ARTICLES ON THE WORSHIP PAGE Sitting in Silence + God Speaks + Worship

Sitting in Silence

The Quaker practice of open worship or silent meditation is based on the individual relationship that each worshiper has with their creator, even in a group setting.  Though rewarding, this form of worship has its challenges. However, centuries of Quaker practice offer some helpful advice to those who are venturing into this custom for the first time and that will also deepen the experiences of veteran practitioners.

First, begin with mind and heart prepared.  Turning you mind away from your own world and toward the heavenly one takes time and effort and cannot take place instantaneously with the click of a switch.  In preparing to meditate privately or while on the way to worship with others, reflect on God—his wonder and goodness. Feel his closeness and receive his love. As you enter into this time of prayer, remember that it has less to do with words and more with feelings, attitudes, and responses. 

Patience is required throughout the life of any worshiper as minds wander back to thoughts of the day and must be repeatedly turned toward God.  Bodily comfort aids in keeping the mind under control.  Sit in an alert posture, but one that allows unrestricted blood flow and no stressed joints. For example, sit with back straight, both feet on the floor and hands lying comfortably in your lap. During those periods when the mind wanders in spite of all best efforts it is helpful to have some specific prayer text or memory that can be reviewed repeatedly until the thoughts are under control.  Choose a text that has God as its center and creates within you a heartfelt closeness to him. Repeat it until your focus is restored.

Though much of open worship is silent be ready to respond to the leading of the Spirit to break the silence.  This leading may ask one of two things.  You may be asked to minister to others through a spoken word. You may receive a thought or feeling that is meant to be shared.  Don’t hesitate, even though you don’t understand its significance. God will use it to address the needs of someone else. Sometime the Spirit calls on us to allow someone else to minister in the same manner to us.  Even as you maintain focus on God listen as others speak. Don’t critique or seek application, simply receive and trust God to give it meaning to whom it is needed. The spoken word in silent worship is the word of God and should be delivered and received with due respect.

Open worship is an often misunderstood and misused practice.  With faithfulness and practice it can become a valuable experience for people in all stages of spiritual development.

Jimmy Vestal is the pastor of City View Quaker Church who came to Asheville with his wife, Margaret, to start a church devoted to loving and following Jesus.

 

God Speaks

I don’t know about you but when I read stories in the Bible that say that God spoke to some guy and then that guy proceeds to claim God told him what constitutes pages and pages of text, my knee jerk reaction is to assume that guy had stumbled across a really effective hallucinogen and spent way too much time alone. I mean really, come on. I’m probably not the only one that imagines some uneducated guy in sandals and a robe sitting in a tent 6000 years ago smoking God only knows what, seeing bright lights, hearing a booming voice and claiming it is God because he just flat doesn’t know any better. I had a really hard time believing that God “spoke” to people until it happened to me. Now don’t get me wrong, a booming voice does NOT come down out of heaven and say in a deep fatherly tone, “Jen, you haven’t been flossing”. I’m not going to say God has never audibly spoken to anyone in history or that it does not happen or that it couldn’t but it is not how God speaks to me – at least so far. And He chooses the strangest ways to speak… like using a cat.

Our cat Lily is a curious beast. She has caused us much heart ache, embarrassment and now financial stress in her short 6 year life. She has already gotten her head stuck in a hole in the floor which required the fire department’s assistance to have it extracted yet still be intact. Once again, I’ve had to confess that yes indeed, she was my cat to a speechless stranger – this time the stranger was a vet who didn’t care for my knitting.

Much to my dismay, I must confess I’ve taken up knitting. I’ve resisted “girl” activities all my life. Let’s just say that in my older years, I’ve become secure enough in my masculinity to dare to try a few “girl” activities and in general have mellowed out quite a bit in this arena. My dear friend Pam convinced me to try it by giving me some yarn and needles for Christmas. Had this come from anyone else, I probably would have promptly returned them but Pam, a professional blacksmith, also has the “anti-girl” gene so I decided if she was man enough to go there, I could too. I loved it. Two months after my virgin knit, I had knitted something like 10 scarves. Previous to this, I owned not a single scarf. Very therapeutic and good to do when you are sitting. I doubt I’ll ever make much more than scarves because my attention span is incapable of supporting any more than this but a splendid use of any necessary unproductive time really.

One evening before going out (fabulously adorned with 3 scarves), I noticed Lily was sitting face down on the floor. She frequently sits with her face on the floor now. I’m not sure why. I guess I assume she is reflecting on her “head stuck in the floor hole” experience when she does this so I didn’t think much of it. When we returned late that night, she was still sitting there and when I went to pick her up, she growled and I could tell she was in serious pain.

The next morning, I took her first thing to the vet. I could only guess it was one of two things, she had fallen off one of the 2 story half walls we have in our house or she had eaten something poisonous. I gingerly loaded up a growling cat and decided to take my knitting with me since I was certain I would have spare waiting time.

I had snuck in about 5 rows when the vet walked in. He looked at me, looked at my shinny, fluffy scarf glittering about my neck then looked at my knitting bag. Very calmly he said, “I take it you’re a knitter?” I said, “Why, yes I am!” perkily thinking he was about to compliment me on my latest creation. He then said questioningly, “Do you by chance generate scrap yarn from that?” Now In the process of knitting you do generate scraps of yarn here and there. I am not what one would call “neat” by nature so I would just whack them off and leave them on the floor under my hobby table. Now, slowing down and trying to predict where this was going I cautiously confessed, “uhmmm, yes.” He nodded knowingly and asked the inevitable, “and do you ever leave these scraps down?” I now knew 2 things. One, I was busted for having a messy house. Two, my cat most likely had a yarn ball the size of Texas in her gut for which I was solely responsible (well, I could probably blame a little of it on Pam for introducing me to this wicked and evil craft but I knew that couldn’t get me far). Head lowered, I slowly confessed “….sometimes”. In that all knowing tone that physicians who find out you don’t exercise or dentists who are about to bust you for not flossing get, he said “Well….. with that little ‘knitting habit’ of yours, she probably ate some of that scrap yarn. Cat’s digestive tracts can’t process things like yarn or rubber bands.” He said they would have to do blood work, x-rays and if a “linear blockage” was found, surgery. It was at that moment that I realized I was about to pay for college tuition for his children this semester. He sent Lily off to the back with his assistant and gently said he would call with an update. I gathered my “little knitting habit” and proceed home.

A couple of days after the extensive gastrointestinal surgery to remove a “substantial linear blockage”, I was allowed visitation. Words can not describe the state of this poor, miserable beast when I got there. Her belly was shaved with stitches every where, her front legs and neck were shaved where they had the IV tubes hanging out and where they had drawn blood. She had peed on herself and she had mashed up food stuck to her fur where they had been force feeding her trying to get her to eat. She stank, “she was ugly” was an understatement but she was mine, she was alive and I loved her regardless.

It was at that very moment God spoke to me. Again, it wasn’t a booming voice from heaven. I’m not even real sure if it was even a tiny voice in my head, just a feeling I had or maybe it was both but God spoke to me and I knew it because He has spoken to me a few times before in my life and I now know what it “feels like” when God speaks to me. Each time, the same thing happens. A feeling of peace, calm and ABSOLUTE certainty about the topic falls on me that I can neither accurately describe nor explain other than to simply say I know without a doubt it is God speaking and in a weird sort of way, it really is a booming voice from heaven – just not an audible one, for me any way.

In a single, split instant He said, "Jen, from Lily’s perspective, all she knows is that she was feeling the worst she has ever felt in her life. Then you, the only one she loves and trusts, took her to this building, left her with strangers and they proceeded to physically abuse her from her perspective. She has been poked, prodded, cut and abandoned and this was all done when things were at the low point of her life. So it is with you, Jen, and everyone in this world. You question whether I am good and whether I can be trusted because of all you see in this world – sickness, broken relationships, death, rape, murder, famine, hate, racial injustice, war, disaster… you see these things and feel as if I have abandoned everyone - I understand why you question My nature. But just like for Lily, you loved her enough to pay the high price so that absolutely everything possible would be done to save her life, this is what I’ve done for you, Jen, and not only you but for everyone in this world who will believe. For very good reasons which must be, I have not allowed you or anyone else to see the whole picture or understand all that is going on yet– you will but in order to save you, you can’t know in this life. The bad things you must see and experience will frequently not make sense with the concept of Me being a good, loving, all powerful God. From your perspective, like Lily’s, it seems like I let people be kicked when they are down and leave them for dead. But please know that I love you and even though you don’t understand right now, this life, with its hardships, IS the process by which I am doing everything necessary to save you as well as everyone else in this world that will believe. Please trust Me, trust that I am good and trust that I do love you."

A few days later, I picked up Lily for the collegiate sum of $1500. Best damn $1500 I have ever spent in my life. I still struggle quite a bit with “is God good and does He love me” but when I look back on this, a little of that same calm and peace falls over me each time. Call me crazy, tell me I’m smoking something, but I honestly believe God speaks - you just have to be willing to listen to what He has to say.

Jennifer Fraser is an engineer turned graphic designer living in Asheville, NC.  Though she has always believed there was a God and felt she believed in Christ, she struggled for many years with her perception and experiences with “Christianity and the church.”  It was not until life’s difficulties motivated her to try church one more time to try and make sense of it all that she finally found something that was relevant to life today, wasn’t fake or sugar coated and was biblical.

 

WORSHIP

I have a confession to make; I am a recovering church hopper.  You may wonder why such a confession would be the opening line in an essay about worship, and the answer is that as a former church hopper I have a vantagepoint most others do not. 

It is safe to say that I have probably visited nearly every Christian church denomination (or non-denomination) there is.  Many were visited out of my own curiosity and others were with friends who wanted me to tag along and see how they did worship.

One thing I have learned from this experience is that “worship” is manifested in many ways in every church; and there isn’t a “right way” of conducting worship.  Of course, I am speaking only of the external expressions of worship; the manner of preaching, the style of music, the presence or absence of instruments, altars or baptisteries, the recitation of prayers and creeds or the informal sharing of individual testimonies. Of course as I state that truth to you, there are countless others who will be speaking and writing from their own soapboxes that indeed there is a “right way”; and not so coincidentally THEY just happen to being doing it the “right way”, so be sure and take notes. But in all seriousness, what really is the “right way” according to our Lord?  It seems to me that we’ve allowed man’s hang-ups and preferences regarding worship to take priority over anything God may value.

People do not intend to be so narrow as to suggest that only they are doing something so personal as worship the “right way”, its just an attitude that evolves over time and the seed that starts it is nothing more than human pride.  Human pride (vanity) is one of the seven “deadly” sins; and it is one of the most pervasive in the church because it is so hard to detect. Christians have become quite skilled in couching their words and actions in such a way as to outwardly appear righteous and spiritual. For instance, who among the brethren has not heard about the traditional prayer chain diminishing into nothing more than a gossip circle? How could that happen?  It happens when the prayer concerns passed from one ear to another become more informational and judgmental than discreet and merciful.  This is an example of how the wolf’s words and actions can be wrapped in sheep’s clothing.

Having worked in a few churches as a volunteer and a paid staff member, I have observed just how much time and effort goes into preparing for the worship time on Sunday.  On any given week in a church office, you will most likely find a lot of stressed out ministry staff people trying to get all the details into place so that on Sunday it can all look as if it has just materialized from the heavenly hosts above. Yet, in fact, the very concept of a worship service simply evolving on its own is not a reality.  Such chaos would never be allowed; there must be adequate planning, preparation and back up plans in the event something beyond human control occurs.  I wonder what that fear beyond human control could be?  Could it be the fear of the Holy Spirit?  I once heard a great quote relating to the issue of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the church today, it went something like this:  “If the Holy Spirit were removed from the church today, 95 percent would continue to function as normal”!   Now, of course there is no way to scientifically prove what percentage of the church ever functions without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, but we have all felt its absence at least at some level whenever we see the arguments and divisions within the body over how the church, particularly worship, should operate.

How can you tell if the Holy Spirit is missing from your church’s worship service?  First, you need to ask yourself whether you felt man’s accomplishments were gloried or God’s?  Whether your ego was stroked or whether your spirit was humbled?  Did you feel an intimate connection with the real and living Lord or did you feel uncomfortable in your pew and annoyed at how off key the soloist sang that last hymn.  

You see, a lot about worship depends on how you view worship; is it a time of fellowship with others and communion with the Lord or is it mostly a show like American Idol where you can vote on the performances of the pastor and choir?  Of course no one would admit they would be so shallow as to view worship as a show; yet listen to the complaints of most church attendees today and you will hear comments such as; “the pastor’s preaching is not dynamic enough”, “too long”, “too scholarly”, “not scholarly enough”, “music is too ancient and slow”; “music is too contemporary and fast”; “too male dominated and sexist”; “too liberal and overrun with feminist theology”; “too big”; “too small”; “not enough young people”; “not enough older people”; and on and on and on it goes!  

What do these comments say to you?  Does any of it have anything to do worshipping God?  Or does it all have to do with our own hang-ups and preferences? Our pride?  The answer of course is pride, and it is because of the problem of pride that churches are now bending backwards to give us all that we desire in our hour of “worship” on Sunday. But do all the bells and whistles help us in anyway to connect with God?  Do such extras aid us or distract us in our worship?  Well, that depends on whether you are the one elevated on the throne or God is. Such is the sin of human pride.  Pride demands its own way and has little tolerance for any other way; humility on the other hand always seeks to exalt others ahead of themselves. Pride is divisive and petty; humility is patient and quick to overlook faults. Pride is all about me; humility is all about others. Pride is powerful in its encroaching nature; humility is more powerful in its quiet submission of influence.  Does this all sound familiar, if so, turn to I Corinthians 13:1-13, it details all the qualities of true Christian love; not self-love, but of love for others, which is a sure fire way to cure anyone of the infection of pride.

I once read about a church that conducted different services each week; I believe one service was traditional, one contemporary and one was done in a foreign language that was prevalent in that city.  The key difference in this church’s services compared with other churches is that only one of the services is offered each week, not all three at various times, so that everyone in the church was expected to attend, not pick and choose on the menu which service suited them. It meant that everyone had to get out of their comfort zones and attend the other types of services and to be blessed by it.  And guess what happened … they were blessed!  In fact the church grew tremendously because of this unique effort.  Many new attendees who came to this church admitted that they had all but given up on the traditional church but once they experienced the strong inter-connectedness of the people, they knew they had found an authenticity and move of the spirit they had not experienced before.  This church discovered either purposely or by accident that there isn’t one “right way” to have worship.

So is it still ok to continue conducting our worship services the way they have been for years and years?  Yes, absolutely, continue with any of the traditions of worship you wish to; the lighting of candles, your music of choice, the unique preaching style of your pastor, all of it is still good in God’s eyes as long as we all remember the two vital things required from God in our worship.

First, we are to worship the Lord in Spirit and secondly, we are to worship in Truth (John 4:23).  When we worship God in Spirit we are allowing the fullness of God; the triune Godhead that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By inviting the fullness of God into each of our hearts, there is no room for the rest of us. During worship it is only the Lord that is focused on and praised. When we worship God in Truth we are acknowledging the wisdom and guidance that is expressed in the Word. When we read, study and contemplate God’s Word as truth we are also experiencing the triune God in Spirit, so that both our minds and hearts are touched simultaneously.  The manner in which this is all expressed is what worship looks like externally, and since all of us are unique children of God, the end result will always look different. 

So while it may still be ok to continue with your worship traditions; it is also important to be open to changing those traditions, or perhaps adding on to those traditions with other expressions. Remember the church is God’s house, not ours and we must be willing to yield to the Spirit’s direction on all matters.  Just as you wouldn’t scold a host for inviting everyone to a backyard barbecue when you think it more appropriate to have a formal sit down dinner; so too we should not scold those around us who might have other suggestions on how to express our love of the Lord in worship.  

The church worship service has a big problem in that it can get very old very quickly.  The sheer repetition of the order of function can seem more rote and drill than a military line formation.  The refusal to ever digress from the usual practices can bore the people who attend or send away others who never felt their “difference in expression” was accepted.  So be bold like that church I mentioned earlier; have the courage to not only experiment, but to challenge the body of believers out of their complacency and spiritual slumber.  Growing pains and bruised egos may be present for a time, but eventually, after all the saints have been thoroughly broken, a new day of true worship may begin.  And like a mother who has labored in great agony looks upon her beautiful child; the pain experienced not so long ago is soon forgotten; demonstrating to us, at least in this particular correlation of worship and new birth, that the end does justify the means.

Colleen King is Clerk of City View Quaker Church. She has lived in Asheville with her husband and three sons for the past three years. She has also resided in the states of Texas, Georgia, and Massachusetts, where she spent most of her years growing up. Her interests vary and include cooking, writing, movies, music and studying the social sciences: psychology, sociology and theology. She especially enjoys chocolate, spicy cuisine, Jimmy Stewart movies and collecting lots of useless trivia.

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