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We were not made to be able to process tragedies like this week’s. We don’t have the capacity to
assimilate it, understand it or explain heartbreaks of this magnitude.
It’s why we say things like – there had to be a reason for this. When, of course, we know there
isn’t an answer for that – there is no answer to the question “why?”
No, we were not created to digest tragedy of this magnitude. We were created to walk with God in
the cool of the day and to enjoy a world with no tears or pain.
And we know what happened and is happening...a choice to not believe God, a wilful act of
disobedience that infected everything and led to brokenness everywhere.
 Planes fly into buildings, hurricanes ravage a city, buses crash, inexplicable accidents occur
….and we’re left bereft of answer or capacity to deal with it.
That’s the hard truth...that’s our plight but here’s something beautiful:
God knows this about us…knows our limited capacity for assessing and handling tragedy... so he
has provided for us remarkable resources from the heavens to assist us in living through life’s
vagaries and horrors.
1st and foremost - A saviour
 one who, when we surrender to him, reunites us with God
 one who, intercedes on our behalf
 one who says come to me all who are heavy laden and I’ll give you rest.
2nd – He gave us the Holy Spirit
 the indwelling God
 the one Jesus called Comforter.
 We may not walk with God in the cool of the garden but we walk with him 24 hours a day.
God within us...taking up residence...
3rd – He has given us the Word of God – the Bible
 when we read or listen to its words it becomes a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path
– things make more sense
Now stop and think about those resources. I wonder if we have any appreciation for them. I
wonder if we have a sense of the capacity God has given his children to walk in the brokenness of
this world. I wonder if we realize how so many folks around us in this world have nothing like them
to manage tragedy in their lives.
 This is not my message today but I gotta say this…why would we not boldly reach out to
those around us who do not know Christ?
 Watch a person who is outside of faith in Jesus process grief with none of these resources.
Why on earth would we hold this to ourselves?
So, we have great resources in times like these but there is one more I want to touch on today,
one more great gift of God - it is mystical, and powerful and wonderful...it is worship.
Corporate worship is one of the few things powerful enough to carry us through the tragedies and
absurdities of life.
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What is it about worship, in particular corporate worship that carries us through sorrow, pain and
horror?
I’ve been talking about this all month long…so let’s review the power of worship.
Corporate worship shapes you through the community of the passionate people of God.
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When I gather with you I am reminded I am not alone. I don’t face tragedy alone…I have
you and you and you … when we come together in worship we are supported by the
community.
This week the power of community has been on full display.
 People who rallied around Judy and the family
 The Men of Grace…especially Doug’s pit crew who were there and will have to carry that
moment…have rallied around each other – that night and the next.
When we come together in worship it is a living illustration of : Now you are the body of Christ, and
each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12: 27
When we come together in worship it fortifies us ...where our individual strength fails, there union
and agreement are powerful. Chrysostom 400 AD
When we come together in worship it pushes back against the darkness …To join our voices in
worship is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world. Karl Barth
This past week I had numerous moments when the community of believers was front and center.
Two stand out:
 Pastor Chuck Phelps and one of his key leaders (and 6 young men and women)
 Reporter “…no wonder this church is so large…everyone is so…nice.”
o She was feeling the love of community
Corporate worship shapes you through the community of the passionate people of God.
Second…as we discovered a few weeks ago…
Corporate worship invites us to experience deeply the presence of God who dearly loves
us.
We were built, designed to enjoy and deal with life best when we walk side by side with God…To
be near him so to have the sense of assurance, peace, strength.
Worship draws us close to God. When we come together in worship here’s what it feels like:
You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is
too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can
I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the
depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139: 5-10
Worship brings us near to God. It’s there we feel safe...like a child who runs and hides behind their
mom we run and hide behind God. We feel, at least in that moment less exposed, less naked, less
alone.
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Frankly, there is some pain, some suffering, some sorrow that ONLY Worship is strong enough to
overpower.
“We do not show our trouble before the Lord that he may see it, but that we may see Him” Charles
Spurgeon
Stop right here just for a moment...stop…and experience…
Dwell in the midst of us Come and dwell in this place
Dwell in the midst of us Come and have Your way
Dwell in the midst of us Wipe all the tears from our
Faces. Dwell in the midst of us You can have Your way
Not our will, but Yours be done Come and change
us Not our will, but Yours be done Come, sustain us
Corporate worship invites us to experience deeply the presence of God who dearly loves
us.
Finally…
Corporate worship reorients us from ourselves and our pain to our great and powerful God.
In tragedy and deep sorrow our eyes are either on ourselves or franticlly looking around for
something to hold on to.
Worship helps us go vertical…to for a few moments be captured by the transcendence of God.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the
heavens. Psalm 8:1
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty….
Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all! 1 Chronicles 29:11
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts
than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9
There are stories all through scripture are of a person or people in peril or frustration and pain and
God shows up and overwhelms them with the Magnus Deus
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Isaiah (surrounded by a sinful nation) , Elijah (In deep depression), Mary (in her deep
humility), the apostle John (imprisoned) ...all had profound worship experiences in God
showed up in fire and power, an awe ...and the things of earth grew strangely dim
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And of course Job
o After a large dose of the Magnus Deus Job no longer needed answers, no longer
needed clarity.
What specifically is it about worship of the transcendent God that helps us through tragedy?
 We are forced to be dependent
o we know for certain that we are not sufficient unto ourselves
o our credentials of independence vanish
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o we cease to carry ourselves with the swagger of one who has all under control
o we become aware of our innate poverty and our next-breath dependence
o we are forced to palms up attitude
 we are gripped in a way previously uncomprehended by the Otherness of God
o “a chilling stillness penetrates our soul and forces us to cry out “Lord have mercy on
me a sinner”
o Intellect capitulates to mystery
o We come right up to the edge of fear
o We cannot speak...we cease to speak ...we cease speculation and explanation
o We are gripped…overwhelmed by the wholly other
 out theology is corrected - poor distorted images of God are unmasked in all their
absurdity...vengeful, fickle, punitive...are exposed as puny, pathetic human constructs
 And then we feel peace:
Even an incomplete glimpse of God awakens a dormant trust. Something is afoot in the universe!
Someone filled with transcendent brightness, wisdom, ingenuity ,power and goodness is about. In
the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary somewhere deep down a voice whispers "All is
well and will be well". Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust
Conclusion:
Corporate worship is one of the few things powerful enough to carry us through the tragedies and
absurdities of life.