The shutdown will one day belong to the annals of history as a terrible time but the church of Christ will continue to move.

Recently, our church decided to suspend all services and activities due to a severe increase in positive COVID-19 tests in our area. In some ways, I probably delayed making that decision because I would much rather preach to a full room than one that is empty, but I believe we made the correct decision. We want to do our best to protect our church members while at the same time taking care of our community.   

In the face of a problem I cannot fix, I began doing what I did in the Spring—I kept working. I didn’t take any time to think about the spiritual implications of not having church again. Sure, I will still get to preach, and the church will still watch and listen to me . . . but it never felt right. It just is what it is, I thought.  

But a strange thing happened to me. I was working on my sermon about the church, and the music in the background caught my attention. The song playing was “All Glory be to Christ,” which is sung to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne.” Here are the lyrics: 

Should nothing of our efforts stand 
No legacy survive 
Unless the Lord does raise the house 
In vain its builders strive 
To you who boast tomorrow’s gain 
Tell me what is your life 
A mist that vanishes at dawn 
All glory be to Christ! 

All glory be to Christ our king!
All glory be to Christ! 
His rule and reign we’ll ever sing, 
All glory be to Christ! 

His will be done
His kingdom come
On earth as is above
Who is Himself our daily bread
Praise Him the Lord of love 
Let living water satisfy
The thirsty without price
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet
All glory be to Christ!  

All glory be to Christ our king!
All glory be to Christ!
His rule and reign will ever sing,
All glory be to Christ! 

When on the day the great I Am
The faithful and the true
The Lamb who was for sinners slain
Is making all things new.
Behold our God shall live with us
And be our steadfast light
And we shall ere his people be
All glory be to Christ! 

All glory be to Christ our king!
All glory be to Christ!
His rule and reign will ever sing,
All glory be to Christ! 

Two things struck me as I heard these words: First, I had forgotten how much I love this song. It’s easy to sing, and the lyrics are full of truth and hope. But second, I remembered that if my church does not return soon, I won’t be able to poorly belt these words out with my church family because it’s a “New Years'” song. That broke me. A piece of me—arguably the most important aspect of my life—is not here right now.

By God’s grace, I've learned something from this: this shutdown will not last forever. It will one day belong to the annals of history as a terrible time but the church of Christ will continue to move. Like a nation ravaged by war works to rebuilt the ruins of their devastated cities we will have work to do. But we are no nation.
We are a kingdom!
We belong to the one true King!  

This shutdown, however long it may last, should cause us to remember how essential the ministry of the local church is to us. It should cause us to ache and hunger for the day that we can return to worshiping God with our spiritual kin.   

Oh, how I look forward to the day when I can sing (or scream) with my brothers and sisters: 

All glory be to Christ our king! 
All glory be to Christ! 
His rule and reign will ever sing, 
All glory be to Christ! 

On second thought—we’re going to sing this song no matter when we return.