Epistle 1: "The Church is Closed"

Epistle 1:
“The Church is closed”

Grace, peace, and love to you, one and all.

“The Church is closed.” You might say.

To which I would respond: “Is it really, though?”

To which you might rely: “Well, of course it is! Look, the doors are locked, the sanctuary is empty, there is nobody inside and we are not allowed to come together to worship because of the global pandemic! How can you even ask ‘is it really closed?’ Can’t you see that is?”

So let me ask you this: What is the Church?

Of course, we know that the Church is the Lord’s House; but what does that mean? Does that mean the Church is a building made of wood and stone, possibly with a steel frame? Is the Church a thing built by the hands of men? Is the Church merely a place of worship and fellowship?

Yes, it is all of these things, but also so much more! If the Church were merely a building built by the hands of men out wood, stone, and steel to be a place of worship, then God, even in the works and the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, would be nothing more than a ‘nice idea’. If that were the case, then all we believe would nothing more than coping mechanism for the trials of day to day life. Our faith and our hope and even our prayers in Christ would merely be some lip service we pay at our convenience to make ourselves feel better. All of this we know is not true; we know better than that.

So I ask again: Is the Church really ‘closed’? I ask again: What is the Church?

Do you remember what the Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians?

¹⁴ If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

¹⁶ Do you not know that you^[a] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” ²⁰ and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” ²¹ So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, ²³ and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

1 Corinthians 3:14-23 (ESV)

          Here we see clearly that even if the church building wer to be burned to the ground, God’s temple still stands; so long as we live in Him who created us and rescued us from our sin. Therefore, I suggest that no, the Church is not closed at all! Even without access to a building, we are still called to worship and serve Him in the name of Christ Jesus in whatever capacity we can. Whether it be by putting a live service of worship on the internet, or by going to our jobs if that is still an option during this pandemic, or by helping those in greater trouble and need as well as we can, or writing our thoughts in regards to our faith online in the hope that it will resonate with someone else. Even if our testimony is expressed entirely by our manner of living, we are still called to love the Lord first and foremost, and because of that, the Church is still very much open as we, not the building, are the Church.