Worship in Five Acts

What difference does worship make in my life? How often do I walk away from worship knowing that I am a better person for having spent that time with God?  If I walk away from a worship experience unaffected, did worship happen?  It seem that the older I get the more I am asking myself these questions.  Thinking about this—as a Salvation Army Officer--led me to expand the scope of my questions a bit:

·         How then shall we/should we worship?

·         What difference does worship make in the lives of my congregation?

·         What burdens do people bring?  Are those burdens alleviated?

·         Has worship changed anything?

·         How do my people leave worship?

I am not suggesting that I have the answers to these questions but I am suggesting that they should perhaps be in the thoughts and heart of the Corps Officer as he/she prepares worship for their people.

 In his book Worship Matters, by Bob Kauflin, he talks about his experience when he landed his ‘dream job’ as Director of Worship Development for Sovereign Grace Ministries.  He writes: “As I made my way to the stage, I suddenly found myself battling doubts.  What difference will this make tonight?  Will it have any eternal value?  People will sing, raise their hands, get excited…and go home.  And I’ll do this over and over and over again.  For the rest of my life.  Suddenly it all seemed empty. Dry. Pointless.”  Ever been there?  I know that I have. Yet, as the Spirit comes to encourage us we discover that it is not empty or pointless because the truth is that worship does matter.  It matters to God because He is infinitely worthy of our worship.  He is the reason why we were created and He is why we do what we do.

 As we move forward with this blog I want to begin addressing the practicalities and practices of worship.  The architectural plan—so to speak.  To begin lets boil worship down to its bare bones.  As Gordon MacDonald pointed out at the Territorial Officers Councils,  Isaiah chapter six gives a perfect blueprint for this.  As we read through the chapter it is almost like reading an intense and action filled play.  A play that has five acts: 

·         Act 1: Vision of God

·         Act 2: Vision of ourselves

·         Act 3: God’s Mercy

·         Act 4: Our Sanctification

·         Act 5: Reentering the World

 A young boy burst into the great throne chambers of a medieval king. The boy was skipping and singing as children do. He was completely oblivious to the regal sobriety of his surroundings. Suddenly, he was intercepted by an armored solider. “Have you no respect, lad?" hissed the soldier. “Don't you know that the man on the throne is your king?” The boy wriggled out of the soldier's grasp. Dancing away, he laughed and said, “He is your king but he is my father!” And the boy bounced up to the throne and leaped into the king's lap.  What is your vision of God?

 

Next week we will begin building on each act.

 Consider: 

For six years we lived in California and Oregon.  It was a part of the world that was totally unfamiliar to us.  We enjoyed and were often blessed by the beauty of the countryside.  Commuting to work, or traveling to corps quickly became familiar, but we would often see things that we hadn’t noticed before or missed.  It became a joy to travel more and more familiar roads to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation there—even as it became more and more familiar.  Leading corporate worship is like our experiences with the western US landscape: the challenge is to discover continual enjoyment in an oft-repeated journey.

The Spirituality of Sound

“Music confers upon human language addressed to God the appropriate silence and mystery required by prayer.  Music is the language of the soul made audible especially as music is the performative mode of the prayer and ritual engagement of a community” (Don Saliers) The author is saying that ordered sound shapes our thoughts into distinctive forms of affection and receptivity.

Let me illustrate.  For those of you who ever played jump rope—especially double dutch—you will recall that there was a narrative ritual to the game.  As you jumped you recited a verse. Ours was “Cinderella, dressed in yellow/Went upstairs to kiss her fellow/Made a mistake/And kissed a snake/How many doctors/Did it take/1, 2, 3, 4, 5. . . . “(with a speed up of the rope turning for the counting). As you analyze this you discover that children have to learn to accent the words just so.  The movements could become quite complex yet the rules remain simple: “don’t miss the skips, know the words, and do it all in a right spirit.” The words, the singing, and the movements were learned together. This image becomes a wonderful metaphor for the formative and expressive power of congregational participation in worship through established rituals.  When you fuse together ordered sound, and ordered movement the result is a communal sense of shared narrative.

I haven’t tried it for a while, but I would be willing to bet that my body still remembers and would react accordingly if I were to once again engage in the game of jump rope. The body remembers shared music making long after the mind may be dimmed. This is very evident to those of us who have participated in nursing home worship services.

