A Welcome to Worship

       Some time in 1910, two women in Chicago were walking door to door to invite people to church.  This is a true story and really a good one.

      They met a man who said, “I’d like to come.  But I suffer from seizures and I’m afraid that I might have an episode if go out.”  This was before medication helped us gain control over this malady.  They assure him that they will be prepared.  “You will be seated in a chair toward the back.  If anything happens our ushers will quietly help you outside and give you assistance.   There will be no disruption and no embarrassment.”

       The following Sunday, the ushers direct the man to his seat.  When the congregation stood to sing his chair was accidentally pushed back.  So when he went to sit down he fell sprawling to the floor.   Believing the man was suffering a seizure; the well-prepared ushers stuffed a large hander kerchief in his mouth and carried him to the foyer.  As soon as they relaxed their grips he jumped up and ran out the door, leaving his coat behind.

       Now the incident was unfortunate but the good, dedicated ladies of the visitation team didn’t quit easily.  That afternoon they called to return the coat.  To their amazement they learned that that man hadn’t visited their church at all that morning.  The man who owned the coat never returned.

      That’s a semi-funny story.  It is also a story that causes us an “ouch.”  How many churches have made visitors feel almost as uncomfortable as the poor man in the story?

      A well-respected author on church life named Lyle Schaller asks us some penetrating questions in his book, Looking in the Mirror.  “Do visitors feel welcome and relaxed at your church?” he asks.  “Does someone stand at the door to welcome visitors with a smile?  Is parking available?  Are sensitive Christians directing parents with small children to the nursery or to the right Sunday school class?  Do people feel that the preacher is prepared and the service is well planned?  Do they sense a clear purpose and appropriate energy in the service?

       “What are a visitors first impressions?  His or her mind may be made up before the sermon.  Studies indicate that most visitors decide within fifteen minutes after entering the building whether or not they will return.  Schaller asks, “How does your church encourage visitors to return?”   

       You might be asking at this point what these questions have to do with our scripture passages.   Colossians 4:5 is about evangelism and outreach.  1 Corinthians 14 doesn’t deal with things like bulletins, nurseries and parking lots.  It deals with dramatic stuff like prophecy and speaking in tongues.

       Well yes, it does deal with dramatic stuff.  But the underlying point of what Paul writes doesn’t deal with tongues or prophecy but worship.  It deals with what our words and actions in worship communicate to those who are just exploring being a part of the church.

       Paul says that our words and actions need to communicate clearly and winsomely with visitors and non-believers as well as with those who are part of the family.  We need to be a visitor friendly church and, at the same time, communicate the Christian good news with power, delight and love.

       In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is talking about the abuse of the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues.  That’s a big, big issue in Corinth .  But Paul’s point in the passage I read is the impact of what happens in worship on those who are outside the community of faith but who are exploring the claims and promises of Jesus.  Paul asks:  “If therefore the whole church should assemble together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?  But if you speak the word, and unbelievers or uninstructed people enter, they will be convicted by all, they will be called to account by all, the secrets of their hearts are disclosed; and so they will fall on their faces and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.” 

       Paul tells us to keep an eye on how our worship impacts anyone who is in the position of an outsider.  That’s also the concern in Colossians 4:5 where we are told to conduct ourselves with wisdom toward outsiders. 

       Paul obviously expects a high degree of contact and interaction between those who are in the church and those who are not.  In Colossians, he uses a very vivid word from the marketplace or agora – the word exagorazomenoi – to tell us that we should completely purchase or buy out each and every opportunity God gives us to reach people for Him. 

       Paul also obviously expects that non-believers will be present in worship and that these people will come to faith in Jesus Christ. Both expectations present a challenge to our church.  Are non-believers welcomed?   Do they meet the Lord?

       Paul uses a rather cumbersome phrase in 1 Corinthians 14:16 to describe part of the worshipping congregation.  He writes of those who are in worship who “fill the place of the idiots.”  That’s the Greek word there – idiotes.  But the word doesn’t mean someone stupid.  It means someone who is uninstructed or ungifted in understanding Christian truth.  They may be brilliant Phds, rocket scientists, engineers, teachers, doctors, lawyers or Indian chiefs.  But they are newbies to the gospel. 

       These people are the inquirers – people who have not committed themselves to Christian faith but who are interested.  They have ceased to be simply outsiders.  But they are not yet Christians. This verse indicates that these people have their proper place in the Christian assembly.  Any church with an evangelistic cutting-edge into the local community has these people in public worship.  They are not yet believers.  But they are being called by Jesus Christ.  They may be on the edge of commitment.  And Paul says that the impact of what we do in worship both on outsiders and almost believers is very important.

       Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:23:  “If therefore the whole church should assemble together and all speak in tongues, and idiotes -- the uninstructed enter, will they not say that you are mad?”

       The Greek words “you are mad” do not mean “fit for an asylum” but under the influence of some spiritual force like those active in demonic cults. If worship is a jumble of confusion, the very people the Corinthians are seeking to win become convinced that Christianity is just another mumbo jumbo mystery society into which they need to be properly initiated if they want to belong.  They have not been initiated into the secret vocabulary and practices so they check out.

       Do visitors find things that are equally turn-offs in our church?  They may not say, “You are mad.”  But could they say, “You are boring?”  Or do we have an inner-circle jargon or secret code of conduct which people need to decipher in order to really belong.  If these things exist, we need to remove them.

       In 1 Corinthians 14:40 Paul writes, “Let all things be done properly and in an orderly way.”

       Presbyterians love that verse.  We believe that God works as well in the committee as in the charismatic leader pointing the way.  We believe that God inspires in the study as well as in the pulpit.

       Actually, however, we have mistranslated that verse.  The word translated “decently” or “properly” is euschema.  It means “well-formed” or “made right.”   True worship is not only orderly but attractive.  It should flow.  It should have freedom.  It should appeal to onlookers.  It should allow each of you to participate with a sense of involvement and gladness.   And through your participation and your feedback, you have an important role in helping us worship better than we do now.

       Feedback is a key.  So, this morning, we want to give you the opportunity for feedback of our worship and a number of areas of church life.  We have deliberately left time in this service to do this. I want to participate with you in giving the gift of insight.  

       Five years ago, two thousand congregations of various denominations took part in the U.S. Congregational Life Survey. 700 of these were in the Presbyterian Church.  The purpose of this survey was to take a "snapshot" of the church at the beginning of a new millennium. The hope was that the survey will help congregations measure their ministries against denominational, national and international benchmarks and help guide leaders and planners. That was in 2001. 

       A year later, we came into the picture.  In our own quiet way, we are identified as among the faster growing congregations in the Presbyterian Church. So the national church asked us, in 2002, to take the same survey that was conducted in 2001.  They wanted to compare the responses of people in growing congregations like ours to the profiles of other churches. They believe that there is a reason some congregations are healthy and growing. The goal of our participation is to figure out what is happening in this church that might be successfully transplanted elsewhere.

      Today, four years later, we want to do this again, We have modified the 2001 survey – deleted some questions and have added a few questions of our own specifically on the experience we share in worship. 

       This isn’t just for members. It is for everyone fifteen and over — even for people who are here for the first time ever this morning and have already made up their minds that they’re never coming back again. The church needs to know why.  The results are confidential. No one will know how you respond. But the overall picture will help our church, understand ourselves, evaluate our ministries and relate to our community in a more productive way.  The resulting snap shot of our congregation will be fully shared with all of you.

       So, as we prepare to give this gift of insight for better ministry, let us pray.