Please come and relax into being at Church! By that I mean go a bit easier on yourself when you come. Let God be God, rather than come tied up with all those notions of what we need to be to come to Church. We come with all kinds of pictures in our minds of what Church is for, what will happen when we get there, how we should behave etc..
And if we’re honest a lot of that winds us up! In fact so much so, that in the end some people can’t bear it any longer and stop coming.
So when I say relax when you come, I mean take it a bit more lightly. You are not coming for an urgent sticking plaster (although we do some First-Aid from time to time). No, we’re coming to let God deal with our real selves, and because he loves us so much, we really can trust him with everything about us. There is no need to be afraid. Otherwise we end up putting ourselves in the way of hearing what God really wants to do in us, for us, and then through us.
Charles Dickens once said, ‘I went to Church today, and when I came home I wasn’t depressed’(!) So I guess the Church’s ability to wind us up, get us down, rather than ‘restore our souls’ is nothing new! Instead though, hear these beautiful words in the opening paragraph of Ephesians: (read them slowly several times!)
‘Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.’ Eph. 1.4-8
Did you hear that? You were in his thoughts before he created the world. The truth is, he wants to bring us forgiveness, freedom, wisdom, family, grace. And it gives Him great pleasure to do so. Instead we tend to think we’ll be rejected, are reluctant to ask the good Father of us all for anything from our hearts. And over time, it’s like our breath gets sucked out of us, we become hard, leaving little that is joyful in our lives.
So when we come to Church, rather than hope for a sticking plaster, let’s relax and turn to him with our hearts and minds (and even our bodies). We don’t have to do it all at once, but as we start to ask for his genuine help, we will quickly begin to realize, ‘He has answered us before we even call to Him’ (our Parish Verse for 2010 as it happens)
Rev Robert Pimm