I experienced a different kind of worship this past weekend! My friend, Cindy, called and said she’d pick me up for church in fifteen minutes. Cindy had invited me before, but I’ve gone to the same church for the past twenty years. I was comfortable. Nonetheless, I went.
What I encountered was a Friday night praise and worship service that would make most of my fellow Sunday morning churchgoers cringe with anxiety. We Methodists stay put within the space of our own seat. But these people were hands-raised, dancing in the aisles, spinning around with scarves, blowing whistles and kazoos, proclaiming the name of God at the top of their lungs. It was electric! The praise band dynamic! I felt like I was at a Christian rock concert. You could feel the magnificent presence of the Holy Spirit. Wow!
The Psalmist speaks about praising God with harp and lyre, tambourine and dance, strings and pipes, and loud crashing symbols. This pastor distributed kazoos, whistles, and bells that night, and the crowd went wild with excitement! He urged us to let the Spirit take over and make beautiful(?) noise to the Lord. Well, there was lots of noise. Big noise!
Pastor Nieto encouraged us to praise and worship with a child-like spirit. This made me think about my sister’s very young children. Those three would love to dance in the aisles to the music. They wouldn’t worry what someone thought. So, why was I hesitant? Having been raised Methodist, there is certain decorum to the church service. We stand to sing the songs, recite the prayers, and sit still the rest of the time to listen to the sermon. There will be no bells or scarf dancing on Sunday mornings.
The last time I left my sister’s home. My six-year-old niece came to the door to give me a good-bye hug. “That’s not good enough!” She exclaimed and requested I get down on her level to try again. This, she learned from her Aunt Janet, since we give each other the absolute best monster hugs! If you’re not ready for this type of embrace, it will knock you over. These are hug-with-all-of-your-might kind of hugs!
I want to let go and praise God with that same “monster hug” degree of intensity. To worship God with the faith of a child and not worry what anyone else thinks about my dancing. I want to master this knock-you-off-balance type of spiritual devotion and sing aloud with all my heart. Until now, my worship has not been good enough. I’m going back this Friday night and try it again. After all, isn’t God worthy of a great big monster hug in the form of praise?
I think we know that answer.
Psalm 150: 1-6 1 Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.