How we meet Jesus - or don't

I worshipped yesterday in a Catholic cathedral in Europe. The only part of the worship I understood were the Latin phrases imploring our Lord to have mercy on us. But I must say that in spite of the language barrier, it was an incredible, powerful, worship experience. I’ve been in the these cathedrals before many times during the week, but was visiting my friends who live in Salzburg this past Saturday, and then needed to take the train to where I’m teaching this week beginning Sunday night.

After breakfast Sunday morning my friends asked me if I wanted to go to the central section of Salzburg and just walk around for a little while before catching the train. Because I love this city, and because it’s rumored by locals to be the warmest autumn in 300 years and was a clear, sunny morning, I eagerly agreed. We wandered through the town square, which is presently an advent market, opened a week early and made our way to the church building and stood in the back for a few moments during worship. The building was full in every way – full of people (mostly elderly) – full of incredible sounds, as one heard the vocal cries for Christ’s mercy, sung in Latin (and the only parts I understood) – full of smells as incense and smoke filled the air, caressing the senses – and full of visuals, from the images of our Lord, to the light filtering through the stained glass, to people standing, kneeling, praying. We didn't stay long - but it was a powerful experience, awakening my heart to Christ in ways somehow lost in the previous 24 hours of airports, planes, and trains.

I asked my friend why there are so few young people and he had no answers. My own thoughts are that though the experience was powerful and deeply engaging for my own heart, the power came because I already have a context into which I can place everything that’s happening, along with a deep desire to worship Jesus and meet him there. Perhaps when those things are already present, these kind of places can be incredibly powerful, even with the language barrier.

Unfortunately, for the vast majority of people, the story of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and planned restoration of all things is either not known, or understood, or believed, or compelling enough of a story to invite real relationship and response. When Jesus as a reality and His kingdom as a hope is missing from one’s heart, worship would be, at best, an aesthetic experience, at worst a boring scam.

We evangelicals work hard to overcome some of these problems by making Jesus and his teachings incredibly relevant, digestible, and practical. But often in the process we’ve stolen any sense of mystery or transcendence or even beauty from the worship experience. Such robbery is shameful at many levels. What’s needed isn’t a dumbing down of worship, but an interpretation of the experiences and symbols for the uninitiated, coupled with sound teaching of the grand stories of the Bible and what they can mean for us today.

What do you think? Has the pendulum swung too far from mystery and beauty because of our addiction for practicality and relevance? What’s the best way to strike the balance? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? I’m hoping you’ll respond – we need some dialogue on this blog!