The Upper Room

How can something small be famous?

There is something to be said of the use of multimedia and a sound system that fills a room with music capturing the attention of a crowd; the gathering of thousands of believers as they worship the God they feel great affection for; a towering monolith of architectural beauty proclaiming to all who stand in its shadow the purpose of worship. And yet, there is Jesus in an upper room washing the feet of his disciples.

During a shared meal celebrating and worshiping the Creator’s providential salvation of his people, Jesus took the time to show humility in washing his student’s feet. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, his students were again in an upper room and Christ came to them at that place. The early church was marked by people gathering in homes to lift high the 

name of Jesus as the One God. The fame of Christ was spread far by those devoted to his cause. Household after household was converted from a home to a church. Then something changed. People started to think that glory had something to do with “big.” Now in today’s time there is more attention given to how church looks than to who the church is.

A friend posed this question recently, “Is there a better way to spend a Sunday morning then in a hallway?” A hallway converting into a church, where the Creator of the universe meets with his people by the intimate connection

of His Spirit with ours made possible by the birth, death and resurrection of Christ? No. The people willing to meet in an upper room, or a house, or a hallway do so for no other reason than the purpose of their gathering.  The beauty of the raw dedication, unwavering faith, and absolute dependence of Jesus in the small things far out-shines any production or display.

Jesus once told an individual, “There will be a day when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” Jesus was telling this person that people argue about relics like a mountain, created by God, or the relic of the Temple, built by the devout, are the place of true worship; but that neither was what the Creator desires. The Creator desires the people, not the place.

No matter where we are or what style of location we have big or small, fancy or shabby, we are the church. We are the indwelling of the Almighty. We are his image, through Christ, we are his presence.