"Make a Joyful Noise"

Sermon by Rev. Caela Simmons Wood
First Congregational UCC, Manhattan, KS
July 3, 2016
Sermon Text - Psalm 66

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend three days at Pendle Hill - a Quaker retreat center on the outskirts of Philadelphia. As I've told many of you since returning, I went in search of rest, rejuvenation, and connection with colleagues….all things that sustain me in my ministry and my living. I was not anticipating, though, that the Spirit had other plans or that those three short days would become a time of transformation. I'm still sorting through all that transpired there and am utterly grateful for the experience. I am also grateful to serve alongside people who understand the importance of finding time and space for experiences like these. If you've not recently had a chance to consider what spaces allow for your own rest, rejuvenation, connection, and transformation, I hereby suggest that you check out for the rest of the sermon and ponder that very question. Few things in life are more important than knowing where those spaces are and seeking them out regularly.

One of the things I had a chance to experience at Pendle Hill was daily worship in the unprogrammed Quaker tradition. Unprogrammed anything is a joy for me. I love being in places where nothing much happens. It's rare in my life and it's something I have to intentionally seek.

During unprogrammed Quaker worship, there is a lot of quiet. Actually, in the days I was there, I think I spent at least two hours sitting in complete silence. And as I sat there I thought to myself, “Gosh, we use a lot of words in our worship services. A lot of unnecessary words. Maybe I should just stop talking during worship and let the Spirit do her thing.”

That’s not likely to happen because extended silence on a weekly basis is not our tradition. I do think we can learn, however, from the wisdom that exists in other traditions and one of the things I came away from the silence with was a realization that coming to worship in a spirit of intentionality is a game-changer.

You would think that 30-60 minutes spent in silence with a group of people would be basically the same thing every week….but it isn't. The experience of unprogrammed worship changes depending on many things - how those gathered bring themselves that particular day, the weather, world event, the movement of the Spirit, the combination of spirits present in the room. We know some version of this here, too, in our own worship, don't week? There are weeks where I leave after worship thinking, “Wow. I don't really know what happened just now, but something HAPPENED.” And then there are weeks where I leave thinking, “Huh. I don't know what happened just now, but I feel like nothing much HAPPENED.”

And this is okay. I trust that the Spirit moves and even when I leave feeling like nothing much happened, perhaps something HAPPENED for another person, or perhaps we are saving our energy for another day, or perhaps the Spirit is busy elsewhere. That’s okay. To everything there is a season and all that.

There is a time for silence. There is a time for shouting. There is a time for sleepwalking through worship. There is a time for being totally and utterly spellbound by the movement of the Spirit in our midst.

The psalmist speaks to us today from the distant past and reminds us to “Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth. Sing the glory of God’s name, give to our God glorious praise.”

I am convinced that those songs of praise don't always sound the time. Sometimes they are quiet whispers or loud shouts. Other times they are a song sung loudly and with gusto (and perhaps even way-off-pitch). Sometimes the sounds of praise are the sounds of babies giggling or preschoolers dropping a toy loudly. The sounds of praise sometimes come out in the grinding of clenched teeth when one of us silently prays in anger, or the release of air just before a tear is shed.

Even silence can be a deafening sound of joy when it is accompanied by shining eyes or a big ol’ smile, you know.

The words of the psalmist and my time spent with a bunch of Quakers whose names I don't even know remind me that part of what is so very important is simply showing up fully. Bringing ourselves to worship, we bring our bodies, our spirits, our minds, our true selves. And we trust that others will do the same...and that God will also show up. Worship is a communal act of faithfulness and trust - lived out in a community that is committed to reaching out to the Holy - sometimes in joy, sometimes in anger, sometimes in grief, sometimes in awe.

But we do it together, no matter what. Week after week after week. You may see people up front in leadership positions, moving the service along, but the act of creating worship is something every single person present does together. We sometimes speak of “the liturgy” - the flow of the service, the prayers, the songs, etc. In our tradition, the liturgy is typically very word-heavy. The word liturgy literally means “the work of the people.” It’s not a performance, put on by the preacher or the musicians or other worship leaders. It’s work that belongs to all who are gathered to worship.

It is my experience that God remains committed to the act of worship and that God shows up whenever two or three are gathered to work together. God shows up and moves on the breath of a prayer, in the heights of the music, in the exquisite beauty of cultivated silence. God works through us and knits us together during this hour of reconnection with the Holy, reconnection with each other, reconnection with ourselves.

It is good to worship together, isn't it? It is good to make a joyful noise to God together. It is good to sit comfortably in silence and notice our breath. It is good to be together and know that the Spirit surrounds and upholds us.

And so, as we come to the table this morning, in just a few minutes, I will invite you to use the time of our offering as an opportunity to more fully center your spirit in this place. The movement that happens in the room when we come to the table is an example of a joyful noise offered to God. Smiles are exchanged, prayers are lifted up in the silence, bodies move to receive the gifts offered, the Spirit of Christ reaches out to us across the ages - God does her part and we do our part. We truly all work together in communion, to find our way to the table where we are nourished and prepared to go into the world and face the week ahead. Joyfully, let us offer our gifts to God’s service and let us center ourselves for the time at the Table.