Saturday, December 13, 2008

Worship Focus for the Third Sunday in Advent: Rejoice!

This Sunday's Lectionary Passages:
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, Psalm 126, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, John 1:6-8, 19-28

Our Advent theme this year at MCF is "Rip the Sky." It is taken from the first verse of the first Advent passage in this year's lectionary. Isaiah 64:1 says, "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down...."

This a prayer of longing and desperation for God to intervene. I think this is an appropriate theme given the desperate situations of our world right now. However, Advent is never to be a time that encourages us just to think about how bad the world is and to sit and long for heaven. Advent is a time of preparation.


This, the third Sunday in Advent, has become known in some liturgical churches as Gaudete Sunday. The Latin word "Gaudete" means, "Rejoice." This week I have thought about the connection between waiting and joy, of longing and fullfilment, and of rejoicing in struggle. I am not going to write my thoughts. Instead I am going to leave you with a couple of passages, one of which is from I Thessalonians 5 which is the New Tesament passage from the Lectionary for this Sunday. I encourage you to read, meditate, and pray on these scriptures. May we allow the Lord to prepare our hearts and lives as we wait for His appearing. My prayer is that the joy of Christ's presence fills our hearts even in these desperate times!

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.
23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound
and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. I Thessalonians 5:16-24 (NRSV)


1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Worship Focus for the 2nd Sunday in Advent: Prepare

Yea, I know it’s been a long time, but I finally am getting around to writing another blog post. I’ve had a lot of good inspirations for posts, but have just found it hard to find the time since September. Anyway, I have a little time this morning so here goes.

Yesterday, as I sat working in my office, Pastor Trisha and Marzette, a Fuller Seminary student who is doing an internship at MCF sat across the room in conversation (Pastor Trisha and I share a large office space). Trisha asked Marzette, an African American woman, about her impressions of the MCF community. This led to them being engaged in an interesting conversation about church and culture. Marzette spoke of the relaxed and comfortable feel at MCF and how it took some getting used to that people dress so casually. Although she found this nicely refreshing, she also explained that she understood and appreciated the African American tradition of getting dressed up for church. I thought about how it wasn’t long ago when everyone dressed in their Sunday best before they went to Sunday service. As a child I usually had to wear nice slacks, dress shoes, a stiff uncomfortable button down shirt, and sometimes even a clip on tie. This slowly changed as informality became the norm in contemporary style churches.

Trisha and Marzette’s conversation drifted into the topic of inward states of the heart as opposed to outward displays. As I worked at my computer on this week’s worship service, I looked down at the familiar advent words, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” It was one of those interesting moments of synchronicity for me as I began to think about preparation; preparation of our hearts and lives.

Corporate worship at its best should be an encounter with the God of the universe. I began to wonder if we take that too lightly as we often just approach going to church as another duty to check off of our weekly “to do” list. Have we become too casual as we approach God? Does the fact that we often meander into service late with coffee and donut in hand signal something deeper? Have we become so comfortable with God as some sort of loving, gentle, cuddly grandpa who we visit on Sunday mornings, that we forget that He is a Majestic King who is to be approached with a sense of awe and reverence? How do we prepare to meet this Awesome King of glory?

As I thought about this, I began to understand why people have demanded, and in some quarters still demand that we dress to impress when going to worship. I am not suggesting that we suddenly must all dress in our finest when we go to church. Jesus exposed the Pharisees who were concerned with outward displays as “Whitewashed tombs.” But our rituals tend to have meaning behind them even if we don’t think about it. Whether we dress up or down and how we prepare ourselves for church is a ritual. I think what is important is that we begin to connect with our rituals. What do they mean to us? If we dress down, we are expressing a comfort in the fact that by God’s grace, He accepts us as we are. That is a wonderful thing as long as we don’t get too comfortable and forget that God is righteous and just and does not want to leave us as we are but wants to make us holy. If we dress up for church we are expressing that God is the King of Kings and that He is worthy of our best as we come into His courts. That is also a good expression as long as we don’t become self-righteous in the process forgetting that even our best is but filthy rags compared with the perfection of God. If we get caught up in outward displays of worship; the right clothes, acceptable behavior, postures of worship, and so on, we can easily become prideful and begin to look down on others who do not approach God in the same manner. In so doing we can forget that we constantly need to expose our hearts to God, to allow Him to uncover the sin that we may be covering up with our religious displays, and to approach God in a spirit of humility and repentance.

Whatever our particular rituals in preparing for worship may be, we need to make sure that we attend to preparing our hearts for an encounter with our Awesome God. If you have a casual approach, prepare your heart by praising God for His love and acceptance, but also be cautious not to get too comfortable. Ready your heart to be open to the unexpected challenge you will always receive in the presence of God. If you have a dress your best approach, don’t forget to be mindful of grooming your heart before you get to church. Don’t allow the fact that you look like a religious church lady or man cause you to become complacent about the state of your heart. Don’t just go through the motions of doing the “church thing” and miss out on a real encounter with God.

An encounter with God is what corporate worship is about. Let’s begin to “prepare the way” for the Lord to work in our hearts. When that happens, the response will always be authentic worship. As our hearts and lives are transformed in the presence of God, we are made ready to go out of the worship service to love and serve Him in this world. Our hearts beat more in sync with the heart of God and we are truly able to “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Once again our mission is connected to our worship.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Worship Focus for the Twelfth Week after Pentecost: Political Idolatry








Scriptures for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 32:22-31, Psalm 17:1-7, 15, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:13-21

Recently my dad gave me a one page article from Christianity Today where the writer was comparing the warnings he heard from a famous Russian dissident in a lecture at Harvard to the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah. As I read, I began to think about how all of the Old Testament prophets had underlying complaints against Israel or Judah that were tied to their warnings of judgment. When you read these prophets, it is like listening to prosecuting attorneys build God's case against the people. So I decided to go back and survey the book of Jeremiah to see what the main complaint was. It was unfaithfulness of worship, otherwise known as idolatry. Since the commentator in Christianity Today was taking a particular political spin, I began to think about how our political agendas can become a form of idolatry. I sat down and in between chores on my day off began to write some thoughts about this subject (I know I can be a real geek sometimes). I then boiled it down to the basics. I hope these basic thoughts help us to stay focused during this politically explosive season. Click on the link to view these thoughts and then return to read the rest of this post:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfcqvpvz_10qtss2rgz

So what do you think?

