Revealing…Confessing…Absolving…Commissioning

This list is not prescriptive, so much as it is descriptive.  It’s not that worship ought to be like this if you are “doing it right”.  It’s simply what happens because we are who we are and God is who God is and when you put the two together this sorta thing just happens.

REVEALING

You know that you’ll probably hear these words in the first five minutes of being at Church of the Beloved – “Welcome.  God is here.” Because invoked or not, Bidden or not, whether we know it or not, whether we pray for it or not – God is here.  Filling every atom of this space, in, under, over, around, and holding it all together is the presence of the invisible God.

It’s a startling, mind blowing – raise the hair on your arms – kind of reality… that is, if it’s really real to you.  The difficulty is that there couldn’t be anything more ordinary, more common, more everyday – than the presence of God.  It’s like trying to tell a fish it’s in water.  If we were aware of it all the time, we would be filled with so much awe and amazement and terror and excitement that it would be exhausting.  But there are certain moments, unplannable, uncontrolable, holy moments when this revelation of God’s presence stops us in our tracks.  Two people could be in the same room – for one it’s holy, and for the other it couldn’t be any more ordinary.

Elizabeth Barret Browning wrote:

“Earth is crammed with heaven,

every bush is afire with the glory of God.

but only those who see take off their shoes.

The rest of us sit ‘round and pick blackberries.”

For Moses it was finding a fire defying bush in the middle of a hike.  For the Paul it was a bright light that came crashing into his business trip.  For Peter it was at the end of a really bad day at work that he saw the Rabbi Jesus in a whole new light.  But here’s another revelation of God’s presence:  “Lord, when did we see you naked, imprisoned, hungry, naked, sick?”  And Jesus says,  “When you did this for the least of mine – you did it to me.”  For where there is love, God is truly there.  Jesus said that this is the sign by which people will know that your are my followers – how you love one another…and especially the “least” among you.  Worship starts with God revealing God’s presence in the midst of the ordinary.

CONFESSING

Where God’s presence is revealed you can be sure that there’s going to be some confessing going on.

Confession just follows naturally for us.  When we encounter God we want to confess.  When Isaiah encounters the presence of God in the Temple he says, “I am undone!  I fall apart!  I crumble into a pile! I melt into a puddle!”  And when Moses encounters the presence of God in the wilderness he takes off his shoes and hides his face.  He says, “I can’t look you in the eyes!”  And when Peter encounters the presence of God on a boat full of fish he says, “Get away!  Lord, go away!”  Why would a boat load of fish be something to be terrified about?  I mean, he just won the fish lottery!  You’d think he’d say, “We’re in the money! Never leave me!” rather than, “Get away from me!” . . .

What’s terrifying is that he’s just had the epiphany that this is no ordinary rabbi.  His whole perception has just radically shifted about who Jesus is.  Because now he is in the presence of someone who can do for him what he couldn’t do for himself.  And he’s been fishing his whole life!  And he’s been fishing all night long!  And he’s been fishing in that same exact spot that Jesus takes them back to!  And yet, he’s come up with absolutely nothing.  So the terror is that he is in the presence of One who can pull in a boat load of fish, where there were no fish.  An encounter with the Holy God, always inspires a sense of ambivalence in us that says:  “I don’t ever want you to go, and I can’t stand here for another second.  It’s too much… you are too much!  And I’m not enough!

A long time ago I had a pentecostal friend who kept bugging me to go hear this charismatic prophet speak.  I thought it was silly and scammy and didn’t have any time for it.  I kept putting it off until finally I gave in.  We arrived late but got there in time for the prophet to give personal prophecies to anyone who wanted to come forward.  And something happened to me that I totally did not expect.  The thought of being utterly transparent and completely known before this strange man, who I did not trust, filled me with an intense terror.  I was instantly flooded with the thoughts of all the insecurities that rule my life, all my endeavors to be self-important, and all the things that my heart clings to, and I was terrified at the thought of this man knowing me.  And yet!  I wanted to see him and I went forward.  But when he looked at me he said, “Brother, God wants you to know that you are loved more than you can imagine.  In fact, you are a son of promise with a long history of God’s faithfulness to draw from.  Be forgiven.”

I went up front expecting judgement and I, quite literally, was surprised by grace.

ABSOLVING

Where there is confession you can be sure that God is absolving.

This is God’s most favorite thing to do – to absolve you of your sin, to relieve you of your excuses to run and hide, to forgive you of your guilt, to accept you in your shame, to hold you in your frailty, to lift up the humble.  Where there’s confessing God is absolving.

Peter says, “Get away from me. I can’t be near you.  I am a sinner.  I am afraid of you.”  And Jesus says, “You don’t have to be afraid”

Certainly Peter has reason to be afraid, but Jesus says, “Don’t be.  I’m not going to hurt you.  It’s just the opposite of what you think.  I want to heal you of what hurts you.  In fact, I even want to heal you of the fear in you that thinks, ‘God wants to hurt me.  God hates me.’  I want to give you a new understanding of who God is, and how very much God delights in you, recklessly loves you.  Loves you for who you are, not who you can be, what you can do,  loves you regardless of the worst you can do, loves you to the cross and to the grave and beyond.

COMMISSIONING

Where there’s absolving you can be sure that God’s commissioning will soon follow.

This last one I think is the curve ball.  It’s the one that I don’t expect.  Worship doesn’t end at absolution.  Encounters with God prepare us for a purpose.  A purpose that we never would have even dreamed of attempting prior to the encounter.  God doesn’t say, “Thanks for letting me interrupt here.  Just wanted to scare you and then calm you down again.  Now carry on with what you were doing.”  Grace makes a new future open up for you to step into.  God doesn’t send people out guilt.  God wont let it go from revelation to confession to commission and leave out absolution, because God wont ask you to do anything motivated by guilt and fear. God sends people out graced.

God tells Isaiah – “Alright I know you are a potty mouth.  But I’ve touched your mouth and it is clean.  Now I want to use your mouth to speak to my people.”  Jesus tells Peter – “Alright, I know you are one salty fisherman.  But don’t be afraid of me.  From now on you will fish for people.”  There is something about encountering this God, who has loved you from the beginning of time that makes ordinary moments holy, that makes ordinary tasks missional because they are done for others, that gives your whole life new meaning because it’s lived for the one who gives you your life.  When you are caught up in the embrace of this God, you can’t help but offer your own presence – full of transparency, full of grace for the other’s confession, and God’s mission becomes your mission.  The shape of worship can’t help but shape the worshiper.