by Rev. Matt Young
Scripture: “So [Jesus] told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” - Luke 15:3-7
If there is one thing that all this social distancing and the requirements to wear masks and what not has shown us is that we are communal in nature. We have the unquenchable appetite for human-to-human interaction. While mediators like the phone, Zoom, Facetime, and social media might help us in our quest for connecting with other people, the reality is that without the face-to-face connection we actually need, we won’t be able to kick our desire for connection.
In other words, Christians can affirm, “yes, we long to belong - but it’s only because God created us to belong.”
I know for myself, that recently, my own longing to belong has been met by being able to join with God’s people again in worship through our drive-in worship services here at WPC. I love getting to talk with folks, check in how their weeks were, see the smiling faces, pray with people, etc. I love it!
I know that many people who have attended our drive-in services have felt similarly. All the quarantining we have experienced has left us deeply longing to connect with our friends and family.
So how does any of this relate to the scripture passage above?
We are in a moment in history when the world is primed to hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ. And one of the greatest ways we can share that message is by inviting people to come and experience the joy of the Lord and the fellowship of his people in the church.
In other words, our world is primed for evangelism.
Usually, when we think about evangelism or inviting people to church with us, joy is not one of the things we experience. For many of us we are worried we won’t have the right words to say and we are fearful of rejection. Those are normal fears we need to deal with by the gospel and the power of the Spirit.
But we have to remember that we have the greatest message of hope to offer a world that is splitting at the seams. And better yet, we get to invite people not to just hear and receive the news about Jesus but we also invite them to come and belong to the joyful fellowship of his people.
We all long to belong, and we have the joyous opportunity to invite folks into belonging to the One who alone can quench our thirst for belonging.
I’ve been challenged in the past few weeks to remember what great grace we have received from God when we come and worship together at our drive-in services. So I’m praying as I invite people to service that they will experience the love of God in Jesus Christ through our service and that they will also experience that same love through his people who fellowship together.
We have the opportunity to offer someone infinite joy - joy that only comes through belonging to Jesus Christ. And we also have the opportunity to experience the joy of the Lord when people meet him for the first time or come back to him again. Let’s run after that during this season. Let’s invite people to hear about the good news of Jesus this summer as we are in our drive-in worship setting.
If you haven’t had a chance to join us on Sunday mornings at 10am, let me also invite you to come as well. It’s social-distancing safe place, it’s family friendly, and most importantly the gospel is preached every week. Hope to see you all there!
Pastor Matt