Hatch, Match and Dispatch

I took the funeral today of someone who was obviously greatly loved, and will be much missed, by her lovely family. However, neither the deceased nor her family (and most of their friends) were regular churchgoers - as is the case for probably 90% of the funerals I take. Being with them caused me to reflect on how so many people turn to the church at the key points of life - birth, marriage and death (or "hatch, match and dispatch" as the wags have it). And yet, the same sort of people seem quite happy to live their lives without any recourse to the Church at all. Why is that?

I don't suppose I shall ever forget one of the first funerals I ever took. I started to discuss the outline of the service with the family (who shall of course remain nameless!). When I reached the prayers of confession, I was greeted with the uncomprehending question, "Why do we need to do that?". I stumblingly tried to explain the idea of sin, and that we are all sinners who need to ask God's forgiveness. Well, this caused outrage. "We are not sinners! And our [the deceased] certainly wasn't a sinner! You couldn't wish to meet a better person".

I decided not to try and map out a theological definition of sin...and simply left the matter there. However, I couldn't help smiling to myself as the family then began to outline the deceased's life. It seems that they had been a very loving, family person, who enjoyed the company of friends...especially down the pub, where they could be found under a table most evenings. I then asked what the person did for fun at the weekends, and discovered that their favourite past-time had been poaching!

That incident, perhaps more than any other, showed me how far the church has failed to communicate what we mean by the term 'sin'. In the popular mind, 'sin' has been relegated to a word which only describes the most awful crimes...or is jokingly used of the persistent drinker, or someone who enjoys playing the sexual field.

But St Paul said that "all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God". And that is just about the best definition of sin that I have some across anywhere. It is about understanding that none of us, however hard we try, can claim to have achieved the full glory of God...we have all 'fallen short'. Even the most saintly person who has ever lived is still subject to the normal, conflicting emotions of a human-being (and we all know what that is like!).

We Christians need to work harder at helping people to understand that this sin, which we all experience, has the effect of creating distance between us and God. And that only God, in Jesus, is able to reach out across that distance, and 'rescue us' - or 'save us'.

Perhaps if more people could be helped to understand that simple message, more people would realise just how much they need God...and would do more than come to God to be only hatched, matched or dispatched.

Well, I can dream, can't I?