Grand Old Duke

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Rev 3:15,16

Remember the good old Sunday School Christmas parties? One of the favourites was always, ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’, mainly due to the idea that you picked the girl/boy of your choice, and if you got caught under the arch, you had the choice of passing through, or stealing a kiss. The start of many a relationship which lead to marriage! But back to the words of the game. “When they were up, they were up, when they were down they were down, and when they were only half way up, they were neither up nor down”

God’s Word is a lot harder to read than the good old Christmas Party game verse, and we don’t like the verse because it is too harsh. Is it, or does it go to the heart of our call to be a Holy People? In earlier days, I was brought up to be in church when the doors were open, and that is a good thing, but it’s not where I am going with this thought. On a Sunday, we hopefully get ‘blessed up’ to help us face the rest of the week, so how about other days? Are we less than we should be on a Friday or Saturday night out? Is our language something we would never think of using in Church, or in front of our congregational friends? Do we let our eyes see images that God would not approve of, and our feet go where we try to leave Jesus at the door? (Of course Jesus is with us anyway, either as a friend, or through the Holy Spirit in conviction!).

When John wrote the words in the verse, he was speaking about a Church which did not measure up. I think we can all agree that we can all do better, whether individually or as a Church, but our God is the final Judge of our actions and intentions. Since our local churches are made up of individuals, one way to ensure we don’t incur the wrath of God in our Church is to live like a stick of lettered rock... the same all the way through the week, not just on a Sunday!