The Zoom Church at the home of Nymphas
The church of 2020 seems strange and unfamiliar. A plausible image might be the bare bones of the turkey left on the Thanksgiving table after all are fed. A more accurate image, though, is what remains after the leftovers are boiled down and reduced—the essence. That is image of the Zoom church. Though shorn of many beloved traditions, there is nothing missing. All is there for the Holy Spirit to make the name of Christ declared, heard, and believed.
We will see that essence of the church in three places - at the home of Nymphas, out in the deserts of the Sahara, and in your congregation.
Paul points our attention to a gathering of believers in Colossae. “Greet Nymphas and the church that meets in her home” (Col. 4:2). Everything integral to the Body of Christ was there. Small, yes; inadequate and incomplete, no.
What was church like? For sure, they had teaching from the Bible, caring for each other, and praying for people of Colossae and the Christians in the province of Asia. They met regularly for sacramental worship with exuberant music. All the while, the members were doing their part as the Body of Christ.
That was then. Today we find St. Nymphas’ twin in the vast deserts of Africa.
A couple of decades ago Malcolm Hunter wrote an article entitled, “How the Nomads can save the church.” He might have written “How the Zoom church has the goods to boldly hold up the name of Jesus.” His deep involvement with nomads took root when a nomad said to him, “I’ll follow your Jesus when you can build a church on the back of a camel.” What Hunter found in nomads who did follow Jesus was a church. Everything at the home of Nymphas they had on the back of a camel.
Like the church in Colossae, like the believers in caravans, the Zoom church of today lacks nothing. Maybe whatever we miss had actually distorted the church’s essence. Maybe the Master Chef is extracting ingredients that cover up the aroma of Christ and stirring up our true calling. Yes, even with the stripped-down life of our congregations, the Spirit of the Lord shows his almighty power in the behavior of his followers. Maybe this God-sent time is his call to purge and to declare.
As is said for other circumstances, “All that glitters is not gold.”
My purpose is not to give a thorough scan of what makes a church. Rather, I will pause over five roles and suggest ways transforming the day with evidences of the Kingdom.
The perspective of history. We have been in austere times before, times that almost silenced the church, that seemed to misplace the sacred things of God. We do well to revive our memory of them, memories of what kept the church alive. We can do that through revisiting the saints that have gone before. Martyrs, witnesses, teachers, saints of mercy, of healing, of prayer: these are the cloud of witnesses who encourage us to press on.
Letting Scripture speak. Search engines have told us that today’s most frequent word searches in the Bible are words like care, help, rock, and the like. But this is also the time to inwardly digest verses like, “Give thanks in all circumstances,” “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.” The God who cares for us also wants to take us deeper into his holy presence.
Finding unity. We give a fleeting gesture towards unity in the week of Thanksgiving. That is when neighborhood churches worship together. Afterwards, we return to our own. The pandemic has extended that week. On any day through YouTube the options are breathtaking. Choose language of choice, the color, location, liturgical style, theology, whatever. You will find a worship service that fits. One week go to a cathedral, next to a Baptist church in Indonesia, then a charismatic church in Bogota, then a local congregation in small town America. The experiences will not result in a formal declaration of unity, but it will surely deepen our love and appreciation of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Effective ministry. Notices of cancellations of groups and events are regular. All the efforts, the volunteers, the plans for community outreach remain stalled until later. Yes, but there remains another way of effective ministry.
In Harold Blackaby’s book Experiencing God he makes a recommendation that fits here. “Don’t just do something; stand there!” We can rightly alter that to not just stand but kneel and pray.
The Internet brings worldwide troubles and local needs to our notice. We learn of schools shutting down in India, sending home millions of children who have no Internet or computer. Take it from there in intercession. We find links for prayer ministry for China, for human trafficking in Los Angeles, for missionaries among unreached peoples. The work goes on.
Fellowship and friends. We miss the coffee hour, the time to mingle with people we don’t often see. However, there are no insurmountable walls that separate us from our friends. Same goes for those who need a friend, who need a call, a batch of cookies, a listening ear. This sounds so mundane next to the catastrophic dimensions of COVID, but do not mistake this as any lesser role. The command to love our neighbor applies to children in India, yes, and also to those down the street.
Our Advent collect aids us here. “Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness.” The darkness is all around us. As the church rises to the witness of Christ, we will hear a paraphrase of what Malcolm Hunter heard: Many will become followers of Jesus not because of the church on the back of a camel but because of the witness of the followers of Christ in the midst of coronavirus.
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