A couple of weeks ago, I was required to attend the NSW Supreme Court. I hadn’t done anything wrong: rather I had been employed to provide expert testimony in a case that involved the use of computers. Actually, the case itself was going to be decided elsewhere. My contribution had to do with a point of law that was yet to be tested or explored in an Australian Court, and the decision handed down from the matter in which I was involved would have a direct bearing on the other case.

As it turns out, I didn’t actually go into the courtroom. Instead, I waited outside, just in case the affidavit I had sworn wasn’t sufficient, and I was required to take the stand. But my time there sitting outside the courtroom and in meeting rooms beforehand made quite an impression upon me. I had never really thought about what goes on there, but as I observed the behaviour of people about me, it really struck home. In this building, and in these rooms, people decide the laws of a nation. We are guided by what happens in these rooms, and the decisions that are made here affect our nation for good or for evil.

There are a couple of points that I want to make about this. Firstly, what led me down this line of reasoning? Well, as I sat there, I watched people go in and out of the courtrooms. After a while it became very easy to tell which of these people were in and out of the courtrooms all the time, and those that were only visiting. The people that worked in the environment paused as they were about to enter a courtroom, bowed slightly, and then kept moving. The visitors either gawked or tried to act unimpressed by it all. The solicitor and barrister that I spoke to before the hearing got under way didn’t refer to the Justice presiding as “the Judge” or by his name, but as “His Honour”. There was obvious respect being rendered to the office and the institution. Now it may be that it was just habit to these people, and they didn’t think about what they were doing. But it certainly impressed me.

And that, of course, got me thinking. What sort of respect do visitors see as they walk into our church? These days, there appears to be very little honour shown to the office of the Pastor, and the fact that he represents God in the community. How much honour do we show the House of God? Thinking about it, it seems to me that there is something to the rituals that we denigrate as “religious”. While it can degenerate into mere formality, it would certainly let visitors know that there is something worth honouring.

Second, these people maintained the respect and honour despite the fact that they were obviously on the job five days a week. Now if we only visited church once a decade, or even every year, you can bet that people would dress up for it. Best clothes would be dusted off, or better clothes would be bought. However, God has chosen to make Himself available to us twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Has familiarity led to contempt? It amazes me that God continually opens himself up to disrespect and even contempt in His willingness to draw close to me.

Finally, how often do we as a church pray for our courts, the legal system, and the people that make and maintain the law? I know I’m pretty lax in this area … God help us all.