached about how we need each other and asked, “How well do you know your neighbor?”  On that same Sunday the Parade magazine section of the Washington Post highlighted opportunities for community living where residents share certain meals and chores, but they live in their own apartments.  This past Sunday, August 19th, Father Bob preached a sermon entitled “Communion” and he told us, “Every time we celebrate the Eucharist together we are in communion with all the saints who ever lived.”  

  

I have three good friends who don’t go to church.  One friend believes in a “God of the Universe” and communicates with her God when she’s out in nature.  Another friend is a lapsed Roman Catholic who stopped agreeing with church doctrine some time ago and is now horrified by recent reports of sexual abuse by “so-called celibate priests.”  My third friend used to be a regular worshipper at a nearby Protestant church, but over time he got tired of the infighting between two factions within the parish – infighting that the pastor tried to ignore rather than addressing it and trying to resolve it.  I respect the choices of these three people, each of whom is a good friend with strong principles.  Two of my friends consider themselves to be Christians. 

  

What would you say to any of these three people if they asked you to explain why you go to church?  I’ve recently wondered how I would answer, so here are my thoughts. 

  

One of the reasons I go to church might, on the surface, seem rather un-spiritual.  I go to church to be part of a community.  Human beings evolved as families, bands and tribes; we are social animals.  At the very time of creation, God said “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18).  I say that I “belong to a church” for good reason – I want that sense of belonging.  I go to socialize -- to see people, sit next to them in a certain pew, chat with other friends during coffee hour.  I go to tell God and my neighbors that I love them and, hopefully, to feel that they love me too.  I go to participate in groups that provide service to others (Food Bank, Meals-on-Wheels, etc.).  I go to church, and I’m active in our church community, in order to provide justice and peace to the poor and the oppressed.  Alone I’m pretty powerless.  But a large group of people, properly organized, can bring about change.  The church is one of these groups.  I dream with others of like mind who dream the same dream -- from that dream may come a new reality.  Think of that the next time our Sunday bulletin includes an announcement about VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement). 

    

Being part of a community isn’t a bad reason for going to church … but it isn’t my only reason.  Although I can, and often do, worship God in an informal way when I’m alone – on walks through nature, for example – God calls me to corporate worship.  Throughout the Bible, the pattern of life for God’s people has included worship in large groups; we see this in the wilderness wanderings and in the pattern of festivals in the Old Testament.  There were family aspects of worship such as the Passover meal, and corporate worship at the temple.  From the very beginnings of Christianity, when followers of Jesus Christ met in people’s houses, corporate worship was built into these gatherings. Jesus encouraged corporate worship when he said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20).  In his letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul wrote, “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another...” (10:24-25)   

Finally, I go to church because I love the music and enjoy singing the hymns.  This past Sunday we started with Hymn 420:  

“How often, making music, we have found 

A new dimension in the world of sound, 

As worship moved us to a more profound 

Alleluia!” 

A vibrant community life as “the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12) is filled with the joy of worship, prayer and song.  A description of this communal experience includes enthusiastic worship that involves “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, and giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-20).  We were made for community worship. We sing not to God or ourselves alone, but to one another. The worship in heaven that is pictured in Revelation 4 and 5 is massive corporate worship.  I guess that will be the perfect church:  all harmonious, in perfect unity, with great joy. 

Corporate worship seems to be part of God’s plan for us, on earth and in heaven.  It can’t possibly be as awesome as that which is to come someday, in heaven, but I think it’s special just the way it is right here, on earth, at Grace Church.  I just finished reading Rachel Held Evans’ book, Inspired, and she says it all for me on page 206: “Like it or not, you can’t be a Christian on your own.  Following Jesus is a group activity, and from the beginning, it’s been a messy one; it’s been an incarnated one.”