Having been unable to meet together in the church building during this time has made me think about what being church is about. One of the defining marks of the church is that we come together for public worship. If we are unable to do this, are we still “church”? Even I know that worship is important, so we’ve created written orders of service and recorded podcasts to allow worship of a sort to continue. But you’re accessing these in your homes, separated from one another and possibly not at the same time. There’s also the fact that I’ve had to devote a lot of time over the last three years to the question of our church building. It’s not without a sense of irony that I continue to draw up plans for the new church building knowing full well I cannot get into the existing one! So how can we still be the church in these times of separation?

In our reading today, Peter addresses the question of what it is to be church. Back then, buildings were based on a cornerstone. A perfect block, the cornerstone, set the example for how all the other bricks were to be laid. Rather than see the church as a bricks and mortar building, Peter sees the church as being built from people who take Jesus as their cornerstone. Using Jesus as their pattern and example, they live their life following Him and as a result become “living stones” building the church on the foundation created by Jesus. If the gospel gives life to the church, then the church should model that gospel. As far as Peter is concerned then, it is the faithful people of God, living out the gospel, who are the church.

This is significant for us as we sit in our homes, separated from one another. We can still be the church even if we don’t meet in the same building once a week. When we care for our neighbour, when we call or email, when we pick up groceries for another or leave a gift on their doorstep, we are showing God’s love to them; we are demonstrating the gospel to them. In doing this we are “being” the church. Even while we are apart from one another, by faithfully living the gospel, we are still the church. We can become too attached to buildings, they’re simply another resource we can use to help us in our mission. It is when we cannot use our building that we have had to re-discover what is truly central to identifying us as the church. May we continue to live out the gospel in our lives during this time of separation so we can continue to be the church during this time, and the times to come.