Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:25
It happens every year, usually around Easter. I hear about a special on TV talking about the ‘real tomb of Jesus’ or the ‘lost gospel of Judas’, or I see an article in Time or Newsweek about how great a man Jesus was, but then deny His resurrection by bringing in supposed expert testimony. And my blood pressure rises rather quickly.
This year, I avoided Time and Newsweek for the month before Easter, and there was no new false accusation flying around the TV airways. I thought I was safe – my blood pressure would stay down. Until I saw the ‘USA Weekend’ in the Telegram the Saturday of Easter. On its cover was the question “How spiritual are you? You may be closer than you realize.” My curiosity was piqued. Even though I knew better, I took a look and found out “…you can stay close to God-even when you’re not close to a pew.” There went my blood pressure.
The article stated that we can find God anywhere – walking to the store, working at our desks, even doing the laundry (or while out fishing or hunting, or camping, or at a soccer game on Sunday morning), and that it isn’t necessary to be in church. True, we can find God anywhere – in His beautiful creation, in serving others, in our relationships with our family. But that view of God is skewed. Yes, we see God in creation, but that creation is marred by sin, and all too often shows the wrath of God against sin in the violent acts of nature such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Our service to others is often selfish as are our relationships with them.
In John 14, when Phillip asked Jesus to show him the Father, Jesus didn’t reply, “Take a look outside – there you’ll see the Father.” Instead he said “How can you say ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?” To best see the Father, we look at the Son. And to see the Son, we look at the Bible. The very Bible that reveals the Son is at the very center of our worship. We gather for worship each week, because we need to see Jesus revealed to us from the Bible. We need to see Jesus where He promised to be – in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. We need to see Jesus to receive the forgiveness and strength to live in this sin-filled world. We need to see Jesus. In Worship. Every week