We have just prayed a Collect and invoked the Trinity, so we are aware of which God we are being silent before. Likewise, our “moment of silence before God” in Sunday morning worship is not meant to be completely void of content. We let silence drown out the wind, earthquake, and fire, because God is present in the voice of sheer silence (2 Kings 19:12). We become still, in order to know that the LORD is God (Psalm 46:10). We meditate on Torah, God’s instruction for us (Joshua 1:8 Psalm 1:2). Eastern religions privilege an emptying of one’s mind (for in silence we can realize there is essentially no distinction between our own selves, the universe, or deity), but for Judaism and Christianity silence is about space to fill one’s mind properly. This silence is not a void it is not empty of content. Silence molds us into an attitude of humility before our Creator-being slow to speak and quick to listen (James 1:19). Silence calls us out of the noise of the world and acts as a threshold into the holy space of worship. Silence allows us to center ourselves and prepare to meet with God. Silence gives us space to pray as we have need. The idea of beginning worship with silence was new to me, but I now deeply treasure it. “You actually led us in a true moment of silence! Not just a few seconds, but a real, deep silence!” They were from a Quaker background, and the church itself was in a town founded by Quakers. So, to be an obliging associate, we were silent. That first Sunday, I saw there was a “moment of silence” after the opening prayer. Some years later I became an associate pastor at a large church where, unless I was preaching, I was handed the order of worship I was expected to lead. After that realization, I tried regularly including a place for silent prayer, usually with the pianist playing quietly. There was no opportunity to allow that content to sink in, no place to meditate on that content and there was certainly no space to meet God outside the bounds of my carefully crafted service. And while I had carefully prepared that content, while I’d arranged those Scriptures and hymns and sermon as a unified whole to offer a focused Word from God, there was no breathing room. Oh, I hoped they would meet God during the hymns we sang or the sermon I preached or the Scriptures we’d read-but there was no rest from the activity of the service. Long ago, during my first pastorate, I left the worship service one morning with the sinking feeling I’d not offered any space for people to meet God. It may be the only time each week that our children are that quiet! While there’s usually a little bit of rustling or coughing, we have a genuine moment of stillness. I’ve never timed how long the silence lasts-and it probably varies week to week-but I wait until it feels uncomfortable, and then wait some more. Every Sunday morning, after a hymn of praise and praying a Collect together, the churches I serve have a “moment of silence before God.” I conclude the silence with an extemporaneous prayer, usually inviting God to encounter us during our worship service.
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