Quaker Worship (Part 5): The Cult of Comfort
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
October 24, 2021
Isaiah 42:16 (New Revised Standard Version)
16 I will lead the blind
by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.
This week we return to part 5 of our Quaker Worship series. As I was putting this series together and considering the Quaker way of worship, I found myself wrestling with a common topic – that being idols and cultish behaviors – which honestly have a lot in common.
As I began my research, I was reminded that many fundamental Christian groups consider Quakers part of a cult. (Actually, I have personally been questioned by other Christians about this very thing.) Even in one listing of cults, Quakers are included in a category with Mormons and the Jehovah Witness. As well, some groups consider our view of there being “that of God in our neighbors” as idolatrous.
But as I began to look closer, I cross-referenced the concepts of cults and idols and something very important rose to my attention. That being the cult or idol of comfort.
Brett McCracken in an article on this subject says that Christianity’s greatest idol today is also one of its most subtle and insidious – that being COMFORT.
If you go to a church conference or even to a lecture or talk that is addressing the church of today, at some point you will hear the presenter address the need for the church to get out of their “comfort zones.”
The problem is you and I continually expect life to be easy, to be comfortable, but this desire is misplaced. And often this comfort in a Quaker Meeting can easily be translated into unnecessary structures, rigid rules, hoops to jump through, and a great deal of personal preferences.
It also can mean certain subjects are off limits, and that can even translate into only being willing to worship beside and with those who look exactly like us.
Folks, that is not comfort. That is a path to death.
In seminary, we studied this idea of “comfort idolatry” or what some called the “cult of comfort” which I believe has become very apparent within churches and Meetings today.
Now, much of this can be blamed on our overly consumerist mindsets that seem to frame everything in our lives – including our spiritual lives – in terms of expressive individualism, self-fulfillment, and bettering yourself.
Let’s just admit it – our comfort can be rather selfish – especially when looking at it within an Empathetic Worship Community.
So, what specifically does comfort look like within the worshipping community?
To help with this, I will reference some ideas Brett McCracken lays out in his article on the subject for our specific condition at First Friends.
Let’s start with what he labels the “comfort of the familiar.”
If you have ever found yourself in the pews or tuning in on-line and finding it unbearable to sit through another Meeting for Worship because “This isn’t how my Meeting does it,” that is a problem. The comfort of the familiar is idolatrous and even cultish when anything unfamiliar is de-legitimized.
As Quakers, we believe in the importance of being open to new leadings of the Spirit, yet too often we assume we have arrived at the one, true, gold standard for how we do Quaker Worship when we feel comfortable with the familiar.
For example, the familiar can be seen in everything from where we sit each week during worship to the exact amount of silence we feel we need during waiting worship.
Also, when the familiar becomes about creating a “gold standard” for our worship experiences that meets our needs, it is easy to avoid learning from others outside our particular tribe.
As Quakers, who believe in “that of God in ALL people” there is a lot we can learn from those outside our tribe, which includes both our faith and culture.
I appreciated how last week Beth shared a perspective from our friend, Rabbi Brett, on how Jews understand the story of Jonah. I love learning in Seeking Friends from a Catholic Priest, and I love hearing stories of the impact of our Muslim and African American friend, Daud, who journeyed with us for several years here at First Friends.
We need to continue to invite and welcome people from different cultures, backgrounds, and faiths to enter our pulpit and tell us their stories, so we do not get caught in the cult of the familiar.
This also can be applied regarding music styles. Our strong opinions about worship-music styles present a great opportunity to challenge the cult of comfort.
Instead of folding our arms or sending off an email in protest when we don’t like the music or how it is played, just maybe we need to take a moment and dive ourselves into the worship - even if we do not like it. We are an empathetic worshipping community and that means we will have a variety of different perspectives, likes, and dislikes within our Meeting.
I appreciate Eric Baker’s hard work at creating a balance each week with a variety of different styles of music from contemplative songs, to hymns, to spirituals, and many more. Folks, this is no easy process in creating a flow and common theme to our worship while utilizing a variety of music styles. Our hope is that everything you experience in Meeting for Worship will come together to help you fully process and reflect on the subject for the morning and throughout the week.
I believe our worship should reflect our community. We all have different types of music or even instruments we like or dislike.
I assume there is a percentage of people in this meeting who love hip-hop or rap music, and then there are some who can’t stand it. Once on an Urban Plunge with college students from Huntington University, Sue and I visited a Hip-Hop Church in Chicago where there was no organ or piano, but rather a DJ. I am not saying this is for us, but I am wondering what it might take to get us out of our comfort zone and have a fuller experience of worship.
In Silverton, I asked a young female seminary student to come preach one Sunday. As with anyone I invite, I asked her to share with us what the Divine was teaching her. I wanted to hear her story and unique perspective. Even though this young woman came across as a bit timid and shy when first you met her, I also knew that she had another side. She was a very talented Slam Poetry Artist. I asked if she would share with us a piece of her poetry. Just before she preached, she came down off the platform, raised her voice, and began one of the most stirring Slam Poetry performances I have ever experienced. Talk about making people uncomfortable. Her raw emotions, going from soft tones to loud yelling, and the full experience of her body movements had people caught off guard.
