Different Ways of Worshipping God
This week several of us went to a funeral at the local anglo-catholic church. It was very different from our church in Seaforth Avenue in both the building itself and its ritual. It made me wonder how there could be so many differences when we all worship the same God and ostensibly use the same Bible to guide us in our worship and daily lives. Coincidentally, the funeral was the day after our Bible study at which we had been discussing icons. There were certainly some potential ones in the other church but where does decorative artwork stop and iconography start?
On consideration we had decided it was with the sculptor or painter – if they felt there was some special connection with the spiritual world which they transferred to the artefact they were creating and that caused people to worship not God but the artefact then it was an icon. When we start to worry about appeasing statues, dubious extremities of saints in boxes made from precious stones (St Peter seems to have had many more than the standard number of fingers) or saying the words exactly as written by some long dead scholar, then we are in very real danger of breaking the first two Commandments, those about not having other Gods or making graven images (Ex.20).
As is well known to those around me, I actually love the words of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and am very comfortable with churches decorated with religious art, but they are not in themselves my religion. To me it is a matter of taste; no different from my having a house full of pictures and ornaments depicting rabbits compared to someone who is so minimalist you can barely find anything out of a cupboard. I am a Christian, a child of God and saved by the Blood of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, wherever I chose to worship. It is the honesty and faith of those around me that matters not the trappings of the environment. We may not think it but we all have rituals and traditions – yes, even the Free Church.
We do not need intermediaries when we worship Our Lord, we have the right to speak to and hear from Him directly. St Paul said no other mediator is needed than Christ Jesus (1Tim.2:5) and all the prayers quoted in the Bible are directed straight to God, many through the name of Jesus. We can use our own words, speak in tongues or just feel with our raw emotions, we may raise our hands, wave flags, even use dance or incense to express ourselves. This does not mean that we cannot use other people’s words as in the BCP or as suggested in many evangelical books on prayer but we do it with our own emphasis not from habit or by rote
A good example of this is The Grace, which we say at the end of our meetings. It is not just recited from memory, eyes closed, facing forward but said with feeling whilst looking round at the others in the room and really wishing it upon them, from our hearts. This could be meaningless tradition but it is up to us to make it heartfelt every time.
