Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

“Worship is not a repetitious exercise of rituals and formulas. These create a veil that actually prevents us from enjoying the presence of the Lord. Worship is the heart poured out in gratitude and awe, expressing our appreciation of who He is and what He has done for us by His grace through Jesus Christ.”
Dave Hunt

“I believe that in public worship we should do well to be bound by no human rules, and constrained by no stereotyped order.”
Charles Spurgeon

It may not surprise you to know that the neonatal unit which I visit every week at St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey is subject to very rigorous infection control. There is the sweetest infection control nurse who is knee high to a grasshopper and who makes goodness knows how many visits each week to the Unit and subjects it to her rigorous scrutiny. I did suggest she should have a little stool so she would not have to stand on tiptoe to see into the nurseries, but she said laughingly that it was much better if the nurses and doctors inside did not spot her! I’m sure she could give those zealous Pharisees a good run for their money as regards hygiene standards. But also, it strikes me there is a vast difference between that little nurse and those righteous Pharisees. From all accounts and the many criticisms of Jesus himself it would that many of the leading Pharisees were zealots only concerned that the multiple laws contained in the book of Leviticus be it regarding the terrible scourge of leprosy or the cleanliness of one’s cups, pots and bronze kettles should be observed to the letter. And here lies the difference between their approach which was definitely akin to obsessive compulsive disorder and that of our lovely young infection control nurse who, while recognising just how vital her work is to ensure that every precaution is taken against infection which could be so damaging to premature babies, also recognises that what the parents will be seeking far, far more than spotless equipment and hands that have been scrubbed and scrubbed again is a truly sensitive, caring, compassionate and indeed a loving approach from all who care for their precious but oh-so-vulnerable babies. In contrast it would appear from the gospel accounts that sensitivity, caring and compassion were qualities those zealous Pharisees lacked. Jesus’ corroborative words are decidedly damning:’ This people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.’

So, what does all this mean for us today? Are we at times guilty of honouring God with our lips while our hearts are far from any true, sincere and heartfelt worship. And here it has to be acknowledged I think that all of us have innate ideas as to exactly how worship should be conducted and while we may not express our criticism outwardly may well harbour in our hearts objections as to the conduct of worship. And also I must confess that having been taught early on in my priesthood by the first vicar under whom I served just what were the right and wrong things to do I can at times be aware of the very different approach of colleagues. Does it matter? The answer surely has to be an emphatic ‘No’ if it is quite obvious that the worship is not merely following some formulaic carefully dictated pattern but is truly worship from the heart. Worship from the heart which seeks to express the praise, the wonder and perhaps above all the mystery that is our God. Worship from the heart which seeks to embrace all, and I do mean all, who are part of that worship so that, united as one family, they may give glory and in return feel the encompassing redemptive love that God has shown us. Shown it through giving us his Son to walk on this earth just as we do, sacrificing his Son to the horrors of death upon the cross that all our sinning may be forgiven and raising his Son to new life that we too may share in that risen life both here on earth and beyond our mortal death. Worship from the heart which will accept that sometimes things are done differently and sometimes even the best of us who have the privilege of officiating will make mistakes. Worship from the heart which is not sullied or condemned by damning criticism or merely a repetitive exercise of rituals and formulas but blessed with joy and poured out with gratitude at each and every opportunity to give praise, thanks and adoration in order to reflect the ,love of God in whose eyes we are both unique but equal.

And, as an example of just how different one key aspect of the service of Holy Communion can be we saw it in our four Benefice services when two of our churches offer the common cup so that those receiving the sacramental wine may either choose to drink or themselves dip their bread of life into the cup while at the other two the president does all the intinction and no one else handles the Common Cup. Does it matter? For some of you it quite probably does but for me it does not as I know that each PCC has carefully considered the matter and come to their conclusion as to what is the safest way to administer communion post-Covid. And here I must add that if you were to attend a Holy Communion service at Westcott you would be given an individual miniature egg cup of wine which I have to tell you are incredibly fiddly to both fill and distribute. Be that as it may, I am just so thankful that no matter how we receive the sacramental elements we can do so as one family coming together to the altar rail to receive those elements the bread, the wine in accordance with Jesus’s instruction to do this in remembrance of me.

We can have services full of vestments, pomp and goodness knows how many genuflections and we can have the simplest of services with no robes, no genuflecting and if we allow our hearts to over-rule our critical facilities, we can find in each the most amazing spiritual blessing.

And here I am reminded of the occasion when at very short notice the then Bishop of Dorking Ian Brackley came to officiate at a service in Wotton when at the time I was churchwarden. Bishop Ian was known as an absolute stickler for the correct protocol and had left more than one vicar quivering for their failure to meet his exact standards, so I was very nervous as Wotton is not exactly renowned as a church with strict protocol. Imagine my relief when the first thing the bishop said to me was to the effect, please don’t worry we will just do things the Wotton way and you can tell me what to do. What a truly magnanimous caring and compassionate approach. And thus of course that Christmas Day we truly had worship which was, without a doubt heartfelt, and truly full of the blessing of the Holy Spirit.

To conclude I pray that none of us would ever find ourselves accused by Jesus as being Pharisees who honour Christ with our lips alone and not with our hearts but in each and every act of worship we attend conducted with the Holy Spirit’s gift of true reverence find that we have been richly blessed spiritually and with the hope that the glories of our praise have indeed joined with that of the angels and all the heavenly choir.