“Music has the power to encode and convey memory with powerful associations.”  Ask those of us who lived through the civil rights movement and associate the song “We Shall Overcome” with courage, pain and suffering.  Because we live through time, music is probably the most natural medium for coming to terms with the relatively short time span we are all given.  Music helps us to transcend time and come to terms with it.  “Our lives, like music, have pitch, tempo, tone, release, dissonance, harmonic convergence, as we move through times of grief, delight, hope, anger, and joy. In short, music has this deep affinity to our spiritual temperament and desire” (Saliers).

It is no small thing when a congregation comes together for worship and engage in song for to do so effectively requires deep memory.  The act of singing praise, lament, thanksgiving, and intercession goes beyond the surface of words and musical score.  If the text and musical form are adequate to mystery, suffering, and to the deeper range of emotions then the soul becomes open to the transforming grace of the Spirit.

Since I have already quoted heavily from Don Saliers let me end with his words: “Music can thus express the verbally inexpressible.  For the tension between what we see and have not yet seen, what we hear and have not yet heard, is the pattern that a theological interpretation of life offers.  Music has the power to engage more than the sense…This means that ordered sound must make connection with attitudes, beliefs, and sustained ways of viewing the world…shaping and expressing that [which] leads to a theological interpretation” of the Christian life.

A Time of Personal Worship

It only seems fitting to take a break from the usual topic.  I would like to share with you a bit of my time of personal worship and invite you to join in.  Easter has come and with it a sense of hope and new beginnings. While we look forward to Jesus resurrection appearances I would like to focus on his last command before ascending into Heaven.  "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."  Mark 16:14

 

Pastoral Prayer

God of glory, we celebrate your victory over the power of sin and death. The empty cross and the promise of the resurrection are tangible signs of hope in our broken world.  I pray that as we move forward in the hope of the resurrection that we will be inspired to fulfill your last command to us to preach the gospel and to make disciples.  I pray that the officers of the Empire State Division will be blessed by the moving of the Holy Spirit in their ministry.  Lord, we pray for revival; prepare our hearts and minds that we may be used as instruments for you and not stumbling blocks or obstacles.  Father, above all, let our lives be signs of your unending love. In the name of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Scripture

Mark 16
14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

Sing aloud or follow in your heart the song "In Christ Alone" led by the band.  The words are below the video.

 

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

here in the love of Christ I stand.

 In Christ alone! who took on flesh

Fulness of God in helpless babe!

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones he came to save:

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied -

For every sin on Him was laid;

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave he rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine -

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath.

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Meditate on the following written by John Bakewell:

Hail, O Once Despised Jesus

Hail, O once despised Jesus! Hail, O Galilean King!
You suffered to release us; Free salvation did you bring:
Hail, O agonizing Savior, Bearer of our sin and shame!
By Your merits we find favor; Life is given through Your Name.
Paschal Lamb, by God appointed, All our sins on You were laid;
By almighty love anointed, You have full atonement made:
All Your people are forgiven, Through the virtue of Your blood;
Opened is the gate of heaven, Made is peace ’tween man and God.
Worship, honor, power, and blessing, You are worthy to receive;
Loudest praises, without ceasing, Right it is for us to give:
Help, you bright angelic spirits, Bring your sweetest, noblest ways;
Help to sing our Savior’s merits, Help to chant Immanuel’s praise. 


Be blessed by The New York Staff Band Male Chorus a beautiful arrangment of "Rock of Ages."




Devotional Thought

Preach

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:14

God called me to do 'my preaching' through The Salvation Army as an officer. I was fearful of this call for so many reasons but the greatest worry for me was that I was terrified to speak in front of people.  (I was so painfully shy that as a child I would skip school on the days when oral reports were to be given.) Nevertheless, with the intent to obey Christ’s command I answered God’s call to officership.

I will never forget the first sermon I ever preached.  It was as a cadet during my field training assignment at the Times Square Corps.  It was bad enough that I had to stand at a pulpit and preach to a group of people in the chapel, but I also had to contend with the fact that it was broadcast outside.  While the message (and the meeting in general) was going on inside, there were cadets outside handing out tracts, talking to people (about the message, etc.), and inviting folks to come inside.  This assignment to preach became a powerful turning point for me. 

