Yet publick hath more promise, more love:
And love's a weight to hearts, to eies a signe.
We all are but cold suitours; let us move
Where it is warmest. Leave thy six and seven;
Pray with the most: for where most pray, is heaven.
Those
lines come from George Herbert's "The Church-porch." Quoting a
seventeenth century poet reinforces my status as a dinosaur, but some
words endure through time (even though some spellings do not). Herbert
reminds us that although private prayer has its place and purpose, it
wanes in comparison with worshipping with and in a congregation. When I
was a child I spent hours throwing a baseball at a target, retrieving
it, and throwing it again, and still more hours playing catch with my
dad or friends. That never rivaled actually playing a game of baseball.
Worship works the same way. Private devotions help to prepare us, but,
in the words of our denominational constitution, "The life of the
Christian flows from the worship of the church, where identity as a
believer is confirmed and where one is commissioned to a life of
discipleship and personal response to God" (W-5,1001).
Yet,
not all worship is equal. What allows worship to inform, form, reform,
and, by the grace of God, transform us as Christians?
Worship
that informs, forms, reforms, and, by the grace of God, transforms us
is unmistakably God-centered. It is primarily about God, not us. The
first question in the (Shorter and Larger) Westminster Catechism reminds
us that our primary purpose in life is to glorify and enjoy God. We
always have important matters on our hearts and minds when we gather to
worship, but without God we would have no hearts and minds. God deserves
our praise, adoration, recognition, and petitions. Several years ago
Marva Dawn published a thought-provoking book on worship entitled A Royal Waste of Time
that reminded us that feeling close to God, being moved by the music,
and experiencing God's love and presence are to be desired, but
secondary to offering praise, prayer, and ourselves to God. Whether we
lift our eyes toward a screen or turn them to a hymnal, when our hearts,
minds, souls, and spirits are not focused on God, worship does not
serve its primary purpose.
Worship that informs,
forms, reforms, and, by the grace of God, transforms us is authentic.
First, it is characterized by excellence. When we share time with people
we love, we may not always have on our Sunday-best (Those over thirty
may need to Google that term.), but we always offer our best. That does
not mean that incorrect notes, grammatical mistakes, or liturgists who
lose their places insult God. It means that we prepare well and intend
to offer God the best we can do, not left-overs or spur of the moment
sputterings. Second, it reflects the unique spiritual gifts and needs of
the community gathered. All traditions can influence our worship, but
when we pretend to be someone we're not we offer God something false.
Third, it comes from a distinct and unique people but is offered to the
God of all. We pray for the abused and the abuser. We seek wholeness for
our enemies and ourselves. We gather not to claim God as our own, but
to be claimed by the one true God of all. In the year of my birth - back
in the days of the Apatosaurus, not the Brontosaurus - J. B. Phillips
published a book entitled Your God Is Too Small. It remains worth reading as it calls for an adult faith in a God whom no culture, nation, or people can put in a box.
Worship
that informs, forms, reforms, and, by the grace of God, transforms us
comforts and convicts us. The grieving, abused, frightened, and broken
cannot glorify and enjoy God without being pointed to and receiving
God's tenderness, steadfastness, and graciousness. Those who hunger and
thirst need bread that satisfies and living water. Yet, the God who
meets us in worship also sends us out to serve the world. When we come
only for what we need, we may have an experience but will not be
renewed. The Spirit is our guide, not merely our therapist, and Jesus is
our friend but we call him Lord.
I
dare to think that we regularly offer God-centered, authentic,
comforting, and convicting worship to God. We've done that all summer,
while many have taken vacations, watched soccer and baseball games, read
the paper, and taken naps. We plan to do that again this weekend.
We all are but cold suitours; let us move
Where it is warmest. Leave thy six and seven;
Pray with the most: for where most pray, is heaven.
See you Sunday!
Grace and Peace,
LP
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