Who is seeking who?

Some of the discussion around Back to Chuch Sunday has been about what kind of worship service do we offer and can we do something a little different? These are good questions, and often we will end up using phrases like "seeker friendly" or "seeker sensitive." I heard one phrase the other day: "seeker driven." That for me was a new one. But they all boil down to an awareness that there will be new people in church, some of them may truly be seeking, and we need to be "friendly," we need to be "sensitive."

One of the things that excite me about Back to Church Sunday is an opportunity to look out on Sunday morning and see a couple of new faces. A bit of gratitude comes up from within me. Gratitude not only that someone here at St Paul's invited their neighbour to church. But gratitude that God is really at work in the world, calling his people together. I look out, and I see not seekers, but those who are sought after. OK, maybe it is a bit of both. But maybe that makes it even more wonderful: those who are seeking after this God who is seeking after them. Both are found. Both rejoice.

We worship a God who seeks after us. The mystics describe it even more dramatically: a God who pursues us. And maybe that is what really amazes me. Our "friendliness" or our "sensitivity" can be rooted not so much in messing with the worship service, but can be rooted in gratitude, our ability to respond in joy and celebration. God is still at work in the world, and we get to see it in the presence of those who will come back to church. Or as Luke's gospel tells us so clearly, God is still searching after lost sheep, misplaced coins, wandering sons, delinquent daughters, people like you and people like me. And that is an encouraging thought!