Simple: Church

If I've learned anything in this journey [...] it's that Sunday morning sneaks up on us--like dawn, like resurrection, like the sun that rises a ribbon at a time. We expect a trumpet and a triumphant entry, but as always God surprises us by showing up in ordinary things: in bread, in wine, in water, in words, in sickness, in healing, in death, in a manger of hay, in a mother's womb, in an empty tomb. Church isn't some community you join or some place you arrive. Church is what happens when someone taps you on the shoulder and whispers in your ear, Pay attention, this is holy ground; God is here." -Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday.

I was making my list of Very Important Things to Do this weekend when I realized I needed to get simple. My attention was all over the place.

Keep it simple, I breathed.

What is simple today? I asked.

I picked up Searching for Sunday, which I recently finished and while looking for one quote, I came across another; the one above. And there it was--simple church.

Not because the topic of church is any more simple than love but because it is normal, and sometimes I forget that.

Let me explain.

Having been raised in Christian church settings I know the messy angst of church life. Like most organizations, I know it has its sweetness, its community, its lovable quirks and goofy characters. I know its power and humility; its laws and its grace. I have been blessed by it and hurt by it. I have most certainly been wildly frustrated.

And yet come this Easter when I cannot gather in a church building because of Covid-19 concerns, a part of me doesn't mind, and another part of me minds terribly. How does one celebrate a holy day like Easter outside of church?

I mean, going to church is a big part of church life, especially on holy days.

But Evans reminds me I am thinking about buildings. And buildings, though very nice, are not God's only dwelling place.

This quote reminds me of what I've written about the last two weeks-- that God is in the simple, the normal, the everyday, the familiar. Our buildings house places to remember that, but they don't have a corner on the holy ground real estate market.

If we are watchful, we'll see holiness everywhere. We'll see church and even resurrection everywhere: In seeds and flowers. In parents and children. In water and bread and wine. In goodness. In cities. In candy and eggs. In stories.

I'll be honest-- I'll miss my church building this year. I think many of us will. It's just in our church-raised folks' blood to get up and go to a building for that physical act of worshiping and celebrating together. And, no doubt, there's something sacred and special about that.

But I am mistaken if I think I must go out to a building to find God.

The fact is, He has been, and He is, right in front of me, in front of us, all along.

This is church.

This is Resurrection.

This is Easter.

Simple. 

Pay attention; where you are is holy ground. God is here.