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!