Feb 16

Written by: jyankey
2/16/2012 3:13 PM 

Rev Allison Yankey

February 12, 2012

Auburn First United Methodist Church

"Worship With Your Senses"

Think back to one of your favorite memories. I want you to close your eyes and try to recall that moment. Can you see it playing before you? What did it feel like? Where there certain sounds or smells that captured you? Perhaps you can taste the moment or hear something specific. Allow yourself to rest in that moment and re-experience it. As you open your eyes, consider what just happened. As you recalled a memory, you noticed how you experienced it not just with your ears or eyes but with the whole of your being. Even in this moment, in this room, what are you experiencing? What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? Can you taste something in the air? Is there a certain smell that is lingering? What are your senses telling you about this place? What are you experiencing?

 

As we travel through our message this morning, I want to continue the conversation: what are some of the things that you can experience with your senses? I want to try something a little different this morning and integrate a little bit of technology into the message. If you brought your cell phone with you, I encourage you to text this number, begin your message with ____, and then write your message answering the question: what can you experience with your senses? Perhaps it is the smell of freshly baked cookies or the sight of your children. Whatever things you really enjoy experiencing through your senses, please text it in now.

 

Here is where we are headed: I believe that God designed worship to be a symphony for our senses. You see, as we enter into our teaching this morning, I want you to recognize how you were created and how God designed us to experience Him as we worship. We don't just take Him in by hearing about His teaching on a Sunday morning. We experience Him in every moment of how we live.

 

Let's look to the Scriptures to see how God desires us to live and worship. [Explain Deut. 10.12-22] As we enter the story in Deuteronomy 10, Moses is giving directions to the Israelites as they are about to continue on their journey to the Promised Land. While Moses was up the mountain the first time to initially receive the two stone tablets with the 10 commandments, God gave him instructions on what worship was to look like, what the Tabernacle was to look like, and how the people were supposed to live. As Moses came down and saw the people worshiping the golden calf, he became angry and smashed the tablets. So back up the mountain he went to get a new set. He creates the two stone tablets and a wooden chest, later to be known as the Ark of the Covenant. God writes on the tablets, and Moses puts the tablets into the Ark.

 

So, as Moses comes down from the mountain the second time, he is hoping that he does not return to a similar scene. Instead, this time he is prepared to convey to the Israelites all that it is he learned from God while he was up on the mountain. And the Israelites are ready to receive the message. What he conveys is that God is not demanding something of them that is unreasonable or out of His character. Rather, he comes straight to the heart of the law saying, "God asks you to fear Him (or to view Him with awe, wonder, and respect), to walk in His ways, to love Him, to serve Him with all you have, and to do what He asks you." Imagine a father having a conversation with a child who has misbehaved. The child stands in fear wondering how the father will react to their disobedience, and the father lovingly says, "Honey, I love you and I would do anything for you. But I need you to listen to me. I know what is best for you, and I know how to take care of you. Trust me. What I ask in return is to simply do what I ask knowing that I will never ask something of you that is unreasonable or impossible. Can you promise me you'll try? Can you promise me you'll do the best you can?" What I want to highlight this morning is that God asks us to serve Him with all that we have, not just with one aspect of ourselves, not half-heartedly, or with just one sense, but with everything we have been given.

 

Flip forward two chapters, and we hear God commanding His people saying, "You are to seek out the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put His Name there for His dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have bowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you." [Deut. 12.5-7]

 

God is beginning to lay out His plan for the Tabernacle, the place of worship as the people travel to the Promised Land. God had very specific designs for this place of worship. If you would, please turn with me to the book of Exodus, chapter 25, and we'll be walking through several sections in the coming chapters. I just want you to be able to see the references for the particular items we will be talking about.

 

You'll notice this morning that there are several objects up on the platform to ponder over. These are representations of different aspects of worship in the Tabernacle, the place of worship. When God called His people to build this, He incorporated each of their senses into the design.

 

Let's begin first with what we don't see up here - the sense of hearing as found in Exodus 26.9-19. As an ancient Israelite would have approached the Tabernacle, the first place he would have come to would be the courtyard. He would immediately see the cloud of God's presence over the Tabernacle, but he would also hear the bleating animals, the bustling workers, and the other Israelites who had come bringing their animals and other sacrifices for offerings. Imagine the sights and sounds of a busy marketplace.

