May the words
of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Wasn’t
the carol service wonderful?
Thank
you to our lay leaders who made it possible.
And thank you to all of the youth who read and made such incredible music. What a blessing to have so many young people
here in our church. It was such a joy to
see so many kids join us in our worship.
(pause)
What
was wrong with what I just said?
It was
very unwelcoming. Did it sound that way
to you? Well, let me say it again and
listen for it.
Wasn’t
the carol service wonderful?
Thank
you to our lay leaders who made it possible.
And thank you to all of the youth who read and made such incredible music. What a blessing to have so many young people
here in our church. It was such a joy to
see so many kids join us in our worship.
(pause)
Did you
hear it this time?
Whose
church is it? Ours – not theirs, but we
are glad they are here. Whose worship is
it? Ours – not theirs, but we are happy
to see them. Who made the service
possible? Our lay leaders – not the
kids, but we thank them for doing what we asked them to do.
It is
so easy to think we are being welcoming while what we are doing is exactly the
opposite. When I wrote that “thank you”
for the carol service I meant every word of it.
I meant for everyone who was involved to feel appreciated and
welcome. I failed.
There
are lots of things we do in church that make this an unwelcoming place even
though that is not what we are trying to do.
I would
like everyone to look around them for a moment.
If someone new were to come to church, where would they have to
sit? Up near the front. Is that a place you would be comfortable
sitting? How do you think someone who is
nervous about being in church in the first place would feel? What if someone came into church late? They have a few choices. They could look inside, turn around and
leave. They could stand at the back. Or they could walk past everyone and find a
seat. If you didn’t know anyone here
which would you do?
Thinking
back to the carol services, I was so happy to see all the children who
came. But I got very confused as the
service went on. We call this a family
service. We say that we are welcoming
and open. I saw a bunch of little people
sitting quietly next to their parents or grandparents. I didn’t see children. It wasn’t because of anything that anyone was
doing during the service. It was because
of something that has been done for a long time. Those small people were not allowed to be
children because their parents were taught that it is not okay to be a child in
church even if you are one. Church is
where you are on your best behaviour.
You aren’t supposed to do anything that will call attention to yourself
even if you don’t understand what is going on or even worse if you do
understand and you’re bored.
Whose
church is this?
It’s
not yours. It’s not mine. It’s not theirs.
It is God’s church and we have
been called to look after it.
Our feeling welcome and
comfortable here should not come at the expense of someone else’s welcome.
So what can we do be more
welcoming?
Some things should be easy but
they may be a bit uncomfortable. Earlier
I asked you to look at where everyone was sitting. How could we change that just a bit and make
this a much more welcoming place? How about
this: reserve the last one or two pews for latecomers and visitors who may be
uncomfortable sitting up near the front.
Don’t worry. This will still
leave you well towards the back of the church.
I’m not asking you to move right up front.
Another
way we can be more welcoming is to choose our words more carefully. I’m going to go back to the beginning and try
to fix what I said.
Wasn’t the carol service
wonderful?
Thank you to everyone who
helped to make it possible. What a
blessing to have such a beautiful service take place here in this church. It was such a joy to be able to join in worship
with all of our younger members.
Did you hear how that was
different? The service was for and by
everyone. There was no talk of theirs
and ours. There were no hosts and no
guests. This is God’s church. And in God’s church, there really are no
visitors and members. There may be
regulars and people who come less often or even only once, but as the regulars
it is our job to make it understood that we don’t guard the door. We don’t choose who gets to come in and who
should stay out. Everyone has as much of
a right and a calling to be here as we do.
And now if you would join me
in the Advent Prayer. I pray that God
will help us all during this Advent to hear his call in our lives. I pray that God will send his spirit upon us so
that we may heal the hurts that we have caused and be healed of those hurts
that we have received. I pray that God
will open our eyes so that we can see clearly the effects that our actions have
upon ourselves, upon those around us, and upon our community. I pray that we can become a people who look
for God’s blessings in our lives and in the lives of those around us and that
we can celebrate those blessings as a gift to us all. And most of all, I pray that all can feel
welcome here, surrounded by our love and the love of God. Amen.
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