The Rector writes...

February 2007

One of the uncomfortable things church services do for us, is to bring us face to face with reality.  The deadly precision of the words, gathered from the observation of human actions over many centuries, can all too often cut to the very core of our being, and make us aware of the hypocrisy and inadequacies of our lives.

There is god reason for this biting edge.  These words, ideas and images that the Service contain, are not there to please us or entertain us.  In worship, we stand before God, who has a way of probing all our hopes, pretences, disillusionments and evil tendencies, which can be very embarrassing.  The question that might well spring to mind at this point is perhaps; "Why, if these services bring to light people's faults and inadequacies, do people take part?"

The answer is, that if we are honest about 'what we are really like', if we lay all out faults and imperfections openly before God together with others, then we are rewarded with the understanding that God is on our side, as accepter, encourager and helper.  This knowledge enables us to face the day with his backing.  We don't have to pretend an inadequacy that isn't there!

The 'world', on the other hand, encourages us to pretend that we have rights; a pretence that fosters in us the delusion that we ought to have what we want and, if we fall for it, goes on to stress our lives by denying us the 'prize'. it told us was ours for the taking.  The world creates tension in people by telling them that they will 'live' if they have the right lifestyle, possessions, house, appearance and so on.  The world tricks us into a competitive striving which has no satisfactory end.  Those, however, who take the risk of being examined by God, discover that they can live at peace, not because they have rights or abilities, but because they are loved by God. 

And so this is why people worship.  Coming clean before God and neighbours gives life and freedom, an ability to be content with who we are and what we are, as we spend our days amongst events that are unpredictable and unmanageable.  We can see a kind of representation of this in families - where honesty and truth about things and abilities are recognised and borne: peace and stability is the household's experience.