Stained Glass

There are some amazing churches out there that have some of the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen. I would have to say, my church (pictured <--- right there) is one of those churches. You can not tell from the photo, but both side walls of the sanctuary are lined with massive panes of beautiful stained glass retelling important stories of the Old and New Testament. Every time I walk into our sanctuary, I have to catch my breath (not because I just walked into the balcony) because of the beauty.

Yesterday, my family attended our Easter services at the church. The room was filled to capacity, the music seemed to be a little stronger than usual, the sermon was one of our Pastor's best, but the one thing that still grabbed my heart was the the way the light was pouring into the room through that beautiful glass. Once again, I began to lose myself in it. I began to still my soul and take in the beautiful picture God was painting for us. I began to think a lot about that glass. Not the usual things like, where did it come from or how did they design such a thing? No, the thought that kept racing through my mind was, "Where is this beauty needed the most?"

I began to think how these beautiful structures were built so that everyone that walked into the sanctuary would not just see a beautiful work of art, but would actually FEEL the presence of God. There is nothing wrong with anyone striving for that end, but is that all the stained glass is meant to do? Is it only meant to reach the ones that step foot within these sacred walls, or could God use it in a different way? My spirit was touched and I began to ask the question, what if? You see, the ones that actually benefit from the work of art the most are the ones that have already found the greatest gift of all, our Lord Jesus. What if, during the day we let the stained glass sing its beautiful hymns of God's presence onto the pews and those sitting in them, but at night when the world is dark we leave the lights of the sanctuary on so that the same works of art can sing the hymns of forgiveness and grace to a cold world in need of warmth. Just imagine, cars driving by with the shadows of night all around them. Suddenly they pass a church, and its beautiful stained glass begins to remind them that there is a God that loves them and will provide light to the shadows of night that sometimes encompass their souls.

I know that the first thing any "Building and Grounds" Committee will say is (can you tell I'm a good Baptist, we are the ones with all the committees), "We can not afford to do such a thing." To such a statement I would have to reply, "Can we afford not to?"

We must begin to look within ourselves as believers (and the Church) and try to turn all that we know upside-down. I am not asking us to change everything about the church and how we do things, only the things that that we see (after our upside-down assignment) that need to be changed. It is time for us to look at the gifts that God has given us (our buildings, our finances, our time) and stop asking ourselves what else do we need to make "us" more comfortable. Instead we need to ask ourselves, what would make those outside the walls more comfortable.

Matthew 9:9-13 (The Message) says:
Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, "Come along with me." Matthew stood up and followed him.
Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus' followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?"
Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."

Lets share our Stained Glass :)