Protecting Sleeping Congregations
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 2:15PM Twenty-five years ago, the need was "urgent."
In an alarming number of our churches, it was even "desperate," at least according to one RCA leader.
"In many of our congregations," he declared, "the Spirit seems at best to be a peripheral presence.
"Pastors and people labor, and I mean labor, to maintain the forms of life. But the spirit of life is absent. Forms of worship are observed, necessary duties are performed, but they are dull and labored and lifeless...."
The Sleeping Congregation, by William Hogarth, 1736 - author's collection
This outspoken RCA leader called for "the renewing power and presence of the Spirit."
"We should all open our lives to the working of the Holy Spirit" he urged, and we should
"use no defense, theological or otherwise, to protect ourselves against the working of the Holy Spirit."
Did you catch that?
This guy had the audacity to suggest that some of us might actually be trying to protect ourselves and our churches from the "working of the Holy Spirit."
Protect ourselves... not from the world... not from the flesh... not from the devil.
From the HOLY SPIRIT!
I don't know if 2 Timothy 3:5 (having a form of godliness but denying its power) had just come up in the lectionary, or what. Maybe this fellow had simply visited a few of the wrong churches on the wrong Sundays.
Maybe he was a clueless charismatic with authority issues. Maybe he didn't really know, value or love the RCA. Who knows.
We have to wonder, though, if back in 1983 there might have been a pinch of truth in what he preached.
And if there was any truth in it then, might his challenge apply in any way to any of our churches today?
Is it possible that some of us have set up our Sunday liturgies, our lifestyles --even our theologies-- in ways that defend and protect us against anything startling that the Holy Spirit might want to do?
Sure it's possible. That's human nature. We naturally resist painful disruptions in routine.
My wife and I set up a family budget. We want to be responsible; we want to pay down some debt. We want a better future. But when it comes to the actual patterns of our daily lives, change is brutal.
Who wants to give up any of the familiar patterns and predictable comforts that we've come to enjoy? We need the Starbucks, we need the get-aways. We need the pleasant stuff on the endless list. Any changes in the way we live would really stress us out.
Besides, we're exhausted. It's Monday morning all week, and we just want to shut off the alarm, roll over, and sneak another hour of sleep.
Some congregations are probably feeling the same way.
A few months ago our General Synod decided to appoint a task force to "explore the nature of a major worship initiative in the RCA."
Cool. A task force and a major worship initiative sound pretty important.
I wonder, though, what sort of input the above quoted preacher might have if he was still around, if he was allowed to participate as a member of this newly forming task force. I wonder if he would still be raising any of those same concerns from 25 years ago.
I'm sure the task force will talk about the presence and role of the Holy Spirit in RCA church services.
But I wonder how long the task force will be scratching their heads trying to solve the problem of where to put the correct measure of this "Holy Spirit stuff" in the liturgy.
And I wonder if anyone on the team will have the nerve to declare:
"Our claim to being Reformed is not authenticated, it is betrayed by preserving the tradition untranslated."
I imagine that most or all of our RCA churches take the Holy Spirit seriously, and that we all want to believe that we have sufficient times and places within our liturgies for the Holy Spirit to do...
... ANYTHING ... that is truly of God.
I'm not going to say otherwise.
But at the risk of redundancy:
"In many of our congregations, the Spirit seems at best to be a peripheral presence. Pastors and people labor, and I mean labor, to maintain the forms of life. But the spirit of life is absent."
Such are the mysteries of the Kingdom.
-- Dave Cheadle
pg 266 "Our need for the renewing power and presence of the Spirit of Jesus Christ is urgent. In many places it is desperate. In many of our congregations, the Spirit seems at best to be a peripheral presence...."
NOTE: All of the above quotes come from Arie R. Brouwer, RCA General Secretary.
Occasion: Brouwer's final sermon after six years as General Secretary, General Synod, Pella, IA, 1983
(Published Source: Ecumenical Testimony - The Historical Series of the RCA, 1991- #44, "The Lordship of Christ in the Reformed Church in America")
The Sleeping Congregation, by William Hogarth, 1736 - author's collection
Galatians 4:11 is the text above the woman's head in the above engraving:
"I am worried about you! Can it be that all my work for you has been for nothing?"
