OPINION —
Forty years ago, Wally Armbruster published a little book titled “Let Me Out.”
It never made the New York Times best-seller list. I read it, found its message humorous and provocative, and soon forgot about it. But recently, I came across the book and thought the author’s theme was still relevant though it is not profound theology.
The entire book is about what the author thinks God might say if he preached in church next Sunday. He imagines God saying, “Let me out! I’m prisoner in a stained-glass jail!”
Here is an excerpt from the sermon Wally imagines God might preach:
“Why do you think it’s enough to embalm Me in a Gothic tomb, surrounded by somber symbols where you come to sit like rigid robots in perpendicular pews, holding heavy hymnals, in medieval museums or modern mausoleums?”
His idea of “sitting like rigid robots in pews” got my attention because lately I have been concerned that the church has mistakenly taught people that Christian discipleship is “sitting.” We have persuaded multitudes that pleasing God is “sitting” — in church services, in Sunday School and, God help us, in hundreds of committee meetings. So, many people come and sit with us on Sunday morning, then spend the rest of the week living a life quite similar to that of the pagans among us who have no interest in God.
The disturbing truth is that authentic discipleship is not sitting but serving Jesus Christ.
Consider a few more excerpts from the sermon God might preach:
“I’ve often wondered: Why do you honor me with ritual that bores you? When did I say that I demand (or even like) rote and repetitious ritual? When did I express a special fondness for 16th century liturgy, 17th century calligraphy, 18th century songs or 19th century revival meetings?
“When did I tell you that gathering together to worship on Sunday must seem like a dutiful chore… to be carried on forevermore in the tradition of your ancestors… and devoid of expression of your own generation?
“I don’t remember. In fact, I don’t remember ever saying that the essence of My church is ecclesiastical, or liturgical, or ceremonial or institutional. But I do prize your praise and thanksgiving and will accept it in whatever style or language helps you express it best.”
The author needles the clergy. He imagines God telling the clergy to “stop polishing the silver so much. You are featuring the candlestick more than you feature the Light. People will not be attracted by the dogma, theology, liturgy, sermons or the hymns. They will not come until they see the Light. I am the Light. The church’s rituals and its institutions are the wiring and the fixtures. I am the electricity. Are you selling the church too much and Me too little?
“Unchain yourselves from the church-house. Be less concerned with methodology, theology, ecclesiology — and whatever else separates you into sects and synods. Be more concerned, in fact be consumed, with the message. I am the message. Deliver it everywhere. Amen.”
Armbruster raises some important questions for us, but I take issue with his idea that God is locked up in the church wanting to get out. No, He is not a prisoner in a stained-glass jail. He is out in the world, in every venue, calling His children to surrender to Jesus and offering the power of His Holy Spirit to all who choose to follow Jesus and serve Him.
And if indeed God were to preach in church next Sunday, the theme of his message would be all about His Son Jesus. He would be reminding us that He died on the cross for our sins, and He is risen, so follow Him and serve Him.
Altar Call | Let me out