Afterwards, some people shared that they were not sure if Slam Poetry was appropriate for Meeting for Worship, but they also claimed they felt this way because Slam Poetry was out of their comfort zone.
I was proud of our Meeting in Silverton for not getting up and leaving. Sadly, in my 26 years of ministry, I have had on occasion people get up and leave when they do not like what I am preaching or sharing.
This is because, when comfort is a chief value in our worship, it’s easy to justify leaving Meeting for Worship the minute it becomes uncomfortable.
· Yes, sometimes the pastor is going to say something too political, edgy, or just too challenging.
· Yes, sometimes the organ is going to be too loud.
· Yes, sometimes the children’s message is going to go too long.
· Yes, sometimes a fellow Friend is going to say something out of place during waiting worship.
· And yes, these are all things I have heard at First Friends.
And yes, we must remember that we are all human.
What I am hoping is that each of us will take the challenge to stick around or stay tuned in and really listen, bear with one another, allow ourselves to be a bit uncomfortable, and even take some time to reflect on what is being said throughout the week.
Show up to meeting even when you do not like something or when you don’t feel like it. As the writer of Hebrews warned, “Do not neglect meeting together” because it is what gets us out of the cult of comfort. When we leave or when we tune out, it is more about our personal comforts than it is about us as a community.
And the same is true when we withhold our gifts, talents or financial contributions from the Meeting simply to make our point or get our desired outcome. That is manipulation and when it happens we are buying into the cult of comfort.
I ask that, TOGETHER, we stick with it – don’t quit the minute things seem to get hard, challenging, or uncomfortable. I believe God has given us each other to work through the challenges and has even called us to grow together as the body of Christ.
Interestingly, the cult of comfort often breads rigidity in our spiritual lives – often it creates an unwillingness to change, a nostalgia in “how things have always been done,” a hesitance to uproot when the Spirit nudges.
That is why one of the greatest responses to the cult of comfort is to deliberately cultivate a FLEXIBILITY in the way we approach our worshipping community.
Brett McCracken shares some suggestions for being flexible which I have adapted to our situation. Like…
· Don’t be so over-scheduled that you can’t spend quality time with people after Meeting for Worship. Choose to stick around for Fellowship Hour, make plans to go out to lunch with someone after Meeting for Worship, or make plans for during the week to call or meet someone you want to get to know better.
· Don’t be so tied to your specific ministry area, leadership position, program, or committee, that you aren’t able to jump in and serve where the Spirit leads.
· Don’t become a fan of specific leaders within the Meeting – we never know when the Spirit may lead them in new directions.
But rather we need to be flexible and ready when opportunities arise. And we need to be willing to sacrifice our comforts and the familiar when the Spirit nudges.
I want to conclude this 5th installment of the Quaker Worship series with a story. It may be an unlikely story for a Quaker to share – but I believe it is a warning for us if we are unwilling to get out of our cult of comfort.
There was a story about an American POW captured by the Japanese during WWII. He was a spy and was sentenced to death by the Japanese army. Before carrying out the sentence, the Japanese general gave the spy a strange choice. He told the American that he could choose between a firing squad and a big black door.
The spy thought about the choice and after a few moments chose the firing squad and the sentence was carried out.
The general turned to his assistant and said, “They always prefer the known way to the unknown way.”
The assistant asked the general, “So, what is behind the black door.”
The general replied, “Freedom. Behind the big black door is a passageway that leads outside but only a few have been brave enough to see what is behind that door.”
Even though the firing squad was anything but a comfortable choice, for that American, it was better, it was more comfortable, than the unknown.
As I said earlier in this sermon, following our comfort can be a path to death. I don’t think that is what you or I want.
Actually, I hope every worship experience at First Friends, whether Meeting for Worship in-person, virtually, unprogrammed worship, or Monday meditation, could be viewed as a “big black door” awaiting us to open it unto the transformation, teaching, love, Hope and yes, FREEDOM, the Divine is offering us in worship.
And even more, I hope that we will take the time to become aware of our comforts and when we are buying into the cult of comfort or the idolatry of comfort, we begin to look outside ourselves. This way we can join our fellow Friends in the journey together through that Big Black Door to Freedom!
Now, as we enter a time of waiting worship, let us humbly present ourselves before the Divine for transformation, teaching, love, hope, and freedom. Here are some queries for your to ponder during this time.
· Where have I bought into the “cult of comfort” in my worship at First Friends?
· How am I cultivating flexibility in my spiritual life for the benefit of our worshipping community?
A Prayer For Oneness- Karem Barratt
We rest in you, Spirit of Life.
We place in you our feet, our legs, our torsos, our arms, our shoulders, our heads and allow you to support all that we are.
We rest in you, Spirit of Life, and give to you our worries, our fears, our doubts, our hopes, our joys, our pains, our anger, our love, our hate, and allow you to take in all that we are.
And as we give all that we are, we find the place of truth, stillness, still, eternal where you and we are one.
We breathe in, deep, deeply, down, up, all that we are, as we stand on our toes at the edge of the universe, in oneness.
And all that we are expands, until forever. Amen.
Benediction :
May the God who shakes heaven and earth,
whose Spirit blows through the valleys and the hills;
whom death could not contain and
who lives to disturb and bring us life;
bless us with the power to endure,
to hope and to love. Amen.