Meanwhile, the preacher comforts his snoring flock with the words of Matt. 11:28
"Come to me all of you who are tired... and I will give you rest."
Reader Comments (4)
Hi Dave--
I think you need to re-read Arie Brouwer's quote. If I'm correct, he is/was not saying we should protect ourselves from the Holy Spirit. Rather, we should use no defense--theological or otherwise--to protect ourselves from the work of the Spirit. In other words, let us not use theological debates and equivocations to quench the Spirit. My guess, given the time frame for Brouwer's remark, he was subtly indicating some curiosity and openess to back-then "new," charistmatic renewal. I never thought as Arie as "charismatic" but certainly daring and iconoclastic, so maybe...
As you know, I share your sympathies and interests in the work of the Spirit, but I wonder if your comments don't display an understanding of the Spirit where the work and movement of the Spirit in worship is always discernable in certain actions--high energy, giddy joy, overwhelming emotion. Then too often worship becomes an effort to manufacture these outcomes, with or without the Spirit. I guess I trust that if we read scripture, if we celebrate the sacrament, if we sing God's praise, if we pray--then undoubtedly the Spirit is very present and activite. Sometimes there is energy, joy, emotion. But always there is the Spirit.
Hi Steve, THANKS for your (as always) thoughtful response. You are most certainly right about your understanding of Arie Brouwer's quote(s). I was trying (unsuccessfully) to be ironic in the way I handled his comments. In truth, I agree w/ him, and with YOUR insights on the subject of worship.
Brouwer was outspoken in his deep concern over those of us who structure things to quench the flow, let alone those of us who outright fear and even resist experiencing the presence of the Spirit.
He was also very concerned (as he mentions in a quote for next time) about folks who pump services up and pass off nonsense as if it were proof of God's presence.
I share Brouwer's (and your) concern. In fact, silliness and manufactured "enthusiasms" in worship are definitely topics for a future blog.
Meanwhile, I'll confess that my wife and I are huge fans of silent and contemplative worship as found in certain sorts of "Taizé" services. Also, I'm a big fan of both quiet mountain retreats and huge worship concerts. Personally, I like all kinds of worship, and I experience intimacy with God in a variety of ways. But I do not expect everyone to share my taste, and I certainly value the way others experience intimacy with God.
My goal in this particular blog was to challenge churches and those of us who are sliding in the direction of self-confessed empty worship experiences to pause and consider what we are doing... to wonder if there might more that could happen as we worship than simply to get through the liturgy and go home with our "duty" done for another week. Given the decline in attendance at so many RCA churches, this seems a worthy issue to raise.
It seems that if people were having authentic encounters with God in our Sunday services, they would want to come on Sunday, and they would want to bring their friends. Declines in Sunday attendance can be attributed to many factors, but lack of encounters with God should not be on the list or reason why people stay home... but I fear that it may in some cases.
While it is true that the Spirit speaks in both fire and whispers, it is also true that the prophetic dimension of God's discourse is often experienced as startling.
What a shame if our Sunday services are structured to preclude even the possibility of any "startling" encounters with God.
I close by quoting myself:
"Is it possible that some of us have set up our Sunday liturgies, our lifestyles --even our theologies-- in ways that defend and protect us against anything startling that the Holy Spirit might want to do?
Sure it's possible." --- Dave
Hi Dave: I bet there's tons of people out there that would just love to respond to your blog on the Holy Spirit. He is Christ's gift to us.
I wonder if the Sleeping Congregation picture is keeping them away?
See if the " Blog Master" can delete the picture, and I'm sure many more people (especially the gals) will give their take on your subject.
KD
Dave
From my personal experience i am of the opinion that there are many throughout the ranks of the church who are not "born again". For richer and for poorer i have been in the RCA all my life but i was not "born again" until my late 40s - i was as Nicodemus, i was not "born of water and the Spirit" (John 3:5).
Perhaps there is little Spirit to quench if many within the church are simply members and not "born again", and then the work of the church and worship becomes "labor."
Blessings ><>