Think about a typical American corporate worship service. Do you think that much of our worship promotes a self focused agenda with God tacked on? Or is God the focus and we are challenged, stretched, shaped, and molded by our worship for God's agenda? Churches which begin to mix too much of a particular political agenda, whether left or right, into their corporate worship run the danger of trying to tack God onto that which is self focused (personal rights to freedom or justice). Worship that is God centered turns us into grateful people. Grateful people leave the worship experience knowing that they are blessed. They leave more ready to take responsibility and to be good stewards of God's blessings! Gratitude, responsibility, and stewardship are the political values of God's kingdom.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Worship Focus for the Tenth Week after Pentecost: Tuning into the Sound of God's Heart


Today's Scriptures (Lectionary)
Genesis 28:10-19a, Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24, Romans 8:12-25, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43


Recently our church has been studying the redemptive gifts (Found in Romans; Prophet, Servant, Teacher, Exhorter, Giver, Rular, and Mercy). The staff and leaders have been at it a little longer and so I have had a little more time to explore my gift, which is "mercy."

The other day, I half jokingly told Pastor Kevin that this gift of mercy sucks. I know that God is preparing my heart for ministry that I am not yet ready. In the process, I find myself being drawn into ministry situations that are extremely painful. I spend a lot more time in intercessory prayer. And worse off, I am turning into a cry baby. Well, don't get me wrong, I'm not spending my days just blubbering. But in discovering the heart of God, it is painful and it sometimes only finds expression through tears, which I am coming to know is a form of intercessory prayer.

Take a look at this scripture, followed by a poem I wrote Tuesday morning. One of the sounds which flows from the heart of God is a groan.

When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:15-25 (NRSV)

Groaning
By J. Brooke Fenwick
July 2008

Groaning
Longing
Frustrated by the wait
How long O Lord!?
The pain so thick
Like weeds woven throughout the soil of everything
Relief, please!
Need it now! Demand it now!
Running from You in anger
Reaching for the pill on the shelf
For just a moment of relief
From the hurt
To stop the groaning

Groaning
Longing
Frustrated by the wait
How long O Lord!?
Need to feel You now
To know Your presence
Relief, please!
Running, hiding in a cathedral
Swallowing the opiate of religion
For a moment of bliss
Away from reality
To numb the groaning

But You keep us groaning
Move us by longing
Keep us frustrated
I can’t wait any longer Lord!
Embracing the ache
Trying to bring relief
Running to the hurt,
Staring into the eyes of pain
Suddenly You break through
Your eyes staring back at me
I find You
Healing Hope
In the pain

In the groaning

Worship should not serve as an opiate that numbs us to the pain of this world. Worship, should instead tune us to the sound of God's heart and should send us out into the world to be healing hope.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Worship Focus for the Eighth Week after Pentecost: To Feel Pain is to Be Alive

Scriptures for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67, Song of Solomon 2:8-13, Romans 7:15-25, Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Some may know that I have been helping my brother in law as he struggles to overcome a narcotics addiction. This past Saturday I took him to a hospital to begin a detox regimen. I have been talking to him or visiting with him each day. Today when he called me I could tell that he was not a happy camper. He was angry and agitated and complained about how the hospital personnel were not adequately responding to his many discomforts due to withdrawal. I called the hospital to get a progress report. They explained that they were doing everything possible to safely make him comfortable but that they could not just keep pumping meds into him that would “mask” the realities of his condition.


My brother in law was complaining about pain in his joints and throughout his body. He desperately wanted some meds to take away the pain. As I thought about this, I came to a weirdly encouraging thought. For the first time in a long time, he was feeling pain. In a sense to feel pain is a strong indicator that one is alive. For the last four years my brother in law has been avoiding physical and emotional pain by deadening it with narcotics. As a result he has become a shell of himself; sort of a walking zombie. Now he is in a place where they are slowly “unmasking” the pain. In a sense my brother in law is coming to life. No doubt he still has a long way to go. When he completes detox, he will be tempted to bolt and go back to self medicating the pain away. So if he happens to come to mind, please keep him in your prayers. He desperately needs prayer in order to complete this “resurrection” from a dead state.


Most of us may never deal with the slow death that comes from alcoholism or drug addiction, but all of us in some way contend with this same death power. To feel pain means that we are alive. But it is natural to avoid pain. All of us carry deep emotional wounds inflicted through this process we call life. Some have deeper wounds than others but we all carry them. In our quest to avoid pain, we find ways to mask it. Being overly busy, relentlessly striving for success, workaholism, shopping sprees, running up debt, eating disorders, gambling, pornography, promiscuity, unhealthy and abusive relationships, escape activities (being consumed by entertainment and video games), isolation, religious fanaticism and legalism, and on and on are all ways that we try to deaden pain. All of these things kill us slowly as they take more and more control over our ability to freely love God and others. To be alive is to love and to love is to risk pain. So you can see how easy it is to get sucked in by the heavy yoke of death.


Like my brother in law, we all need a resurrection from our pain numbing addictions of choice. But to experience a resurrection we have to overcome our fear of pain. To be fully alive is to feel pain. God in no way is a sadist, but pain can be His gift. If we feel pain it tells us that something is wrong or out of balance in our lives. Pain helps to keep us alive by warning us. The challenge is to deal with the root cause of the pain rather than constantly trying to mask it.


In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."


We find comfort in this scripture and we should. But let’s think about it a bit. First of all Jesus does not say that if we come to Him that we will have no yoke at all. He says that His yoke is easy and burden is light. I’m afraid that our natural interpretation is that Jesus is saying that he will alleviate all pain. But I don’t think that is what he is saying. Jesus says, “For I am gentle and humble of heart.” To take on Jesus’ yoke means that we become inseparably linked to Him. We are to learn from Him. We are to take on His gentleness (in Greek, meekness), and humility. It was precisely those two characteristics which allowed Jesus to accept the pain of the cross.


Philippians 2:5-8 says, Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, *did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!


*This line well describes the idea of meekness. Jesus did not inappropriately exploit his power.


When we “learn of Him” and take on these same characteristics of meekness and humility we will also suffer as Christ did. In a sense Jesus calls us to come alive to His pain. In order to do that, we must first recognize the pain in our own lives. We must realize that our pain avoidance behaviors are indeed heavy and burdensome yokes that drive us and choke the life out of us. In order to lose that yoke of burden, we must come to Christ honestly by acknowledging our pain. We must honestly confess that our pain numbing activities are cutting us off from Christ, our source of real life. In a sense Jesus calls us to come and die to death and come alive to life in Him. It is ironic that many of the things that consume us and that deceptively make us feel that we are living, are really the things that are killing us spiritually (and sometimes, like with my brother in law, also physically).


