In a very familiar passage and one that has been set to music many times over the psalmist writes: “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27: 4). Only in the house of the Lord?

One could argue that God is omnipresent, that He is present throughout His entire creation. And that is the case. Yet already in the Old Testament, God determined a place where human beings can experience the presence of God in a special way, where God reveals Himself to man in a special manner. The psalmist knew this. He was also aware of the fact that this offer by God was not something automatic, but that it was an act of grace, as many believers around the world had to learn over the past one and a half years.

Too often we think of church attendance as an obligation: “I have to go to church.” No! It is not we who are doing God a favour. It is God who has prepared a very special gift for us.

Food for thought from a divine service by the Chief Apostle