I am sure that one of the things which will always be
remembered about Albert Bogle’s time as Moderator is the way he conducted
worship at the beginning of each day's business. His enthusiasm for the Gospel
and his gifts of music and communication meant that we went into the business
refreshed in Spirit and focused on the work of Christ's Kingdom.
Every day Albert made the point that devotions were
not the 'bookends' of the business but a living thread that was woven into
everything that was discussed and decided. As another colleague said: 'He made
the whole of the Assembly a worship time’.
At the beginning of one day’s business Albert
expressed disappointment that the press did not attend the Assembly
worship. Quick to focus on
dissension and disturbance, the press were not present when the Church was
together honouring her Saviour. It
is that togetherness under Christ which will be an emphasis for Albert in the
year ahead and we are never more together than when we are at worship.
That was a theme taken up by Rowan Williams, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, when he addressed the Assembly. In an impressive address he challenged
us with these words:
‘When the Church is at worship does it look as if it is listening to and
for a call from elsewhere? Does it
look as though it is itself looking through an open door, the open door in
heaven of Revelation 4?‘
That is a vision for worship that was dear to the heart of the Apostle
Paul. He wanted the stranger who
wanders in off the street to be so impressed by the worship that he himself
falls down and worships exclaiming: ‘God is really among you!’ (1 Corinthians 14: 25).
It is encouraging when people come to St Paul’s and remark on the
building, the attendance and the friendliness but more than anything else we
need to be a people who are ‘listening to and for a call from elsewhere’, a people whose hearts are orientated to
the eternal, a people who believe that the God we praise is pleased to be
present with His people.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones once wrote:
'I can forgive the preacher almost anything if he gives me a sense of
God, if he gives me something for my soul, if he gives me a sense that, though
he is inadequate himself, he is handling something that is very great and very
glorious, if he gives me some dim glimpse of the majesty and the glory of God,
the love of Christ my Saviour, and the magnificence of the gospel.'
It’s not all down to preachers of course! In worship we are called to be a people
who give ‘a sense of God.’ This is
where our witness begins.
