 It was surprising, really, because I'd been trained to believe that it couldn't happen. I attended an evangelical Catholic church on the west coast of Canada one evening many years ago, and I was stirred by the presence of God in that place. It was crammed with young worshippers, but there was a holy hush that filled the room. As they entered the sanctuary, participants would quietly approach the altar, kneel down, and pray. Some of them spent 10 minutes or more doing business with God before they found a seat. It was a Sunday evening and they were there to worship! It left an unforgettable impression on my soul.
I'm tired of the barrenness of my heart, aren't you? I'm tired of going to church and leaving untouched. Oh, I know that there are a few people in my congregation who encounter God on Sunday mornings, but it's like they've had a private rendezvous with God that the rest of us haven't shared. Why don't more of us feel the presence of God in our midst? It's as though our motto is "Come as you are and leave as you came." We don't really expect to meet God in His holy place of worship.
I've been intrigued today by a passage in 2 Chronicles 5. Let me share it with you:
And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions), and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets-- indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying:
"For He is good, for His mercy endures forever," that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God. (2 Chron 5:11-14)
It's that last part that my heart is really longing for: the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud so that the priests could not continue ministering....for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
This is THE MANIFEST PRESENCE OF GOD in Israel's midst. So powerful, so overwhelming, that the people would have fallen to the ground, and the priests were unable to do anything anymore. A holy hush fell over the room!
I used to experience that to some degree when I attended an evening service at a Pentecostal church on the west coast. 1500 young people gathered every Sunday evening, expecting to meet with God in a powerful way. And God usually showed up. He was magnified in their praises, and He was exalted in the preaching. The aisles were usually filled with weeping worshippers, getting their hearts right with God again. Worship lingered on well past the planned hour and a half. And it was hard to leave that place untouched or unmoved by God.
God says, "Draw near to Me, and I will draw near to you." (James 4:8) I expect that the reason so many churches are lifeless and filled with apathy, is that we no longer expect to meet with God when we go to worship; there's no anticipation that God will touch me deep inside.
Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman one day, who was eager to engage Him in a debate about the proper protocols of worship. But He said, "An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." (John 4:23)
There's the clue to God's Manifest Presence! He is looking for worshipers who come to Him in spirit and in truth. You see, if we come to worship God without expecting to actually meet Him there, we aren't practicing "the truth". Because, the truth is that true worshipers expect to encounter God! And if we come to worship God without any intention of examining our hearts before Him, we are not practicing "the truth". Because the Bible says "if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) We shouldn't expect to see the Manifest Presence Of God at our church if many of us aren't willing to be honest with God about the barrenness of our souls.
THE MANIFEST PRESENCE OF GOD depends on at least these three things: humble hearts that recognise their poverty of spirit before God; a desire to be obedient to God; and joyful hearts that fill the room with genuine praises. "Draw near to Me, and I'll draw near to you", God says. He'll show up when we come to Him with an honest spirit that is walking in and seeking the truth. "The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,to all who call upon Him in truth." (Psalm 145:18)
And, oh how my heart longs for a sanctuary that is filled with the manifest presence of God!!!
O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. (Ps 63:1-5) Labels: worship |
