Why do people go to church? For many it is social. To see friends. For
many it is to feed their spiritual lives. Sometimes it’s church that helps us
get through some difficult situation. For some it is simply habit. They
grew up going to church on Sundays and still do. For some, church helps
keep hope alive in the face of societal challenges. Some people like the
music and the chance to sing. I know some parents of young children
who go to church to have an hour of adult time to themselves while the
kids are in the nursery at church. There are all kinds of reasons to go to
church.
I think for all the answers you might get when you ask people why they go
to church, one answer you probably won’t here is: “I got to church to save
my life.” And I certainly don’t think people go to church to escape going
to hell after they die. That might have been the case years ago, but not
any more.
In the novel Orbital by Samantha Harvey, the astronauts in their space ship
witness a typhoon occurring on Earth. And we learn about one of the
areas struck by the storm: “Forty or fifty bodies are sheltered behind the
altar of a chapel which squats low among trees. Floodwater reaches to its
roof. The mile of coconut plantation between here and the coast is
submerged completely by the tidal surge, but the buffering of the trees has
saved the chapel; by design it has no windows along its east elevation
which is toward the ocean and those elsewhere are so far spared. The
chapel door strains but holds under the burden of water. The concrete
walls crack, but they hold too. Hunks of plaster fall from the ceiling under
the stooping timbers. A dead shark tumbles past the front window. The
wind is ebbing. The people inside no longer hear it slamming against the
roof. If the building can withstand the flood for another few hours until the
water recedes they’ll make it. They pray.” [p. 204]
In this vignette, the church, the chapel, actually, is saving the lives of the
people while the world storms around them. Though the chapel strains
and cracks, yet it stands. And it protects the people within. It is saving
their lives.
We know about the straining of the church in our time. Attendance and
finances down. Churches closing. Attendance dwindling. And we know
about being assaulted by the storms around us – banning of books, raids
by ICE, abortion illegal, funding for life saving programs eliminated, fears
of mass shootings, international bullying that has repercussions here at
home, and on and on. We are buffeted daily.
And the church is a place where we can seek solace. Where we can come
once a week to experience safety and sanity. Reality based in love not
fear. Where we can experience joy and wonder instead of dread and
doom. When we are buffeted by a divorce, or a life threatening diagnosis,
or a death, we know we can come to church to be tended and cared for as
we seek to go on. Yes, church is life giving and it is life saving.
That is why we are here. To save one another.
Prayer: Life can be hard. It can be confusing. It can be a struggle. We
give thanks that the church provides a community of support that is life-
saving here and now. Amen.
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Devotion prepared by Rev. Kim P. Wells, pastor of Lakewood United
Church of Christ in St. Petersburg, FL
The devotions this Lenten season will be based on the novel Orbital by
Samantha Harvey. Orbital won the Booker Prize in 2024. It is a beautifully
written story about the experience of a group of people orbiting the Earth
in a spaceship. They see 16 sunrises and sunsets in a 24 hour period.
The book is a reflection on the experience of living together and
appreciating planet Earth in a new way.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 