A Community of Worshippers…

So, moving on with our discussion of praise and worship, there are a few more points that I would like to suggest about our worship to God. Last post we talked about “presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, which is our reasonable act of worship” (Romans 12:1). It simply goes to show that worship is so much more than showing up at a church service and singing a few songs. Worship is a day in and day out lifestyle which ought to magnify Christ and glorify His name. When we do gather as a body of Christ-followers, however, worship is still so much more than singing a few songs and raising a few hands.

Notice some of the implied points made here in Hebrews12:28 – “Let us show gratitude, by which we may worship acceptably, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.” What exactly does “worship acceptably” mean? It certainly sounds like there is a time when one might worship “unacceptably” and, if so, what does that mean? How do we know how to worship acceptably? How do we end up showing gratitude in reverence and awe? What exactly is reverence and awe?

I’ve often heard that outward forms of worship (the physical actions of worship: singing, raising hands, bowing, kneeling, closing eyes, clapping, praying, etc…) are a direct indication of what’s going on within. If one is dancing and shouting with excitement, most likely his/her hearts are full of joy and amazement. If one is bowing and worshipping face-down with respect, most likely his/her heart is full of reverence and awe. If one is staring off into space and twiddling his/her thumbs…who knows what’s going on in that head! So the obvious question is this: What does God want us to do when we worship Him? Dance and shout, or bow and kneel? Psalm 2:11 states, “Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling.” Take note of rejoice with trembling. It’s not an either-or, but a both-and. There is a sense of excitement in a heart that is overflowing with joy while at the same time fearing the Lord for who He is. There is no do this or do that, it’s a do this and do that!

God has made each and everyone of us different, and He allows us to experience His various attributes at different seasons in our lives. There may be times where we can do nothing else but jump for joy because what God has done in our life. There may be other times where we can do nothing else than stand in silence as we reflect on what God wants us to learn. The point is that we worship God in various ways at various times in our lives because God is a Mysterious God, a God of Wonders, a God Who is the King of all kings yet rejoices when one person comes to know Him. Our God is amazing, beautiful, caring, gracious, infinite, loving, marvelous, powerful, wonderful…the list goes on and on.

To Him be all glory, honor, and praise!

Revelation 4:8b states, “Day and night they [angels] never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” I don’t know if you have studied the book of Revelation much, but Revelation is chalked full of prophecy, visions, and dreams requiring much interpretation. One almost needs a Ph.D. to understand the full meaning of the book. In this particular passage, John (the writer) shares one of his dreams. In the NIV the angels are referred to as “four living creatures [that] had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings” (v 8a). Don’t ask me the significance of four creatures and six wings; the interesting thought is what follows in the second half of the verse: “Day and night they never stop saying…”.

Music is such a touchy subject in congregations across this earth. The music is too loud, too soft, too contemporary, too traditional, too energetic, not energetic enough…the list goes on and on. Sometimes particular songs become “worn-out”; people start griping that a particular song is overdone, performed too many times, not enough musical variety from the last time played…again, the list goes on and on. Imagine hearing one song over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over (and add infinity more “overs” to that). From a human standpoint, our weak and feeble minds would become tired of such repetition, even to the point where such repetition would eventually become vain repetition. We would simply sing through a song because we have heard it so much that we know it inside and out, outside and in, up the one side and down the other, and let’s add the reverse to that. One song that comes to my mind – “Blessed Be Your Name.” But, how dare we allow such powerful and moving songs to become an obstacle in our worship to God Almighty!

Let’s bring Revelation 4:8 back into the conversation – “Day and night they **NEVER** stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty…”. Notice I underlined, bolded, italicized and even starred the word “never.” One day when we stand in the presence of Almighty God and we finally have the clarity and capability to understand the awesomeness (a word that we use waayyy too much for other unworthy objects) of God, we will be able to do nothing else than sing praises to God, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!” Why not join in with the angels and sing? Well, we are this weekend and I hope the hundreds and thousands and millions that will join together across the globe will lift up one voice to the Audience of One, to the One Who WAS, and IS, and IS TO COME! because He is ever so deserving of it!

If I ask you what it means to worship, what would your answer be? If I asked you what it means to praise, what would your answer be? If I asked you what is the difference between worship and praise, what would you say? Is there a difference? Is worship and praise the same? Have you ever thought of these types of questions before?

I often wonder if God’s people actually have a firm grasp on the differences between praise and worship. We use the adjective terms “praise and worship” to define the type of bands churches use during weekend services. By using the terms together like churches often do, the two terms have almost come to mean the same thing. I would argue, however, that they are not. They may go hand in hand (like the chocolate cookie and white cream icing of an Oreo cookie), but they are completely different. For today, I am going to start off by attempting to define “worship” and putting it in its proper context while leaving “praise” for the next post.

