Here the apostle John is told to measure the temple of God and to count the worshipers. Perhaps the point of this exercise had to do with how many people could come into the temple courts to worship. Would the old temple in Jerusalem be big enough so that the people of God from all nations could worship there?

This got me thinking about the church buildings in the little village where I live. If I were to measure those buildings and count the worshipers who attended there, what would the report look like? I could probably point out the fine architecture and beautiful stained-glass windows, as well as the comfortable dimensions of the buildings. But if I counted the worshipers lately, both congregations would have the same number attending services: zero. That’s because the churches in our area stopped gathering for worship recently to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

But God’s church is not real­ly about buildings, is it? What counts is not the size of our church buildings or how many worshipers gather there. What matters to God is that we are faithful witnesses where he plants us.

A child in one of my former congregations once said some wise words to her neighbor who struggled with addiction. She said, “Jane, you need Jesus.” Her small voice was a faithful witness that God used to shine his life-giving light into Jane’s darkness.