catholicsphere

I was reading an article from Christianity Today about Jack Hayford titled The Pentecostal Gold Standard. While not the point of the article, it contained the re-telling of an experience that caused Hayford to realize that “the worshipping church is at the heart of [God's] reign”.

he was with two other staff members when a college-age member knocked on the door. She had noticed some activity and came over to see whether she could join in. Hayford felt led to direct them into the four corners of the sanctuary, where they raised their hands up and over the space between them, as though extending a canopy. For some time they sang spontaneously before the Lord.

When they were done, they felt deeply moved, for reasons they could not quite explain. The youth pastor, Paul Charter, made a suggestion. “The Lord impressed on me that the reason the experience seemed so profound was that we were standing with angels, blending with them in worship.”

Hayford thought no more of it until the next Tuesday, when he attended the early morning men’s prayer meeting. He was “feeling tired … as spiritual as a toad.” Despite that, the Lord spoke to him during the meeting. “The angelic creatures I showed Paul are the four living creatures of Revelation 4.”

Ten days later, Hayford says, in the church parking lot, he suddenly caught a mental picture so vivid that he understood God’s message. What he saw was an alignment between the throne of God described by John, and the church he pastored on Sherman Way in Van Nuys. One seemed to blend into the other: vast multitudes of praising creatures in John’s vision overlapping with the praising people of the Church on the Way. As Hayford saw it, the entire San Fernando Valley, ten miles wide, became an amphitheater of praise surrounding God’s throne.

Reality, as Hayford came to grasp it, is that God works simultaneously in the visible and the invisible, in the physical and the spiritual. The worshiping church stands at the heart of his reign. Thus the church Hayford pastored (and any church, potentially) was more than a gathering of people dedicated to a far-off spiritual kingdom and to somewhat abstract principles. The church at worship became an expression of the power of the kingdom of God, with the literal presence of God in the middle of its sanctuary.

Hayford’s epiphany is something that has been part of the Catholic Church for nearly 2,000 years; it is what the Mass is all about. It is focused on the communion of the whole Church … the Church militant (on earth), the Church triumphant (in heaven) and the Church suffering (enduring final purgation). Many of the aspects of the Mass are found in the book of Revelation, surrounding and beyond Revelation 4 that was part of Hayford’s epiphany.

It becomes more interesting when coupled with this from the opening of the article. Hayford recalls an experience of listening to God in the early days of his ministry:

“I want you to pray for that church,” God said. “What I am doing there is so great, there is no way the pastoral staff can keep up with it. Pray for them.”

As Hayford began to pray, he felt an overflow of love for Van Nuys Baptist. It seemed to take no effort. Through the days to come, the same sensation came to him every time he passed by a church—any church. “I felt an overwhelming love for the church of Jesus Christ. I realized I had them in pigeonholes.”

A few days later, he approached a large Catholic church. Having been raised to take strong exception to Catholic doctrine, he wondered whether he would have the same feelings. He did, and heard another message from God: “Why would I not be happy with a place where every morning the testimony of the blood of my Son is raised from the altar?”

It is my belief that God is answering many prayers, especially the prayer of Jesus in the Garden “That they may be one”. While true agreement and communion will only be found in Him, the evidence of His fingerprints in bringing unity in truth to all believers can be seen.