Somehow, in the last few centuries, the sermon became the central event when the church came together. I distinctly remember my early training as a pastor when we were told that worship was to prepare the hearts of the congregation to receive the Word of God through the sermon. The centrality of the sermon is clearly expressed by the number of churches that record and offer the sermon each week. In fact, the bookstores in larger churches will offer dozens of sermon series with a sprinkling of worship CD’s thrown in. No one seems to question the emphasis. But what if we gathered primarily to experience the presence of God rather than to study God? How would that change our gatherings?

I am not saying that preaching or studying the Word is not important. It is. But is it more important than His presence? Even under the Old Covenant, the presence of God was everything. The Ark of the Covenant was the central furnishing in the temple. It sat in the Holy of Holies with the stone tablets on which the commandments were written, a sampling of manna, and Aaron’s priestly staff within the ark. The lid of the ark depicted the throne of God surrounded by cherubim. God said to Moses, “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you…” (Ex. 25:22). The amazing and fearful thing about the Holy of Holies was that the presence of God was there. The entire point of the temple was that it housed the presence of God and The Presence was a source of blessing.

During the wilderness wanderings, the presence of God was also experienced as a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud which hovered above the tabernacle except when it was time for Israel to move. In those moments, the cloud moved ahead of Israel. Speaking of that pillar, Moses said to God, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Ex.33:15-16). It was the presence of God that set Israel apart from all other nations. It is the presence of God that sets us apart.

First of all, the presence of God dwells within each of us as the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit should cause each of us to be observably different from all other people. But there is another dimension of the presence of God that can be experienced when God’s people gather together. When gathered and hearts are focused directly on the person of God, there seems to be a synergism of the Spirit that manifests the presence and power of God in amplified ways. Jonathan Welton describes such a moment in Brazil. He says, “ I was with 5,000 home group leaders at a church in Manaus, Brazil. The presence of God was incredibly tangible during worship…as she (Kathy Oates) took the microphone, she began to prophecy over the nation of Brazil, and a powerful wind began to blow through the church…Inside, the wind was whipping around like on the Day of Pentecost – a mighty, rushing wind had come in to the house. It blew the potted plants on the stage wildly and even blew open two large arched doors on the stage. While this was happening, I stepped outside the church to see if there was any natural explanation for the wind. Outside, it was eerily calm and peaceful…team members were later to talk of strong winds blowing in a circular motion around them as they ministered…virtually everyone prayed over that day was instantly healed.”

I noticed that Welton said the wind began to blow as they worshipped. The scriptures declare that God inhabits the praises of his people (Ps.22:3). Praise draws the presence of God in ways that preaching will not. On the day of Pentecost, the tiny group of Christ-followers were in an upper room praying and fasting when the Holy Spirit showed up in spectacular fashion. The Spirit seems to manifest the presence of God in greater ways when his people are encountering him directly through praise and prayer.

One of the reasons that the 21^st Century church has been rendered powerless is because we have exchanged experiencing God for the study of God. When the early church met, the presence of God was manifested through worship that was offered in spirit and truth, through intense prayer often fueled by fasting, through the gifts of tongues and prophecy and the expectation of healing. Seeking the presence of God brought those manifestations and the church turned the world upside down.

Again…preaching, teaching, and the study of the word are essentials but our goal must be His presence. Rather than worshipping to prepare our hearts for the message, perhaps the message should prepare our hearts for worship. Instead of an opening prayer, perhaps we need a season of prayer. Even in our personal time, we should give more thought to experiencing the presence of God rather than simply reading about him. It is his presence that changes everything.

Because I spend most of my time with believers who are fully convinced that the Holy Spirit still operates through his church today as he did 2000 years ago, I can forget that there is still a great number of Christians in America who do not believe that. In fact, we seem to be living in a season where some who do not believe are becoming much more vocal in their disagreement. A book entitled Strange Fire recently released by John MacArthur, a well known west coast pastor, author, and teacher seems to be more than a presentation of “cessationist” theology but rather an angry attack against all those who believe in the present supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit. In his book he stated, “Charismatic theology…has warped genuine worship through unbridled emotionalism, polluted prayer with private gibberish, contaminated true spirituality with unbiblical mysticism, and corrupted faith by turning it into a creative force for speaking worldly desires into existence.” I don’t want to get into a rebuttal of all that was stated in his book but just wanted to give the flavor of the criticisms being leveled by some toward “charismatic” believers.

