Upstairs and Downstairs: A Look at Downton Abbey.

     If you're a Downton Abbey addict then the above title needs no further explanation.  But to those of you who aren't, here's the simple explanation.  In an estate such as Downton, the aristocracy live upstairs; the servants live downstairs.
     Downton Abbey, now in its third season, has given us an up close look at the world of nobility and those who serve them.  But in this third season the future of the estate has been threatened by a financial pitfall.  Amidst the ever mounting drama one night, an interesting comment caused me pause.  Someone remarked that the loss of the estate might not be such a bad thing, for isn't it just a life of pageantry?  And what's so bad about that ending?
     Now maybe it's just me but good writing always takes my mind to 101 places.  In this case I instantly thought of the church and my own spiritual journey from above the stairs to beneath them.  Yes, you heard me right, upstairs to down.
     For many years I felt like church was pageantry of a spiritual kind.  It was the place where people came dressed in their finery and paraded their good deeds.  The Noble words of Christendom were dropped like a symbol of spiritual arrival.  Everyone came to church ready to be seated at the right hand of the Father.
      Of course I knew it was pageantry.  As the facts of people's lives dribbled out, as they always do, I came to know that underneath the three piece suits and freshly pressed dresses were sinners of the regular kind, and some not so regular, committing all the sins the Old Testament will take you through.
     Now, I'm not writing this to say that dressing up for church is right or wrong but rather that sheer pageantry is.  Church pageantry is focused on doing externals in one's own strength.  It is appearing to be outwardly clean while carrying a dirty heart.  It's like Lady Mary moving a dead body in the middle of the night and then showing up at the breakfast table in her finest.  It is doing good deeds for the sake of appearance while hating one's neighbor.  It is doing the work of the spirit without being connected to the power of it.  This takes us to being downstairs.
     If you are downstairs, then you are a servant.  First and foremost, it means that you know your place.  For us to live a life empty of pageantry, we must know our place before the Father.  Anyone who has traveled the road to Christendom, knows that if you truly are one of the Father's children, then you will come to a place of shedding the fancy airs, and make yourself comfortable in the on-your-face position before Him.  He loves it when we move "downstairs."  Once we know our place, He has us exactly where He wants us.  Then comes education.
     The footmen at Downton have shown us there is a learning curve, even in servitude.  "That's what you get for teaching him to run before he could walk." Thomas remarks about a new footman in his typical snarky way.  And truthfully, we do have a lot to learn.  But until we know our place, the pride we hold keeps us out of the classroom.
     In the opening credits of the show we see a wall which rings the various bells to alert the staff as to what is needed.  It's one means of communication between the Master of the house and the servants beneath.  Listening to God is certainly a learned discipline.  It is a discipline we will never learn if we remain upstairs in pretentious pageantry.  It's something we'll never learn as long as we keep shifting "dead bodies" around in secret.  But, if we come downstairs we will learn the "various callings" of the Father.  We'll learn when He is prompting our hearts to action and when He is speaking.  A good servant will respond in action.  We begin by walking and over time become able to discern better and eventually run.
     So in the end, we can say that a good servant knows his place, listens to his Master, and obeys his instructions.  Isn't that what God calls of all His people?  It seems that He is looking for us to be downstairs people.  Is that so bad?  In the end we even find ourselves seated at the finest feast of all...
     Imagine that, a feast for the downstairs people, given by the Master of the house (Or in this case, the universe.)
    "Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come..."
"Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'  And he added, "these are the true words of God." Revelation 19:7a and 9.