Creekside Church Sermon of September 22 , 2002 "Reserving Room at the Center" Psalm 29	Rev. David Bibbee
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I experienced this in an unexpected way on my solo trip in the Canadian Wilderness. In my lifetime I have seen wonderful sights in beautiful places, but I was never "overwhelmed" by them as I was late one afternoon in a place called Dynamite Bay. Heading back to the outpost cabin, I noticed a rock protruding above the surface. There was nothing unique about it. There were thousands of rocks sticking out of the water everywhere. But there was something about this particular rock…it seemed to have a magnetic pull that drew my boat toward it. As I approached, the water surrounding it changed color, revealing more of the rock than met the surface. The exposed section was no bigger than an Indiana watermelon. But beneath the surface was a massive rock as big as this building. It extended over a hundred feet in all directions,. Sloping into the depths where it disappeared into the dark water.

That rock triggered something in me - - the feeling that language can't convey. My knees quivered, my pulse fluttered. I has a sensation that I was being pulled down - - pulled beneath the surface, pulled down the rock to it's base, pulled beneath it. Beneath the strata of the earth. Beneath its molten core, beneath the material world itself. I was consumed. I wondered if Moses felt this way kneeling on Holy ground before God, or Job as God answered his complaint, or Isiah seeing the Lord high and lifted up in the temple, or the Roman Centurian stationed at the cross seeing beneath Jesus' battered body to the truth of who He was.

In that moment I knew what it was to b e in AWE. I don't know if the experience lasted seconds or minutes, but this much I do know…I worshipped. Others who passed over this great geological formation may have just seen a big rock, but I worshipped. I sat in a boat dumbfounded by the awe and splendor of God who is high above, deep beneath, and fixed at the center of life. I worshipped God, not for what the mighty rock and the surrounding beauty meant to me, but because it was there. I can see by the looks on your faces that some of you know what I am talking about. But hw many of you have had a similar experience in Sunday worship?

Truth be told, it's not something we expect, or even necessarily want in worship. It would be more than our Sunday sensitivities could handle. This may be one reason that worship is full of language "about" "God", and comparatively little "experience of" God. We don't like surprises, especially when God is behind them. It complicates things.

Today I will pose something radical that not only will change the was we worship, but will change other aspects of the church's ministry as well. The radical proposal is this…make God the center of worship. I can already hear you. "We sent him away for three months and all he learned is that we are supposed to worship God?" Well…yes…That's it. I learned that worship is all about God…only.

If it seems like I'm inferring there are things in worship and what we bring to it that are not about God, you are correct. In the wrrks ahead in our worship, classes, and committees, we will look at some of these things. Right now I simply want to "start something," and I want you to help me. Repeat after me "It's all about God!" Worship that is alive and filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and shapes Christian character has nothing to do with style. Repeat: "It's all about God!" It's not about sticking with the old standard or switching to new songs with a beat. Repeat: "It's all about God!" It's not about keeping worship the same or always being innovayive. Repeat: "It's all about God!" It's not about drawing a crowd (as much as we'd love to see it.) Repeat: "It's all about God!" It's not about musicians no matter how talented or preachers no matter how inspired. Repeat: "It's all about God!"

My most embarrassing moment in a restaurant happened years ago at Ryan's Steakhouse. I was eating lunch with a well-known, highly-respected Church of the Brethren pastor and professor, and along with his wife. As we got ready to leave, he went back tot eh serving table, took four large yeast rolls, rapped them in paper napkins and stuffed them into his wife's purse. Then he grabbed a handful of single-serving jelly packages from the table and put them in his suit pocket. I crawled under a steam table to hide.

What would make us squirm in a restaurant doesn't get a second thought when we talk about the things we "take aay from worship," things like good feelings, or satisfying experiences. Don't get me wrong. We do leave with these gifts, but not because we seek them. But as a by-product of worship; not because we went shopping for them, but because we told ourselves the moment we set foot in the sanctuary, "Worship is not aout me!" Repeat: "it's all about God!" …being, God's creation, God's depths, God's ddesigns for the world, and God's love made flesh and blood in Jesus Christ.

Welton Gaddy puts it pointedly:

…To use Christian worship for any purpose other than the glorification of God is to abuse it - - God expects the church to leap for divine worship without ulterior motives. Worship isn't convened so church budgets can be pledged, volunteers enlisted, programs promoted, attendance goals met, or personal problems solved. Authentic worship takes place only to honor God and give everything to God.

