Worship
On the heels of reading and preparing texts for Isaiah 1 for August lectionary I came upon another insight into worship. This is true for Del Rosa UMC and so many more.
If the congregation or anyone is looking to me or the church to fill their spiritual needs only hurt, pain, frustration and desperation can follow.
Only God can meet our spiritual needs, and yet the #1 reason given for leaving a church is that "it does not meet our spiritual needs". Our spiritual needs can only be met by following the great commandment, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and the second which is like it to Love your neighbor as yourself."
Worship then is about giving back to God from the bounty of gifts we have been given. I preach not because everyone else needs to hear the words, but because my spiritual need is to give back to God the richness I understand through the scriptures.
We have some basic forms to worship, that can happen every day, given to us through the scriptures:
-feed the hungry
-clothe the naked
-shelter the homeless
-care for the dying
-cure the sick
And more we have the various spiritual gifts from which to share the glory of God (The links are to spiritual gifts inventories):
-preaching
-teaching
-apostleship
-discipleship
-craftsmanship
-faith
-prayer
-helping
-giving
-service
-and many more (up to 36 in some inventories I have seen)
The purpose of church then is to fulfill my spiritual need to give back to God in a faithful community, not to fill my spiritual void with another program, another message, or cup of coffee. I may find that my spiritual life is enriched because I have come to give, rather than to be given.
As such, I wonder what would happen if I said at the start of service:
"If you are here in church today to have your voids filled, and your needs met -Go Home!
"If you are here to fulfill your need to thank God for his gracious gift of love and life by giving back from your gifts, in the community, with your 'prayers, presence, gifts and talents' then by all means - Let's give back and worship!!"
Peace,
PS Transformed Daily by Eric Jones has another excellent article on a similar train of thought, this time with some New Testament texts.
posted by David @ 7/17/2007
5 comments
5 Comments:
David,
Wouldn't it be wonderful if the one speaking for the gathered community started by saying "Come, whoever is thirsty...and take from the free gift of the water of life."
Our churches belong to Jesus Christ, and in some very real sense everything we say is by his grace and on his behalf. EVERYTHING. We have no windows into another's soul--no any way of determining what brought them to a worship gathering.
Our task is to faithfully carry water from the kitchen to table, where all who thirst can drink for themselves until they are full.
It's not our church, not our worship. I don't beleive the people come to hear us, but gather in the hope of glimpsing "the new Jerusalem"...and we dare not withhold from anyone what was never ours to begin with.
If I forget my purpose...if I ever believe I can decide which of our Lord's sheep are worthy to receive, and which should be sent home, may my right hand lose its cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.
yours in Christ's love and service,
Willscarlet
Yet another tack for letting the wind of God blow through the community. Each of these representations so far seem to all draw on the same conclusion, it is God and God alone who can transform the people, drawing their attention there is the first and foremost responsibility for Christian Community
Wowsers!
It is, indeed, our need to worship and give back to God what he has given us. Worship is the fundamental reason we are all Christians....to love one another and give all the glory to God. All too often we forget this.
God loves our worship. We give it to Him out of a love for Him. If we come to fill a void, why come? Instead we need to come to worship with a fervent desire to humble ourselves before The Lord, and praise His name on high. All good things will come as a result.
I see many people who need the love of God in their lives, but don't stop to love Him first. Once they learn to do that, the love, mercy and grace of Our Lord showers them...but they must first come to know that they must love Him first. He loves us but if we don't recognize that, we are lost. When we recognize that, and we love Him first, in contrition, He loves us back more than we could ever imagine
It is kind of an awakening to the love of God. Through worship, we are awakened to the love that is there for us. When we approach Him with love in our hearts, He delivers more than we ever sought. But it is so hard to do that in this modern world. So hard to be contrite and humble. But ever so important!
Good stuff and nicely said! Thanks for the link to my article at www.TransformedDaily.com. I linked to this article on my post about this same topic. Peace...
One other thing. Would you like to reciprocate with blogroll entries?
Post a Comment
<< Home