We must also be careful that our worship and prayer activities don’t just become another exercise in numbing pain. Many people constantly seek emotional “highs” in worship and mountain top prayer experiences. Yes, God can touch our emotions deeply during worship and prayer. But true worship and contemplation are not emotional escapes from pain. Worship and prayer should bring us into the light of God’s presence. That can often be a painful experience because we are then forced to see ourselves and this world in the light of God’s truth. In that sense worship and prayer can be both hard and painful and yet healing and transformative. It is in worship and prayer that we are able to “come to Him” and trade our death yokes for Christ’s yoke of life and peace. As we often sing in our church, “In the safety of this place, I’m longing to pour out my heart.” Worship and prayer should create a safe place for us to go deep into the pain of our hearts and pour them out before God. Worship and prayer create a place where we begin to discover that the pain in our own hearts is the same pain and woundedness that is experienced by all of humanity. It is that pain which Jesus accepted on the cross and it is the pain that we accept when we take on God’s heart of love and compassion for this world. It is through coming to terms with our own wounds that we can truly minister to others. I believe this is Christ’s yoke that we take on. It is a yoke of pain. But more importantly it is the only yoke of peace and healing rest.




Thursday, June 26, 2008

Worship Focus for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost: Hospitality


Scriptures for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 22:1-14, Psalm 13, Romans 6:12-23, Matthew 10:40-42

The other day I was running an errand into East Los Angeles and as I drove I felt a “tug” to stop at the Christian school where I used to be the principal. I entered the office and was quickly met by one of my former employees who is now an assistant administrator himself. We spent some time consoling each other over the recent massacre of the Lakers by the Celtics. While we spoke I noticed that this man had a troubled spirit. I recognized it immediately because I often felt heavily burdened and troubled when I was at the school. After a while his face grew serious and he said, “Can I ask you a question?” I said, “Sure.” He didn’t ask a question but began to unload his burden. I needed to complete my errand and wanted to make sure that I could give him the time to talk so I asked if I could quickly do what I needed to do and then return. He was okay with this. When I returned, I spent at least an hour pretty much just listening to him pour out his heart. Toward the end of our talk I offered some words of encouragement and prayed with him. I could tell that this simple act of being present had meant the world to this brother in the Lord who a while earlier had been carrying his burden alone and probably feeling very isolated.

During the course of our conversation he expressed how much I had meant to him as he was coming to the Lord when he first enrolled his own kids in the school and later began to work there. He is now a pastor and has a heart for the kids and families there at the school and in his own congregation. He told me about a father of one of the school children who had sought him out for prayer and spiritual council. This man has been involved with the type of things that we only know of from watching movies about the mob. It took two years for this hardened tough guy to get up the courage to seek out this administrator. In our conversation, he mentioned the guy’s name and it turns out he was a former student of mine. I instantly remembered him. As a sixth and seventh grader he was already headed for trouble. From a family broken by gang violence, drugs, and abuse, this kid put up the typical “tough guy” façade of a scared, grieving little boy who given his circumstances and the “jungle” in which he lived, could not display weakness. Yet I still remembered his face and his eyes welling up with tears when he would let down his guard and talk privately to me about his pain. I remembered praying with him and that underneath his already calloused exterior there was a very tender heart for the Lord. But most of all, I remembered pushing aside my after school grading to just listen to him to talk about his interests and the goings on of his life. I often wondered what became of this young man. He pretty much went down the path that I hoped that he would not. Yet, as a grown man, he brought his own child back to the place where he once found hope. And he also knew to turn to someone at the same place now for that same hope. This administrator expressed that he had learned to minister to people like this, in part, from talking with me and watching me. I was humbled because I didn’t realize that I was doing anything special in the day in day out drudgery of trying to keep a little inner city Christian ministry afloat. I had some pretty big dreams for that little school, most of which were unrealized when I left.
These small happenings this week among others have spoken to me about the importance of being present. We can get so caught up in life. We get swept away in our pursuits of happiness and success. Unfortunately we can even be so blinded by our own visions of doing “big things” for God that we miss the fact that often the biggest things are the smallest things.

In Matthew 10:40 Jesus is quoted as saying, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me.” In this passage Jesus is talking to His disciples about their mission in this world. He has just warned them that their being faithful to him would lead to persecution and even division among their own families. But then He goes on to say that those who welcomed them, would welcome Him. Although Jesus is encouraging His disciples here, I think he also gives a general principle. It is a principle of hospitality. Hospitality simply means to welcome. Do we welcome the little things that intrude upon our plans, pursuits, and visions? Are we sensitive to those moments that can become divine appointments if we welcome people and their problems and pains into our lives? To do so requires us to stop and be present. I have often been surprised by the sudden realization, that in those moments of “welcome” (both when I am the welcomer or the one being welcomed), Jesus is present. In that sense, life itself becomes a sacrament.

When we meet for corporate worship we “welcome” Jesus through receiving the word and the sacrament of Holy Communion. I wonder if this aspect of our worship is meant, among other things, to be a rehearsal. Is it a rehearsal for the main drama that unfolds in the many moments of our lives when we have the opportunity to be hospitable? It is in those small moments that we choose either to welcome Christ or not.

Friday, May 30, 2008

The Call to Worship

This week, I wasn't really inspired to write anything specifically related to the worship theme for this Sunday. So I dug up something I already wrote that has just been sitting on my hard drive. Recently in reading Mark Labberton's book, The Dangerous Act of Worship, I began to think about the meaning of the various parts of the worship service as they relate to the issue of justice. Much of what I write, here, is based on Labberton's book, especially as it relates to justice. I expanded on the issue of justice by also discussing how acts of corporate worship build community.

From time to time, I'll post these thoughts. This week I start at the beginning of the service and the "Call to Worship."


The Call to Worship

What Is It? A call to worship is a re-focusing. It is a call to take pause from the rat race we call life. Our focus has a way of warping as we go about our daily life. God’s presence and true Lordship can be drowned out by all of the noise and stress of our reality. Other things scream loudly at us. A call to worship calls us to recognize a different reality. It brings God back into focus and calls us to place Him back on the throne of our hearts. The most important thing to realize about the call to worship is that we do not call ourselves to worship, GOD CALLS US. It is based on Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all of your might.” To start a service by singing, “I will worship with all of my heart” doesn’t quite qualify as a call to worship. Worship does not start with us. It starts with God calling us. The Bible is full of calls by God for people to worship Him. Two of the most common calls to worship that are chanted every morning by monastics are Psalm 95 and Psalm 100. A true call to worship implies that we have heard Him calling us to worship Him, so “Come, let us worship Him and bow down…” Let us acknowledge God’s rightful place, “For He is our God and we are His people.”