Even though I served in “cessationsist” churches for 20 years, I am still surprised when someone pushes back so strongly against the idea that the Holy Spirit does today what he did for believers in the beginning. I believe that deep in our hearts, nearly every believer must long for God’s miracles in his or her life, a personal word of encouragement or direction from the Lord, and an intimacy that Jesus offered when he called us to be his friends rather than servants. Who would not want God to still move in miraculous healing when a child has been diagnosed with incurable cancer or in supernatural protection when someone’s son or daughter has been deployed to a hot zone in the Middle East?  It seems we would try to find a way to believe rather than to discredit the supernatural move of God on the earth today.

The good news is that there are some very bright and articulate believers speaking out on behalf of charismatic theology today even in camps that by and large have been cessationist in their thinking. One of those is R.T.Kendall. In his excellent book entitled Holy Fire, he offers an interesting thought about such a mindset. He begins by reminding us that the apostles themselves were initially uncomfortable with the idea of the Holy Spirit coming in place of the physical Jesus whom they had gotten to know and with whom they had become comfortable. Maybe they had become so confortable with Jesus that they felt secure and even saw him as predictable. Of course he wasn’t but until the last few weeks of his ministry they were in their comfort zone with him – even picturing themselves in prestigious positions when he ushered in his kingdom. But this invisible Spirit didn’t feel quite so safe. He felt threatening. Not so predictable.

Kendall goes on to ask, “Do you feel threatened by the Holy Spirit? … if you feel threatened by the Holy Spirit is it because you are happily in your confront zone? Are you afraid of what the Holy Spirit might do to you? What he would require of you? What he might ask you to do? Do you think you will lose something if you make yourself vulnerable and totally open to him? Are you afraid he will embarrass you?” (p.12).

Maybe many believers push back against the idea of a Holy Spirit who, like the wind, “blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going” (Jn.3:8). Perhaps, the Spirit seems less predictable or less manageable than the Jesus we imagine. I believe that “cessationsist” theology is much more “manageable” that charismatic theology.   In my personal experience, I have found that the belief that God no longer acts in miraculous ways, distributes supernatural gifts, and still gives personal revelation to his people requires less faith and fewer struggles because those who hold the position do not allow God to work outside of their theological box. If I believe God not longer heals miraculously then I don’t need faith for healing nor do I have to struggle with the mystery of some being healed while others are not.

If the Holy Spirit no longer gives me personal direction or prophetic words then I have no need to test the spirits or the prophecies and wonder if I have tested then accurately. If God does not deliver from demons then I have no responsibility toward the tormented. I simply give them the name of a good psychiatrist. Since my understanding of scripture is based on intellect and education I can easily entrust my understanding of scripture to the experts in the pulpit rather than pressing in and asking the Spirit to give me understanding and revelation. And most of all, there will be few surprises in our worship services or small groups. When we confine God to his Word, as we understand it, he is fairly tame. The Holy Spirit is not so predictable because through him we experience God rather than just sermonize about him.   When Jesus showed up, the Pharisees had no theological box for him and the supernatural move of God that came without their permission, so they tried to control him, and then discredit him, and finally killed him.

We must be careful not to do the same when God begins to act in ways that make us uncomfortable. That doesn’t mean that anything goes because we are to test spirits and prophecies but it does mean that God does not always sit in the pews with his hands folded. Pentecost seemed out of control to many. David dancing before the Lord with all his might seemed “improper” and emotional to some. The assemblies of the New Testament church at Corinth got disorderly from tome to time and Paul cautioned them about that but did claim the gifts and revelations they were experiencing were from the devil. I have lived in both the cessationist world and the charismatic world. In my experience, the cessationsist world was easier but the charismatic much more rewarding and I believe much more biblical. I would love to answer any concerns you have about that. Be blessed!