Can We Do That In Church? Passionate Worship
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
Colossians 3: 12-17 Rev. Marianne Niesen February 28, 2010
Be thankful . . . admonish one another in all wisdom . . . sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God. Worship has been around a long time and Christian worship has always been part of the deal for followers of Christ. From the earliest times, Christians gathered together - in synagogues, homes, on hillsides, in the hidden recesses under buildings - they gathered, heard words from Scripture, told stories of Jesus, shared of their wealth, broke bread, sang songs and prayed. Worship was part of an essential rhythm to life. It wasn’t optional - it was necessary as they faced misunderstanding, challenges and even persecution. It was necessary as they sought direction and purpose in their new life in Christ.
This year during Lent, we are spending time with each of the ‘five practices of fruitful congregations’ that Bishop Robert Schnase lays out in his book. Last week, we looked at the importance of developing a practice of hospitality that is not just warmly welcoming but that is also radical - that is, going beyond our comfort zones to reach out and make room in our church and our lives for friends and strangers alike. This week our topic is worship and Schnase says that while the act of worship is essential to Christian life - growing, vibrant, vital congregations are characterized by passionate worship. At first glance, that probably sounds like a relatively benign comment. Passionate worship - doesn’t that just mean ‘really sincere’ praise?
As you might imagine, I think there is more too it. Worship is - according to the dictionary - ‘reverent honor and homage paid to God.’ That is, I think, a widely accepted definition. We come here to praise God, to give thanks. And while I agree with what I just said, let me confess that I have always had trouble with it. Underlying that definition is a sense that the primary reason we come together is to - dare I say it - keep God’s spirits up. To make sure God doesn’t get disappointed with all the stuff going on. Somehow there is a subtle implication that God’s goodness depends on getting enough kudos, enough recognition. And, to the extent that is accurate, passionate worship would be doing the ‘reverent honoring and homage paying’ with extra oomph! Extra passion. Thus the custom of extra loud organ fanfare and choir ‘performances’ and the newer practice of ‘praise hymns’ sung standing up, arms pulsing upward. As differences in the practice of worship have arisen so have ‘worship wars.’ People argue over what is ‘sacred’ and worthy of God. And, unfortunately, name- calling often ensues. Praise hymns are ‘shallow’ and traditional worship is ‘rigid.’ I could go on but you get the idea.
I am not exactly sure how we got ourselves in this position. I am not sure how worship became primarily one directional - between us and God but here’s what I think needs to happen now. I believe we need to recover that early Christian impulse that worship is as much about us as it is about God. That worship is something we need. We gather together for worship because we need to be encouraged, refreshed and comforted. We gather together because this God of ours has made us for one another. Passionate worship is not about singing louder, preaching faster, or praying stronger so God can hear us and hang in there for another day. It is about us, bringing ourselves with all our feelings, pain, humanness, passions and joining together in support and prayer, in praise and thanks to God. Worship is about God, yes - but it is also about us. Look at this beautiful symbol on the wall behind me - the cross and flame. Notice the cross with both its vertical and horizontal dimensions. And where the cross intersects, power happens. That’s the United Methodist flame. I love the fact that it is here in front of us every Sunday at worship - an invitation to passionate worship.
I want to pause now and invite us to listen as the choir - at my request - contributes to this sermon by singing an anthem that can help us recover a sense of passionate worship. And it is not just how they sing - listen to the words.
I’ve loved that hymn - and the way our choir sings it - since the first time I heard it. I love the energy and power of it. I love its bigness. Still, I’ve always been puzzled by the recurring words. He never failed me yet Shouldn’t it say he never failed me - period? And it was precisely as I reflected on that little nugget, when it hit me . . . God may be with me all the time but it doesn’t always feel like that. We have doubts, uncertainties, fears, dreams, hopes, questions. And the power of this hymn is that it acknowledges it all. Passionate worship is the gathering together of God’s people in all their humanness - highs and lows alike - for the purpose of praising God and encouraging and uplifting one another. It is both vertical and horizontal. And it is at that intersection that passionate worship breaks out!