How Does It Form Community? For those who accept this call and gather, they are gathered TOGETHER in His name for one common purpose; to worship God. Our individualism is set aside and as a community we do the work of worship. We together acknowledge and bow our hearts before God. He is our God and we are His PEOPLE. I am no longer just an individual worshiper. I have been gathered by God into a community of worshippers. A worship leader who starts off a service with, “How are you doing today?” is not recognizing the purpose for which we are gathered. He/she is taking the individual “temperature” of the room to see what must be done to move individuals "into the presence of God." This type of greeting reinforces individualism. The traditional greeting of worship is, “The Lord be with you” and the congregation calls back, “And also with you.” This is a recognition of the presence of God that exists in Christian community “where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there.” If two or three people come together around a meal, you have community. If two or three people come together and recognize that God is in the middle of that gathering, there is true Christian fellowship.

How Does It Confront Injustice? The call to worship is an invitation beyond all other power. This world is a loud mix of often competing and disordered powers that burden us and weigh us down. God calls us to bow before the power that is above all powers. God’s call is both a command and invitation in that it is not like the call of powerful people/institutions who make their demands on us and “manipulate” our submission. God gives it to all who have ears and he says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). Mark Labberton says, “At the start of worship, the Lord invites all who have ears to hear. This call goes to God’s people as a whole as well as to individuals. The qualification we bring is our neediness, NOT OUR STATURE….God calls us ALL to worship….The call is based on the power and grace of God, not on our own power or worthiness. It places everyone on even ground.” Therefore a church that is called to worship is a church that is not divided by race, class, levels of education, or stature. It flies in the face of power structures that divide and reward people based on their status and positions in life. We are equal at the foot of the cross.

How Will It Look? How can a congregation be called to worship in ways that make sense within its cultural setting? The work of the people (liturgy) must be in the “language” of the people. As people walk into the worship space as individuals each coming from a different place, how can we gather them so that they hear God’s call to drop everything for the next hour or so and worship? What can be done to encourage people to recognize God’s presence within the community gathered to worship? For those new to the Christian community and who are unfamiliar with corporate worship, how do we create an environment where they can, maybe for the first time, begin to hear God calling them to worship? Will we use a song, scripture, a prayer, a poem, art or visuals? What medium does God want to use to call us to worship Him?

Call to Worship
By Vicki Beeching
2005

Verse 1
The blazing sunrise
The endless oceans
The spinning planets
All reveal their Maker's pow'r
They shout His glory
They shine His beauty
Their voices cry an invitation to us all
They are summoning every soul
Summoning every soul

Chorus
This is a call to worship
Let it echo all around the earth
This is a call to bow down
And give God the glory He deserves

Verse 2
We have gathered
To praise our Maker
We've come to worship Him
For we have heard the call
Let ev'ry nation and all creation
Join us worshipping the holy God of all
As we cry out to all of this world
Cry out to all of this world

Bridge
To the north and the south
Let this invitation resonate
To the east and the west
Let this invitation resonate
'Til the north and the south
'Til the east and the west
Overflow with praise

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Worship Focus for the Second Sunday after Pentecost: Walls around Time



Scriptures for the Second Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 49:8-16a, Psalm 131, I Corinthians 4:1-5, Matthew 6:24-34


When I was a kid growing up in a holiness denomination, there was still a lot of legalism surrounding the observance of Sabbath. I remember when I was 10 I traveled with my parents to the General Conference of our denomination. It was held in a small town in the middle of Indiana. This town was home to two denominational headquarters and a bible school. One of the fun things to do in this little town was to go swimming or canoeing in the lake. One hot, humid summer Sunday, I headed down to the lake in my swim trunks ready to plunge into the lake to cool off. That idea went right out of the window as soon as I got to the lake and found the beach closed. A big sign on the fence, quoted the fourth commandment, “Thou shalt remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Underneath this biblical command was the local ordinance banning any swimming or boating in the lake on Sundays. I was at a loss as to how swimming in a lake on a hot day was breaking the Sabbath.

Although we have to be careful not to go to legalistic extremes, we should remember an important principle of which the Sabbath reminds us. That principle is the consecration of time.

And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation. (Genesis 2:3 NIV)

To “consecrate” means to set aside for a special purpose. When God consecrated the Sabbath, He set it apart. What God sets apart becomes holy. Since God declared one day to be set apart as Holy, it became law in the Fourth Commandment of the Ten Commandments. Specifically, the law stated that people were not to work on the Sabbath.

Laws always lead to “what if” questions. They beg for further clarification. In Jesus’ time, the Sabbath had been clarified over and over through a set of very specific “don’ts” that went way beyond the spirit of the law, or principle of consecration. The Pharisees could even tell you how many steps you could take on the Sabbath before you were considered to be working. Of course Jesus got in trouble for “violating” the Sabbath. In one instance Jesus responded by saying, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

Jesus reminded us that consecrated time is a blessing. It is something we need. It is something that God gave us for our good.

The consecration of time is something we just do not know in this crazy, fast paced, stressful kind of lifestyle we tend to lead. So we must ask, “How do we consecrate time?” Consecration, or setting apart, has to do with creating borders or boundaries. Do we regularly set boundaries to create “holy” time in our lives? By holy time, I mean time that is set apart for fellowship with God and others. Holy time is time for true rest and recreation (or re-creation). What types of activities bring us into fellowship with God and others? What brings us true rest and renewal?

If we hope to successfully set apart time for these purposes, we have to set some boundaries around certain time periods. I hate to say it, but if we don’t impose some strict boundaries we will find that our consecrated time will be invaded by the same old, same old. We will find that business, urgent demands, chores, work, and even mindless activities that don’t truly renew will all find their place and crowd out “holy time.”

Here are some traditional ways that Christians have consecrated time.

1. Sunday. Christians have from earliest times viewed Sunday as a holy day. It is the day when Christ rose from the dead. It is the symbolic, “eighth day” of the new creation. It is our tradition to set this day (especially Sunday morning) aside for corporate worship. It has been a time when the community of believers do the "work" of worship together (liturgy). In this day and age all kinds of things crowd their way into this consecrated time. Work schedules, sports on TV, shopping, chores, and recreational activities that we don’t seem to have any other time to get in, all invade this special “holy” time. Of course there is no hard and fast rule (legalism) that says that Christians must go to church on Sunday mornings, and in fact many can’t these days. But for those of us who can, have we set a boundary around this time? Do we have a time set apart for gathering with other believers on a weekly basis for worship?

