Spirituaalty of Virtual Chruch Revd Dr. Ipe Joseph, Page 12

Former bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, emphasised this in many of his books that “The whole point of Jesus’ work was to bring heaven to earth and join them together for ever, to bring God’s future to the present and make it stick there.” 2 A former dean of the St. Paul Cathedral, W. R. Inge, wrote: “Is not this the charge so often brought against Christians and Christianity that their dreams of future bliss have sucked all the life out of their earthly existence, so that they do nothing to make this world better and promote human progress?” He also added, “Heaven is not a faraway place to which we hope to go; it is the presence of God in which we ought to live.” 3 The Lord’s Prayer is a further emphasis on this understanding. St. Paul also made it clear that those in whom the Holy Spirit comes to live are God’s temples. “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?”(1Cor 3:16). The people of God are, individually and collectively, the media where heaven and earth meet.

I am attracted to a BBC television programme, ‘The Repair Shop’, where excellent God-given human skills are used for satisfying the emotional needs of people who hang on to various damaged artefacts and other items connected with their ancestors. I see God’s presence in these heart rendering emotional human encounters. Heaven is where God is. This particular place in Sussex is not a mere repair shop; I see it as a soul-repair shop. We need soul-repair shops to heal the damage within us. We need to have a rethink about such spiritual needs now. This epidemic has made us aware that people are neighbours to other people the world over; the public health and wellbeing are linked to people across the world and our ecosystem. We are bound together spiritually, politically, economically and socially; even if we normally hide behind national, racial and religious boundaries. It is indeed an opportunity once again to realize that ‘tears are a universal language, and help is a universal command.’

Lockdowns and physical distancing have highlighted the importance for close relationships and intimacy for maintaining our emotional health and well-being. Recent studies have shown that depression and mental disorders have increased during this epidemic. Social distancing –not having anyone to share our private thoughts and emotional feelings –has been found to be a significant contributor to depression. When relationships get strained, the immune responses weaken and the intensity of the disease and death arise. Therefore, intimacy is a fundamental human need; this intimacy is an expression of our love for others around us. For in worship as well as in daily living, man finds God not only in the vertical relationship –personal and private meditations –but also in the horizontal relationships of man with his neighbours. There is no private substitute for worshiping and glorifying God. It is a corporate offering of us with and through Christ, which brings God’s abundant love to be fellow-workers for God’s mission to build His kingdom on earth.

1 Satprem, ‘Sri Aurobindo’, The Mother’s Institute of research, Delhi, page: 41. 2 Tom Wright, ‘Simply Christian’, SPCK, 2006, page: 87. 3 IngeW.R., ‘Personal Religion and the Life of Devotion’ Longman and Green and Co, 1924, Page 84-85.

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It may be that in every age some critical issue becomes the challenge that is fateful for the future of mankind; we are in such a fix now. If there is no Christian vision and insight and if Christians, individually and corporately, do not act vigorously according to such God-given wisdom we will have failed. Real healing happens when Jesus Christ meets mankind at the point of their needs. This healing is for the whole world. If we allow it to become the preserve of the church alone, we privatize it and opt out of the journey we are called out to travel. Therefore, let us continue to pray for the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us to overcome the various problems associated with this pandemic. Israelites were ritualistic worshippers; they abandoned the true meaning and purpose of worship for which they were chosen and set apart. The heavenly vision we see in the chapter 6 of Isaiah was a call to the elected people of God to return to the true worship. God expects us to worship Him with our hearts and minds, ‘in spirit and in truth’ (Jn 4:24). He wants us to be holy as He is holy and this holiness includes both our actions and attributes. Let our live stream worship give us an experience of the sovereign Lord and give us a true insight into our present spiritual status. May it also help us to develop a genuine hunger for true corporate worship ‘in spirit and truth’. The nature and the rhythm of worship has changed over the centuries from the early tabernacle worship in the desert to temple, synagogues, house churches, Orthodox and Catholic forms of worship, post-reformation patterns, charismatic forms to the present pandemic pattern of online-digital-virtual worship. We need to think of these worship patterns again under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The following is a typical example of a directive from a Church of England parish for corporate worship after the removal of some lockdown restrictions in the UK: “We plan to hold a short said Eucharist in . . . subject to any changes in Government and Church of England guidelines between now and then. If you would like to attend, please send a message to . . . so that we have an idea of numbers: 1). Only one person, or household group, should sit in each designated place throughout the service. Each place will be clearly marked and all other parts of the church will be closed off. A sides-person will show you to your seat on arrival in church. 2). Adequate supplies of hand sanitiser and facemasks will be available. Those attending the service must sanitise their hands on arrival and wear facemasks all the time they are in church, unless you are exempt. 3). Sharing of the Eucharist will be in one kind only (save for the President) and distribution will take place at the end of the service, with the congregation leaving immediately after receiving the Eucharist. Entry and exit will be through the main south door.”

Such thoughtful measures and rethinking are needed for reestablishing corporate worship in all parishes; such measures are our responsibility for the common good of the community. There is no doubt that God is at work during the pandemic, we see God’s presence in thousands and thousands of front-line workers in hospitals, care homes, super markets, in transport network, many neighbourhood support-services, security services and many other agencies. It is the dedication and determination of the human spirit, which is searching for various avenues to find a vaccine and other preventive measures. Yes, God is on the frontline, suffering with humanity to bring healing and hope.