A great many churches have stained glass windows, and these are beautiful things. If you see them from the inside, light shines in, illuminating the scene you see before you. Scenes like the Lord our God, or his holy apostles, or the angels and saints, or anything like that. It's beautiful and wonderful. And when we're on the inside, we get to see what? We get to see this scene lit up for our viewing pleasure. But when we're on the outside, what do we see? We see very little. Check it out:
This is a stained glass window as seen from the outside. What does it look like? Nothing special, that's for sure. You can tell what it's supposed to be, I guess - A dove at the top, and a couple of saintly gentlemen, but beyond that, what the heck? Can't really tell what it's supposed to represent, and it isn't too terribly exciting to look at. It isn't too exciting to look at, that is, until you get inside.
Oh my, that's better, isn't it? Look at that! The same window, but seen from inside. You can tell very much what's going on, you can see the detail, the colour, as the sun's rays shine through and light everything up. The only thing that changed is that you got yourself to the inside of the church to see the window as it was meant to be seen.
Now, this has long been a way of looking at the notion of church membership and attendance, to say to people "honestly, if you were just inside, if you were just in the church, then you'd get it! Then you'd see things for what they actually are, then you'd know God, if you were in there, man." Okay. But you do realize what a hard sell that is for people, right? Sure, you can tell someone that the first image above is dynamic and interesting and colourful on the inside, but they certainly haven't seen anything to help them to see that. All they see is darkness, and they're not interested in heading inside to check out your nonsense. You see, we've moved beyond a time in which pretty much everyone in this great nation of ours was assumed to be a Christian anyway, in which you could be assured of finding either practicing Christians or, at worst, lapsed Christians in all walks of life all around you. Now, it's a little different. We're dealing with people who aren't just bored with the church, or tired of its rites, or who have lost all sense of it being relevant in any way. Now, we're dealing with folks who believe, sincerely believe, that religion in all its stripes, is responsible for any and all problems in the world. These people are not likely to buy the argument that if they were only Christians, then they'd see how great Christianity is. They're not going to swallow it, because they can't see us living up to even our own principles. 
So, we end up treating Christianity like a big old inside joke, as in, if you're going to understand it, you just have to be there. If you're going to see the point of the whole thing, you have to be in the thing. If you're going to see the beauty of the stained glass windows, then you'll have to be inside the church, otherwise, it just looks like dark glass. Although we'd never exclude anyone from going to church in our churches, although we'd never tell anyone that they couldn't go in, we don't exactly do a good job of showing them why they should bother.
But the stained glass once again is key. You know why the windows look dark, right? Because it's brighter on the outside of the church than it is on the inside. Imagine if that was reversed. Imagine, for a moment if the church was brighter on the inside than the world was on the outside. You see this when there's a function, or a service, or whatever, in the evenings. You see, from the outside, the windows all lit up, displaying the grandeur and majesty of the images thereon.
Now, what does this mean for us as Christians today? It means, quite honestly, that we Christians have some work to do. We have a job to do out there, and we have to remember who and what this whole church thing is for. Yes, it's for us who are already in the church, obviously, but it's also for those who are outside, too. And when they look at the church, what do they see? Usually dark, impenetrable windows, which are great for those who are inside, who tell those outside that if they'd like to see this glory, they'd better head indoors to see it. But our job is to do what Jesus tells us to do:
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be
hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand,
and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before
others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
How is anyone outside the church supposed to work any of it out? By becoming Lutherans first, then entering into the church? Not likely. It's probably going to end up being by looking at the church, and the church, perhaps for once, not hiding what it is, or what it's all about. Believe it or not, the people in these places aren't perfect, and nor should they claim perfection. Instead, they should be saying loud and proud, that they're all sinners. They get stuff wrong. The goodness that is in them, that is the work of God himself.
It's humbling, but most of us Christians could stand to be humbled for a bit. We could stand to open these places up so that those on the outside might see what it's all about. We could stand to swallow our pride, stop treating the church like an inside story that you have to join to even begin to talk about, and begin to talk about it as a space that shines with the light of Christ, brighter than the world outside, shining for the benefit of those outside as well as those inside.
That's what it's about. Not an exclusive club, but a living, breathing place, with us as living stones. The church, as the Bible tells us, is made out of living stones, and we're the stained glass windows through which people see what the church is all about. What are your good works for, and who sees them. And when they see you, what do they see?
All good questions. Hopefully, they see a redeemed sinner, someone who has been forgiven, washed clean, and loved by God. Someone who is excited about that, and who wants others to know that same grace. Not because you're a wonderful perfect person, but that the light and love of Christ shine in you.
PJ.
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