Worship is often defined as the natural expression of what is at the center of one’s life. It may be one’s natural expression to NASCAR, Oreo cookies, a particular band, a particular philosophy, “Everybody Loves Raymond,”…the list goes on and on. In a previous post I encouraged your thoughts and meditation on Romans 12:1 which suggests that “our spiritual act of worship” is to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices in view of God’s mercy.” The verse begs to questions then, “what does it mean to offer our bodies as living sacrifices?” I believe Jesus gives us the answer when he answered a similar question from the Pharisees, “what is the greatest commandment?” In short, Jesus responds to the tricky questions posed by the Pharisees by answering that two commandments go hand in hand – love God and love people! I like how Aaron Keyes puts it: “it is not OK to stretch out our hands to God and not stretch out our hands to the world!” The first time I read that, God fired a proverbial dart right between my eyes, and then another right into my heart! How true is it that we as Christians come to worship services fully thinking that we are bringing honor and glory to God with joyful singing and hands raising, yet God hears and sees none of it because we are not reaching out to His people when we leave the four walls of our churches. There is quite the disconnect in our churches today.

Consider these verses, Hebrews 13:15,16 – “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

So, going back to the definition of worship, let’s now think that worship ought to be giving honor and glory to God in everything we do.

Have you ever wondered why and how the Almighty, Infinite, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Everlasting, Ever-loving, Never-failing, Thought-provoking, Faithful, (the list goes on and on and on…) God of the universe desires to have an intimate relationship with His creation.  Humans are mere mortals – filthy, messed up, broken, confused, unfaithful, selfish, loves only when one loves us, stupid, ignorant, irreverent, (and the list goes on and on and on) – yet Almighty God desires a relationship with us.  WOW!

Recently, I studied one of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 for a systematic theology class that I am taking.  The first five verses of Jesus’ prayer give us incredible insight and suggestions on how we should communicate with God.  Jesus begins His prayer by addressing Almighty God as “Father.”  The term father in the opening verses has the same meaning as when a little child calls out for his/her “daddy.”  In that day, it was very unusual for anyone to address Almighty God as “Father,” and yet, Jesus does here.  Another interesting point to mention is that Jesus is praying this prayer out loud in a manner in which his disciples are hearing every word. It is almost like Jesus wants his disciples to hear what he is saying to His Father, especially since Jesus just spent that last few hours with the disciples in the upper room teaching them of what is about to come with His death on the cross.  I few decades back, “conversational” prayers grew in popularity as scholars and theologians studied prayer. 

For those who have kids (or have seen kids when they first see their parents after a long day apart), think back on the excitement that I little child expresses when he/she first sees his/her father after a long day at work.  With nose smashed up against the front window and eyes staring down the street, a father pulls into the driveway while little Johnny anxiously waits for his arrival.  Filled with unadulterated excitement, little Johnny tares through the front door with arms spread wide open screaming, “Daddy! Daddy! You’re home!”  My son is only 10 weeks home, yet I can’t wait for that first time when he comes screaming for me in untamed excitement!

How much more does God our Father want us to come running to Him with arms wide open screaming, “Daddy, daddy!”  When we worship our Heavenly Father, hands raised to Him express this very thought and idea.  And as we mature from a “child-like” faith and learn more and more about Almighty God and how He continues to guide, direct, bless, and love us, the higher and higher our hands and the louder and louder our voices should be as we worship Him!

Think through John 17:1-5.  What are your thoughts?

So, I’ve tried this blogging thing before and, obviously, didn’t stick with it very long.  It’s not as easy as it looks…you see, a good blogger posts relevant and engaging thoughts multiple times a week.  Well, I guess that was exactly the problem!  Relevance, engagement, and multiple (which ultimately equals time in my book, of which I wish I had more of!). 

I am trying this blog-thing again because there is something deep down inside each and every one of us, making it relevant whether we like it or not.  Worship.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve grown up in the fundamental Baptist church attending Sunday school, morning worship, evening worship, and Wednesday night prayer meeting, or you attended Reverend’s Tom and Jerry on Sunday morning TV.  Every one of us has a desire to worship something.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been serving on the worship team at SMC.  It’s been an exciting ride and a ride that God has used to begin another chapter of my life in His continuing story of love and grace.  The more I learn and try to understand God, the more I am awestruck at His amazing grace, mercy, and love for me.  How can I not just stand up on the top of my desk in the middle of my office floor and dance and sing praises to Him at the top of my lungs because of all that He has done for me!!!  (I’m sure security would be right around the corner with a straight jacket in hand.)  I’m serious, though…sometimes I don’t understand how Christ-followers can just show up on Sunday mornings, stand in the pews of their churches with arms folded, eyes glazed-over, faces frowned, and mouths motionless as we sing praise to Almighty God!  In the security and comfort of our own churches, we are too ashamed to express our thanks to God for all that He has done.  “God-forbid if anyone sees me raise a hand…”, one might think.

I think I have found my new purpose for picking up this blogging thing again.  Let me give this disclaimer: I am still figuring this whole thing out – worship, that is.  And so, if you are willing to learn with me and share your thoughts with me, perhaps we can create a community of worshippers that live to bring honor and glorify to Him.  King David…here we come!

Think on this verse:
Romans 12:1 -  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.