Sunday morning. A beautiful sunny day. In church. A Christening.

What could be better? The church was full to (almost) overflowing for the first time since Easter. Almost one whole side was taken up by the Christening party - all dressed up in their finery. Even the church organ, which only gets used once in a blue moon, was going to be played. The hymns were chosen with care to praise and thank God - they were ones that even newcomers SHOULD know - there were to be no trendy new tunes at this particular service. Everything was poised and ready for a real good service.

The organ sounds out the notes of the first hymn and...

Nobody sang.

Well, I say nobody but I actually mean only the regular congregation sang. Not one of the Christening party actually opened their mouth except the parents and God-parents. One young boy tried to sing but was stopped by his father. As one of the few people not in the party to sit on that side of the church, I virtually sang a solo. Now my voice is not particularly good - loud? Certainly, but good? Afraid not. I certainly wouldn't pay to hear me sing.

Prayers arrived. Nobody in the Christening party prayed. Not only that, several of them began to quietly make fun of the people who were.

Here were people who were attending church who either didn't know how to behave in church, or didn't care one way or the other. In fact, church doesn't really come into it - here were people who were not prepared to respect other people's beliefs. No, make it they were just not prepared to respect other people! Let's leave aside the disrespect shown to God - which they may be (perhaps) given an allowance for if the were non-Christians and didn't know better. They were going to have a party and attending the service first was the price they had to pay for the free food and drink afterwards - but that didn't mean they had to contribute or even like it.

In short, the service was a nightmare. The vicar worked SO hard - if only for the sake of the poor wee baby being Christened. It's difficult to remember that a Christian shouldn't judge others in such a situation. I kept reminding myself of that fact over and over again throughout the ordeal.

Afterwards, I tried to evaluate what had gone wrong. Why were this particular group of people so different to the normal Christening parties? A quick look in the car park suggested one possible answer (let's ignore the sheer rudeness and disrespect for others for which there's no excuse). Lots and lots of big expensive cars. Here was a group of people who had enough money to protect them from most of what the world could throw at them. Their immediate physical needs were met and exceeded. Maybe they believed that their spiritual needs could be bought later? Maybe they believe they don't need God? Maybe they believe that their lives are so perfect that they are obviously in no need of outside support? After all, the measure of success is sitting outside in the car park, in their homes, in their responsibilities, in their power.

Isn't it?

We did at least agree on one thing. It's very easy to live for today when you believe your future's all sorted.

That's why I follow Jesus.


Conx

Copyright © Conway Billington

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord:
Unnumbered blessings, give my spirit voice;
Tender to me the promise of his word;
In God my saviour shall my heart rejoice.

From the hymn "Tell Out My Soul" by Bishop Dudley Smith

• Topic: Reflections

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