God’s never failed me yet! On any given day, some of us come to worship absolutely filled with the presence and power of God. We know we’ve been blessed. We come filled with gratitude and joy. God’s never failed me yet - and God’s never gonna fail me. I know it. I feel it. Those are the days we come convinced and overflowing. We want to sing hymns of praise and we pray prayers of thanks. If you are at that place right now, worship is a time for praise - and it comes naturally. The hymn captures it beautifully . . . I will sing of God’s mercy, every day, every hour, God gives me power . . . I will sing and give thanks for all the dangers toils and snares that God has brought me out. Yeah God! But life isn’t always that way.
God’s never failed me - yet there’s always a first time. And this just may be it. There are times in all of our lives - usually many times - when we face difficulties and challenges. It can be illness or job loss or the break up of a relationship. It may simply be uncertainty or bewilderment. We come to worship during those times, needing assurance. We come, needing to hear again the stories. We come with prayers of petition. We come to plead our case or make our confession. We come seeking hope in the midst of our questioning and pain. That’s when hearing words repeated over and over can help . . . trust and never doubt, Jesus will surely bring you out, trust and never doubt, Jesus will surely bring you out. Words that pull us along toward hope. Some of us right now are in that place. We feel less like praising and more like pleading. We raise our plea to God - and we desperately need human touch and assurance to help with that fear that God never failed me yet this might be it. The assurance we need might come in a prayer or hymn - or from a kind word from a greeter or seeing a familiar face. It might come from a moment of laughter or a drama. That’s why it is so dangerous to decide for others what is sacred and what is not - what belongs in worship and what does not. We need standards, of course, but truly passionate worship is much broader than we have usually allowed. And no one of us has a corner on what is sacred. And then there’s this . . .
God’s never failed me yet I’ve had it now. It’s all over now. Sometimes, people come bringing simply - darkness. Those are the dark nights of the soul. They are often times of anger and despair. I think that is probably when some of those age-old stories are most important. Didn’t God deliver Moses and Daniel and those three in the furnace? No matter what the test . . . no matter what the test . . . no matter what the test. You are not alone. When we find ourselves in that place of emptiness or defeat, anger or despair, not only can we not praise, often we cannot pray or plead or do anything but rely on the strength of others. Worship is for that too.
God’s never failed me yet. The driving beat of that hymn is like the heartbeat of God - filled with power, passion and promise for all that life holds. And that beat never ends. On so many levels that hymn captures what passionate worship is all about. Whether we are high or low, convinced or in need of convincing, certain or doubting, filled or depleted, angry or at peace, true worship - passionate worship - has room for the full complement of human life and human emotion. It is both vertical and horizontal and at the intersection we find the warmth, the power, the flame of love. Let me repeat . . . while worship is certainly about God, it is also about us.
That’s why, of course, there is more than one way to worship God. This may come as a surprise to you, but we will not - and don’t - all agree on what is worshipful. Some people like traditional hymns with organ and piano. Some like more contemporary versions. Some like drama and times of laughter in worship. Some people find that difficult and ‘not sacred’ enough. Some like to use a hymnal and some like to read the words on the screen. Some of us like jazz Sundays best and some of us could do without. Some of us like the curtains open and some of us like the curtains closed and a considerable number of us can’t quite figure out why it is an issue one way or another. Our challenge as a church community if we are to be vibrant, vital, alive and growing - is to learn to make room for one another even in worship. It will require some patience and some good humor. It will require a willingness to admit that no one of us has a handle on the ‘sacred.’
The title of my sermon is Can We Do That In Church? At first those words may have called up an image of something racy or off-color. But the question I raise is really even more shocking. Can we, will we, make room for passionate worship in church? Will we make room for our differences? Can we - will we - do that in church?? Passionate worship is messy - because people are. As a growing, vital, vibrant community of St. Paul’s, are we wide enough to welcome the human family God sends us, wise enough to recognize differences and patient enough to embrace them? Just like that early Christian community gathered together to admonish one another in all wisdom . . . and sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God, so too are we invited to experience our time here as an essential part of life not apart from life. To engage in passionate worship is to dare reach out with our hands and our hearts to proclaim together that this God of ours who has never failed us yet never will. And I think that is good news worth sharing!
