September 27, 2012

Witnesses and Participants

I went to a wedding this weekend at a small Episcopal Church in Rhode Island. It was a simple and short and lovely service. I wondered a bit today about the people participating in the ceremony who were not Episcopalian or Christian (including the groom). Does it matter that they didn’t sing along with some of the hymns, or that they were unsure about the responses?

Everyone was made to feel welcome, from being transported from the hotel to the church by bus, the fact that the service was printed entirely in the bulletin, to being greeted by the parents to the wonderful reception afterward.

Perhaps most importantly, it was clear that my friends up there at the altar were as happy as I’ve ever seen them. Their love for each other and joy was obvious to everyone there, even if they had never stepped into a church before or didn’t speak English well (some of them didn’t).

Most of us have heard that a sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward grace.” At all our of sacraments there are participants and witnesses – those who experience the “inward and visible grace,” and others who mostly only see the “outward and visible sign.” In some sense we are all both witnesses and participants in the sacraments each Sunday. Some Sundays, I know I feel more like witness than a participant. Which I think is OK.

It’s important that we invite people to join in our sacraments, and make them feel welcome and cared for with good preparation. Some will experience something holy, and others will be there mainly as witnesses. Eventually, we hope, if the sacraments are an expression of the joy and love in our community, they will be drawn into the love of God and the community. Our job is just to be honest and welcoming, and our joy and love will show through (at least most of the time), as it did for the bride and groom.