Creative and Constant
Everything is different right now. (And if we’re being honest, it’s likely nothing will go back to being exactly the way it was before.) The way we work, the way we learn, the way we play, the way we exercise, the way we eat, the way we shop, the way we connect—with those closest to us and those clear across the continents—the way we serve, the way we love, the way we feel, the way we think, the way we worship. It’s all different.
Like many churches around the world, due to COVID-19, we have moved all services, studies, and small groups online. While I miss worshiping with lots of little hearts and spending time with my volunteers on Sundays (I’m not only a partner at Summit but so grateful to also be on staff as a children’s ministry coordinator), I must admit that doing church while snuggling on the sofa with my husband Jake and sipping a hot-chai-tea-latte-with-oat-milk is pretty sweet.
This is the fourth week of web-based worship, and the format has changed a bit each week. Our pastors, musicians, videographers, tech and communication teams, and honestly all staff and volunteers have been hard at work to make sure people feel connected in the midst of quarantine and stay-at-home mandates. Last week’s sermon was preached from an office instead of in the Sanctuary, and Waterford Campus Pastor Garry Abbott preached this week’s sermon from his living room. My first thought when I saw the way they changed things up was: I love the way Summit leadership strives to meet people where they are—the way they aren’t afraid to change when things change, the way they shift for the sake of others—to make people feel loved wherever those people find themselves. And then it hit me…
Meeting people where they are is a reflection of what God does best.
“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.”
God is creative and constant in his pursuit of us—not just the universal us, but each and every one of us as individuals.
God meets us right where we are. Where we are physically—our space and place—where we are mentally, where we are emotionally, and where we are spiritually. And as any or all of those aspects of “where we are” change, so does the way God pursues us. He is never shocked or surprised or stumped. There will never be a place where you are—physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually—that God can’t or won’t meet you and pursue you.
Whether you feel like you’re in heaven or in hell. Whether you’re an introvert relishing in all this alone-time or you’re an extrovert about to climb the walls. Whether you’re a mom working from home and also schooling at home with your kids or you’re a teacher trying to teach your class online while also tending to your toddlers. Whether you’re a grocery store clerk just trying to stand far enough away from the customers while still being friendly or you’re a delivery driver or postal worker wondering who is going to watch your kids while you have to work. Whether you’re a doctor, nurse, hospital janitor, or cafeteria worker putting in outrageously long and potentially dangerous hours or a son who can’t visit his dad in the nursing home. Whether you’ve been let go from your job or you’re trapped at home with your abuser. No matter where, God is there.
And this truth isn’t specifically about COVID-19. It’s been true since before the world was formed, and it will never not be true.
But just because it’s true doesn’t mean it’s always easy to believe. There are people in this world experiencing horrific things, and it’s almost impossible for me to imagine how they could ever believe that God is good and is with them. It’s impossible for me to imagine how God could creatively and constantly pursue them in a way that would even be able to cut through their circumstances and comfort their hearts. And if he’s truly meeting them where they are, why can’t he just make the horrific things stop? But I am not God.
Only God is love, and only he has all power and knowledge. He is the Creator and is infinitely creative. He will never stop coming up with ways to pursue us, wherever we are. In the highest highs and the lowest lows, we never ever ever ever ever have to wonder if he hears us, if he sees us, or if he loves us. Yes. Yes. YES.
As we get creative in our attempts to connect with each other, may we find abundant joy and hope in the truth that our doing so is just a glimmering reflection of what God does for each of us, always.
This is a really wacky time for the whole world. Thoughts, feelings, and emotions are all over the place. Right now, the truth of God’s creative and constant pursuit of you might be easy to receive and believe. Or it might make you angry because you don’t feel it at all. And that’s totally OK.
Like it was said in a previous sermon: “There is no feeling that you have right now, that if you laid it before God, it would make him angry with you. In fact, any feeling that you have, if you lay it before God, it would please him.”
God’s pursuit of us is not something we earned, so it’s not something we could ever lose. No matter how we’re feeling, he is pursuing us. He is wherever we are. And all he wants is to connect with us—loving Creator and the lovingly created.
May we all be able to look back on this pandemic as the point in time we connected with the God who creatively and constantly comes to meet us right where we are.
And there is no greater creative connection than Jesus. The God of the universe chose to put on flesh and experience the anxieties, emotions, and limits of humanity to connect with us.
Garry talked this week about seeing Jesus clearly. Through Jesus, God offers us his love, his peace, and his presence forever. But the offer doesn’t end there. He invites us to offer that love, peace, and presence to others.
Like Garry said: “When we see Jesus clearly, we serve sacrificially.”
May we all be able to look back on this pandemic as the point in time we saw Jesus so clearly that we were able to love and serve others in a way that helped them see him clearly, too.
As we move through Holy Week, we celebrate Jesus' life, death, and resurrection because these events allow us to see God’s love more clearly than anything. His love is pure, powerful, sacrificial, and extraordinary. It often takes us by surprise because it’s not what we ever expected but so much greater than we could have ever imagined.
Asha Junot is the Children’s Ministry productions coordinator at Summit Church. She likes sweet tea, is exceptionally kind, and loves the opportunity to care for others and dive into their stories. She also has a handsome hound dog with a lot of personality. Her favorite place to be is curled up on her couch under a fuzzy blanket with Bible, journal, and pen in hand and a mug of hot tea next to her.