"Showing Up" by Jason Edwards

I write now still basking in gratitude from our first Sunday back in the sanctuary on June 13.

As I mentioned in a recent Facebook post, there was an enormous amount of planning that went into our preparation for that day, and yet there were special moments in our time together that day no amount of planning could have made happen. They simply emerged as a grace.

These are the kinds of moments we often want to bottle and save. If we’re lucky we capture them on video, but even recordings can’t quite capture all the intangibles - the confluence of longing, love, eagerness, relief, and joy, all infused and enlivened in some special way by God’s Spirit. These are the kinds of moments I’m long beyond taking for granted. They are gifts from God. In the wake of all our pontificating about what might be as we make our way beyond this pandemic, those first moments back together in our sanctuary served as a wonderful symbol of hope, a sign of things to come. Things I’m excited for us to share. Things I know none of us will want to miss.

With this in mind, I want to draw your attention to a simple truth that will impact what we share and what we miss in the days ahead: Holy moments together happen more often when we show up. When we show up, the Spirit can do things with us in our shared space that we mostly miss apart from it. This is why one of the most important spiritual practices of our lives is sometimes simply showing up. I pray that in the days, months, and years ahead, each of us will commit to showing up.

It has been amazing to see so many from our church continue to show up in creative and committed ways throughout this pandemic. We’ve shown up for virtual worship and Zoom Bible studies. We’ve shown up for outdoor service, fellowship, and worship opportunities as well. We’ve shown up in giving and shown up in prayer. We’ve shown up in the ways we can, while also longing for the day when we can show up again in-person, in the ways we can now.

Friends, we were designed to show up in the ways we can now. There are still limitations, because our children are still unvaccinated, but we can show up. We can show up in-person to worship and grow together. We can show up in-person to serve and share together. We can show up in-person to give and receive from God and one another in ways that only happen when we engage in the sacred practice of showing up. 

Showing up is a gift. Showing up is a grace. Don’t we know that now? I think we do. More than ever before. Which is why, I’m so eager to see what God has in store, as we continue to show up.

With love and hope,

Jason