2. The Christian Year. Early Jewish Christians marked their year with observance of Jewish holy days and periods. Over time, Christians began to mark time with special days and periods of their own. These “holy times” connect us with God’s story and bring us into it. Eugene Peterson, author of the Message describes it in his book entitled, Eat this Book, as follows, “…the sweeping tidal rhythms of the church year in which the story of Jesus and the Christian makes its rounds century after century, the large and easy interior rhythms of a year that moves from birth, life, death, resurrection, on to spirit, obedience, faith, and blessing.” Instead, our years tend to be defined by annual events that add stress and create debt. Tax deadlines, birthdays and holidays which obligate us to spend money, the back to school rush, holiday preparations and lots of pre-Christmas shopping, and so on, all crowd out this beautiful and traditional way in which Christians have consecrated time. Taxes, holidays, and shopping are inevitable. But are there ways that we can consecrate the cycle of our year by setting apart special holy days and periods?

3. The Daily Office. Again, early Jewish Christians were used to praying at certain set points throughout the day. This practice was later developed by monastics into daily times for the "work" of prayer (offices). Lauds, Vespers, Compline, and others are names monks used for appointed consecrated times of prayer each day. We may not have the luxury of living in a monastery where the day is ordered around prayer points. But do we set boundaries around time periods each day to spend in prayer? Do we have that quiet time and space away from the intrusions of the day just to be still or to meditate on God’s word? What kind of boundaries do we need to construct to protect the blessing of time with God?

When we carve out consecrated time in our lives by placing boundaries around special days, hours, and minutes, we make an important acknowledgment. We acknowledge that there are limits to what we can do. We get caught up in trying to squeeze it all in and get it all done. We feel like we can’t afford to stop and rest. Some of us may even feel guilty. We may feel like the world is on our shoulders and everything is going to fall apart if we don’t just get that extra thing done. Life begins to speed up and pass by in a blur of deadlines, goals we have to meet, and obligations that must be fulfilled. Consecrating time acknowledges that the world rests on God’s shoulders and not our own. Setting aside time for true rest, prayer, and worship gives us a better perspective and helps us to set our priorities straight.

Without being legalistic, think about when and how you could place some walls around your time. How can you create that breathing room for worship and true rest?

I’ll leave you with a couple of readings from this coming Sunday’s lectionary scriptures. Why not carve out some time to meditate on them?

Psalm 131 (the Message)
1 God, I'm not trying to rule the roost, I don't want to be king of the mountain. I haven't meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans. 2 I've kept my feet on the ground, I've cultivated a quiet heart. Like a baby content in its mother's arms, my soul is a baby content. 3 Wait, Israel, for God. Wait with hope. Hope now; hope always!


Matthew 6:25- 27 (NIV)
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

.



Thursday, May 15, 2008

Worship Focus for Trinity Sunday: Befriended



Scripture Readings for Trinity Sunday

Genesis 1:1-2:4a, Psalm 8, II Corinthians 13:11-13, Matthew 28:16-20


The Trinity is the most foundational of all Christian doctrines. Without the Trinity so many of our important beliefs make no sense. Yet the Trinity itself is a concept that makes no logical sense. We use all kinds of illustrations to try to help ourselves get it. They all fall short because on a logical level the Trinity is a confusing contridiction: The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, the Father is not the Spirit, etc...

Where logic fails, we are left with mystery. I don't think it is a cop out to say that things that are not explained logically are simply mystery. That is not a dismisall. It is an admission that logic falls short of being able to explain all.

There is a line in the song, "Befriended" by Matt Redman that says, "Invited, invited deep into this mystery." Logic can take us so far. Cutting edge science might even be able to take us further into explaining apparent paradoxes. But we are invited deeper into the mystery of the life of the Triune God.

So let's focus on this invitiation that begins with this statement: God is love. Theologian John R. Franke says, "From all eternity God has been involved in giving, receiving and sharing in a fellowship of love as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Think of the ways in which God seeks to bring us into this fellowship of love as you read the verses of the song, "Befriended" by Matt Redman.


Verse 1
Befriended, befriended
By the King above all kings
Surrendered, surrendered
To the Friend above all friends

Here I think of the Father, Lord God, creator of the universe. His act of creation was an act of sharing love. He created us to be in communion (friendship if you will) with Him.

Verse 2
Invited, invited
Deep into this mystery
Delighted, delighted
By the wonders I have seen

Here I think of the work of the Holy Spirit by which we experience the fellowship of God's love which is truly a wonder and delight.

Verse 3
Astounded, astounded
That Your gospel beckoned me
Surrounded, surrounded
But I've never been so free

Here I think of the work of the Son. As I am brought into the life and love of God through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, I am truly astounded that I see this love perfectly lived out only by one man as I read the pages of the gospel. I also think about the discipline (not legalism) of the narrow road that is the only path to true freedom.

Verse 4
Determined, determined
Now to live this life for You
You're so worthy
My greatest gift would be
The least You're due

This is my response as I am brought into the mystery of God. It is not a "grin and bear it" works mentality. It is the gift of God's very love and grace establishing an inner confidence and fortitude to love and serve God. God brings us in, so we can bring others into this amazing love that is only found in God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Even the gifts that God gives us and ignites through the Holy Spirit are simply manifestations of His grace at work in our lives. The only gift I have to offer back to God is what He has first given me. As I give back to God with a thankful heart, somehow the circle of God's love is expanded. The Triune God (Tri-Unity) reaches out and continues to enlarge the COMMUNITY of God's love. It is truly amazing that we are invited into this mystery!




Friday, May 9, 2008

Worship Focus for Pentecost Sunday: Unity and Diversity


Scripture Readings for Pentecost Sunday
Acts 2:1-21, Psalm 104:24-34, 35b, I Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 20:19-23
The ongoing presidential race has been a historic and interesting one. One thing that is clear to me from this race is the natural tendency for people to polarize. Of course a lot of this polarization is fed by the media. But the media also reflects the basic tendency for people to divide. If you listen to what the cable news channels are talking about you will see that it has little to do with issues. Instead the pundits spend countless hours talking about divisions that exist in our country. This presidential race is interesting because no matter who wins, it will be a first. If Obama wins, he will be the first African American president. If Hillary wins, she will be the first woman. If McCain wins, he will be the oldest ever to take the oath of office. It is no wonder so much of the talk is about who is the most electable. All of this electability talk revolves around issues of race, gender, and age. We hear endless analysis of poles which group voters into categories that not only reflect race, gender, and age, but also education levels, income levels, and blue collar vs. white collar workers. Division just seems to be a natural human competency. We tend to divide and then unite with people whom we most identify.