The next time you eat out after church, eavesdrop on the conversations of people who were in church. You will hear, "Well, how was worship today?" Often we hear responses like, "The choir sounded lovely, the children's story was cute, the pastor was funny, or on target, or stepped on our toes." Teenagers can be counted upon to say, "It was boring." And sometimes it is. These dinner deliberations deal with what should be done to make worship more "attractive" and "appealing" and "interesting." But conversations about "livening things up" won't get us anywhere without God at the center. When we understand that every aspect of worship is directed to God, who, as I understand, likes lots of different music and modes of worship, then decisions about how we should do it, diminish.

The architecture of a sanctuary says a lot about what goes on within its walls. I was in sanctuaries this summer which had no crosses, no religious symbols, no altars, no art, no windows, nothing to indicate sacred space. Lighting was dim like theaters before the film. At the center of the stage was a worship band and an acrylic lectern.

In contrast, I remember taking my son John to the renovated Sacred Heart Cathedral at Notre Dame. He was five years old. I regret not having a video camera to record the reactions on his face tot he ornate Corinthian columns supporting the vaulted ceilings with the frescos painted upon them; the sunlight streaming through intricate stained glass windows, the statues of biblical personalities and saints. But most of all I remember watching him beneath the ornate, gold-leafed tabernacle. He stood at attention with arms flat to his side, his neck craned back, his eyes open wide as he gazed at the beauty before him. I never said, "John, be very quiet and don't touch or climb on anything." I didn't need to. He knew what to do. He was drawn outside himself and I saw something in his 5-year-old eyes - - AWE.

In Psalm 20 King David describes descending into the depths and being overcome with the rality of God:

Brave, God! Bravo! God and the angels shout, "Encore!"
In awe stand before the glory. In awe before God's invisible Power. Stand at attention.
God's thunder sets the Oak trees dancing. The pelting rain strips their branches.
We fall to our knees - - we call out "Glory!"

(Sing Hymn # 69, Renew Hymnal: "Great Are You Lord.")

The most chilling statement I ever heard in church came from a man born and raised in the Church of the Brethren. In a conversation about worship he said this: "The announcements and sharing Joys and Concerns are the main reasons I come on Sunday." I wanted to ask, "Where in the world did you get an idea like that?", but I was afraid of the answer. "You want announcements? …read your newsletter…meditatively. Want to know what's going on in people's live? Pick up the phone. Go visit. Join a prayer and support group. You don't need God for sharing and announcements!"

It's easy for things to sneak into the service that are more about us than God. Instead of being enthroned at the center, God is scooted to the periphery and other things settle into the center. I think there are two things worshippers should see the moment they come through the sanctuary doors - - a big cross and a large altar. The cross should be big enough to make the head tilt back to see it all. The altar should be big enough to perform human sacrifices on it. Big enough to hold lots of children and adults willing to sacrifice themselves to someone greater than themselves. The cross and altar should be sufficiently large to make us sufficiently small…the way I felt floating above that rock in Dynamite Bay, the way a five year old stood before sacred beauty, the way King David felt as he experienced God in the eye of a storm.

Will it happen here, with us? As we are ushered to the pews will we be ushered outside ourselves and direct our thoughts, intentions, our praise and gratitude down and into the center to know that God is God, and God, God?

There is an old play called, "A Raisin in the Sun" about a black family in Chicago's south side during the Depression. The young daughter of the family. Bernetha, declares she will become a doctor, and Momma replies, "Course you doin' to be a doctor, God willing." Bernetha explodes. "God doesn't have anything to do with it!" Momma tries to tone her down, but Bernetha launches into a passionate speech:

"Momma, you don't understand. Its all a matter of ideas, and God is just one idea I don't accept. It's not important. I'm not going out to be immoral or commit crimes because I don't believe in God. I don't even think about it. It's just that I get tired of God getting the credit for all the things the human race achieves through it's own stubborn effort. There simply is no God - - there is only man and it is he who makes miracles!"

Momma sits, silently taking the speech in, while gazing at her daughter's face. Momma rises, walks over to Bernetha, and as a judge presiding over a court, she musters all the authority a voice can carry and says, "Now you say after me, 'In my mother's house there is still God.'" There is a silence and Bernetha utters the words, "In my mother's house there is still God."

There is still God in God's house.

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