The Lectionary…
The opening verse of the Isaiah reading, after millennia of interpretation, is what we churches think we are offering. We are offering people something free, the love and mercy and forgiveness of God, as seen in Jesus Christ, a way of life, and much more beside.
But it doesn’t look free from outside: there is a cost. I take my cue from some apprentice gas engineers in Blackbird Leys many years ago. “I wouldn’t go to church — it’s not worth it.”
This implies there’s a perceived cost. Here’s some suggestions;-
- The time it takes out of a precious weekend.
- The cost in self-respect.
- The mental contortions of believing something that goes against the grain.
- The cultural shift required (what’s all this with the smoke that smells of burning rubber — or, from my tradition, this public singing of strange songs).
- The stress of not knowing when to sit/kneel/stand.
- Being an outsider.
- Doing something only old people do.
- etc. — you may have other suggestions.
Note that going to church isn’t necessarily the same thing as believing in Jesus – many people do one without the other.
Won’t be long before we head south now, for the start of Janet’s journey. To get us in the mood for Cornwall, we went to see Fisherman’s Friends. Excellent!