Worship - beyond speech?

     I must admit that sitting in my office this morning, with the window open, the birds singing, and the construction crews outside, it is difficult to concentrate on the task at hand.  It would be so much better to just leave now and go for a walk beside Lake McBride, or on the Hoover Nature Trail, or just go work in my yard.  In those places I can drink in the sun, witness the beauty of God's creation, and enjoy the many ways in which I can feel God's presence.
     Which, as a matter-of-fact, is the theme for Sunday!  In our penultimate week of the worship assessment, we are focusing on how worship is "Beyond Speech."  This seems obvious, that everything about the worship space involved worship - the sanctuary or place of worship itself, the artwork, the use of media, body language, and all other forms of non-verbal communication.
     In our scripture texts for Sunday there are two examples of how the use of things other than words convey the love and miraculous grace of God: one from a prison cell and one from a dining room.  Now, if there is one thing we have been saying throughout this whole series, it is that worship is not about us, but it is about God and God's faithfulness to us.  So, when it comes to talking about how worship goes beyond speech, the line gets a little blurry.
     Looking back into the history of the church, most people were aware of the biblical story and witness precisely because of these non-verbal worship accoutrements.  In a church where the spoken language was Latin and the vast majority of people couldn't understand, it was the stained glass, it was the incense, it was the awesome cathedrals that spoke about what God was all about. 
    In a world vastly changed since the time of Christendom, many traditions have forgotten about the many and various ways in which God's grace is present during worship.  In our Acts text for Sunday, Paul and Silas are worshiping God from a prison cell in Philippi, singing songs when an earthquake breaks the foundations of the prison and the fetters of the prisoners.  In our John text for Sunday, Jesus is gathered with his friends around the dinner table when Mary anoints Jesus' feet with fragrant nard and washes them with her hair. 
     If nothing else, these texts remind us that worship is a full-body, all-sensory act.  We hear the words, yes, but we see, we smell, we taste, we touch.  As God came to earth in Christ, to hear, see, smell, taste, and touch, so our worship encompasses all that it means to be human.  Think about those Sundays when the communion bread is especially tasty, or those spontaneous moments when children break into dance during a fun song, or those times when you have seen artwork that pulls you into worship and awe at God's gifts, or sharing the peace and greeting others with handshakes and hugs.
     Worship is a total-body experience in which every fiber of our being engages in love and praise of the God who created, renews, and brings us into life.  At the youth gathering in New Orleans this summer, we were able to experience this kind of worship each day, and it was amazing.  Lights, dancers, balloons, song...all used to draw us into a place of worship.  I have shared a clip with you, so that you can, at least in video, get a taste of what we experienced.

     The question and mystery I am pondering now, however, is how we experience God with our bodies.  How do we see, hear, taste, and smell God?