The Spirituality of Long-Distance Relationships

Scripture: Colossians 2:1-7 (NRSV)

For the last half-year we’ve all been in lot of long-distance relationships: zooming with family or business meetings, seeing loved ones through glass doors at nursing homes, or calling family on our cell phone from our hospital bed. It seems like all our relationships are long-distance relationships these days. And so for now, we text, email, call, and write letters. We have drop offs and pickups. We see our loved ones on images on computer screens, cell phones, and social media feeds. And most importantly, we pray for each other. The Apostle Paul was in many long-distance relationships too—with all of his churches, really. Thankfully the churches preserved Paul’s letters, reading and re-reading his correspondences publicly, passing them to other churches, and copying them for future believers like you and me and many others through the ages and generations yet to come. Paul’s letters became a sizeable part of our New Testament. Our Bible is the fruit of long-distance relationships! God’s Word can speak to us in this pandemic, whether we are present in body or spirit. May our hearts be encouraged and we all be united in love every day.

September 6, 2020 Service Bulletin and Bible Study

All Sermons by Dr. John C. Tittle are available in our Library of Sermons.

Sermon Art: “Self-Portrait After the Spanish Flu” (1919) by Edvard Munch.
Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway. Photo credit: Ove Kvavik

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