By Pastor Craig Pederson
It was almost 15 years ago when I participated in my first online worship experience. A wonderful young couple was getting married at the small urban church where I was serving. The groom was from out of state, and unfortunately his father could not attend the wedding because of health issues.
But the couple was determined to make his presence possible in real-time, so they invested in the right equipment to facilitate the use of a new technology called “Skype.” (Remember when Skype was the only “virtual” show in town?) After setting up a camera, a microphone, and laptop on a rickety little table next to the pulpit, we tested the internet and attempted the connection – and there appeared the father on the screen, beaming with a huge smile.
Tears of joy flowed during that wedding ceremony as everyone was able to celebrate the real presence of real love in real time.
OVER THE PAST YEAR, I have reflected on that experience from time to time. Back then virtual connection was a novelty and a Godsend. And, even over the past 15 years, it felt like a bit of a luxury to have the capacity and resources to connect so tangibly with someone who was not in the same room with you.
But in 2020 the pandemic has transformed that technology from a luxury to a necessity. It has become a tool to express compassion, connection, and community.
“The technological response to the pandemic has also demonstrated to us how much we increasingly long for ‘real presence’ with our siblings in Christ.”
“Zoom” has become a noun, a verb, an adjective, and a state of being. (Sorry Skype!) It has showed us how much we may have taken for granted the opportunity to gather together in person. It has also shown us how much we increasingly long for “real presence” with our siblings in Christ.
Let me make the incarnational move here to say that this year, more than ever, we truly needed the Christmas story of Emmanuel (“God with us”) to remind us of God’s in-the-flesh love for us. And then let me make the sacramental move here to affirm that the “real presence” of Christ is with us in Holy Communion through the earthly elements of bread and wine along with God’s Word, spoken in the Christian assembly (which has found new forms of expression through technology in these pandemic months).
“A decade-and-a-half ago, virtual connection was a novelty and a Godsend.”
As we enter into 2021 there is one more move we need to make: One of our biggest tasks as a church will be to practice more intentional, real presence with our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) siblings within the church. Issues of race, class, equity, and inclusion have hovered around the church for decades. But the murder of George Floyd on a street within our own synod this year opened the eyes of many of us who, frankly, had the luxury and privilege of not paying closer attention before.
How will you utilize your time, your tools, your resources, your bodies, and your presence in the coming year?
I pray that the real presence of “God with us” will guide our hearts and minds to connect in ways that glorify God, and will teach us new ways to “be the neighbor” in our communities. And while we give thanks for our virtual relationships, I pray that we can gather again soon to experience God’s grace and mercy in real time.