Letter from Revd. Sarah

An apology from the vicar

It might amuse some of you to know that I took a verbal battering over my article in BVN last month.  It was quite an efficient battering and you won’t be surprised to hear that despite being a vicar and therefore naturally possessed of superhuman holiness, sweetness and light (as well as being a big fat liar) my initial reaction was not modeled upon the patience of the early Christian martyrs who met grisly ends as human torches at imperial garden parties or as the lunches of lions while singing hymns of praise and turning their other cheeks as fast as their necks could rotate! To be quite honest I was more than a bit put out and began mentally rolling up my shirt sleeves and sharpening my bible for mortal combat.

But then I looked again at what my assailant had to say about every wretched Christian who has got it wrong, done something vile or been a hypocrite since the day Christians were first invented. I looked at what he said about religion in general and the Christian churches in particular and I realised that he has a point.

Religion has a lot to answer for and churches of all denominations are historically guilty of having hi-jacked God and stolen him from his people for political ends. They are also guilty of bickering about their internal differences while failing to address the big tragedies in society, (mind you they are no different in that from our political parties whose sniping and point-scoring is hardly working for the common good to get us out of the mess we are in!)  So in my small way I would like to apologise to all those of you who, quite justifiably, may have learned to hate, despise or write off as irrelevant the Church and all it stands for and to all those who have in this way been deprived of the miracle gift of faith in God.

Yet I also stand by what I wrote. Our society needs to reconnect with God- and seek to be a society of peace, respect, justice and real relationships where each wants the best for the other and acts accordingly. Not a society of vested interests and flaky moral compass.

Religion says “do this our way or else.” Faith knows the wondrous influence of God to change lives. The challenge for churches like Braunston’s is to resist being “religious” and to try to put God back where he belongs in the streets and homes and businesses. In God’s eyes religious folk are no better or worse than anyone else. He loves you and me alike and there is nothing you can do to make him love you any more. There is also nothing you can do to make him love you any less.  The only catch is that  we have to choose to accept it.

I am grateful for my battering. It has taught me much. I hope it helps