Chickens,
Bach or Power Point, whichever, Thank you God for Worship
The Reverend Max Lynn,
Pastor
St. John’s Presbyterian Church
2727 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705
Scripture
Readings: Psalm 150 Romans 8:28-39
While I was in the Peace Corps in Guatemala, I wasn’t much
of a churchgoer, but I did drop in for worship one Sunday with one of the
Kekchi villages I was working with. I
was surprised at how happy and surprised they were to see me. The church looked like any of the other huts
from the outside. The inside had rough,
plank benches cut by chainsaw from hardwood, a dirt floor, and a small
altar. No priest was present, nor had
there ever been, but the village lay leaders took us through a portion of a
mass. Songs were sung with the aid of
an out of tune marimba, while children, dogs and chickens wandered in and out
at will, making various noises. I
couldn’t help but laugh inside as I thought back to my incredibly decent and
orderly hometown church, Claremont Presbyterian. I didn’t understand but a few words of Kekchi. If I were to describe to you what an
appealing church would look and sound like, this is not the description I would
give. On the other hand, I knew the Sovereign God was pleased with our
worship. I had worked with these folks
for over a year trying to build a school and put in latrines and a pump for a well. Believe me, it was not easy-going work in
any sense of the word. I had learned
about their lives and struggles, their strengths and weaknesses, their joys and
their tragedies. They certainly learned of my strengths and limitations. For all our differences, we accomplished
things together, and there we were, worlds apart in some ways, yet worshipping
our common Creator. I love that about
worship: There is one common denominator
that unites us all - God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
A couple of years ago I went to Chicago to visit Willow
Creek, one of the largest Churches in America.
They have twenty thousand for worship on Sunday, and had to expand their
worship facility from seating for 3,000 to seating for 7,000. They are a non-denominational congregation
whose leading pastors, besides being great speakers, are well versed in
Reformed Theology. I was actually a
little surprised that they appeared to be relatively sane and decent pastors.
These were not Pat Robertson or Jim or Tammy Faye. The sanctuary had three full size movie screens across the stage,
which broadcast network quality images for the congregation to view. They brought out their Gen X band to help us
with worship. The lead singer, with sneakers,
blue jeans and a white T-shirt looked and sounded like a young Bruce
Springsteen. The musicians were
excellent, like the preachers and the MTV style graphics. The childcare
facility was state of the art, with fun inviting rooms, excellent instructions
and information for parents, and vibrating beepers for parents to carry into
worship.
A big part of me didn’t want to like
these folks, didn’t want to enjoy the worship.
My ego couldn’t help but want to find something wrong with their
success. I was looking for something
other than their faith, intelligence, good looks, charisma and talent to
attribute their popularity and growth.
I would say that many of these new
unaffiliated mega churches have lost the focus of worship. Too many people come to church to worship
the preacher or musicians. And, I can’t
help but feel a little like Dorothy, the Lion, Tin Man and Scare Crow walking
into see the Wizard of Oz. It is such a
production, a performance, and we suspect that the superstars may hide their true
selves behind a curtain.
Certainly, part of the success comes
from giving people what they want to hear in the way they want to hear it. With families and certainty crumbling in our
postmodern world, these new and growing churches are in a sense, a cultural
counterinsurgency. They offer
scripture, as they interpret it, as timeless truth. God is the rock we cling to in the storm. With or without postmodernism, people often
feel as if they were living in a storm. Certainly the Kekchi in Las Brisas resonate
with the image of God as rock,
On the other hand, these mega church
folks are on the cutting edge of American Capitalist culture. American culture is all about big, big
things and big choices. I admit I shop
at Costco, and if I really want to find a book right now, I am more likely to
find it at a big bookstore than a small one.
And while those big stores spend more to look appealing, the books are
cheaper. Those businesses that are
flexible and adaptable to market change are more likely to meet a larger
need. And if you cater to the average
majority, you are likely to attract more people and turn off fewer. Chevy’s Mexican Food is a good example: Locate in a middle-class neighborhood; make
sure the restaurant is festive but Puritan clean; hire young, cute, mainstream
waiters and waitresses; serve mild salsa, and raise the price. The one who chooses not to come because he
prefers authentic Mexican food will be replaced by two others who prefer the
mildly similar, and another who wants to go to whatever is easy and
popular. And here is the kicker, the
one who prefers the authentic will come too, inevitably, being out voted by the
other three in the car. This big church,
Gospel lite phenomenon is more of what Alexis de Tocqueville prophesied about
democratic culture over a hundred years ago.
Appeal to the masses directs quality toward profit, not the essence of
the art.
Thus mega churches have big choices, a
big menu with nothing too hot or spicy, a kinder, gentler Jesus, Gospel lite, a
convenient truth. God is affirming of
American big and flashy in these churches; visitors are consuming customers,
shoppers who stop by on their way to the mall.