As I stood to read the scripture I was so scared that I was shaking all over and could barely speak—I could even see out of the corner of my eye that the bow on my bonnet was shaking!  I sat down in great fear and near panic. As the next item on the program was taking place I began imploring God.  I  prayed this simple prayer: “God you have called me and I want to be here but I can’t do this without your help. Please, help me!”  At that moment I felt the peace of God envelop me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.  No more shaking, no more fear. The band finished playing and  I stood and delivered that sermon with confidence.  I even remember the opening line: “Have you ever stood in the midst of a crowd and felt completely alone?”  Now I don’t know how effective that sermon was for anyone else (or the grade I received) but it was a game changer for me.  God showed me very clearly that He had indeed called me and that He would equip me and help me to do the work and ministry involved in that calling.

Jesus command is to all, not just to those who have been called to be officers. We are all called to preach. 

What to preach?  "The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

We must preach that Christ died and that Christ was resurrected, which means that the old person in us must die so that the new person can be born again. We must therefore preach repentance and forgiveness. For it is a gospel of reconciliation. This reconciliation is extended to the poor and the oppressed.

He commanded us to preach the gospel of love. What the world needs today is unselfish, agape love. What the world needs today is caring and redemptive love. We too often hear a gospel of hate touted by a plethera of hate groups. We hear language of contempt hurled about - menacing words, excoriating words, words that maul and hurt, afflict and convict. We must preach the gospel of love using both words and our daily behaviors.

Love is still the most powerful force in the world. The gospel is a message of love for all people; preached and taught with unwavering fire and enthusiasm.

Why preach? There is a physical war being waged for people's lives. There is a spiritual war being waged for people's souls. Everywhere we look in society we see this awful specter of warfare. Young people carry guns to schools and murder their classmates in cold blood and then kill themselves. There is the war on poverty and the war on drugs. There is a cultural war being waged for the hearts and souls for the people of this nation.  We see this through the music and the movies as they desensitize individuals to the need for self-respect and respect for others. Where moral values have become relative and unimportant. Everywhere we look we see the devastation and fallout of this spiritual and physical warfare.

When to we preach? Jesus commanded us to preach the word in season and out of season. No matter our circumstances, we must preach. We must preach the word with power, authority, joy, and goodness. God gives us the strength to preach the gospel unfettered and unfazed by the constraints and impediments that would hinder the word from reaching the hearer! God gives us strength to preach the word with fire, compassion, joy, and praise. By the way, preaching is also giving testimony to your relationship with God; preaching is living in a way that brings honor and glory to God--living the Word so that your life can be an example and you can say with Paul, "follow me as I follow Christ."

God commanded us to preach a gospel of truth, love, reconciliation and forgiveness, freedom and liberation; a task that we should cherish. After demonstrating his love for us by dying a horrific death on a cross and rising from the dead, Christ commanded us to preach! So preach, and do it in ways that will bring honor and glory to the Risen Christ!


One thing more....

In closing I share with you a song that is very precious to me.

Behold Him now on yonder tree,
The Prince of Peace, the heavenly King;
O what can his transgression be
Such shameful punishment to bring?
And lo, a thief hangs on each side;
Who justly suffers for his crime,
But why should Christ be crucified,
The one so holy, so divine?

O sinner, see, for you and me
He freely suffers in our stead;
And lo, he dies upon the tree;
Behold, he bows his sacred head!
So pure, yet he has born our guilt,
By death our ransom he has paid;
It was for us his blood was spilt;
Our every sin on him was laid.

O loving Saviour, take my heart,

No longer can I live from thee!
With all unlike thee  now I part;
Thy wondrous love has conquered me.
I yield to thee my little all;
Accept me now, Lord, as thine own;
I’ll be obedient to thy call
And spend my life for thee alone.

It was for me, yes, even me,
That Jesus died on Calvary;
My soul to cleanse from all its guilt,
His precious blood my Savior spilt.

(Song 108. George Samuel Smith)

Benediction

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.  Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  (Colossians 3:1-4)

There is Power....

Andy Piercy writes: "I am beginning to think that writing worship songs is far too important to leave to just the singers and musicians.  For some reason, contemporary worship music seems to have taken on board the rock-and-pop model of the singer-songwriter without questioning it and assumes that the singer-musician should be the one to write both the words and music of the song.  Why?

