"Be Still and Know ..."

If I came to this communion table barefooted and with my hat on yo might wonder what was wrong with me.  It would be a sign of something but probably not of reverence.  But when Jewish men go to synagogue or to pray at the Western wall in Jerusalem it would be most irreverent to go with head uncovered.  When Muslims enter the Mosque they leave their shoes outside.  Muslims consider this a form of reverence and trace it back to Moses.  They point to Exodus 3 where the Lord told Moses, "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."

Certainly, it is not the only sacred place where we can meet God but, if we are indeed standing on holy ground when we meet our Lord at the communion table, what does reverence require of us?  Are certain ways of dressing more or less reverent than others?  Or are certain behaviors more or less reverent than others?  Should we adopt certain actions like kneeling, genuflecting, or bowing our heads to the floor?  Is standing all of the time more reverent than sitting?  How do we express reverence, or do we even think about it?  Maybe that is the most important question.  Have we forgotten all about being reverent?  How should we "remove our sandals" and acknowledge that we are on holy ground?

Think of Moses again.  Before removing his sandals he had to pay attention.  Apparently, the bush was not directly in front of Moses because he said, "I must turn aside and see this great sight."  He could have kept right on leading his sheep and not taken the time to pay attention.  He could have thought, "Oh, how pretty.  I will have to come back some time and look at this more closely."  Turning aside from our every-day activities and putting ourselves in a receptive position is an appropriate, even essential, act of reverence.

But he also had to listen.  The bush did not explain itself;  it had no subtitles.  He had to listen to the word from God.  And to listen he had to shut up, to be quiet.  Maybe this is one key way to express reverence.  When you are in the presence of God be quiet and listen.  Be silent, get rid of the world's noise and distractions.  That's what I have to do if I want to hear Frances.  We sit only a few feet apart in our family room but for me to hear what she says the TV sound must be turned off.  Distractions and competing noise is more than my hearing can handle.  I think we all may have a similar problem when it comes to hearing God speak to us.  We need to turn off competing noises and listen carefully.

That may be why the Lord says to us in Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God."  And the prophet Habakkuk reminds us, "The Lord is in his holy temple.  Let all the earth keep silence before him."  Or, as Ecclesiastes 3:7 says, "There is a time to keep silent, and a time to speak."

Perhaps when we come to the Lord's Table it is a time to be silent, to listen, to focus on the Lord, to think about our relationship with him.  Must we always have some music playing, or something else to distract us, or in a sense, entertain us?  Can we not sit quietly before the Lord and listen for his still, small voice?

This is holy ground.  Please join me in listening, in being quiet before the Lord, as we remember the one whose pierced body and blood are represented in these elements.