Thursday, September 20, 2012

What “Does It” for You in Worship?
John 4:19-24
            What “does it” for you in worship?  When you gather with fellow Christians to offer prayer and praise, what is it that turns you on?
            For some it’s ritual.  We attend churches where liturgy is the central focus. The same patterns are repeated from week to week.  We like the comfort of familiar words and movements.  We like the order— the calmness of phrases and prayers we know well.
            For some it’s the excitement of not knowing what might come next.  We’re open to the movement of the Holy Spirit among us in ways we can’t predict.  We sing songs, we pray, we hear a sermon; but at any moment all that might be interrupted by something unexpected— something beyond our control.
            For some it’s an emotional approach.  We like plenty of noise:  loud music, perhaps with guitars and drums; rousing preaching that tears at our innards and forces us to sit up and take notice; prayers that come from the heart, poured out to God in a torrent of words and feelings.
For some it’s the pleasure of hearing the Word expounded, explained—presented in ways that give us new insights, new ways to look at our faith.  We expect the sermon to open our hearts and minds so that our faith deepens.
            For some it’s the traditional music of the church—organs, perhaps a piano, choirs, trained solo voices—all working together to present the time-honored anthems and hymns written by master poets and composers.  We have to have our musical “fix” or we feel we haven’t properly worshiped.
            The psalmists had a lot to say about worship.  They didn’t write much about preaching or praying.  For them worship was paying vows (usually through offering sacrifices), singing, making music on loud instruments, and rituals that involved chanting certain words in certain locations in and near the temple.  Read Psalm 150 and try to imagine what that worship service must have sounded like.  All the turned-up amplifiers in the world might have paled by comparison.
            The psalmists also had another take on worship.  They advocated not just the blowing of horns and the crashing of cymbals, but the quiet peace of time alone with God.  We catch a glimpse of this kind of worship in Psalm 29, v. 2:  “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (some translations use the word “splendor” instead of “beauty”).  This sounds like a worship experience beyond words, beyond music—perhaps beyond sound of any kind.  This is an experience in which worshipers are “lost in wonder, love and praise” as the hymn text says.
            Jesus had something to say about worship—actually many things if you include his teachings on prayer, and giving, and other topics.  One of his most profound statements is found in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.  The woman realizes that Jesus is no ordinary teacher—not even merely a prophet.  Still, her tradition, so different from his but grounded in the same beginnings, keeps her from seeing eye-to-eye with him when it comes to worship, especially in the matter of location.  Jesus tells her, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 
            There it is in one sentence.  All our differences in worship practices disappear in importance when we accept these words as the basis of the way we praise God.

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