“He is not a tame lion...”

   My fellow Narnia fans will recognize the above quote.  I was reminded of it as I read this morning’s entry from my A.W. Tozer devotional:  “Illumined hearts are sure to agree at the point where the light falls.  Our only real danger is that we may grieve the blessed Spirit into silence and so be left at the mercy of our intellects....We’ll have the bush pruned and trimmed and properly cultivated, but in the bush there will be no fire.”

   Sometimes no matter how powerfully our churches may have been birthed from fire, our tendency is to eventually ‘bulletinize’ our worship times into submission.  Otherwise, they can become much too messy, too unpredictable, too much out of our control and careful planning. We may even say we’re open and flexible to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but when push comes to shove (or an order of service turns to Power), we are reluctant to live what we promised.

   How will this ‘outbreak’ of God’s manifest Presence affect the schedule? Will some be offended? Will some leave and never come back? What about the usual order of things on which we’ve come to depend? What about our lunch date after church? What if some people 'become emotional' in response to what the Holy Spirit is working in them? What if time begins to lose it’s structure in response to the appearance of the One who created it? What if the only thing He’s calling us into at the moment is silence before His palpable Presence?  Will this drive someone (the pastor, the music worship leader, a parishioner) to feel compelled to fill the ‘void’...the Spirit-filled silence which is actually the antithesis of ‘void’?

   I am blessed to be part of a tiny congregation meeting in a manger of a building, where the best part
of our ‘service,’ in my eyes, involves sitting, standing, kneeling, lying...in the Presence of God, bathed only in quiet, anointed, instrumental music...where often no one speaks aloud unless praying for another at the altar.  Sometimes not a word is spoken. God appears to like this, because He manifests Himself both powerfully and tenderly, in ways I’ve rarely experienced elsewhere. We couldn’t be worshiping Him in a more humble setting. But in a similar fashion, isn’t the humblest setting of our hearts the place He delights to dwell?

   Many believers and unbelievers alike have yet to experience the manifest Presence of God. Their belief (or unbelief) comes from intellectual assent. This foundation can crack with the winds of circumstance and the prevailing philosophies of our culture. Yet once any of us actually ‘meet’ the Lion of Judah through His manifest, oh-so-real Holy Spirit, we are stopped in our tracks.  There is no denying His existence or His love for us.

   Let Aslan move wherever and however He desires, in the biggest to the smallest congregations and see what He will do. Be fearless and let go of the reins. Stop the program...get off the scheduled train and wait on Him. He will not disappoint, and we and our churches will never be the same.
***********************
“Farther up and further in...!”
—The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis