I read the following in Words for Worship (Mediacom) this week –

George Herbert, celebrated English poet and parson of the early seventeenth century mused,

“Lord how can man (sic) preach thy eternal word? He is a brittle crazy glass:

Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford this glorious and transcendent place,

To be a window, through thy grace.” 

To live in the light of God seems, therefore, to be more about transparency than creative expression. Herbert’s metaphor of “a window” suggests a great clarity of heart and mind, indeed a receptivity to grace that is then able to be communicated within a knowing beyond (and prior) to religious concepts, and through a humility born of both blessing and trial.  In short, to live in the light of God is to deliberately position ourselves within the sacred places of Christ’s indwelling.     

 “To be a window, through thy grace” … Each week, as I prepare to write my reflections or sermons I wonder how I can retell the story in such a way that the Good News will touch the lives of those who read and hear afresh, and so be transformed more closely into the likeness of Christ.

My understanding, of what George Herbert is saying, is that the way to share the gospel is as much about the way we live our lives, as what we say about our faith. There must be congruence. Each of us, whether lay or ordained, preaches the gospel. It isn’t about clever, creative expressions and words. Our very lives provide a window through which others might catch a glimpse of the risen Lord.

Love and Blessiings

Reverend Shan