When I was minister in Storrington and we used to share worship with the Anglicans a lot at St Mary’s and with the rector Malcolm Acheson (known as the “late Malcolm” as he was never on time for anything!) I learnt the clergy or choir director pick all the hymns for services way in advance so you soon got to know their favourites as they appeared a lot. We used to sing this a lot !!!
Come and see the shining hope that Christ's apostle saw;
on the earth, confusion but in heaven an open door,
where the living creatures praise the Lamb for evermore:
Love has the victory for ever!
I’m intrigued by the invitation in the Gospel in the lectionary for today “Come and see.” John the Baptist seeing Jesus pass by declares: “Look here is the Lamb of God” and naturally enough, his disciples are intrigued and go to see what all the fuss is about. “What are looking for?” asks Jesus, (it’s as if his way isn’t something that everyone will be able to accept) and when they ask him, a little awkwardly, where he is staying, he invites them to take a closer look – to come and see.
Come and see. What is there to see God is inviting us to experience? I was with a colleague minister this afternoon who is pondering Epiphany and said helpfully in our discussion that God is found where we least think we need to look and yet we expect God to be where we think he ought to be — and he may have moved on from that place years ago! Isaiah reminds us in his prophecy that God is doing a new thing. The excitement of discipleship is to discover him in new places, in new encounters, in surprises and in silence. It’s almost like God is saying to us “come on, clean your glasses, look up, look around, see, I am here, starting a new story. Get excited - come and see what’s going on. Break out a bit!”
Have we lost in our churches the courage to invite? Have we anything worth seeing? Which gets me started on how the outside of our churches look. Are our notice boards up to date? Does it look like we are open? Also if we dare to say to someone “come and see” we need to be there when they might do it! I’ve done a funeral today and I’ve invited the dear lady who buried her husband today after over sixty years of marriage to church coffee morning on Friday to meet people. I told her I’d be there. Remember going in anywhere new can be scary.
I’m grateful to the writer of the Peterborough Cathedral Facebook page daily reflection for these thoughts:
“The pattern of invitation to dig deeper, look more carefully, to try and picture what lies beneath the surface is a distinctive characteristic of Jesus’ style of ministry. He tells stories and, in a sense, says, ‘Here’s a parable – what do you make of it? Where do you fit in the story?’
As a church we believe we have something very special to share about the fullness of life, what it means to be a human being and where God fits into all that. So, if you get it, well done! If not, come and see.”
Tonight what is it you are being invited to come and see? And tomorrow what might you invite others to come and see themselves?
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