Scriptures: Genesis 28:10-17 and Psalm 27:4-8
Anne Albert, worship & music coordinator
“Surely the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!” How often do we miss the presence of God among us? Jacob’s words in this ancient story are still true. Particularly this year when we have been unable to gather as a church in our sanctuary, our chapel, or in the Life Center. We have continued to worship faithfully, albeit virtually, though for some of us this has fallen short of what we have known as worship, as fellowship, as being the church.
While we know that the church is the people and not a building, that does not change how important our sacred places are to us. We may not have realized just how much our time together as a church meant to us until we were forced to worship apart. We may have yearned for God’s presence but felt that without our worshipping community we couldn’t enter into worship in the same way. The truth is God shows up in the most ordinary of places.
God is with us when we cannot gather together in our sacred places, when we are sitting on the sofa staring at a screen. God is with us when we cannot be the physical church to one another. God has been with us through all the uncertainty of 2020 and God continues to be present.
Lent is a time for repentance, for reflection, for contemplative exercises- a time to seek God’s presence with a different kind of focus-so often these practices have been in connection with the church body or even the building itself. As we enter a new season of Lent, let’s set aside some time to practice God’s presence in our current spaces.
The psalmist declares the desire to seek after the Lord, to live in the Lord’s house, surrounded by the beauty of the Lord. Our journey through Lent starts with the acknowledgement that God’s presence is right here, right now.
We are invited to lean into that awareness and to delight in God’s glorious presence with us and with God’s church. Whether we worship in our living room, our back yard, or our garage, surely the Lord is with us!
We have a unique opportunity to seek God in these continuing days of the pandemic – even now we are called to seek God’s presence in a fresh, vibrant way. God is surely still present in this place as God is present in our church. As we worship God today, let us give thanks for God’s sure and unchanging presence in our individual lives, and in and through us, the church.
prayer
Almighty God, we thank you for your continuous presence with us and we thank you for your church. As we begin our journey through the darkness of Lent we cling to the promise – Surely the Lord is in this place, wherever that place may be! Give us eyes to see your glory and ears to hear your words spoken to us as we seek you in new ways. May your presence guide us now and throughout our Lenten journey. Amen.