Heck, there are many such churches actually in the mall.
The spicy Jesus, born in a hut and anointed
to bring good news to the poor and liberation to the oppressed is cooled down
to a Gospel according to Disney. Shiny
happy people are blessed with the lives they already have, and they feel God is
with them in their defense of the status quo.
Yes, I wanted to believe that Willow Creek is too big and
for the wrong reasons. Still even if you grow for the right reasons, it is hard
to know when or how to put the breaks on such phenomenal growth without going
back down the other direction. Assuming
we can and want to continue to grow, what is a large enough congregation for
St. Johns? 200? 400? We were 1,200
members back in the late fifties. Would
we want to stop growth before we reached previous numbers? What is too much of a good thing? Maybe Bruce Springsteen and three movie
screens is over the top, too much flash, too much show for worship. But this
doesn't make it easier to answer the questions. When is music appropriate for
worship and what is the difference between giving God your best and a performance?
I think we
know, but the line is not always so clear. Back in June the Bennets treated us
to a night at the symphony to hear Verdi’s supremely dramatic and passionate
Requiem Mass. After first being written
and performed, many shared Brahms' opinion
that -"only a genius could have written such a work". There were,
however, those who were less enthusiastic.
Hans von Bulow, the great conductor, called it: "An opera in
ecclesiastical robes." Apparently,
He did not think it was proper to mix worship music with the popular culture’s
music. And, of course, it would be hard
to find a bigger, more elaborate production.
But if we had the means to employ an orchestra and massive choir, or if
we had the talent, who would object to such powerful praise and worship of our
Creator?
Some may say that such pomp and
circumstance is way beyond what Jesus would have expected, especially given the
fact that, for better and worse, fine art is a product of the discriminating
and exclusive Aristocracy. And for the price of one television camera multiple
Kekchi families could have food and health care for a year. But surely art has value, especially when it
is acknowledged as a gift from God. We
remember the offering of the woman who anointed Jesus feet. When Judas objected, Jesus said, "the
poor you will always have with you."
I always struggled with this passage, until, after completion of a
beautiful new well, the Kekchi bought a calf and had a very big barbeque
bash. Sometimes you need to just
express and celebrate the gifts within and before you. Nevertheless, excess and
ostentation remains a dangerous temptation the church must always beware.
The point is, mega churches are not
alone in their capitulation to culture, and we are never alone in our worship of
God. . The conservatives constantly
criticize us as being too soft on culture.
It is like we are in an infantile shouting match with each other: “You are capitulating to culture!” “No, you are.” “No, you are.” “No, you
are infinity!”
We all are. The question is not whether or not to live in and give in to
culture, but when and where and why?
Where and how would God have us adapt and fit into culture, and where
would God have us resist or even fight for change? Certainly there is much we can learn from the mega churches. There is much they are doing right. In particular, despite the flash, there is a
desire for authentic faith and relationship with a living God, which goes
beyond dogma and theology to the heart. I have to admit, despite my ego, I
enjoyed worship with them.
Bonhoffer in Nazi Germany, and the
Civil Rights Movement were wake up calls to the North American Church,
reminding us that grace is not cheap.
Jesus is not mild. Sitting on the fence for fear of turning people off
if we choose the side of justice is not an authentic relationship with
God. And if Hitler taught us anything,
it is that certainty and self-righteousness is the work of the Devil, even and
especially when using faith and God.
Still, I prefer Integrity in someone I disagree with over apathetic or
passive acquiescence. There are times when we have to be certain enough to take
a stand. That is the dilemma of life
and faith. We live with that dilemma
only by grace.
Thankfully, while God’s grace is not
cheap, it is abundant. Whether
churches, or individuals within churches, we all come with our own history, our
own choices, our own sins, our own capitulations to certain cultural, class and
family forms. History will decide what
forms will win the day; God will judge our hearts beneath the form. Certainly, with grace, our chances are
looking good... with God.
I am grateful for the opportunity to
spend the last two years leading worship with David Hunsberger, and am certain
God smiles upon the dedication he brought to his twenty-two years of worship
leadership here at St. John’s. I have
appreciated his knowledge of worship liturgy, his passion for music and the
organ, and especially, his correct understanding of the direction of worship
music and human leadership: that is,
toward God. While we may find ourselves
in different places, at times our offering in different forms, this we hold in
common: the worship of our Creator God, the God of Justice, the God of
Grace. Nothing can separate us from the
love of God.
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise
him in his mighty heavens; praise him for his acts of power; praise her for her
surpassing greatness. Praise her with
the sounding of the trumpet; praise her with the harp and lyre; praise her with
tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flute; praise him with the
clash of cymbals; praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.