"I know we have some great songs around, but let's not be too easily satisfied.  We need to get the theologians involved with the poets and lyricists, and get them all involved with the music writers.  We mustn't be "precious" about all this."

In the Army we have done--do--this well.  Unfortunately, I think that this is happening less frequently. I remember as a teenager how much Stan Ditmer's (he eventually became a Commissioner) chorus "I'm in his hands" helped me over many rough patches.  As young Lieutenant Gowans and Larrsons were inspirational and and often a reminder of my Army and Christian heritage.  "Kneeling in Penitence," "They Shall Come from the East," "How Much More," and "For His Love Remains the Same" to name just a favorite few.

Music is a powerful gift from God.  It has the power to penetrate all defenses and open the heart.  The encouraging and scary thing is the message which can then be planted there.  We all too often read about young people committing suicide after listening to certain kinds of music over a period of time.

Music can lift us to the gates of Heaven but it can also push us down towards the gates of Hell.  We all too often underestimate the depth and strength of music's power and influence. In one instance this causes us to underutilized a precious implement God has given us for both personal edification and spiritual growth as well as a powerful weapon in the war on sin.

As we plan the music for worship it is imperative that we do so wisely and with sensitivity.  "In our culture, choruses are flourishing and hymns are dying.  Here is my point.  Despite the many benefits of worship choruses, we must acknowledge that they tend to reflect values of popular culture that should not be 'bought into' without question--values that include instant gratification, intellectual impatience, ahistorical immediacy, and incessant novelty." (Kenneth Myers) "Used exclusively, choruses have real limitations.  Choruses excel at expressing celebration and intimacy but, in general, lack intellectual rigor and fail to offer a mature exposition of the broad range of biblical doctrines. Often choruses shortchange the full reality of sin and human weakness and fail to capture adequately the agony and suffering of Christ on the cross. They emphasize sin defeated and gloss over persistent sin in our lives. There's very little emphasis on corporate confession or repentance...The lyrics of choruses are often so short that thoughts about God cannot be developed or expanded."  (Barry Liesch)

If after reading the above, you are still with me....whew!...I am not advocating getting rid of contemporary songs and choruses.  I am advocating that we use them wisely.  Choruses can be very effective.  I still sing to myself those choruses to hymns that I learned as a child (while I may not remember all the verses, I know that they are there and can bring greater depth and meaning to the chorus when I need it).

Let me leave you with a chorus that had great meaning for me in my formative years by Alfred Akley.

"Take up thy cross and follow Me,"
I hear the blessed Savior call;
How can I make a lesser sacrifice,
When Jesus paid it all?

The Divisiveness of Musical Style

Why is the issue of music style so divisive?  I believe that there are six reasons that answer this question.

First, we all have preferences, which is not the problem. The problem is that we all too often think of our own preferences first.  Regarding this, Barry Liesch writes: “This reveals several truths about us: (1) we are entertainment oriented; (2) we are not mature; (3) we are not willing to die to self; (4) we don’t ask the primary questions: Is the mission of the church being well served by this music?  Does it advance the Kingdom?”  Liesch does not mince words and unfortunately they are all too true.

Second, we listen to sermons, but we perform hymns and choruses.  Since we are personally involved in the performance of music, through movement (hands raised or clapping, moving feet, eyes closed, etc.) and through self-identity with the subject of the song—we tend to be much  more sensitive about style.  In fact, we want the music during worship to suit our temperament, our self-image.

Third, music is a language.  We understand some music languages better than others.  Through repeated exposures, we learn the nuances of certain styles and in turn experience a kind of exquisite pleasure when that style is performed.  We want those pleasures; they enhance our worship experience! Again, Liesch points out: “When we are young, our lack of perspective frequently makes us intolerant of anything not contemporary.  As we become older, we grow less open to acquiring new musical languages.”

Fourth, music triggers associations.  Music has the ability to heighten our emotions, to stir memories, and to awaken guilty conscience. “A saxophone may evoke a dance floor or New Age music.  Rap music may suggest mind-numbing ghetto blaster.  A hymn may trigger a longing for a departed loved one, or—boredom!”

