Worship and Coronavirus
By Andy Young
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder” according to the popular proverb. Whilst this is often true, so is the opposite – “Out of sight, out of mind.” In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and in compliance with Government guidelines, many churches either have cancelled their Sunday worship services or are considering doing so. It is worth asking which proverb will prove true: will we miss worship or will we easily forget it? Four things about worship should dominate our thinking as we face the coronavirus pandemic.
The Reason … for worship in the first place.
Why do we have corporate worship at all? Why does the church visible meet Sunday by Sunday to sing praise to God, hear his Word preached, receive the sacraments, pray, and gather for fellowship? Whatever our response to this pandemic it is worth going back to basics and reminding ourselves of the Biblical command and Apostolic pattern of worship. Scriptures like Psalm 92, Acts 2:42-47 & Hebrews 10:19-25 have informed the Church throughout history. Devotion to the corporate means of grace, especially on the first day of the week (the day when our Saviour rose from the dead and triumphed over death, hell, the devil and sin), has been the obedient pattern of the church for millenia. We gather for worship Sunday by Sunday simply because God has told us to. More, he has promised to be with us when we do, and bless us through his Word. Our hearts will never ‘grow fonder’ of worship, regardless of pandemics, unless we have a secure understanding of the reason for worship in the first place.
The Reality … of cancelled worship for many
Perhaps the church in the West has become complacent about our freedom to attend worship without fear or anxiety. Perhaps worse, we have begun to take for granted the simple blessing of gathering with the saints around God’s Word in the presence of our Saviour. The reality is that for many Christians around the world worship is a luxury. Cancelled services and disrupted worship patterns are the norm not the exception. For the persecuted church corporate worship raises the question of whether or not they will be attacked, lose life and limbs, or see loved ones killed. Many others have to survive without the blessing of the gathering of the saints for worship for months, even years, as they are imprisoned, isolated, or simply live in fear of their lives. At the very least, the Covid-19 pandemic, with the prospect of weeks without normal worship services, can help us appreciate the reality of life for many of our brothers and sisters around the world.
The Risk … of not returning to worship
There is a real danger that as Christians are forced to stay at home in the coming weeks and enjoy lazy Sunday mornings and relaxed Sabbath evenings, we will form new and unhelpful habits. Watching ‘live-streamed’ services from the comfort of our own homes may seem more appealing than the hassle of making it to an actual church service. The preachers may be better, the worship more engaging, the coffee stronger, and the fellowship less difficult, and so we quickly become disconnected from our local churches. This period of enforced ‘social distancing’ could easily result in a neglect of the gathered worship of the saints when normality returns. Let’s pray that it doesn’t, and resolve that it won’t, which leads us to the final point …
The Resolve … to prioritise worship
The net response to the above three points, and to an enforced moratorium on church services, should be this – a resolve to make worship a priority during this pandemic and after it. Whilst we are seeking to avoid all ‘non-essential contact’ with others we can maintain the habit of worship in a number of ways: private prayer, family worship, live-streamed Sunday services, informal Skype prayer meetings, Google Hangout Bible studies, listening to sermons online. And when we are able to meet again for public worship services, let us all resolve to do so with a renewed eagerness, enthusiasm, and commitment.
May it be true that the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing cancellation of gathered worship services causes the church to ‘grow fonder’ of worship, and not less!
