Fourth Presbyterian and it's pastor John Buchanan are known as one of the great churches and great preachers in America today. Since Buchanan will be retiring this month, I figured I needed to hear him in person while I had the chance, so I drove into Chicago, parked in the John Hancock garage and made my way across Michigan Avenue for the 11:00am service. They fill the place, probably 1500 people, for two services. I wasn't disappointed. Glorious sanctuary, incredible music, powerful singing of some of my favorite hymns and a meaningful sermon. When I walked back out onto the Magnificent Mile, the sidewalk was filled with shoppers and tourists and panhandlers, all making their way through the January chill from Bloomingdale's to Macy's and American Girl. Actually, those boys on the Abecrombie and Fitch bags looked pretty cold on Michigan Avenue in January! I remembered a quotation from John Henry Jowett, the British preacher who filled the pulpit at Fifth Presbyterian Church in New York in the early 20th century. (Where do the Presbyterians get these numbers for their churches?) I looked up the full quotation from Jowett:
"We leave our places of worship and no deep and inexpressible wonder sits on our faces. We can sing these lilting melodies, and when we get out into the streets our faces are one with the faces of those who have left the theaters and music halls. There is nothing about us to suggest that we've been looking at anything stupendous and overwhelming. Back in my boyhood I remember an old saint telling me that after some services he liked to make his way home alone by the quiet paths, so that the hush of the Almighty might remain on his awed and prostrated soul. This is the element we are missing."
So when I got back out on Michigan Avenue, I am not sure my face was much different than those around me. Maybe it's too much to expect that every time we leave worship we will know we have been "looking at something stupendous and overwhelming", but maybe once in awhile the power of the music, the beauty of the space and the sharing of the Word will all conspire to touch us somewhere in the depths of our being and we will know we have been in the presence of God. Maybe once in awhile a bit of "inexpressible wonder" will linger on our faces. Maybe once in awhile we will encounter the Christ in the presence of his people and maybe once in awhile the folks out on the street will know the difference. All I know is I am more likely to experience it if I am present than if I am not. All I know is, if that is to happen, I have to be there. That's why we are trying to make worship the center of our life together. That's what's behind "Worship Plus 2". It all begins right here, every Sunday morning, in worship.
I missed being in worship with my people in our sanctuary yesterday, but in the hour of worship, I experienced the touch of grace and I sensed the presence of God...even amid the Presbyterians!
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