Fifth, we are conditioned to have our favorite music whenever we want it.  At home or in our car, we tune in to our favorite musician or album and begin to tap our feet as we listen to “our kind of music.”  But the attitude that says we should be able to have our kind of music whenever we want can be (and almost always is) a disastrous one when applied to the church.  In the church we have both the young and the old, and people with different cultural backgrounds—churches are meant to be intergenerational and inclusive. 

Sixth, and more deeply, music carries forward traditions.  To tamper with these traditions is to stir up values close to the heart. 

The Salvation Army Songbook carries this quote of Booth’s:  “Sing so as to make the world hear.  The highest value of our singing after all has not been the mere gladness we have felt because of our salvation, but the joy of pouring out the praises of God to those who have not known Him, or of rousing them by our singing to new thoughts and a new life. And sing till your whole soul is lifted up to God, and then sing till you lift the eyes of those who know not God to him who is the fountain of all our joy.”

Music As a Form of Pastoral Care

In the next few posts I would like to talk about the roll of music in worship.  It is an important aspect and I would like to take some time with this topic.

I'd like to begin with an article by Thomas H. Troeger who is the J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor of Christian Communication at Yale University. 

He writes:

The other day on National Public Radio I heard a program about a group of Ethiopian women using music to heal a pregnant friend who was ill. There was a strong rhythmic pulse and a haunting rising and falling of sound, repeated again and again. The commentator noted that the use of music in healing is common in nearly all cultures except our own. With the exception of some wise souls who work in musical therapy, we do not generally consider music a means of healing. Yet as Martin Luther knew, evidence of such care is found in the Bible.

From a thesis by the Rev. Richard Gudgeon I recall a story about a woman who was in a state of depression. Luther suggested that members of the church sing with the woman particular psalm tones and chorales. They did this, and the woman's depression lifted.

The music of our worship services often provides pastoral care. A hymn that was sung at a funeral or a wedding or a confirmation will often, when it is repeated during a regular service, aid the work of grief or of renewing vows or reclaiming the zeal of one's first commitment to God. Music also may empower people to stand for justice and to show compassion.

Because music, especially in the context of worship, has such great power, it is vital that we think carefully about its pastoral function in the liturgy. Do we provide an adequate range of sonic variety as well as poetic expression to reach the wide range of need in the human soul? Just as pastors vary their preaching they also need to do the same in collaboration with their musical leaders as they consider the music for worship.

Part of the importance of new hymnody is that it represents opportunities for providing pastoral care of the peculiar needs of our own age. New hymns alone are not sufficient because one function of worship is to connect the present to the great cloud of witnesses from the past. But new hymns belong in any healing understanding of liturgy.

When we sing we perceive our intended wholeness with all that God has made. As I have written in a hymn for the dedication of a new pipe organ:

Articulate with measured sound
the song that fills all things
for even atoms dance around
and solid matter sings

Let healing harmonies release
the hurts the heart complies
that God through music may increase
the grace that reconciles.

Worship: A Constellation of the Senses

I love today’s blog title.  I only wish I had thought of it.  That honor goes to Thomas Troeger professor of Christian Communication at Yale Divinity. 

"I am trying to map the landscape of the heart that still rejoices in God yet lives in a world that is often oblivious to the spirit.  I believe to live gracefully with this tension is the mark of wisdom.  Such an understanding may baffle the dogmatic mind, but it does not lie beyond the capacity of the poetic imagination.  The imagination often holds together realities that are logically inconsistent yet dynamically coherent."  (Thomas Troeger)

Whether we admit it or not, our “poetic imagination” lies at the heart of how we understand worship.  And that imagination has been formed in great measure by the culture in which we have been raised and that in which we live as adults.

Cultures are dynamic social realities, that also have distinctive characteristics.  When we encounter another culture, we discover that actions that we assumed to be the “natural way of doing things” are in reality learned behavior, something taught us by our culture.  For the anthropologist, “culture is all learned behavior which is socially acquired, that is, the material and nonmaterial traits which are passed on from one generation to another.  They are both transmittable and accumulative, and they are cultural in the sense that they are transmitted by the society, not the genes.”

Our home culture has given us answers to questions that are implicit in the traditions and practices of all cultures:  

• How will we use our eyes?
• How will we use our ears?
• How will we use our bodies?
• How will we use language?
• What is the meaning of how we use eyes, ears, bodies, and language?