There is a story found in Genesis 11:1-9. It is the story of the Tower of Babel and it is sort of the counter story to the Pentecost event in Acts 2. According to the story of Genesis 11, the people who were scattered came together for one purpose. "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." Division starts with pride. Our divisions happen when we get together with other like minded people so that we "can make a name for ourselves."

The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them...."

There is strength in numbers so we tend to group with those like ourselves. The problem comes with the superiority that often comes with group identification. For instance, how has and how does America display this type of superiority in the world? Within our own country, which groups have been the "winners" and which have been the "losers?" Winning and losing breeds deep resentments and divides. In fact, it seems as though groups that gain more and more power tend to always do so at the expense of other groups. Great injustices such as African slavery and genocide of Indigenous populations were used to the benefit of some in our own country, the scars of which still run deep and divide us.

That is why God opposes such "unity." It almost always blatantly raises itself up against God's justice. So what happens in the Genesis story?

Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel--because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

God frustrates their efforts to unify. He divides the people by giving them diverse languages. However, we know that this did not really solve the problem. Now people just had another reason to unify and divide.

God's vision for unity is much different. It is radical and is not something that comes naturally to people. It is a vision of unity and diversity. We see God's plan unfold in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. In an upper room in Jerusalem there was gathered a small group of people who were alike. They were all from Galilee. As in Genesis God "came down," this time in the form of His Spirit. There was a rushing wind and tongues of fire and all of the Galileans began to speak in other languages that they did not know. As we see in Acts, "...there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language."

This time God took a group of people from one culture who spoke one language and gave them different languages, not do divide but to unite. The day that the Church was born it went from being a small group of people who were all the same to a much expanded group of diverse people who were from all over the world. "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."

God's vision is for unity in diversity. The power behind this unity is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings us into fellowship with God and each other. It is a fellowship of love that unites and does not divide. God does not strip us of our unique identities. But those things become secondary to the fellowship of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the mind of Christ. It is only by having the mind of Christ that we can be unified in our differences. If we want to know the mind of Christ, we only have to look at the cross of Christ. The mind of Christ is one of total humility.

"...then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:2-8)

And by His Spirit, as we love and serve each other, God uses our diversity to bring about unity. He gives us His grace to pass on in the form of diverse spiritual gifts.

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.... 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (I Corinthians 12:2-7; 12-13)

In the Body of Christ it does not matter if we are Jews or Greeks, Black, White, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, young, old, or in between. God does not erase who we are. In fact He ministers His grace within the context of who we are in the form of spiritual gifts. Like the song says, "How beautiful is the Body of Christ!"

When we see division within the Body of Christ, we have to ask if the Spirit of Lord is being allowed to work among us? Things like language, culture, and location may always make it difficult for us to worship together on earth. But do we continue to define ourselves by our divisions? Do we seek the good only for our own (fill in the blank)? The unity in our diversity is a direct measurement of how much we have the mind of Christ. And it is a direct measurement of how open we are to the Spirit's work.

I think that humility is at the center of worship. Humility cannot be faked through postures of worship. Humility is lived. Humility is the natural outcome of the work of the Holy Spirit. Pride brings division. Humility brings unity. The love and unity among God's people is the best form of worship!

I don't "imagine" that someday I will join John and Yoko Lennon so that "the world will be one." It sounds like a beautiful vision. But when I think about it, it feels more like it could turn out to be a terrifying nightmare. There is no stopping humans when they come together. And there is no end to the atrocities that we are capable of committing when we think "our group" is right and justified. Even if we don't have "heaven and hell to live and die for" we will find something else. Even those who value tolerance can become very intolerant of those labled, "intolerant." If we aren't fighting for God or country, we will find something else to war over. Instead, I pray that God will help me by His Spirit to lay down my life for others. I pray that God will unify His Church under the mind of Christ. There is nothing scary about a unified group of diverse Spirit filled people willing to give up their own rights simply to love and serve this world. That is the only hope for true unity!



Friday, May 2, 2008

Worship Focus for the Seventh Sunday in Easter: Good Things Come to Those Who Wait


Scripture Readings for the Seventh Sunday in Easter

Acts 1:6-14, Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35, I Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11, John 17:1-11

The Ascension of Christ is something that we often don’t think much about. It is sort of an interesting story that sits between Easter and Pentecost. Jesus promises the disciples that they will receive power from the Holy Spirit and that they will become His witnesses. Then He begins to rise up into the clouds until He disappears. The disciples were all still looking up when two men dressed in white (angels) appeared and basically told them that it was useless to keep looking up because Jesus had gone up to heaven.

This story just seems like a nice ending to the gospel. Jesus was born, He lived, taught, did miracles, was crucified, on the third day rose, appeared to the disciples, and disappeared into heaven. But the Christian community of the New Testament saw this event as something more significant. When we read the New Testament Jesus’ exalted place in heaven is mentioned often. In fact Psalm 110:1 is the most often quoted Old Testament scripture in the New Testament. It reads:

The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

The early Christians understood real power. Jesus, their friend was now their advocate. What an advocate to have! Here is someone who knew them because He had lived their life and now He was seated in the place of highest authority. When he appeared to them after the resurrection He showed them that he was no ghost but was made of human flesh and bone like them. He ascended in the flesh. And now human flesh was seated in glory. No wonder the New Testament writers talked so much about hope!

After Jesus ascended, the disciples returned to Jerusalem and began to wait for what Jesus had promised – power. Waiting isn’t easy. We don’t like to wait. I’m sure it was no different for the disciples in that upper room. But what they had witnessed at the ascension probably made the wait easier. They knew that Jesus had the authority to deliver on His promise. And He did. As we know, the Holy Spirit came in power on the day of Pentecost.

