As I sat in church prior to a service, I was really grateful for each one who had contributed time and effort to make this meeting possible. Sometimes attending a church service each week might seem routine, mundane, even a habit or ritual. But as I thought about it I decided churchgoers really are a very special group of people.
To Christian Scientists one of the key elements in the church service is healing. Healing to me is the proof that we are coming to live closer to the divine laws of God that Christ Jesus taught and applied. As we cherish even the smallest grain of Truth and Love gleaned from the message during the church service, this helps us to follow Christ Jesus and to rediscover and prove these laws of God in some degree even as he did.
A congregation that feels expectant, alert, joyful, receptive, and appreciative is a healing church. It is fulfilling Christ Jesus' statement "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." John 12:32.
Let's reason together on these points, one by one, as some, but not the only, ways to "lift up the Christ."
● Expectancy One vantage point could be to consider the sermon as a cool drink of spiritual truth that refreshes us with the knowledge and understanding of God and our inseparability from Him as His children.
Unity of faith through individual and collective confirmation of spiritual truth is a defense against evil and a role of the congregation that generates and invokes trust. When the members of the congregation join together in prayer, there is a wonderful feeling of oneness where hope, strength, and conviction reign. Certainly we can expect such prayer to enlarge our understanding of God's message, to increase our expectation of good, and to bring at least an inkling of spiritual existence.
When the unselfish desire to know and do the will of God is present, we find ourselves understanding a little more of how to apply in our own lives what we are hearing. Then we can utilize these powerful truths in practice. Mrs. Eddy states in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health: "Truth is revealed. It needs only to be practised." Science and Health, p. 174.
Let's cherish this appearing and acknowledge the power and presence of the healing Christ. Let's expect healing at each church service and rejoice in the value of attending church. Is not this lifting up the Christ?
I like to imagine the attitudes of the multitudes that listened to Jesus. It makes the Bible come alive for me. One day I wondered what outstanding characteristic marked the multitudes who followed Jesus. Why did they bring their sick, sinning, and dying and lay them at the Master's feet?
I concluded it must be because those in need expected to be healed of their infirmities. Jesus kindled their faith by his works and invoked their trust as he assured them of our Father's great love for each of them.
Today there are still multitudes who follow Jesus and his disciples. They still trust the same Christ-power to deliver them from adversity. As we conscientiously lift up the Christ, we too can expect to experience the healings that took place among the crowds that followed Jesus and his disciples.
● Alertness. Doesn't alertness impel us to distinguish between human appearances and the divine facts of being? Then as we recognize and accept our spiritual heritage, we are able to detect and turn away from the mental hecklers, those sly little foxes that would divert our attention from good. Such influences would rob by injecting mortal views and entice us away from the pure, unadulterated truth; they would interfere with the very purpose of our church service.
Through our prayers we begin to feel the strength of the divine presence, our oneness with our Maker and His unconditional love.
When one is praising God by loving good, there is no room for anything unlike Him in consciousness. We are thus lifting up the Christ when we are seeing the Christliness of our fellowman in church or out of it; is not this the unceasing prayer that Paul admonishes Jesus' followers to employ? See I Thess. 5:17.
Mrs. Eddy, a faithful follower of Jesus, counsels, "While respecting all that is good in the Church or out of it, one's consecration to Christ is more on the ground of demonstration than of profession." Science and Health, p. 28.
The words of Truth we are hearing are beneficial only so far as they are practiced. Practice is seldom easy; it takes consecrated effort. But we can be assured it will secure our feet on the path that leads Spiritward and away from danger.
To ears not dulled by material sense, alertness to the ways and means of evil unfolds during a service. It is certainly possible that various avenues provided by the church service will strengthen our hold on Truth, thus enabling us to be willing to part with anything that would demean another person and dishonor Christ.
● Joy. Some might say, "What have I to be joyful about in the face of problems of lack, disease, inharmony?" Little by little, step by step, we learn to combat the things that would rob us of our joy.
Perhaps we have been led to believe that joy is dependent on another individual. Or we may feel it depends on a place or a thing. But is this true? Our need may be to learn that joy is a gift from God that He bestows on each man, woman, and child. The very fact that we are in this congregation indicates we are seeking God's help and are willing to let Christ replace doubts and fears with a knowledge of our spirituality as God's man. Isn't this cause for rejoicing? Aren't we taught that God does not know evil because He did not make it? And don't the Scriptures confirm this? If we believe this, is not this cause for joy? But we do have to claim our joy. Since as God's reflection we reflect joy just as a sunbeam reflects the sun, it must follow then that we can't help radiating joy.
Thinking and acting in accord with divine Love is our goal in demonstrating our true spiritual nature. The outward manifestation of joy is a happy countenance and a smile that warms the hearts of others. Is not this another way of lifting up the Christ?
● Receptivity. Joy softens the heart, making it more receptive to love, purity, and holiness. When expectancy and joy flood consciousness, they purify and elevate human thought; they open it to the divine influence alone.
Let us pray that the negativeness of material mindedness has no place in the church or out of it, and therefore cannot interfere with, transfer, or intercept the truth of man's true being as God's perfect idea. When we understand this, we find that our receptivity to Truth and Love will steadily increase. We can expect our deep and heartfelt prayers to be answered during a church service. Let us pray we are listening for and receptive to those answers. As our heart reaches out in support of the congregation with assurance that each need will be met, we are lifting up the Christ—preparing a place to entertain pure Christliness.
● Appreciation. There is no prayer so powerful as the prayer of gratitude. Jesus used it freely. A congregation praying and being grateful together tends to dissolve hate and remove fear. It dismantles gossip and criticism (the foe of Christians) and leaves no room for ugliness. This attitude is the very presence of Love, the beauty of holiness.
A few kind words well spent; a deserved compliment articulated at the appropriate time; a genuine expression of appreciation—these are as necessary as a breath of pure air. What better place to entertain appreciation than in church?
When we are seeking and openly striving to clarify our vision and to appreciate all that is beautiful and good, this conscious gratitude sharpens our awareness and helps to combat even the suggestion of human faults. This is still another way of lifting up the Christ in our consciousness, not only in church but in all walks of life.
Appreciation for the church service, the congregation, and the healing Christ is preliminary to and is a sign of healing and regeneration. As we actively practice the teachings of Jesus and Christian Science, we are lifting up the Christ, and ours will be a healing church.