The answers to these questions vary so tremendously that it is useful to think of cultures in terms of how our sensory perceptions are organized.  As we cannot give attention to all of our sensory input at once so our culture helps us by teaching us what our priorities should be. Walter J. Ong calls this the sensorium.  (cf The Presence of the Word: Some Prolegomena for Cultural and Religious History)

“The sensorium of a church at worship is deeply rooted and difficult to change.  Consider, for example, a single sense: smell.  There are churches that use incense so heavily that its fragrance hangs in the air even when no service is in progress, and there are churches that have never considered engaging the sense of smell in worship....If a pastor were to eliminate incense from the one church or introduce it in the other, there would likely be a revolt in the congregation.  The people would feel that the sensorium of the church had been violated...Even a change that keeps within the boundaries of the sensorium may meet resistance because it violates the expectation that worship will provide a familiar path to the holy.”  (Thomas Troeger, Preaching and Worship. 6)

While we may joke about the comment “we never did it that way before” it needs to be understood that the resistance to change flows from the nature of ritual as an action that has been repeated in regular and predictable ways.  There is comfort and security in the familiarity of habitual actions in worship.  There is also understanding.  Understanding how what I am doing and what I am saying is bringing glory and honor to God.  Any changes, of necessity require time before the new pattern achieves the same level of “normality.”

The importance of understanding the ritualistic norms of our church (Army) cannot be understated.  The power of speech gives way to the greater power of our actions.  E.g. children learn much about how to behave (sacred or secular) by observation and imitation.  They see and hear that the use of the body and the voice varies as we move from family settings to public gatherings.  (to my children--no worries--your behaviors are safe with me--that is unless I need an illustration!)  

As the new generation has come along there has been a desire to make changes in worship so that it more closely resembles the sounds and sights that are the current norms of their culture.  These “wars” as they are sometimes dubbed are nothing new.  The problem goes all the way back to the church’s inception.  Paul had to deal with the clash of cultures (i.e. Jew vs. Gentile).  Should they eat food dedicated to idols or not?; was circumcision necessary? The Church still continues to wrestle with a clash of cultural norms.

• Is music so enticing that it draws the church away from prayer?
• Are ceremonial actions of bowing, making the sign of the cross, and liturgical dance contrary to the pure spirit of worship?
• Can women exercise authority and leadership equal to that of men?

It is incumbent upon us to keep the essentials of worship intact even as we recognize the need for those elements to avoid clashing with the culture(s) of the worshippers.  I suppose that nowhere does that dilemma challenge us more than in the area of music.  But that’s next week’s blog.

Liturgy and Praxis

What do you do when you plan your Sunday worship meeting? How much time goes into the planning?  What are the elements that must be included in worship?  Elements like prayer, singing, offering, Scripture, etc.

What are the options that we choose from when planning worship and where did they come from?  What are our traditions and are they still relevant and viable? I feel I need not only ask where did these traditions come from but where have they gone? Have we lost something? If so, should we reclaim them? Or should we have a party that they’re gone?

Another question to consider.  Where does ritual fit in worship? And what are our rituals?  What does it mean that people...

...dance in worship

...sit in silence in worship...kneel in worship

...shake hands or don’t shake hands in worship

And most important how or what do these things communicate about God?

When I began this blog I spoke about how difficult it can be to define worship.  Well, welcome to the intriguing world of praxis (praxis--simply defined: practical application or exercise of your belief system--habitual or established practices of faith).

Why we do what we do in worship is an important question to understand before one tries to determine what should or should not be a part of a corporate worship service.

For example, when we read Scripture in the Army, we do it simply and from wherever we choose within the chapel.  Some of our Christian brothers and sisters will process the  Bible into the congregation and read the gospels there as a sign that God is in the midst of them.  Others read it from a particular podium at the front of the chapel.

So back to my question, how do you determine what to include or what to change in worship? Perhaps the better question, how do we evaluate elements of worship? Permit me to give a helpful suggestion.

Let’s use the element of offering.  Begin by asking the question: “what does it mean to take the offering--why do we do it?”  How do we do it so that it honors God and communicates to Him what that meaning is?  Here is how we determine the answer:

Offering 

• where did it come from historically?
• what does it mean theologically?
• how is it embodied practically?

