I’m getting ready for our simple church expression this morning, and I’m thinking about my favorite Annie Dillard quote:

“On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return. ”

Because we will gather in the Name of Jesus, Christ will be faithful to His promise to be right in the center of our gathering.  That is, the Risen Christ.  The One who is not limited by time or by space.  The firstborn from among the dead.  The same One who sits at the right hand of His Father on a throne.  He is preparing to return as a King and He will judge the living and the dead.  He is the source of real justice and will one day demolish the strongholds of the evil one.

That’s who is coming to our simple church expression today.