Ethiopia is a third world country. That means the Super Bowl is being played as I write this and Ethiopians are oblivious. They do not know that Josh Hamilton, the greatest baseball player on the face of the planet, crashed and burned again. I tried showing a few of them pictures on my I phone of the Rangers playing in the World Series and when the Super Bowl was played at Jerry World and they had no clue. And perhaps that is one clue why they worship the way they do.
From my perspective their lives are not filled with worldly things because they are not accessible. Everybody does have a cell phone and they do know what face book and the internet is, but access is sporadic and compared to our broadband very, very slow. Less than 1 % in the whole nation own a car. Most walk, some use a donkey, others use mass transit such as busses, vans and remember the little four wheel motor vehicles postal carriers used to drive? There are thousands of those blue things all over the country.
I was invited to preach in a local Hawassa church yesterday. Over 1500 people crowded into a L shaped building located in the middle of densely populated residential area. As the celebration began at 9:30 AM, I was ushered into a small side room to meet with the elders and local pastor. They greeted me and explained the worship order. The elders have much input as to what takes place in worship. They literally “run” the church. The pastor told me I would start preaching at 10 and would have about 40 to 50 minutes and then the youth would present a 3 minute skit.
We ceremoniously walked into the worship space and the whole tenor of the congregation changed. They had already been singing and praying for 15 minutes but the intensity dramatically picked up with the pastor and elders entered the room. I had no clue what they were singing and yet I understand every word. It was deeply moving and in some ways indicting of we Christians in America. Everyone sang. Everyone prayed. Everyone engaged in the praise of God, with body, mind and soul.
I started preaching at 10:20 AM and went till 11:10. I will never forget looking into their attentive, eager, encouraging faces. They were hungry for the Word. Most had a bible and the majority took notes even though there was no message outline and no PowerPoint. They were engaged. I could have preached longer and no one would have left. Over 1500 people had been crammed into that little L shaped building for almost two hours and no one left for the door. The pastor stood up and prayed for another ten minutes and then they took up the offering using these long poles with a bag strapped to the end. Afterward the youth came in and did a drama. Their 3 minutes presentation lasted 15 minutes. They had planned the drama earlier in the week but it mirrored the theme of the message preaches. Everyone was attentive, believing the Holy Spirit had planned and orchestrated the message and drama theme.
Children, youth and adults worshipped for over two hours and they could have stayed for more. I could have done the same. There was rush to beat the restaurant crowd. No rush to get to the Super bowl party. No rush to get to that video game. No teens complaining about worship lasting to long. Nothing was more important in those two hours plus than being together in the presence of God.
Think about it and while you are thinking, open your Bible and meditate on I Chronicles 17:7-36. That is where I started my morning, before writing this blog, and I could have stayed there all morning long.
And by the way, who won the Super Bowl? I haven’t heard a word about it. Hmmm…..