Having done this we should then understand “how” to do offering and can determine    how to make this better for people and to clear up any confusion; to help them understand offering better and more fully; to help them engage in it more deeply.  They can articulate what it means when we do what we do when it comes to offering.

It is no small thing to plan corporate worship and it should not be taken lightly.  Nor should one make personal preference the driving force in the planning of worship.

(As an aside: your understanding of the best/right way to worship is probably determined by where in history you believe that the church got worship right.  This becomes your point of reference.)

Not only are there elements of worship to consider (preaching, offering, prayer, etc.), there are some basic components into which these elements fall.  

Basics of Worship:

• space--shapes worship and determines what can be done (physically) in worship 
• time--how long should the service be--how much time is allocated for prayer..for God’s Word...for preaching...for singing, etc.
• sound -- we have spoken sounds--we have sung sounds--we have instrumental sounds--and we have silence all of which are resources for worship
• God’s Word--how do you read--do you read--how much time is given it--who reads it and when is it read
• Prayer--different kinds: lament, praise, thanksgiving, intercession, petition--how do they all fit?
• table--the Lord’s Supper (communion)--how is it celebrated?--in the Army we identify this component as holiness received and expressed without the physical elements being used

We have all of these various elements and components of worship.  With each the tendency is to start to think, ‘I like this better than that.’  (This is why words for worship can become so polarizing. For example, most notably, the words ‘contemporary’ and ‘traditional.’ When someone uses one or the other they almost always imply that one is better than the other.)

Lester Ruth, a historian of Christian worship, suggests three neutral categories for worship: 1^st category: What story is told?  Is it the story of the individual receiving the salvation of Christ and then becoming a christian? Or is it the story of God -- God who creates, redeems, and sustains throughout history of which the peoples stories are a small part. And which story takes precedent? Notice that no style is implied here.

2^nd category: Around what primary event is worship organized? There are 3 organizing principals:  1) is it reading and preaching of the Word? 2) is it organized around table (Communion)? 3) is it organized around music?

3^rd Category: Is it congregational or is it connectional. If congregational, most of the resources come from within the church and it does not see itself as part of a denominational body or even as part of the Christian denomination around the world. The connectional church is much more  intentional about using denomination resources, ecumenical resources.  For instance, if its ‘World Day of Prayer’, the connectional church is going to honor that and participate while the congregational church might not know that it is that day. How do you see your congregation’s worship related to another congregation’s worship? This does not imply a style it but helps to understand how worship is organized and structured.

Friends, I know that this has been a rather lengthy blog and if you’re still reading, YEAH!    Bless you!  As you see, we are starting to plumb the depths of worship in a pragmatic and thoughtful way for the purpose of increasing the depth of experience for our congregations and ourselves.  

So let me leave you with a thought from Frederick Buechner: “The sacred moments, the moments of miracle, are often the everyday moments, the moments which, if we do not look with more than our eyes or listen with more than our ears reveal only...a gardener, a stranger coming down the road behind us, a meal like any other meal. But if we look with our hearts, if we listen with all our being and imagination.. what we may see is Jesus himself.”

Worship Happens

We are all worshippers, created to bring pleasure and glory to the God who created us.  It matters not whether you consider yourself Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. or religious in any way.  You don’t believe me?  Go to a rock concert or a sporting event and you will see amazing worship taking place.  People are lifting their hands, shouting, standing in awe, and often reaching out hoping for a touch from their “idol/god.”  They are dedicated to and pledge their allegiance, as well as theirtime and  money towards the objects of their worship.

You daily engage in worship whether your god is shopping, NASCAR, gambling, or a rock star. My point is that you are doing ‘what comes naturally,’ worshipping because we come into this world prewired to just that, worship. Louie Giglio asks the question: “How do we know for sure that some things are more important than others, more worthy of worship?  How do we even know that value, beauty, and worth exist?”  He goes on to answer: “I think it’s because we were designed that way.  We were made for God.” 

So the next time you feel inexorably drawn from idol to idol feeling desperately in need of something or some purpose ask yourself why?  What’s missing?  My guess is that real authentic worship is the missing piece in your life.   

We have been created by God and for God so that we have within us a place that only God can fill. We cannot live with that empty space and if we turn from God we look for other ways to satisfy that inner void or longing.  That God-shaped space within us has often been described as an internal magnet or homing device that pulls us towards God;  yet because God gave us a free will, we can turn from him and try to fill that void with something else.

