We spend our days rushing through commutes, to-do lists, and wandering thoughts, and being present in a single moment can be one of the hardest things to do. In this sermon, our pastor starts with a personal confession: long drives, audiobooks played at double speed, and a mind that would not stay put. From there, he asks what it might mean for the church to practice presence with God and with one another.
Drawing on Isaiah 58, the sermon explores why the prophet moves from caring for the hungry and the homeless to keeping the Sabbath. Citing Abraham Heschel, it describes the Sabbath as a shift from holy places to holy time, and as an invitation to become aware of our connection to others and to God. Paired with Jesus’ words about “the least of these” in Matthew 25, it suggests that coming to know Christ happens less through the right books, rituals, or buildings than through showing up for the people in front of us.
The sermon closes by looking back to the earliest church, the ecclesia, a living gathering of people present with one another in good times and hard ones. It then sends listeners out with a simple challenge: to be present this week for at least one person, whether someone struggling, someone isolated, or even a stranger, and to see the face of Christ in doing so.
