"What to Expect" Acts 6: 1-; Deuteronomy 10: 12-22

this is another sermon (like last week's) that I've been thinking about for some time. I find it hard to stay focused in a sermon that has been brewing for a long time.  So much time lends itself to too many ideas!

This might be a good time to give a shout out to Karl in Salt Lake City and Christie in Seattle, with whom I worshiped at two of the places mentioned in the sermon.  Not only were they both gracious hosts, but their willingness to talk about their church experiences helped me as I reflected on being in worship at the churches they now attend.  

The unanswered question in the sermon is what happens next for people who arrive for worship desperately seeking answers when they find answers.  Does that satisfy just in the moment?  How do we as a church help them grow into discipleship? 

It struck me that we have lost a sense of awe and reverence in our world today -- not just in the church context, but in most areas of life.  Maybe the sense that we can figure anything out takes some of the mystery and awe out of life; maybe we settle for what gratification we can find and never look beyond it; or maybe we so want God to be accessible to people that we de-emphasize the awesome nature of God.  For example, I want kids growing up in the church to view the sanctuary as a safe, welcoming place where they want to go to  worship God.  In creating that environment, however, I think I have not communicated the awe and reverence  that God deserves.

“What to Expect” Sept. 25, 2011; Acts 6: 1-7; Deuteronomy 10: 12-22; FPC, Troy; clergy Renewal series

Introduction: As I prepared for my during my Clergy Renewal time, I looked forward to the opportunities I would have to worship in different congregations and other settings. And, in fact, I worshiped on average at least once a week, although not every Sunday.

I thought I would be like a sponge – soaking up different styles of worship and sermons, gaining insights into how churches worshiped that would be helpful to me as a worship leader.

I discovered I was not much of a sponge; that when I left the each worship experience I had this feeling of met or unmet expectations. Instead of a sponge, I enter worship with expectations, and left with those met or unmet in varying degrees.

I began to ponder what expectations people bring to worship.

Why are you here this morning? What do you expect to happen that will make it worth having been here?

I have always found this passage in Acts to be a fascinating one. It takes place early in the development of the church. The followers of Christ are running around living out what it means to follow the resurrected Christ and the Hellenists challenge what they are doing.

The Hellenists, the Greeks, the outsiders, the ones who do not follow Christ critique the Christians and ask if they are actually doing what the followers of Christ should do. Turns out the Hellenists have expectations of Christians.

And these early followers of Christ do not deny the unmet expectations or dismiss them or argue against them. Instead, they recognize the truth of those expectations and make changes to meet them.

Move 1: Reflect for a moment about how the church can meet the expectations of those who arrive for worship.

a. People arrive seeking to discover the truth.

1. Nevada Barr, Seeking Enlightenment Hat by Hat (190-191): “I didn’t come to the Episcopal Church because I believed in the unbroken lineage of bishops or because I believed in the the god to whom they were said to have dedicated themselves. I chose the Episcopal church over a temple, mosque, or churches inhabited by Presbyterians, Catholics, or Baptists because it was close to my apartment and, the evening the whim came upon me to turn to God, the front doors were unlocked. I didn’t come to worship. I came because I was lonely, frightened and desperately unhappy.”
2. Gather to worship God as people who need God.
   b. Our worship needs to witness to the gospel.

1. Witness swears to tell the truth.
2. We gather to tell the truth.
3. To declare good news.
4. To announce to the world God's saving love that we discover in Jesus Christ.
5. To proclaim that by the power of the Holy Spirit god sends us into the world.
   c. Clergy renewal examples of discovering the truth.
   1. Lutheran Church in Salt Lake City; attended with a friend of mine from college; he is a lifelong Presbyterian and his wife has been a Presbyterian for many years after growing up Catholic; they have both been elders in the Presbyterian church, but too much internal conflict in their Presbyterian Church has led them to become Lutherans; or at least Presbyterian who are members of a Lutheran church!
   When I told my friend I wanted to go to the church he attends, he noted it would be kind of different. “Different?” I asked? “Well, they pray.” “We pray, too.” “Not like they do.”
   loose service; lots of coming and going; free flow of people coming in and out of the service (I even left and came back at one point!);
   We were there for confirmation Sunday, so things were a little bit different. When it came time to pray, they invited the confirmands down, and then they invited people to come down and lay on hands and pray for the confirmands; and since they normally offer that for anyone who needs pray, the minister invited people in need of prayer to go to the back of the sanctuary so others could lay on hands and pray for them.
   They prayed. Some out loud; some silently; some people stayed for the whole time; others went down and back; it went on for a chaotic 10-12 minutes you got to pray; left there believing that God was in their midst
   the service really did not work for me; I'm not sure I'd join there if I lived there.
   But anyone who left that worship that morning had to believe the truth that God was alive in their midst and answering prayer.
   2. Culpeper Presbyterian Church in VA. Formal. Liturgy a bit different. Instead of the minister preaching, people were sharing about the just completed mission trip. You know what it's like to show up expecting normal worship and something else is happening;
   I wasn't that interested in hearing stories instead of the sermon I wanted to hear, but then they told the stories. Stories that revealed how God had been at work in the lives of the people they served and in the lives of those who went on the mission trip. A tear or two was shed.
   The truth had been told – God is alive and at work.
   Every church develops its own identity in its worship. What do we people discover about God when they worship with us?
   Move 2: Role of members