 

At this point, the rest of worship was the responsibility of the priests. They were the mediator between the people and God. While people were responsible for knowing and obeying the commands of God, they were not in a direct relationship with God as we are today. Let's see how the priests continued on the worship experience.

 

As the priest moved from the altar where the animals were sacrificed to the actual Tabernacle, he would touch/bathe his hands and feet in a bronze laver (lay-ver) found in Exodus 30.17-21. This was a large, shallow basin of water made from bronze mirrors donated by the women. We are not entirely sure what this may have looked like, but our large washing bowl on display this morning is a good representation of this important piece. Washing in the basin was a sign of becoming holy or pure and was required of the priests before offering sacrifices or entering the Tabernacle itself.

 

As the priest moved into the actual Tabernacle (really one big giant tent), the first thing he would most likely see would be the golden lampstand as found in Exodus 25.31-40. This provided light for the priests, as it was the only light, and was made from one single piece of gold weighing approximately 75 pounds. It might have been similar to the one we see here today, as it had a central shaft with three branches coming from each of the sides. Each of the cups on the branches held an oil lamp that was fueled by clear, high-quality olive oil donated by Israelites as offerings to the Tabernacle. It was the responsibility of the priests to keep the lamps burning continually, all day and all night.

 

Next, the priest might smell the sweet fragrance from the altar of incense as found in Exodus 30.1-10 and 34-38. Twice per day, priests were to burn incense on the altar. This, like the lampstand, was to be burned constantly. It also required a special blend of spices that were only to be used in the Tabernacle. Perhaps you can imagine the smell of the Tabernacle as you sense this incense wafting toward you.

 

Finally, the priest would approach the Table of the Bread of Presence as found in Exodus 25.23-30. This was a visual reminder of the covenant with Israel which involved God promising to be Israel's God and King, to protect, provide, and fight for Israel, and to give them a land flowing with milk and honey. In return, Israel promised to be faithful to God and obey His commands. In the Old Testament, people often sealed their covenants with a meal. It formalized their agreement, but even more importantly, it bound them in a close relationship. So every week, the bread on the table was replaced, and the priests were allowed to eat the bread as a sort of covenant meal with God. This morning, we also have a representation of the bread on our table here.

 

You see, as God designed worship, He accounted for each of our senses, seeking to meet our need to be addressed as whole people. Worship has changed quite a bit from what might have been experienced at the Tabernacle. One of the most unique aspects of this particular community is how inundated the people were with the Scriptures. It was on their doorposts, they carried them on their foreheads and on their arms. They spoke about them all throughout the day and meditated on them through the night. Worship and love of God was more organic and a way of life rather than just a single moment or hour in a day.

 

This is certainly not to say that worship today is any less important or inferior to what happened in the days before Christ. Rather, I would say that we have a wonderful privilege to worship God in spirit and truth – to commune with Him directly rather than having someone else shoulder the responsibility. But what we must be aware of is how often are we engaging with the God who created us? Is God everywhere we look and in all that we do? Are we considering Him and His Words through each moment and in each action?

 

We are expected to fully engage ourselves with God in whatever way we encounter Him. How are we giving ourselves completely to Him? How do we approach worship on a Sunday morning? How do we approach worship while at work? On the phone or computer? At the drive-thru as we rush to get to a meeting on time? As we interact with others, how are we worshiping God in our conversations and thoughts? Are we allowing God to pervade all five of our senses or do we only feel He can communicate through our ears? It is certainly difficult in our culture with a sort of sensory overload. This is not to say that we are to set aside all things that might distract, but instead to learn how to engage all of our options and opportunities in such a way that we can magnify God more and greater.

 

God desires to heal us and make us whole people. He desires to bring restoration to the whole person and not just to the brain. He created us in His image with His design, and He desires for us to engage all five of our senses as we interact with Him. So let us not relegate our worship to simply cerebral moments on a Sunday morning. Let us not simply sing with our lips and hear with our ears. Let us not engage in mission through simply our checkbooks or our hands. Shame on us if we think that only certain parts of us and our culture are appropriate for the worship of God. So rather, let us join with the whole of God's people, praising and worshiping Him with all that we have, with all that we are, all that we have been given, and all that we hope to be. For God created each of our senses so that we could more fully experience and engage Him.