LAKE JAMES

NORTH CAROLINA

III Epiphany + Jan. 22, 2006 + St. Paul’s, Morganton, NC

+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The theme of the hymn with which we began this service is stated in the words “Eternal Father, great ‘I AM,’ – we worship Thee.”

It’s a characteristic of human beings that we seem to need to worship gods of one kind or another, believing (or hoping) that there is “Someone” or “Something” greater than we, and worship, however expressed, is our response. Through the centuries of the Christian era, that worship, that adoration of God, has been the primary focus of the Church. To say that doesn’t (or shouldn’t) lessen the importance of ministering to the poor, the sick, or the dying, nor does it in any way weaken our obligation to be active participants in the life and concerns of the wider community outside the Church. To say that worship is, and should be the primary focus of the Church just puts first things first.

As you and I go about sharing in the life and ministry of this parish, I’d like to speak about what I believe is our highest priority: that is, our worship of God as the community of faith called Saint Paul’s Church. As a starting point, consider these words from the Letter to the Hebrews: “Let us worship as God would be worshiped – with reverence and awe.”

What does the word awe (A-W-E) mean to you?

There is a wonderful cartoon in which a father asks his adolescent son “Did you like the movie you saw last night?” The boy answers “you bet! It was…it was…” and as he gropes for the right word, the father, wanting to show his awareness of the “in” vocabulary of the younger generation, says “totally awesome?” To which his son replies, “oh no, much better than that!”

Again, what does the word “awe” mean to you? If we can ignore the unfortunate abuse of the word “awesome” as used by sportscasters these days, we may find a more basic and profound meaning. “Awe,” I suggest, is different from one’s admiration of a 98 yard run in a football game or a grand slam home run by your favorite baseball star. It is related to, but greater than the wonder one might experience at seeing the Grand Canyon or the Alps for the first time. It is even deeper than the sublime joy of hearing a beautifully-played symphony or gazing at a painting by El Greco or Rembrandt. “Awe,” as I am speaking of it is a powerful, reverent awareness of being in the very presence of the Living God!

Ours is not a culture in which “awe” is apt to be experienced very often. Unlike previous ages where the sun, moon, thunder or lightning produced awe in people for whom such things seemed to reflect (or even be) gods, many in our day may live their entire lives without ever experiencing awe at all! For some, however, “awe” can be, and is, found in the worship of God.

I will never forget the day when, as a young pre-rabbinical college student, I attended a Eucharist at the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Boston – and was awestruck! Through what was then for me not only a strange, but quite alien form of worship, the reality of God burst upon me and somehow, I knew that I had been in the Divine Presence in a way I had never before experienced. Think for a moment - have you ever had an occasion in your life when worship brought you to an awed awareness of God’s Presence?

Awe is real! Awe is powerful! Awe should be characteristic of the way we experience the worship of God Sunday by Sunday here at St. Paul’s Church – and, if it isn’t, something is wrong! Sadly, even tragically wrong!

Consider this: the amazing claim of the Christian faith as held in the Anglican Tradition, is that God not only wants to be worshiped, but worshiped in a particular way! Jesus said, “Take, eat, this is My Body. Do this.” If we think about what we are doing, our appearing before God’s Altar should involve our coming with a sense of anticipation, of awe, at what God invites, permits, and enables us to do every time we share in celebrating the Eucharist and receive Holy Communion. The 95^th Psalm, frequently recited at Daily Morning Prayer, urges us to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” and then adds “let the whole earth stand in awe of Him.” And later this morning, we will sing a hymn which says “God Himself is with us, let us all adore Him, and with awe appear before Him…”

The surroundings in which we worship can affect us. Some places may do that by their size and beauty. York Minster and Salisbury Cathedral come to mind, and here, in the United States, such great buildings as the cathedrals of St. John the Divine in New York, Saints Peter and Paul in Washington, DC, or Grace cathedral in San Francisco speak not only of the glory of God, but also of the Presence of God. Some places may produce awe in us not only because of their size and beauty, but also by events which took place in them. I think of Canterbury Cathedral and, what for me, was the awe-filled moment of standing, and then kneeling, at the actual spot where St. Thomas a Becket was martyred in the year 1170, and being overwhelmed by the joy, but also the awe, of knowing that I belong to the very same community of faith of which the great saints of Christian history, such as St. Thomas, have been, and still are, part.

Human beings tend to be responsive to the stimuli provided by externals. For example, both emotions and behavior are apt to be influenced by the weather. A bright sunny day feels quite different from one which is dark, cold and damp. Humid, sticky weather brings a different response from our reaction to pleasant, dry days. Marketing psychology has become big business, using all sorts of tricks to get people to buy this brand rather than that one. Just think how sales would slump if stores didn’t play Christmas carols in November and December while shoppers browse in the aisles! In much the same way, ceremonial, art, and music can, and should be quite influential in our worship of God.

Anglican theology has traditionally emphasized the Incarnation, which is a way of saying that we believe things are important, that physical entities can be sacred. The use of externals in worship is not a mark of weakness, but rather, a realistic acceptance of the fact that God has designed us so that we are responsive to and therefore can be helped by such things as the beauty of our churches, the use of candles, vestments, music, and ceremonies. Our devotional practices, whatever they may be, such as bowing, genuflecting, making the Sign of the Cross, or just quietly kneeling, not only express, but also influence our faith, and together with an awareness of the “prayed-in-ness”, the “holiness” of this place, St. Paul’s Church, can help bring us to that consciousness of God’s Presence, which then so naturally produces awe in us.

In the months ahead, as you and I share in the life of this parish, may we join in offering our worship to God with reverence, and with awe. Think of it! In the Eucharist, God the Holy Spirit, acting through the priest, actually consecrates bread and wine so that you and I can receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, spiritually, truly, and objectively Present in the Sacrament of the Altar. Now, I ask you: isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t that awesome?

+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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