On Tuesday evening, a group of us gathered here in the church and on Zoom to pray Compline together. Compline is the simple service that comes at the end of the day, and it’s really a beautiful thing. But the most beautiful thing was being here together, in church for the first time in a very long time. For most of the people here, it was the first time they’d been inside this church since March. For me, it was the first time I’ve ever worshiped inside this church, despite having been Rector for a month or so now!

I noticed the time capsule we were in—you can see the purple altar hangings still over my shoulder from the last Sunday we were here in March—but it was a powerful thing to be here together.

And I don’t just mean for us to be here together. For added safety, in addition to how far apart we were standing and our masks, we had the doors open for some fresh air, and I noticed as I stood here in the sanctuary that every so often somebody walking by would turn their head and peek in: a young couple with a baby in a carrier out for a nighttime walk, a couple of guys in their 20s with beards who stuck their heads around the corner.

And as I noticed this, I thought to myself: We should always be turning heads.

Too often, Christians turn heads for all the wrong reasons. We turn heads when it’s published in the newspaper that we had a giant coronavirus party for our youth group. (We are starting a youth group—no coronavirus parties.) Or we turn heads when a popular preacher predicts on TV that a certain presidential candidate will be elected and that will usher in the End Times, and he means it in a good way. That’s maybe not the best way to turn heads.

But our faith should turn heads. Our love should turn heads. And in everything that we do, and in everything that we are, we should be getting people—slowly, gently—to peek their heads around the corner and see what’s happening. To see what the song is that’s coming out the doors of our hearts and of our lives.

So I hope, as we begin to worship indoor here more regularly, that we do turn a few heads. Not just in our worship. Not just in this church. But in our own lives, as we go about our own business. May we all turn the heads of the people around us. Amen.