Wednesday, March 24, 2021 – Preparing for Holy Week
“When you gather
for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for
all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an
insight… Take your turn, no one person taking over. Then each speaker gets a
chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. If
you choose to speak, you’re also responsible for how and when you speak. When
we worship the right way, God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; he brings us
into harmony. This goes for all the churches—no exceptions.” (1 Corinthians 14: 26 -33)
If we can say anything about the
modern practice of worship, it is anything but dull. The old excuse that going
to church is boring doesn’t apply in most cases. Worship services are amped up with
drums, guitars, saxophones and much of the contemporary worship music is almost daring one to sit
still and on your hands when rather, one
should be clapping along, tapping your feet, raising your hands and getting
involved in the experience. Even the stodgiest of churches has had to struggle
with this modern style of religious entertainment. It has to be done right and
done well or it is disaster to experience.
Likewise, churches are using screens,
the internet, video clips to enhance and enrich their worship services. During this
covid year, churches have discovered the use of the Internet to broadcast their
services. I have admired their ingenuity and creativity and am very glad that I
am not still pastoring during all this. These ain’t the worship services of our
grandparents!
Worship should elicit our joy, our
praise and our hosannas, “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among
yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.” (Ephesians 5: 19,
The New Living Translation) In the Old Testament, “David and all Israel were
celebrating before God with all their might, singing songs and playing all
kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.”
(1 Chronicles 13:8, NLT) I wonder if there were a few who complained how
disrespectful and undignified such a display was.
Paul suggested that each of us
brings something to the worship experience. His ideas are somewhat reminiscent of
his list of gifts from 1 Corinthians 12, verses 4 to 11. Our talents, gifts and
abilities contribute to a “successful” worship experience. We are not just
passive observers. We may be “just” sitting in the pew, for that matter, but
even from there we join in, or can be warm and friendly to others, welcoming,
helping strangers to find their way through the service. That is one of the
biggest gaps now in our virtual services – human community coming together in
harmony, love, fellowship. Oh, for the days we can greet each with a holy kiss
once again! “He brings us into harmony.”
If we are going to paint on our
sign boards that “All are welcome” to join us to worship, then we should mean it. Everyone should be able to find
a seat in God’s House, regardless. No labels, no stigmatization, no judgement, no
barriers, no litmus tests for beliefs, no criticisms, no disapprovals. God went
out in the highways and by-ways and brought people into his Presence (The
Parable of the Great Banquet). We call it a sanctuary for a reason.
“Let the peace of Christ keep
you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off
and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of
Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your
lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing
your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions,
whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every
step of the way.” (Colossians 3: 16 – 17, The Message)
Dale
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