Wednesday, October 25, 2006

a sense of mystery, a sense of humor...

...that was a line i read out of a book on preaching this morning, it was referring to the worship service and the message that comes within it.

I like that idea, that our worship should be accompanied by awe and reverence because we are in God's presence. But also should be accompanied by a mood of absurdity, that we should be allowed even to be in the same room as God. It should be conducted in a sense of hilarity that though we are trying to be reverent and respectful, we are in fact deeply flawed, irreverent, fountains of disrespect. Worship (and the preaching) should carry a slap-stick joy that though the guy up front has been called to this task and is even wearing a white robe, he's really quite a wreck as a person, hardly qualified to be taken seriously... and the people he's talking with, though playing the part of the willing listeners are secretly doing their best to escape the weekly "time of transcendence" as un-changed as possible. This incongruity should make us laugh at ourselves openly and freely, which i think somehow is necessary for reverence (or awe or mystery)

A sense of mystery AND a sense of humor, no worship service should ever happen without both. What do you think?

7 Comments:

At 10/26/2006 12:40:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

As a fellow wreck who isn't qualified to be taken seriously, amen and amen!

 
At 10/26/2006 02:15:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

A sense of mystery AND a sense of humor, no worship service should ever happen without both. What do you think? I don't know? What I do know is that God takes His business seriously and so should we.

 
At 10/26/2006 02:39:00 PM , Blogger Dion said...

Joe- thanks for not leaving me out there in "wreck" land all alone. thanks for stopping by

KJV- i agree, God does take his work of redeeming the world seriously! He showed that in handing over his Son to be crucified. But i think the humorous part comes from looking at WHO God has done this for...US.

Maybe you're more advanced in your journey than i am, but i get filled with a thankful laughter knowing God has done all he did for ME. And here i am, nothing great to behold, and yet he has paid for ME. it's beautiful, it's awe-inspiring, but it's also humorous... that of all the people God could've picked, he picked ME.
But i mean no disrespect, please don't take it as such.

 
At 10/26/2006 02:45:00 PM , Blogger Dion said...

KJV- one more thing. That website you are linked too is pretty interesting. Is that your own site? or is it something you contribute to?
Thanks for posting.

 
At 10/27/2006 04:06:00 PM , Blogger juicebox said...

growing up in my parents church there was two weeks out of the year that stick out to me the most. The two weeks we had a guest pastor. I don't remember his name, but this man brought so much God AND laughter into the church, I would be SOOOOO excited when he came. It sounds silly, but I think he brought me closer to God in those two weeks during the year than the other 50 weeks combined. Laughter has a strong healing power. God gave us laughter. He brings those people into our lives. You can laugh and still be respectful. Did you remember and learn from the sermon about the pirate, the priest and the Son of God, or did you remember and learn more from a quick reading and response from John 13?

"Laugh it up fuzzball"

Jason is a registered trademark of Jason Industries and cannot be used without the consent of Jason unless otherwise noted by Jason.

 
At 10/31/2006 09:10:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love this...
I can't totally relate, I don't think, because I usually stand before God totally baffled. Confused. In utter disbelief.

But I can see how humor would be one reaction to that.

Maybe when I advance further down this faith-road I'll be able to get to the funny part...but as of now, I'll stand here with my jaw dropped open.

 
At 10/31/2006 09:14:00 AM , Blogger Dion said...

good thoughts guys (mostly because they agree with me :))

i also think it's funny that there is SO MUCH humor in the bible. and people miss it because they think God is only serious. Most of the humor comes from contradictory things, God calling things that are not as though they were.

thanks

 

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