What’s the point of worship? When people respond to God in so many different ways, is it possible to have worship that universally speaks to each one’s soul?
The Old Testament Lectionary reading this week (Year B, Pentecost 13), is found in 1 Kings 8. I have always found the descriptions of the Hebrew Temple and worship practices other-worldly and mysterious. This passage marks the first worship held in the newly built temple. As the Ark of the Covenant (the one that melted faces in Raiders of the Lost Ark) is placed for the first time in the Holy of Holies (an inner chamber that would be separated from the people at all times), God came down in a glorious cloud. The event was so overwhelming that the priests could not continue their duties. This story established the temple as the place God would dwell on earth, a sacred space truly unlike any other. I think it also establishes what we’re hoping will happen in worship every time we come together: God will meet with us, and transform the mundane into a thing of wonder.
Worship teams and clergy often work together in prayer to create the perfect design that well help people focus their hearts, minds and bodies on the living God in worship. This planning is crucial, but sometimes we can allow our own personal preferences and a desire for perfection to override what might actually be needed for worship done in spirit and in truth.
This past Sunday, we had a guest black preacher talk about the inclusion of Holy Communion, saying, “There are many tables around the world where I am not welcome, but not this table. All are welcome at Christ’s table.” We had another guest that day…another black man, with some mental disorders and the strong smell of alcoholism, who chose to sit on the very front row of my very white-traditional church. He clapped at everything. He talked to anyone who was up front leading worship. He had his Super-Gulp soda propped on the kneeler. He turned around and ‘directed’ the congregation every time we sang. And then when we took communion, and everyone in the church had to walk past this man on the front row, he stood the whole time and shook the hand of everyone in the church before they received the body and blood of Christ. Some shook his hand with great joy, recognizing the face of Christ in the man bumping their fist. Some were mad that the pastor would allow such a distraction to continue through their worship service. Some made assumptions about the man’s race and the way he was acting. Others were thankful to see life and spontaneity in our stuffy service.
Whether we all saw it or not, God’s glory filled the temple that day.