<this post was originally posted on July 7, it was inadvertently deleted and then reposted >
This Sunday, for the first time in four months, we will have the opportunity to hold sacrament services at the chapel. Because of state-mandated, social distancing requirements and an abundance of caution, many of the logistics for attending church will look very different. In fact, you will be asked to enter a certain door, sit in a designated place, wear a mask, and clean the area you occupied during the service. Procedures for the sacrament will be different and could possibly take longer than normal.
During the past few months, many of us have enjoyed the opportunity to administer the sacrament in our homes, discuss the gospel with our family, and not have to rally the kids into Sunday clothes for meetings at the chapel. Many of us have noted that the Come, Follow Me gospel study program was inspired, not only to help us study the gospel together – but to allow spiritual growth during this time when going to church has been restricted.
So, with the extra work required to meet in person, the blessings of having home-church, the benefits of staying home, and even the dangers of being in public – why should we go back to Church?
Before I provide some answers that question, it is important to note that even with cleaning and distancing precautions in place, going to a public space may be unwise for members who are particularly susceptible to this disease. For this reason, the leaders of the Church in our area will continue to allow members to perform the sacrament ordinance at home or in small groups. All members should prayerfully consider and decide for themselves if, when, and how often they will worship with the Saints at the church building.
Part of the reason for going back (when we can do so safely) is to teach each other and to worship our God. When the Lord established His church in Alma’s day he taught them that they “should gather themselves together to teach the people, and to worship the Lord their God, and also, as often as it was in their power, to assemble themselves together.” (1)
Towards the end of the Book of Mormon (about 35 A.D), we learn that the “disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about."(2) One of the next scriptures describes the reasons that they met together. The first reason was to demonstrate their obedience to God. “They did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing in fasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord.”(3)
Ultimately, the primary reason for going to Church is to remember and reverence our Savior Jesus Christ. For “…it is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.”(4) The sacrament ordinance and the renewal of our covenants with God is of critical spiritual importance.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, described our sacrament meetings in this way: “…this hour ordained of the Lord is the most sacred hour of our week. By commandment, we gather for the most universally received ordinance in the Church.” And then he suggested that at least part of our devotion and prayer during the sacrament should be about “the other broken hearts and sorrowing spirits that surround us. Seated not far away are some who may have wept—outwardly or inwardly—through the entire sacramental hymn and the prayers of those priests. Might we silently take note of that and offer our little crust of comfort and our tiny cup of compassion—might we dedicate it to them?”(5)
In some situations, gathering with the saints to partake of the sacrament is the only way that our members will be able to participate in this ordinance, to be “nourished by the good word of God”, and to ultimately overcome the world through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
I testify in His name that He lives. He has overcome the world for our sakes. Our loving Father in Heaven rejoices when we remember our Savior and reverence Him during our worship services. Wherever we can safely be when that sacred hour arrives, let us commit our very lives to His sacred cause!
Written by: Scott J. Wakefield, Bishop
1) Book of Mormon, Mosiah 18:25
2) Book of Mormon, 4 Nephi 1:1
3) Book of Mormon, 4 Nephi 1:12
4) Doctrine and Covenants, Section 20:75
5) Jeffrey R. Holland, Behold the Lamb of God, April 2019
6) Book of Mormon, Moroni 6:4
Comments