Our congregation is small, our sanctuary is spacious, and our local community is still in the “green zone,” so we went ahead with Sunday morning worship.
We didn’t “pass the peace” or the offering plate, and we left lots of space between people – we used all the sections of the sanctuary, which hasn’t happened for a while.
We gave each other “eye hugs,” as one member described them. Eye contact.
People we care about were missing – the member who works at the VA; the little boy who’s recovering from flu; some of the most senior members. We prayed for everyone.
I noticed this: how important it is to be with people. How reassuring. How much we need to see and hear and do things in concert with other human beings.
Everyone already knows that. Even I already know that. But this Sunday I really noticed it.
The sermon was on John 4 – “the woman at the well,” sometimes identified as “the first evangelist.”
She was “an imperfect witness,” according to our pastor – but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that’s why her neighbors listened to her. Maybe that makes her a better model for us than a more “perfect” witness would be.
We Presbyterians are not exactly famous for evangelism. We could do what the woman at the well did, though, according to our pastor.
She shared her experience with Jesus; she invited her neighbors to “come and see;” she asked a question.
Even we could do that much.
Even from six feet away.
Matters of Interpretation 