a. McDonald's drive through; apparently during the morning rush they put a person in the drive through to take your order, instead of ordering at the big menu with the speaker. I find it hard to believe that it's faster talking to a person than a speaker, but I trust that McDonalds knows about efficiency.

I probably didn't help speed things up that morning because my curiosity overwhelmed me. “Why are you taking orders in person?” “Because it's faster during the rush time to do it this way.” “Really?” “Yep.” “how do people know what to order since they can't see the menu.” “Most people who come here know what they want. If they don't, I'm here to help them.”

1. some people are self-sufficient as they arrive for worship; they know why they are here; they know where to find what they need
2. they can find it for themselves.
   b. Others need help, and we are here to help them.
   1. Not a clear distinction between visitors and members on this issue.
   2. some of us who frequent these pews every week need help sometimes to hear the gospel.
   3. Some of the people who visit with us need guidance.
   4. We need to have others pray for us; we need that smile; we need to shed a tear in the company of people who understand

b. Welcoming people

1. Bellevue, WA church – 2500 member Presbyterian church; 3 traditional services and 2 contemporary services each Sunday morning; Leslie and I were there early so we probably mingled with 800 or more people, all of whom basically ignored our presence;
   we still worshiped; still heard God's word proclaimed; still celebrated the Lord's Supper; but we did so outside of the community that gathered there.
2. We gather to worship together. A smile is the starter. Look someone in the eyes.
3. Real conversation. Brief, but authentic.. Show an openness to those who are with us. Help them discover that gospel.

Move 3: More than the mechanics of worship; we worship God

a. Being Disciples of Christ in a Dot.com World (89): “One eccentric practice of the church is worship. Worship is an ineffective use of time and resources. Worship does not exist simply so the community can gather together, nor does it exist to meet our emotional needs.”

1. Worship is a God thing.

1. “Worship” comes from the Old English words meaning “honor” or “worthiness” and “to create”(Reaching Out without Dumbing Down, Marva J. Dawn, 76).
2. Create honor for God.
3. Witness to the gospel that saves, but also the God who brings us salvation.
4. God alone is worthy of our worship.
5. Deuteronomy – reminder of what's important; obey commandments; serve others; worship.
6. At times in Exodus we could be led to believe that the primary reason God leads the Israelites out of slavery is so that they can worship God.
   Move 4: Worship is about God means that worship is Counter cultural.
   a. Worship connects us with the God who is always critiquing and challenging our worldly ways.

b. Corporate worship in a world that often pushes self, self, self.
1. Greet one another.
2. Pray for each other. Share our difficult challenges. Invite others to celebrate with you.
3. Pass the communion elements to one another – gift of Christ for me, but also for that other person down the pew. We are connected in Christ.
4. Be in community in a world that preaches worrying about one's self first.
c. Time
1. I know, we shoot for an hour. I confess that sometimes when we have a whole bunch of different elements added to worship and we still get done in an hour I pat myself on the back and consider it a real gift to my worship skills that we somehow met the time allotted to worship.
2. Do we limit our prayer concerns because time is running short – yeah, sometimes, do.
3. Laura Noftle, a long -tenured member who died last year. One day she asked me, “why do you rush?” “what?” “every time we have communion you start talking faster the minute you get behind the Lord's Table. I know you are worried about time, but I don't care. I want to experience communion with God.”
4. time does matter; not because time is money; not because every minute has to have a productive purpose; time matters because it is God's time.
5. Our worship reminds us of that.
6. It's hard to quantify reverence and awe.

Conclusion: It is reputed that Karl Barth once remarked that people came to the sanctuary on Sunday mornings with one question: “Is it true?”

It is true that God loves us; that God sent Jesus Christ to save us; that Christ was raised from the dead;

How does our worship answer that question.