“…not
neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:35 ESV).
In the
beginning of the Quarantines/Lockdowns, which covered almost the entire world,
the excitement to reach previously unreachable via all kinds of social media
was sky high. It did work for a time. Sermons, prayers, worship music, daily
live devotionals and more were flooding Facebook feeds, Twitter timelines and
LIVE YouTube streams.
Somewhere
along the way, as the lockdowns (or shelter in place or quarantines) dragged
on, interest started waning. As of now, the majority of some of the
largest states in the United States and Canada are still under lockdown. On the
west coast it seems it may drag on through the summer to September! From the
first, when the quarantines and mandated church shutdowns started in March, it
was sold as just for weeks only. Now over three months later, with many more to
go, the sense of anxiety, depression and lack of interpersonal communication
are taking heavy tolls on a lot of people, not just Christians.
There is a
reason Scripture exhorts us to be very careful to assemble as a body of
believers- REGULARLY. We now see the fruits of not doing this for months on
end.
For every Elevation Church, which I discover can have 48,000-50,000 viewers
watching the Elevation Worship Band and Pastor Steven Furtick LIVE on YouTube,
there are 1000 more churches in our immediate regions, who are just
struggling to pay their electric or airconditioning bills, never mind have the
capability to stream services.
Some of them have managed to improvise by having
church leaders record a video on his phone at home, and post it to YouTube of Facebook, but
some of our more traditional and older churches are simply out in the cold,
filled with loneliness and despair, having not being able to meet for going on
half a year now, being technologically or financially unable to stream services.
Why did the
Lord tell us to not “neglect to meet together” as is the “norm” now? The answer
can be found in the verse above Hebrews 10:25…”encouraging
one another, AND ALL THE MORE as you see the Day drawing near”
(emphasis mine).
The key word
here is “ENCOURAGING”, which in the original New Testament language is
the word “parakaleo”. We are to assemble together in worship for the purposes
of “parakaleo”.
This means we
meet at church to invite others (to come); to admonish (by the convicting
preaching of the Word) another from the pulpit; to comfort one another (whether
in grief or to come along side a fellow saint who is having a hard time) and to
exhort each other, via words of enthusiastic encouragement or literal cheering
on! These are just a few of the characteristics of this powerful word,
“parakaleo”. It also means to instruct (Sunday School and bible study groups)
and to plead or come along side someone else, to buffet their spiritual growth.
All of this
is included in the meaning of this one Biblical word “PARAKALEO”! This is the
sum total of the function of the church’s call to assemble regularly. When this
is suddenly cut off, we are now in territory where most of our brothers and
sisters in China, Asia, parts of Africa and the Middle East, North Korea,
Russia etc. are experiencing due to persecution. Recently, over 250 churches in China were literally destroyed by the communist party.
Why do we do
all of this “encouraging”? The verse tells us here: “as we see the Day drawing
near”. Which Day? The Day of the Lord, which means Judgment Day, when the Lord
Jesus comes to judge everyone who has ever lived. In many places, it is called the "terrible day
of the Lord”, because Judgment Day is not going to go well. It is a time of
approaching horror to the vast majority of mankind, which has unfortunately
rejected both Jesus and His Plan of Salvation. At the same time, it will be a
time of joy for the saints who will persevere throughout these long days of
separation from brothers and sisters in Christ. The Day of the Lord will be a
day for the Redeemed who have persevered, to stand before our Savior and be
judged not for the purpose of getting into heaven, but for rewards (or lack
thereof) for the kingdom work we did on this earth (or not).
So how do we
continue to persevere throughout these times of isolation and quarantine, even
as some churches, in many places slowly reopen?
We reach out to as many as we
can, by all means necessary to encourage them in their walk, to discern their
prayer requests, to ask about their needs or if all is well okay with them, and
to just drop by and be a friend.
Let us continue to encourage each other, as
the times are evil and the days are little flying towards an inevitable
conclusion. Let us also continue to remind each other, that the Joy of the Lord
is our strength and that Jesus is there fore us, now and until the End of the
Age. Amen
