Worship Reflections
Thank you one and all who took the time to reply to last week's e-mail about worship. The conversations have been very helpful and instructive, and I have enjoyed the chance to visit, even when there are times where we may not always have looked at things the same way. To me, one of the most important things has been that through all of this, we have been engaged in examining our own thoughts and emotions concerning worship, as well as being open to look at worship from perspectives beyond our our passions and desires.
Last week, I invited all of us to consider a few questions. Before I attempt to answer these questions, I want to acknowledge that (from my perspective) for pretty much all of us, our attitudes towards worship are intensely personal, and are influenced by a number of factors, including our childhood, experience with other churches, and personal music preferences, just to name a few. To be perfectly candid, I'm no different than anyone else - I also have my own preferences that are, indeed, formed by my past.
However, this discussion is not about what I, or anyone else, wants - this is about what is it this community of faith is called to do to fulfill its calling in this setting at this time, understanding worship is constantly evolving based on many factors.
Having said all this, here are some brief answers to last week's questions:
1. What is worship all about?
Corporate worship by the community of faith is about the people of God gathered in this place at this time responding to the grace of God by coming together to give God glory, praise, and honor, not because we have to, but because we want to due to God's gracious work in our lives as a community and as individuals.
2. For whom is worship designed?
Worship is designed for God.
3. Why do I come to worship?
Hopefully, we come to worship with the joyful anticipation of encountering God's grace through our shared time together as the community of faith.
4. In what ways do my personal preferences both unleash and limit God's ability to speak to me?
There's nothing like going to a service that truly resonates with our preferred methods of worship - either through the liturgy, the music, the prayers, the message, or a number of other things. When we are in our sweet spot, we experience an indescribable joy that just makes it a fantastic day.
The beautiful thing about the Holy Spirit is that in this way God is present with us in ways beyond our imagination. A fantastic benefit of being part of this congregation is the multitude of musical talent God has brought together here - the ministry of our Youth Band, the powerful music of our Worship Band, the deeply moving talent of our choir, the skill of our instrumental musicians and the passion of our vocalists.
By saying I'm only going to attend a more traditional, sedate, introspective participatory liturgical service, I'm setting myself up to miss marveling at how God is working through more modern worship settings, especially the passion of the next generations. By saying I don't want anything but the most cutting-edge truly contemporary worship settings, with music and technology to match, I'm setting myself up to miss out in how the Holy Spirit has given the church some very powerful prayers and music throughout the years, prayers and music that have sustained generations, as well as the power of God's work through music and worship that we might not normally want to encounter.
5. What am I missing by being wedded to my personal preferences?
Given that our expectations going into corporate worship should be an eager anticipation of encountering God, we can easily miss God when we walk in and say, "I just don't like this, and because I don't like it I can't get anything out of it." We need to look no further than the example of Jesus Christ's very existence to prove that we worship a God who speaks in ways we would not expect. The people of God, anticipating their messiah, surely would not have drawn up a baby born to an unwed virgin. When at his trial, Pilate asked the faithful who they would like to be executed, and the crowd saved Barabbas while condemning Jesus. Scientifically, rising from the dead is impossible. And go read the second chapter of Acts to see how unlikely it was for the church to be formed - it was so chaotic that Peter had to clarify that the gathered were not drunk!
Let me say that by it's very nature, worship is consistently evolving. Words like traditional and contemporary are very imprecise, inadequate terms that usually have us talking past each other. In practice, doing the same thing over and over each week is traditional, no matter the form it may take, because of the root word tradition. In practice, all worship, no matter the form, is contemporary, because it is done here and now, and even the most beloved forms of music, liturgy, and worship were at one point contemporary, for they were at one point new.
On August 5, we will be celebrating the new school year, engaging in mission, and be in fellowship with each other over a shared meal. That day, we will be exploring our belief in the church universal and the communion of saints, and using that as a framework to set our course for our next season of life. What is really neat is that because worship is evolving, however we worship now will definitely not be the same as we will be worshiping in 2-3 years because God's Holy Spirit is always moving us forward by the resources we are given by God's grace alone.
In conclusion, I want to say thank you to all who have participated in this discussion. We are a better community because we have taken time to engage with each other about these matters. I want to specifically express my appreciation to our church council and our staff for being completely open and honest with me, and how the conversation has evolved to being a discussion about who it is that God is calling us to be at this time in this place.
See You Sunday!
Lamar