NO CHURCH OF ONE

At Trinity Episcopal Church, on Sunday 2C, Caminante preached from the words of Psalm 84. The psalm begins:

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.

Caminante's sermon is lovely. It's worth reading in its entirety. The words I quote below resonated especially with me.

What brought you to church this snowy morning? What compelled you to shovel out, drive through the mush to arrive here to sit on hard pews cushioned by futons? More aptly asked, who brought you here this morning? Can you feel in your heart the words of Psalm 84, ‘How lovely is your dwelling place...’?
....

There is no church of one. We can pray alone at home, outdoors, in whatever place we call sacred but finally we need to come back together. This community, the church, is a sanctuary where we can become vulnerable and search for deep intimacy with God.
No good thing will the LORD withhold from those who walk with integrity.

Shoveling out is not one of my before-church chores, but other than the snow, Caminante describes my reasons for attending church. "...who brought you here this morning?" We can pray anywhere, any time, and God is with us, but we need the time of coming together. At church, I may brush up against fellow parishioners with sharp elbows. Other times it's my sharp elbows that poke the others. Still I cherish the gathering for worship, for hearing the words of the Scriptures and the sermon, and for sharing the Eucharist around the Lord's table. "There is no church of one", but the many become one as we gather in the presence and the name of the Lord.