Worship

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and amazing are your deeds,
    Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations! ~ Revelation 15:3
That is what worship is all about. It is the glad shout of praise that arises to God the creator and God the rescuer from the creation that recognizes its maker, the creation that acknowledges the triumph of Jesus the Lamb. That is the worship that is going on in heaven, in God's dimension, all the time. The question we ought to be asking is how best we might join in.”  ~ N.T. Wright
It's easy when reading the book of Revelation to get lost or confused or even worried or alarmed.
But when I read it I try to remember one of the things I learned years ago in a study I did on Revelation: at its heart, Revelation is a book of worship.
The choruses in Revelation sing and praise God unceasingly, and give us perhaps a foretaste of what is to come.  
As a kid, I remember thinking "Is Heaven going to be like church all the time?" (and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only kid - or even person that ever said that). 
And that made me think about what it is we expect out of worship.  What is it we are moved by in worship? What is it that worship is for?
Worship - the thing that Scripture seems to be moving ever toward - the ceaseless praising of God - is the thing that ultimately will bring us together.
Yet we still seem pretty divided about it. The worship-wars haven't completely gone away. 
Worship is an act of the people - it literally means "work of the people" in Old English.  So it is us - the chorus of believers - driving forward to worship God.  And I am firmly convinced that God is pleased by all kinds of work that his people do for worship.
I've been fortunate to be part of authentic, meaningful worship experiences that come in all forms and styles:
In traditional, organ led worship with liturgy that I knew by heart;
In quiet, meditative healing services where little or no music played at all;
In boisterous contemporary services where praise song after praise song played;
In Tanzanian Lutheran churches where I couldn't understand a word spoken but felt the Holy Spirit moving;
In sensory Emergent services where movement and art played a strong part of the experience;

 And in a huge arena where I sang with thousands of other people as Bono from U2 led us in song and prayer.

 These days you will also find authentic worship In Facebook Live worship services or Zoom worship services or Youtube recorded worship services.

 In drive-in worship services or sitting around the table worship services.
All completely different and all glorifying God.
So, it seems to me that if Heaven is going to be like Church all the time - praising God unceasingly - there's going to be plenty of variety and ways to do it!  How wonderful that we have so many different ways to practice now!

God of glory, help us to remember always that at the center of our worship is you.  Move us to find all manner of ways to praise you!  Amen.

Thoughts for engagement:

- Think of a time you were part of a worship service that was very different for you but one that you felt lifted up by.
- Try to find in scripture what both Jesus and Paul had to say about worship.

Popular posts from this blog

The Gospel of Mark: Women at a Distance

There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.  These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. ~ Mark 15:40-41 Where have all the disciples gone?  What about the crowds? Whose left? Some women. Standing at a distance. These two verses have always been poignant to me. We get so little in any of the gospels about the women following Jesus. But here's what we know about them. First, they paid the bills. And second: they stuck around. They would be the ones to watch Jesus die and the ones to visit his tomb. One of the things I've noticed about Mark is how he is able to say so much about people even by using so few words.  About Judas we know his character despite getting so little about him. About the woman who anoints Jesus, we know her generosity despite not even knowing her n...
Read more

Transformed through Courage: Esther

Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai, saying,  “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—all alike are to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone, may that person live. I myself have not been called to come in to the king for thirty days.”  When they told Mordecai what Esther had said,  Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.  For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”  Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai,  “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my beha...
Read more

Teachings of Jesus in Luke: Living Forgiveness

Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” ~ Luke 7:44-47 He who risks and fails can be forgiven. He who never risks and never fails is a failure in his whole being. ~ Paul Tillich  It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. ~ Rear Admiral Grace Hopper It was certainly easier for the woman who bathed Jesus feet with tears to seek forgiveness than ask permission to do it. And Simon, and his friends, were indignant that she didn't ask permission first...
Read more