What we see next is an explosion of Christianity. It is recorded in the book of Acts. The name “Acts” tells it all. It is a book of empowered action. What we may overlook is that it is also a book of “Waits.” The early Christians understood that power came from God. There was no need to strike out on their own. Instead we read about them waiting on the Lord in prayer often with very powerful results. These early Christians had all of the odds stacked against them. They were up against skepticism and severe persecution at times. They had little or no political clout. But they continued firm in their resolve. They understood that Jesus was not only the risen Savior but also the ascended Lord with all authority. They experienced this power through the Holy Spirit. What we see in the book of Acts is a calm, directed, yet powerful and unstopable movement. This movement happened because of worship and prayer. As the early Christians waited on God, their perspective on power and authority was kept straight. They knew that God was in control.

Worship helps us to keep our perspective straight. In worship we know and declare that, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11). Worship reminds us that Jesus, who is highly exalted, is also our friend and brother. We have an advocate who is on our side because He understands our life. In worship we experience God’s power through the Holy Spirit. Worship reminds us that we don’t have to “jump the gun” and charge ahead taking matters into our own hands. Worship reminds us to humbly wait on God for wisdom, direction, and power to act.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. (I Peter 4:6-7)

We Wait on You

We wait on You.
For it’s not by our own power and strength.
We wait on You.
Holy Spirit please descend upon this place.

To Your will and to Your way
Lord, we surrender.
Our hearts are open wide to Your love.
Help us follow You always and forever.
We need Your holy fire from above.

We Wait on You, by J. Brooke Fenwick, copyright 2001. All rights reserved.



Friday, April 25, 2008

Worship Focus for the Sixth Sunday in Easter: Our Mission Depends on Our Worship


Scripture Readings for the Sixth Sunday in Easter
Acts 17:22-31, Psalm 66:8-20, I Peter 3:13-22, John 14:15-21

The more I understand about biblical worship, the more convinced I become that the reason that the North American Church tends to be so weak and anemic is that for the most part, we don't understand worship. One reason we fail in our mission is that we fail at worship. Our worship tends to be very self focused. Churches spend tons on "producing" slick worship services. Everything is perfect. The music is professional, the lighting is just right, video and drama keep us entertained. A lot of attention is placed on style. Unfortunately style isn't enough. We need to be paying more attention to the content of our worship. The content problem is the main problem with contemporary worship. Churches have traded mission for marketing. Many contemporary worship services are just cheesy infomercials for Jesus. The problem is that the Jesus we often attempt to market does not much resemble Jesus of Nazareth. I sometimes imagine what would happen if Jesus showed up in the flesh at a typical American mega church. I envision Him being whisked to wardrobe and make-up and then as He sits in the green room waiting to go on, he is handed a sheet with suggested "talking points." The problem with putting make-up on Jesus and trying to market Him is that the content of His message does not go over very well in our culture. How do you market the cross and the narrow road?

I've been reading a great book entitled, The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God's Call to Justice, by Mark Labberton. Every worship leader and every person involved with worship MUST read this book! The back cover of the book says, "But something has gone wrong with our worship. Too often worship has become a place of safety and complacency, a narrowly private experience in which solitary individuals only express their personal adoration. Even when we gather corporately, we often close our eyes to those around us, focusing on God but ignoring our neighbor. But true biblical worship does not merely point us upward - it should focus us outward."

In the chapter of this book entitled, "When Worship Talks to Power," Labberton says, "Our mission depends on our worship." This statement is based on the fact that true biblical worship re-orders our typical view of power. Labberton says, "There are many reasons that worship and justice are inextricable, but the central one is the reality that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9, I Corinthians 12:3). Worship acknowledges and bows, explores and confesses, seeks and depends on God's power. Justice searches and reflects, weighs and suffers, identifies and demonstrates God's power in all relationships. When we look at it this way, Christian worship...can and should be one of the most profound and relevant responses to power abuse in the world. In worship we cast our lives upon the faithful and just power of God. When we do so, we oppose all acts of unjust power. The gospel of Jesus Christ is about God's remarkable initiative and grace marshaled to realign power: the power of sin, evil, suffering, injustice and death.... In the gospel, the matchless and invincible heart of God confronts and defeats the heart of darkness and death. In its unexpected, power inverting way, the sacrificial love of God in 'Christ crucified' recasts all forms of power. That's the work and meaning of the cross. Our worship helps us remember this power realignment so we can live differently because of it."

In I Peter 3:21-22 (NIV) we read,

"21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him."

This is what our worship proclaims. This new power structure has radical implications for the true worshipper. We no longer bow to the powers of this world. We know who truly holds all power and so we bow to Him alone not just when we sing, "I worship You alone," but also with the way we choose to live in this world. Unfortunately our typical contemporary worship encourages us to sing, "I worship you alone" but leaves us with a severe disconnect as to what that means once we walk out the doors of the church. True worship simply does not allow us to proclaim that we worship Him alone and then live in a way that does not testify to that fact. True worship is dangerous. It messes with our notions of safety. It knocks us out of our "cushy" zones! It causes us to go to the war torn areas of Southern Sudan and into the gang and crime ridden areas of our inner cities. It demands that if we truly believe that all authorities and powers are in submission to Him, then we won't go along with power schemes that are opposed to His rule.

Paul and Silas and Martin Luther King Jr. are examples of those who understood worship. Their songs of praise and liberation rang from their prison cells. Worship can get us into trouble because power abusers (even those in the Church) don't like their authority to be challenged.

"But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." (I Peter 3:14)

Can you imagine the power the gospel would have if we just could get a hold of what it means to truly worship? Perhaps that is the main reason why the gospel tends to spread like an epidemic in places where there are the most abuses of power. It is the power of the cross, demonstrated by humble Christians who are willing to suffer persecution, that provides the most hope in the darkest places of this world.

15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (I Peter 3:15-16)

1. "...in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord." That is what we do when we worship. We get the power structure straight. Christ is Lord! He holds all power and authority.

2. "...the reason for the hope that you have." Peter seems to assume that people are going to notice when we get worship right. The reason they will notice is that we will naturally be going against the grain. We will stand out. They are going to notice that we have a strange hope and we are going to get asked about it.

3. "Always be prepared to give an answer...with gentleness and respect." Worship is what sets the stage for mission. The New Testament church was so effective in its mission because when they preached the gospel, they could always point to their worship (Acts 2:43-47) as exhibit A that the message was true. Their understanding of the new power structure in play post resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost led them to live a radically different lifestyle. And God added to their number each day those who were saved.

