Awe [noun]
1: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime
2: archaic
a: DREAD, TERROR
b: the power to inspire dread
Would awe describe sung worship within our churches? Not about the music, the execution, the band, or creativity, but in the way that the people of God see and respond to God as we gather?
In Jesus, we are invited to ‘…with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ Hebrews 4:16, but sometimes I wonder if this confidence can quickly shift to being casual, flippant, and irreverent.
Many low-church traditions do an excellent job of articulating and celebrating the immanence of God - the reality that God is knowable and near. Many high-church traditions do an excellent job of articulating and celebrating the transcendence of God - the reality that God is above and completely other than His creation. Either of these realities can - and should - inspire our worship and devotion, but so few traditions (much less Christians) equally grasp these truths.
One of the themes that has emerged from my recent reading has been how living post-Enlightenment means that our world - and therefore our minds and daily lives - are emptied of wonder. What use is wonder when we have knowledge, understanding, and explanation for so many things? Agreeing to the spiritual - and therefore mysterious - reality of our world can often be seen as an intellectual cop-out. A failure to work toward a knowable resolution. But perhaps wonder and knowledge do not need to be on opposing sides, but can in fact hold hands in the way we approach God as the people of God.
Our people inhabit a wonder-less world, are we leading them toward the transcendent reality of God as we gather?