pilgrim people

The corporate worship service is an extraordinary event. It is unlike anything else human beings experience throughout the week. In fact, it is not only different from everything in the culture, it is altogether other-worldly. It is an act of God's pilgrim people who are "sojourners and exiles" during this age (1 Pet 2.11). It is an event when we, as God's ekklesia assemble together as a holy congregation. The ekklesia, that is, the church, are those who have been called out of the kingdom of darkness and in to the kingdom of light. On the holy day, we assemble not out of social custom or desire for entertainment, but in order to receive good gifts from our covenant-keeping God. God has appointed the worship service as a foretaste of the everlasting Sabbath in the age to come. We assemble at Mt. Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12.22).

This is an assembly like no other! It is a covenant-renewal ceremony where God announces to his people once again, "Because of the finished work of my Son, I will be your God and you shall be my people." We enter in to a dialogue with God as he speaks to us in Word and Sacrament and we respond to him in prayer, song, confession, and giving. This is an assembly of vertical conversation!

For this reason, it is not appropriate to interrupt God's service with "horizontal" conversation, that is, speaking to one another. Notably absent from the service is are announcements such as, "At this time, turn and greet your neighbor." It is not that greeting one another is wrong. On the contrary, greeting one another is a very important part of our Christian life. We find greetings in Scripture among the early church. For example, nearly every one of the apostle Paul's letters ends with exhortations to the members of a local congregation to greet one another (sometimes with a holy kiss!). Paul often includes names of specific individuals to greet or those who send their greetings.

This activity is important because of our family relations. By grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, we have been made "saints and members of the household of God" (Eph 2.19; cf. Gal 6.10). We have been sealed and are indwelt by the same Spirit, namely the Spirit of adoption "by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness that we are the children of God" (Rom 8.15-16), We are brothers and sisters by virtue of our union with Christ and our consequent unity with one another. This is not a unity based on personal preference, ethnicity, or political affiliation, but a unity given to us by the Spirit and maintained in the truth we confess (Eph 4.1-6).

It should come as no surprise to us, therefore, that we look forward to seeing one another on the Lord's Day. Each of us belongs to this same pilgrim society whom God has chosen, redeemed, called, justified, and is now sanctifying until he shall glorify us on the Last Day.

Greeting each other and speaking with one another, however, has its proper time and place, namely, after the service ends with the benediction. The time before the service should, to the best of our ability, be spent in preparation to receive from the living God and respond in worship. After the service, however, we should make a it a point to "greet every saint in Christ Jesus." Why bolt out of the building? Welcome one another with joy. Rejoice in the good news that you just heard together. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Cultivate good will toward your brothers and sisters. And, by all means, do not limit this to those with whom you are already acquainted. If the person sitting in the pew in front of you is someone you have never seen before or personally met, consider making an effort to introduce yourself after the service. As tempting as it may be to gravitate immediately to our closest friends, keep in mind that it is in God's providence that that person or family is worshiping with us. As anyone who has visited a new church knows, a simple "hello" or introduction goes a long way!

Hearty greetings are an aspect of our fellowship and the "communion of saints." It is one more expression of the gratitude birthed in us by the Holy Spirit for the grace of God which has rescued us from sin, death, and hell. Done with joy and humility, greeting one another, like all good works, is our proper response to the gospel and the blessed assambly to which God calls us every Lord's Day as we continue our journey through this wilderness age.

MGB