Instead of turning worship into a marketing spectacle, we need to allow our worship to turn us inside out. As our lives and our values are changed through both corporate and personal worship, mission is the natural outcome. It will become a part of who we are. Our mission depends on our worship!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Worship Focus for the Fifth Sunday in Easter: You Can't Build a Temple with One Stone


Fifth Sunday in Easter Scripture Readings

Acts 7:55-60, Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16, I Peter 2:2-10, John 14:1-14


God’s people have always had to be on guard against Idolatry (or worship of something or someone other than God). It was true of the people of Israel in the days of the prophets and it is true today. True today? How do we practice Idolatry? We here in America love our freedom. But what has freedom become to us? I think if we gave an honest answer it would have a lot to do with Individualism. Individualism taken to the extreme is worship of self. Self worship is the most diabolical form of Idolatry.

All forms of worship, even self worship, have with it religious like rituals and liturgy. Let’s think for a moment about some of the common rituals of American “Me” worship. Why is it that most American homes have multiple TV and computer screens scattered throughout the house? Why is that people don’t buy as many CD’s and listen to music on the radio as much but instead it is common in any crowd to see a large fraction of people with their ears plugged with headphones? Why is it that when we make that gridlocked commute to work alone in our cars everyone else is also trapped and isolated in their vehicles? Why is it that if we actually choose to communicate with another it is often with these funny shorthand codes we shoot to the other person’s phone? Why is it that with the revolution in technology that is supposed to make life more efficient, we never seem to have enough time to get everything done? Why are we so tired and stressed out? When was the last time you invited a friend over for a home cooked meal and sat down over dinner for a leisurely conversation? When was the last time you took the whole day off and did nothing and didn’t feel guilty about it? Why are most Americans in debt?

“On demand” is a term that we tend to like. We like to customize the way we experience our own life and we get very annoyed by anyone or anything that gets in the way of our “on demand” lifestyle. Basically we say, “Don’t get in the way of my freedom to go where I want when I want, do what I want when I want, and to be what I want on my own terms. I have a right to be happy!”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that if you own an iPod you are an Idol worshipper. What I am saying is that we have to be aware of this “on demand” attitude. We also need to be very careful about taking it into the life of the church. I’m afraid that this “me” style of Idolatry gets practiced far more than we realize in our churches. We can have an “on demand” attitude about the churches that we feel are lucky enough to be graced by our presence. We want our kind of music, just the right pastor and sermon, and just the right programs so that we can “get spiritually fed.” But it isn’t just the people who attend church who are responsible, churches also buy into it. Many churches want to get people in the door so they spend all of their resources trying to give the people what they want. I hate to say it, but it is just simple Idolatry.

An over exaggerated “self” does not work in the Church. Take a look at this passage from I Peter 2:5 (NRSV)

…like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

There are two phrases that stand out to me here. First is, “living stones,” and second is, “be built into.” The term, “living stones” alludes to individual people. God is definitely interested in us as individuals. He created each of us unique. He shapes each of our lives through experience. But he doesn’t do that so we can just be a beautiful well shaped stone sitting isolated on the ground somewhere. One stone does not a temple make. He shapes our lives to “fit” somewhere. He shapes us to be built into His Church. We don’t lose our individual identity, but our individuality does not make sense without fitting into a whole. The phrase, “…be built into a spiritual house” sounds constricting. Does God just want me to be another brick in the wall that is constrained and stuck in one place? I think, in a sense, the answer to that is, “yes.” But you might say, “What about my freedom? Doesn’t God bring freedom?” Let’s explore freedom a bit.

Discipline and commitment are the cement that fixes us into our place in the Church. For us individualistic Americans the words, discipline and commitment, are not words we may care for much. They get in the way of our “on demand” lifestyle. But discipline and commitment are keys to real freedom. I am always amazed when I see and hear a skilled instrumentalist play. Although the music they produce is spectacular, what amazes me is the freedom and grace with which the instrumentalist plays. That instrumentalist probably had a lot of natural ability to begin with but would have never been able to play with such freedom without having put in countless minutes, hours, days, and years of committed and disciplined study and practice. So to, spiritual freedom comes with being built into something. It comes with commitment and discipline. It is not easy to give up our “on demand” lifestyle for the sake of others. Real church is hard because it goes against the norm. As long as we view the local church as a place where I go to get my spiritual needs met, then it remains a place that I can take or leave depending on my feelings and circumstances. But once we realize that we are needed in the local church just as much as the pastor and that we each have as much to contribute to the liturgy (the work of the people) as does the worship leader/team, it is not something that we can easily take or leave. Once we realize that the people in our small groups need each of us to be there for them as we need them to be there for us, how can our commitment level not increase? Once we understand what Peter is telling us here, we may have to get into the habit of honoring our commitment to make meeting at certain times and places a priority. It may require us to follow through with a commitment to use our gifts for the good of the church. It will require us to be committed to people that we may not really like, rather than running away to find a church with no one who gets on our nerves. It will certainly cause us to lose our life in order to find it. Christ set the example. He gave up His rights to an “on demand” lifestyle. After all, He was God and could do anything on demand, but He let that go to serve others and to ultimately give His life for us. He died, but He also rose. When we are willing to be built into God’s Church, we will lose what we may consider to be freedom. We have to die to self. But then comes a resurrection to new life and real freedom!

Think back to my description of the rituals of “Me” worship. All of those things are symptoms of living an “on demand” lifestyle. That kind of freedom always brings bondage. Are we really free when we spend a good portion of our day stuck in traffic, our debt is piled so high that we can hardly keep up with the bills, when we have to go to a job that we absolutely hate in order to pay those bills, when we are so busy trying to be happy that we have no time for happiness, and when we are so busy trying to be it all and do it all that we don’t have any time for meaningful relationships? Chasing freedom brings bondage. Being built into God’s Church brings real freedom. Can we truly be the people of God and come out of this very tired and sick way of life? It is not easy. Idolatry is addictive and becomes a trap. But the first step in recovery from addiction is to come to terms with the problem and then begin to take small steps toward a healthier way of life. If we begin to commit ourselves to God and to one another, the Church would become a very attractive alternative. We as God’s holy temple will become a place of refuge and rest to an overburdened, stressed out, and tired “on demand” society.

Our world so desperately needs us to cast down our idols and worship God alone. They need the hope that only the Body of Christ can bring.

Here is some poetry that I wrote a couple of years ago on the religious rituals of American idolatry:

"American Idolatry" explores "Me" worship.

"Empty Seats" is about traffic and isolation that comes from everyone wanting to go their own way in their own cars.

"Mega Church" is about church without community.

"Liturgy of God and Country" explores what happens when our national interests are really about protecting our self interests and we create an unhealthy mix of God and country.

"The Corporation" is about corporatism VS community.