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Sermon, St. Francis
Easter 5, 2004 Now Is The Son Of Man
Glorified! Gospel: God has glorified his son. How do we glorify him? Epistle: Revelation, worship around God’s
throne. TOP TEN reasons why
worship gets boring: 10. The exact same faces week, after week, after
week………. 9. Coming to church out of habit
instead of a true desire 8. Focusing on monotonous sound of the
priest’s voice. 7. Enduring
sermons that have an introduction, middle ………but no end! 6. Music that was very popular
in 1896. 5. The smell of coffee coming from the
parish hall is stronger than The
fragrance of God’s presence. 4. Passing traffic is more interesting
than the scripture readings. 3. The paint on the ceiling is more
interesting that the prayers. 2. The congregation has become an
“audience” looking for Entertainment. 1. The worship rules are so rigid not
even GOD is allowed to bend Them!! Our worship should be AWE-FILLED. ·
BUT sometimes is just
“aw-full”. ·
Worship should first
of all be joy-filled, and Inspiring READ: Evening Prayer
p.115: 3rd sentence: ·
“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, Let the whole earth
tremble before him.” ·
When did you last “tremble”
in worship before the Lord? Psalm 96: 8-9: Ascribe to the LORD the glory due
his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the LORD in holy array;
tremble before him, all the earth! Habakkuk 2:20: …the LORD is in his holy
temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.
[RSV/NAB] ·
God demands our awe,
our worship. Ezekiel 3:23-24: So
I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the LORD was standing
there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell face
down. Then the
Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. ·
Have you ever “fallen
down” before his majesty? On
your knees? On your face? ·
Have you ever seen
his majesty? IN WORSHIP? READ: ACTS 2:1-21: When the day of Pentecost had
come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as
of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance…And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one
another, "What does this mean?" But others mocking said, "They are filled with new
wine." But Peter, standing
with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea
and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my
words. For these men are not
drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day; but this
is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out
my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out
my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. ·
They were filled
with the Holy Spirit: ·
And their response was
to praise God. READ: Romans
8:26-27:
26
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray
as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for
words. 27* And he who searches
the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because * the Spirit
intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ·
If we pray in deep groans, even in words we don’t understand, it’s
the Holy Spirit of God himself praying within us, and prayers, hopes,
reflections too deep for normal human words. Should our worship be
constricted, or free? ·
As Anglicans, we have become used to certain ways to worship. If
it isn’t written word-for-word in the Prayer Book – or at least spelled out
in the Rubrics – we worry it won’t be acceptable to God. ·
We like quiet, solemn.
But sometimes the Spirit moves us to praise, to adoration. But God loves us as his children: He accepts our worship and praise however we can best
express them. ·
Though our personal practices in worship may vary, we should be
free to worship as God moves us, as long as it’s decent and orderly. ·
The point is to offer them with authentic love, sincere devotion,
whatever form they take. ·
It’s OK for worship to be lively, and demonstrative, though this
makes some of us uncomfortable. In worship: We need a BALANCE between the spirit
of praise and the silent adoration.
Neither is wrong, but in true worship we should be able, and allowed,
to experience both. SO: How does worship
become awe-filled?? ·
By becoming Spirit-filled ·
By letting God lead the worship ·
By attending to his words, his voice, his direction COLLECT FOR PURITY,
BCP P. 355 LET’S CLEAR UP SOME QUESTIONS: ·
Raising hands to pray, and to praise. ·
Is this something
quirky new invention that started in the 1970s? ·
No. It’s very old, and very biblical: READ: Ex 9:29 (Moses to Pharaoh): 29.
Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread
out my hands in prayer to the LORD. Ezra 9:5—6: Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose
from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees
with my hands spread out to the LORD my God 6. And prayed:
"O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to
you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has
reached to the heavens. Ps 28:2: Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place. Ps 63:4: I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift
up my hands. Ps 88:9: my eyes are dim with grief. I call to
you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you. Ps 119:48: I lift up my hands to your commands,
which I love, and I meditate on your decrees. Ps 143 5-6: 5. I remember the days of long ago; I
meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; my soul
thirsts for you like a parched land. ·
No, it was an OT practice, adapted by early Christians ·
Seen in early art NEW
TESTAMENT?
1 Tim 2: 7-8. 7. And for this purpose I was
appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not laying--and
a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. 8. I want men
everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. READ Prayer Books to page
115: Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense, the
lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice (Ps 141:2). (Same in 1928 prayer book, p.
21) The “orans” position: ·
In Christian liturgy
since ancient times. ·
I pray every week at
the altar. ·
Ancient Jewish custom,
still seen in synagogues today. What does the gesture mean?? ·
Reaching out to God,
as a child to its father ·
But ALSO position of receiving
something from God, receiving a gift. THE KEY: ·
Worship should AWAKEN
and INSPIRE us to an awareness of the awesome power, and awesome love, of
God. ·
Worship where we
experience NO sense of awe, and no inspiration from God’s Holy Spirit, means
something is probably lacking. Is it OK to
get excited, and exuberant in worship???
Good Episcopalians usually
say no. READ TOGETHER: VENITE, P. 82.
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