Eucharist-O:
Did you hear the one about the guy who walked into a church…and came out a with a clean slate? Probably not; doesn’t happen much these days. There’s a reason for that:
3 Reasons Our Church Experiences Are Not Transformational
Much of what happens in church today is information transmittal. It is church as brain dump. The goal is to get you to think rightly. Facts about scripture. Information about God. Methods of praying. Procedures for reading the Bible. The church has information it believes you need. It is willing to transfer those ideas to you. If you accept them, says the church, you will be saved.
Much of what happens in church today is experience manipulation. It is church as an experience-fest. Sounds, images, flashing lights, contrived environments. All intended to get you to feel something. As a sound technician told me one week:
“I get you. You want to create a space where people will sense the Presence of God. I can help with that. I can slide up the bass volume on Sunday, if you want. Hearts will start bumping. People will leave feeling they’ve experienced God.”
If you let yourself experience what the church has created, says the church, you will leave feeling spiritual. (BTW: take your finger off the bass bar.)
Much of what happens in church today is doctrinaire. It is tribal church. Conservative? There’s a tribe church out there for you. Progressive? There’s a tribe church out there for you. Think God’s coming back tomorrow? There’s a tribe church out there for you. Think the world’s going to burn up in nine years due to climate change? There’s a tribe church out there for you. Think conspiracies are real? There’s a tribe church out there for you. Think life’s better off the grid? There’s a tribe church out there for you. It is tribal church, co-opted by some movement within the culture. If you buy what the tribe church is selling, says the church, you will be welcomed into the church tribe.
The fundamental issue in all of these churches is you may think rightly, feel deeply, and find yourself in a tribe of like-minded people, but you won’t be undone. And that is a travesty!
Isaiah’s “Church:” A Church that Undoes You and Then Restores You
But there is another kind of church available. We learn about it in the Old Testament, a part of the Bible that some Christian leaders say we should avoid because it’s no longer relevant for contemporary culture. But when we read about this church—Isaiah’s “church”—we may wish it was just down the street because Isaiah had a different experience in church. One day, Isaiah walked into church — and he left cleansed deeper than ever before. Here’s what happened:
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted. ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’” (Isaiah 6:1-5)
His claim was that one day he walked into church and with his eyes he saw Living God. Exactly what kind of eyes is Isaiah talking about? After years of inquiry about humans, we know that humans possess three different kinds of "eyes:”
The first eye is the biological eye filled with retina, pupil, cornea, optic nerve, etc., which allows you to transform light and signals into images.
A second eye is the eye of the mind. The eye of the mind takes images and ideas and facts and builds understanding. It helps us see how things are. It thinks and reasons, and connects dots.
A third eye is the eye of the heart. With the eye of the heart, we see things not obvious to the biological eye or to the eye of the mind. The main purpose of the eye of the heart is spiritual reality. We see a world filled with love and a vision of community beyond cultural divisions. We glimpse God. We see ourselves as we truly are.
Isaiah walked into a church one day and with the eyes of his heart, he saw God…and then he saw himself. What he saw of God filled him with awe. What he saw of himself filled him with horror. He had been undone. Exposed. Undressed. He could no longer avoid it. He knew himself as he was—maybe for the first time ever. He now sees that his heart is corrupt.
Before seeing Living God with the eyes of his heart, Isaiah had always measured well against others. Educated. Good with words. Sought after. He is as worthy as anyone else, and better than most, or so he thought. But now, the measuring bar has been raised. He has seen with the eyes of his heart the pure, holy moral character of Living God. He no longer can overlook who he has become. He sees for the first time that his heart is corrupt. Full stop. All he can think to say is the most important three words he has ever said: “Woe is me.”
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The Eucharist-O for Tuesday, November 19, 2024
First: A Centering Word
What to do: read Pope Francis’ words three or four times. Pause and breath between each reading. Pay attention to what draws your attention. What are you seeing? What are you believing? What are you doubting?
Next: A Centering Word from Scripture
What to do: Read the scripture words three or four times. Pay attention to what is stirring inside of you. What are you seeing? What are you believing? What are you doubting? What are you feeling? What questions are being raised?
Next: Be Still
What to do: Before returning to your full day, sit in stillness for a few moments. Your soul and imagination were possibly drawn to a word, a memory, a feeling, or a word picture in the words you read. Wherever you were drawn, be there for a few moments. Pay attention to the stirrings deep within, the questions that are forming, or the words that want to be spoken. Give your soul the gift of a few moments of stillness to let memories, questions, words, and prayers form.
Before returning to your day, let what is stirring inside become a conversation with God. The conversation, whatever its mood, is a form of prayer and communication with God who has been waiting for this moment all day.