Village Shepherd

I watched highlights from the London Marathon on television just before Easter. As well as exceptionally good running from some of the world's top athletes, we saw huge numbers of people thoroughly enjoying themselves and having a lot of fun. Most of them were running to raise money for various charities, and millions of pounds was raised.

I always enjoy watching those who dress up in bizarre costumes. The thought of anyone running twenty-six miles fills me with admiration, but to see someone running all that way dressed as a rhino, or dressed as a pedal car, or dressed as a massive mobile phone, fills me with open-mouthed astonishment.

It's great to see the wheelchair racers taking part in the same race, but perhaps the image which most moved me and which will remain with me was an elderly lady who had no legs, being pushed in a wheelchair by a young man. The look of terrific excitement and joy on that lady's face, and the fun she was having, summed up the spirit of the race for me.

In a way, the London Marathon seems like Christianity in action. All the runners who were interviewed after the race paid tribute to the crowd who cheered them on and uplifted them, so whether you were running or watching, it was a joint effort. As the commentator remarked at the end of the programme, in the London Marathon you see something truly great in people you've never met.

In today's epistle reading from the first letter of John, the writer talks not only about God's love, but about the love he has given to us. "Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous," says the writer. That reminds me of the words of Jesus, "Whoever is not against us is for us." (Mark 9:40). There are plenty of examples of God's love in action in the world, examples which are way outside the Church, and the London Marathon is but one of them.

When God's love can be so easily seen outside the Church, shown by people who may not necessarily think of themselves as Christians, why be a Christian and why go to Church? Is there anything which differentiates the church-going Christian from any good person?

I suspect the answer may be no! Good people in the world who either don't claim to be Christians or who actively claim not to be Christians, are probably indistinguishable from those who attend church. Both groups of people are basically good people, although both groups are also sinners, so sometimes the effects of sin are seen rather than the effects of goodness. Both groups do what they can for struggling humanity, although some are always able to do more than others. Both groups basically strive for goodness, especially goodness towards others. So if we can do all that without being Christian, why bother with church and Christianity?

Perhaps part of the answer lies in that last comment in today's reading from the first epistle of John, "Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous." Those who do what is right are working with and for God, even though they may be quite unaware of the fact or may even deny it. God is love, and those who love so much that it spills over into action on behalf of other people, are children of God. So how could going to church possibly improve on that?

I think being a Christian may not make an obvious difference to the outside world, but it makes a huge difference to the inner being. It may be true that those Christians who are good or becoming good, wouldn't be half so good without Christianity and without regular attendance at church. As the writer of today's epistle says, "we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed." We're all in the process of becoming, and even though it may not be noticeable to ourselves, we are gradually growing closer and closer to God and becoming very good people. No-one in church is perfect (whatever those outside might want to believe) and part of the reason that we attend church is to assist us in our process of becoming.

The disciples changed enormously over the course of their Christian lives. Even after three years being with Jesus on a daily basis, they still hadn't really figured out what he was about. But after meeting with the risen Christ, their lives took off. They didn't always get it right. There were problems and difficulties and rows and splits in the early church just as there are in churches today, but looking back from a distance of 2000 years, we see a huge surge in growth and a huge personal spiritual maturing of Christians.

But the best and biggest reason to be a Christian and to go to church is that God is love. God, moreover, actually loves us. "See what love the Father has given us", says today's reading, and church is a way of responding to that love; absorbing it, recognising it, allowing it to fill us and to overflow to those around us. How can we do that? By allowing our souls to soar to God in prayer, in praise, and in worship on a regular basis, and by learning to identify God within ordinary, everyday situations. The church supplies regular opportunities to do all of that. And it could be a useful exercise to pause whenever anything however small, happens in life and ask the question, "Where is God in this?" It might be that you're unable to come up with an answer, but persevere, for God will reveal himself to those who stick with it.

Once you begin to identify God within ordinary life, it becomes much easier to see how his love to us is manifest. And once that becomes clear, it's impossible not to respond to that love; the love which loved so much that it allowed itself to be crucified for us. As you begin to become aware of God within everyday life, you'll find you can't help your love for God increasing, and as it increases, so it will overflow. Very often this is only noticed by other people, and that's as it should be, for we don't do anything to make the increase of love happen. It's an automatic response to God's love for us and it's yet another gift from God which comes without any strings attached.

There's no doubt that there are millions of very good people in the world, a few of whom are overtly Christian and who attend church. But there's also no doubt that the lives of those who actually meet the risen Christ for themselves, take off in a new way which both stretches them to the limits and utterly fulfills them. God is love and the church offers special opportunities to absorb that love and respond to it.

So yes, Christianity and church are well worthwhile because they're wonderful means of responding to God.