"Scooching" and The Church

This past week, all the face diaper mandates were finally dropped in Indiana.  One may view that as an attempt on the part of our government officials to “follow the science” when it shows that there is a plummet in Covid cases as the virus loses steam.  But it is more likely that some politicians, whose policies rely on the wind direction, are expecting Hurricane Voter in the very near future, which may blow them right out of their seats if the mandates stay.

Either way, it’s a welcome change, and we literally saw some of the old faces back in church again this week, presumably because after nearly two years, they considered it safe now to do so.  Thank you, Jesus!

If you have ever sat in a church pew, the old wooden kind without the cushions, you may have experienced what it was like when you sat at the end of the pew so you could see the pastor better (if you were short like me), but then someone needed a place to sit and noticed all the empty space in the middle of your pew.  You have some choices:

1. Make them walk in front of you in that tight squeeze between your knees and the back of the pew in front of you, or even get up and move out to the aisle so they can get in.

2. Get up and walk to the middle of the pew yourself so they can have the place at the end.

3. “Scooch” over, sliding towards the middle without rising.

Number 3 causes less stir and seamlessly allows for the filling up of the pews as more congregants arrive.  I know -- you won’t have the place at the end of the pew, and you might even get stuck behind someone tall so you can’t see the pastor, but it saves the embarrassment of the whole roomful of people staring at you. 

So what happened with Covid?  What happened to your church?  I know that in California, many people have been unable to go to any church for two years.  I have relatives in a couple states that have told me that, whether by decree or by fear of catching Covid, that was the case with them.  There are some churches that have been fined over 2 million dollars for holding in-person services.

But our church was one who kept meeting and didn’t get fined.  There were a few weeks when we only livestreamed and encouraged people to stay home (but not everybody did), and then our governor told us we were essential (Yay!) and started a series of steps to re-open the state.  Phase 1, then Phase 2, then Phase 3, and then Phase 3-point-5, 3-point-6, and lots more just-stay-here-at-this-phase-and-never-open … until everybody just forgot about it.

But we finally just had to say, looky here.  The Bible says:

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” 

~Hebrews 10:24-25

Well, I don’t know about you, but we could clearly see the Day approaching.  The curtain is already rising on the last act of this present age.  So we stayed open.

But even so, there were disruptions, disabilities, and even deaths in the last year-and-a-half.  Some people quit going to church because they fully believed churches were super-spreaders (more than Walmart, I guess).  Some got used to the TV approach.  One of our elders died from a heart attack shortly after “getting over” Covid, and a longtime Sunday School teacher has been out now for months because he and his wife were battling Covid pneumonia.  The husband of one our board members was injured by the vaccine but still caught Covid and nearly died.  

If you come back to church after a long absence, sometimes you’ll find the scenery has changed.  It may feel like you’re starting all over again.  Your kids have grown some and you’ve forgotten the names of the others in the pew.  Things just aren’t the same -- there are new faces and some people are missing.

But now, Covid is over, or at least it’s in remission!  There are still people who aren’t quite over it, but nobody new is getting it.  I glanced around in the Sunday School and found out there was a real need to get back to a semblance of normalcy.  No, we don’t need a “new normal.”  We need the normal where the Church gathers together regularly, without fear, to meet with Jesus and serve one another.  There are very many needy people in any church, and if you always figure the pastor will meet all the needs -- I mean isn’t that what we pay him for? -- you will be wrong.  He can’t do that.  And the Sunday School is a mission field ripe to harvest.

I know the feeling -- nobody wants to feel like they are “stuck in the Sunday School” while others get to enjoy the pastor’s sermon.  But now is the time for the Body of Christ to “scooch.”

Here is another example of scooching.  I mentioned it in my post about pro-life issues.  Operation Rescue was famous for scooching.  When we participated in a Rescue, we blocked the entrance of the abortion mill so that the mother would be unable to get to the abortionist who would kill her child.  If police showed up -- and they always did -- they might ask us to leave and we would not.  They would have to carry us away, one at a time.  They would always start with the rescuer right in front of the door.  It was up to the rest of us to scooch, to make sure that spot was never empty for more than a split second.  We were there to defend the helpless, to rescue the perishing, to put our bodies in-between the killer and his prey.

Now think of the youth group leader / elder who died from the heart attack.  I mentioned him in a post late last year.  Someone needs to fill in for him!  The rest of the Church needs to scooch in, to form a line of defense for the Youth.  Think of the Sunday School teacher whose wife has been so ill.  We need to fill in there as well.  Not only one, but many of us.  We need to come together to love on those little people who are growing in wisdom and stature.

A line of defense.  And who will we be defending against, as we scooch?

There are others who understand that the way to kill America is by winning over our children.  That’s why there have been attacks on our public school kids for decades -- shooters, drug pushers, and communist-sympathizer teachers.  Behind it all is the devil and his hordes.  During Covid, when kids had to resort to Zoom classes, the moms finally got to hear what had been dropped into their children’s heads while they were hidden away in the classrooms.  And now, they are desperate to do battle with the enemy forces who want our kids.  

I saw a Zoom-type performance on YouTube of a Gay Men’s Choir from San Francisco, where they sang a terrible song about how they were coming for our children.  It was ugly enough that the backlash caused them to take it off, but did you see the recent statistic that 20% of GenZ adults identify as LGBTQ in 2022?  Unbelievable?

The Sunday School has perhaps one hour a week.  How many hours a week do the public schools get?

CHURCH!  Do we understand the danger?  If the devil has removed a Sunday School teacher, we must replace him or her with 5 more.  Scooch!  Hold the line, and let’s make a lasting impression on as many impressionable young minds as we possibly can, while there is yet time to do so.

Today, as I write this, our nation is surrendering a second country to a ruthless enemy because our leadership is composed of sniveling cowards and the enemy knows it.  This is unconscionable.  But how much worse it would be to let the enemy of mankind snatch our own children, who were entrusted to our care, out of the hands of the Savior because we just weren’t paying attention or didn’t care.

Honestly, I started this with the intention of expressing that we need to fill in for whoever is missing, but the children are on my heart, so I’ve neglected other jobs like church decorating, women’s group leaders, or even sound booth guys -- we lost one of those, too!  My heart for the children goes far beyond the picture Nehemiah made for me, of a smiling Nehemiah next to Mrs. Margie.  It’s even more than connecting the dots for an older kid with an important question, who has Jehovah’s Witnesses for family members.

It is that the children are the future of the Church.  They are tomorrow’s adults.  They will remember their Sunday School teachers, especially if you are sincerely sharing what you know about the Living God and how much He loves them.

Our Sunday School kids are working on a song for Easter right now.  I taught them who “The Redeemed” are.  Being redeemed is, yes, like a Chuck E. Cheese prize, but hopefully much better than the tiny one you get for a normal amount of coupons.  Being The Redeemed means that we were chosen and bought by Jesus.  And that means that when we accept Jesus, He gets to take us home!

Do you love Jesus?  Do you really love Jesus?  Are you looking forward to seeing Him again, in person, and going home with him?

Tell that to a child!

Our Dear Heavenly Father, we pray for the Church, that the gates of hell will not prevail against her, but that as one must leave, to be taken home by You, others will quickly fill in the void.  But we especially pray for our vulnerable children.  Impress upon many believers to join Team Sunday School, to raise up the next generation to love You with their whole hearts, should You tarry.

In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen