Worship & the Presence of God (3): Did God Show Up?
Was God there? Did He “show up”? And if He did actually “show up”, how do we know that? What did we see, feel, or sense that helped us arrive at our conclusion?
So often such questions form the backbone of our reflective narrative of worship gatherings.
We all probably have our favorite indicators we look for, lenses we peer through, senses we engage with as we rightly try to understand the journey in worship our Churches experience.
Sometimes we see some very clear physical indications of the Spirit’s activity. People laugh, or cry, or fall down, or sing louder. Sometimes we have an emotional response or feeling. Sometimes it is just a sense in our spirit that something important has happened.
I remember being in a gathering once where we were told that the Spirit was moving over the balcony and down the aisles. We then sang the song “the river is here” and were told that if we wanted to get “into the river” we should go to the left hand side of the stage because that’s where the river had apparently landed that evening.
Whether or not I would personally use such language, there is at least something helpful in it. We are a people who, as John Wimber used to say, should be looking to see what the Spirit is doing and then join in. It is good, and right to look, and watch, and learn to recognise the movement of the Spirit. I want more wisdom, more insight in all of that. Yes please.
Yet I wonder if at times we are too prescriptive of what “God showing up” looks like?
In fact, maybe even what we have previously described as “God showing up” would be better described as something else altogether?
As readers of this blog will know, I am working through both the language and the theology of worship and the presence of God as I aim to become both theologically deeper and charismatically truer.
The reason that I am doing this is not to undermine valid and real experiences of worship and the presence of God, or in fact to show that everyone else is wrong and I am right, but to add my own theological reflection on those experiences, and try to sharpen up on my own theology and language to give me more confidence as I move forward in this whole journey of worship.
I now believe that it is helpful to talk about the presence of God being in the church as a result of the work of Christ (Hebrews 10:19–22). This means that the worship leader’s role is not to so much “usher in the presence of God” or “lead people into the presence of God” (as I used to say) but to help people become increasingly aware of His already-here-presence that has been already-won-for-us through the work of Christ, and to become increasingly surrendered to His already-here presence in our lives and in the life of the church.
This means that in our worship we are not fighting our way into a space where His presence is located, but gathering around a cross through which His presence was won. The same power that brought his presence to us through the cross lives in us (Romans 8:9–11). We are a not chasing His presence around the room in case we miss out, but living an increasingly surrendered life that takes His presence-with-us to the world.
This is the narrative anticipated in the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8:11), announced in the baptism of Jesus (John 1:32), birthed at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4), and lived out through the remainder of Acts onwards. It is the story of the Church. It is our story. God is here, His Spirit is moving and breathing, and we are following and walking with Him, increasingly surrendering ourselves to the life of the Spirit in us and with us.
Our words of praise then become the soundtrack of that surrendered life, spoken out and sung out and acted out amongst the people we share life with (Ephesians 5:18–21).
Yes, the Lord is here; His Spirit is with us; we lift up our hearts and give Him thanks (ASB, 1980). We open our eyes and look, and see, and find, and surrender and breath in and live out.
And as we increasingly surrender and breath in and live out, we are changed from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18–20). We are found in Him, and He is found in us. It’s a mystery that Paul speaks of between Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:32); a unification of the human and divine.
So we pray “Thy Kingdom come” not ‘Thy presence come” (Matthew 6:10) because we have already got as much of His presence available as we can handle. The only thing that is unclear is whether He has not got the level of surrender from us that He would like. And it is our surrender that ultimately brings about His reign, and His reign IS His kingdom.
And then Charismatic Cry of the bride ‘Come Holy Spirit’[1] is one that not so much moves us from absence to presence through praise, but one that moves us from independence to dependence through surrender, one that at the same time empties ourselves of ourselves, and receives the fullness of all that the Spirit is and has for us, so that He may become more, and we may become less (John 3:30).
All of that is a rather longwinded way of coming back to the original questions that we often ask ourselves of our gathered worship times.
Was God there?
Did he “show up”?
For me asking the question “did God show up in worship today?” is probably the wrong question to ask. It’s like asking the question “was the sun in the sky this morning?”
Rather, than asking the question “is God here?” when we gather, the question we should be asking is “what is God doing and calling us to” as we gather.
We don’t need to ask whether the sun has appeared in the sky that morning. We rather ask “what is the sun shining it’s light on today?”
What is it that we need to surrender to today? What is it that we need to empty ourselves of in order to be filled afresh again.
For some, yes, that surrender, that uniting with Christ, may bring tears, or laughter, or falling down.
But for others it may be silent waiting, quiet reflection or whispered prayers.
God’s Spirit working in many, many different ways.
Yet still a surrender. Still a ‘Kingdom Come’.
God’s Spirit is able to move and act and reveal and change people in multiple ways all at the same time because for each person, the act of surrender can mean very different things. This is the wonder and mystery of our gathered worship.
For some, the mere fact that they have managed to get to church that morning is a costly act. For others the costly act is a dance or a shout or a cry. For some there will be a wonderful emotional feeling. For others the absence of emotion will give the impression that God’s presence is far off, which is when our gathered praise reminds us that He isn’t.
So maybe our role as worship leaders is not so much to enforce our own view of what ‘God’s coming’ in worship looks like, but to help every person in the room become more aware that God is with them, there for them, in all his fullness and wonder and strength and power and tenderness and beauty, regardless of their circumstances.
This is my surrender, this is my dependence this is my devotion, poured out for you. All I am in worship, all my adoration all of my devotion, given to you.
Come take me over, take all my pride. Tear down the empires, I’ve built up inside. Come build your Kingdom, here in my heart again.
With hands held high, this is my surrender. All my life, I give it all to you You saved my life. So here I am surrendered, Jesus I surrender
Chris Sayburn & Jock James
Copyright © 2014 LIFE Worship & Integrity Worship Music/Adm. worldwide by CapitolCMGPublishing.com excl. UK, adm. by Integritymusic.com, a division of David C Cook songs@integritymusic.com & Thankyou Music/Adm. worldwide by CapitolCMGPublishing.com excl. UK & Europe, adm. by Integritymusic.com, a division of David C Cook songs@integritymusic.com Used by permission
[1] I have had many people describe this as the most ancient prayer of the church. I have not managed to find evidence of that, but am open to thoughts and explanations.