While in Athens Paul speaks to this God-shaped place in all people as  he tells his listeners about the God that they had been searching for telling the men of Athens to meet the God of gods. He kept describing a God that has “determined” for all humans “their appoint times and the boundaries of their habitation…that men [all people] would seek God…for in him we live and move and exist” (Acts 17). We are not only drawn towards God, he is seeking us in return.  He is seeking so that we can know what we have been created to do and He’s seeking because He knows that we cannot truly live without Him. 

This is why we worship and are so good at it.  This also explains why Jesus willingly came.  He came to connect us once again to God and to awaken us to the possibility of centering our worship on who and what matters most.

The Cross was His Own

At the Beginning of Lent it is good to be reminded of just how blessed we are.  The following poem is one of my favorites. 

They borrowed a bed to lay His head
When Christ the LORD came down;
They borrowed the ass in the mountain pass
For Him to ride to town;
But the crown that He wore,
And the cross that He bore ...
Were His own.

He borrowed the bread when the crowd He fed
On the grassy mountain side;
He borrowed the dish of broken fish
With which He satisfied;
But the crown that He wore
And the cross that He bore
Were His own.

He borrowed the ship in which to sit
To teach the multitude;
He borrowed the nest in which to rest,
He had never a home so rude;
But the crown that He wore
And the cross that He bore
Were His own.

He borrowed a room on the way to the Tomb
The Passover lamb to eat;
They borrowed the cave; for Him a grave;
They borrowed the winding sheet.
But the crown that He wore
And the cross that He bore
Were His own.

The thorns on His head were worn in my stead,
For me the Saviour died.
For guilt of my sin the nails drove in
When Him they crucified;
Though the crown that He wore
And the cross that He bore
Were His own-- They rightly were mine!
~Author Unknown ~

Corporate Worship

Worship is done privately and corporately.  In both instances it is relational.  Privately the relationship is solely with God; corporately that relationship expands to include others, especially those that we worship with on a regular basis.  Both private and corporate worship are needed if one is to grow and mature in their faith as well as deepen their relationship with the Lord.  We learn from each other's experiences in the world, living as God's children, and we learn from each other's personal relationship with God. Thus worship not only informs our faith it increases our knowledge of God and our capacity to trust Him.

In her song titled "Trust His Heart," singer-songwriter Babbie Mason writes: "God is too wise to be mistaken; God is too good to be unkind. So when you don't understand, when you don't see His plan, when you can't trace His hand, trust His heart."

Another writer speaks of trust this way:

     Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee,
     Trust Him when your strength is small,
     Trust Him when to simply trust Him
     Seems the hardest thing of all.

     Trust Him, He is ever faithful,
     Trust Him, for His will is best,
     Trust Him, for the heart of Jesus
     Is the only place of rest.
     (Source Unknown)

How does one learn to trust in the manner that these writers indicate?  One learns through one's own experiences, supported and strengthened by the experiences of others. The point I want to make is that corporate worship is vitally important to the individual. 

My favorite definition for worship comes from Warren Wiersbe, "Worship is the believer's response of all that they are--mind, emotions, will, body--to what God is and says and does."  (Wiersbe, Real Worship. p. 26)  We don't respond fully in isolation we need the worship expression of others in order to be fully engaged in worship.  Samuel Logan Bengal illustrated this well when he took a coal from the fire and placed it on the hearth and said that "then tendency of fire is to go out." Particularly when left on its own.  Just as the coal needed the fuel of other coals to burn, we also need others to fuel our worship experience and expression.  Wiersbe expands further on his definition of worship as he writes that our response to God has "its mystial side in subjective experience, and its practical side in objective obedience to God's revealed truth. It is a loving response that is balanced by the fear of the Lord, and it is a deepening response as the believer comes to know God better." (Real Worship. page 27) 

Whatever your definition of worship may be it should be noted that what one does in worship is to proclaim, recall, and celebrate God's saving events. While the children of Israel looked back upon the Exodus event for their worship experience, Christians are the people of the Christ event.  We recall and celebrate our relationship to God through the redeeming sacrifice of Christ and his continual presence among us.

The results of worship? Transformation.