Face to Face

What joy it is to watch and join in Sunday worship, along with Kathy, from our living room. What a privilege to hear God’s word, confess our sin, pray, hear God’s blessing, and sing familiar songs from the comfort of our home. It’s fun to hear Mr. Hand and shout out Happy Birthday to people we love. How good it is to hear familiar voices and see Mark and Eric’s faces as they share with us. In these months of isolation it’s been soul refreshing to be a part of virtual worship. We’re so appreciative all of the work that goes into making it all happen. 

Still, something’s been missing. Something we almost didn’t know was missing. Something so essential to the Village that we’ve always just taken it for granted. Something hard to articulate because it’s so fundamental. What we’ve been missing is faces. The faces of the people we love, joined in worship. Faces of friends, turned to God, and lost in his presence. But over the last couple weeks that has changed slightly. Because of the hard work of the technically adept in our midst, we had the joy of seeing song lyrics superimposed over the band. We at home suddenly got to see the faces of people we love singing to the God we love. Instead of looking at just words, we were looking at people singing those words. It was wonderful. We also got to see little ones wearing their little masks gathering at the feet of pastors we love. We got to see faces! Okay, we only got to see halves of faces but it was lovely none the less. It was wonderful to worship with your faces. I’m so grateful. 

I know many of you are reluctant to be seen on camera. I understand that. It’s a real issues. It’s something you could probably process in your Pilgrim Group if you need to. But please know how much it means to those of us watching the livestream from home. It is soul refreshing to see a mix of faces. Your faces. To see your expressions. To see smiles and frowns and laughter and God’s joy reflected in the faces that are turned to him. It makes our hearts sing! 

So please sit in the way of the camera knowing that in doing so you are bringing joy to others. In I Corinthians 13:12 it reminds us that we now see dimly, but the day comes when we will be face to face with God. We are the body of Christ. We are poor representations of Jesus but what others see in us is glorious because the Spirit is at work in us. Our faces beautifully, albeit dimly, reflect the glory of God. So let your masked face shine as you worship the One whose unmasked face we will all see on that great day.