May 13, 2023

Exodus 19: 17, 18 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it with fire. (NIV)

True worship cannot occur without a recognition of the personal presence of God.*

What’s it like at your church on Sunday morning as the people are gathering to worship? Do the musicians strive to provide a worshipful atmosphere with a soothing prelude, only to have it drowned out by the sounds of laughter and chatting as you get caught up with those who sit around you week after week? I have had some meaningful conversations with seatmates who I don’t get to see any other time. Fellowship is vital to our spiritual lives – but at the cost of worship?

How different would our Sunday services be if we could see the smoke from the fire of God’s presence? Would we be more reverent, more worshipful, more focused? Quieter? How about . . . on time? Someone has written: “Whenever you enter for worship, you are coming into God’s presence – every bit as much as when Israel gathered at Sinai. Sure, we’re always in God’s presence. But when we come for corporate worship, it’s different.”*

I am not inclined – nor qualified – to establish a rule about appropriate Sunday morning etiquette. Worship – even corporate worship – is a personal transaction between the individual and God. There is nothing wrong with catching up with your neighbors. Sometimes there are very good reasons for arriving late.  But do these things distract from our awareness of God’s presence? Can we be more intentional as we find our place on Sunday morning to remember that where there is smoke, there is fire?

Sunday morning worship begins on Saturday evening as we start to focus attention on God. Ask for clean hands and a pure heart to worship well. Ask for words and thoughts that are acceptable to God.*