Traditional, Contemporary, Emergent, Alternative, Taize, and the beat goes on. We have heard them all, and no matter how long the debate continues to be carried on about styles of worship, it really never gets solved, in fact its like listening to people talk about the country's deficit or an episode from the Maury Povich show! Yuk!
I know because I have been involved in them all, all the styles and all the debates. Often enough I find myself sucked into defending this way or the other, trying to be balanced, and trying to keep everybody happy. Guilty, I am so guilty of this. I've also realized that over the years I have become addicted to it all. I have become addicted to worship! That's right, that's what you just read, addicted to worship.
Now, you are probably thinking, well if you are going to be a addicted to something, worship isn't such a bad idea. I mean its not like they have opened up an office of worship addiction recovery in this administration or anything like that. However, I hate to say this but I think they should. The truth is that all of this debate and concentration on inspirational worship and seminars, workshops and academic programs on the subject indicates to me that perhaps we have become a little obsessed with worship.
Here is the test. The next time you are at a church meeting just take a mental note how many times the effectiveness of church and worship are combined and mentioned. What I am noticing is the false belief that worship is equivalent to faithful witness. For me worship is one part of faithful witness. Here's an idea, we probably should be worshipping about the things that we are already doing in our communities and in our world. What sense does it make to sing about "What a friend we have in Jesus" when we can't even be friends with our neighbor across the street! Or "Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary" when we don't even care to discover the needs of sanctuary that so many in this world have, and I'm not just talking about immigrants.
What would happen if we began to consider seriously that part of the role of worship is to challenge our narcissistic tendencies to hear ourselves, and our need to satisfy the needs we have to put together the best program we can in order to respond to some emotional vacuum because we were the nerdy kid or the neglected kid growing up. Maybe that's what David was thinking about when he heart fully put together that wonderful liturgical confession "create in me a clean heart, O Lord my God and renew a right spirit within me."
As I enter into this next phase of church planting, I am aware that I am often planning worship services without realizing the big mistake that I am planning, I am doing. What's up with that? Is it because of my own fear that all the things that "should be" a part of worship will not get done? Is it because as much as I tell people to trust the community to exercise their own ability to connect spiritually and create their own responses, I don't really do it myself? I had a conversation with a good friend and he reminded me that we have this program called "re-think church" in our denomination. Its a great program, however he said "do we really know what we are asking, when we ask people to rethink church?" As leaders are we capable of nurturing this, if we are still hostages to a liturgy that comes from, well frankly, an old European model? When do we release it from that and let it be?!
Its only fitting that this weeks lectionary reading for the Gospel is Matthew 11 where Jesus calls all of those with heavy burdens and weary hearts to come to him because his yoke is easy and his burden light! (although I think we can probably say that there might be a little bit of false advertising here!LOL) At the beginning of the chapter Jesus is confronting the religious folks of his day, as usual, and he tells them, "look when John was here you complained about his drudgery and mourning style of worship and now with me you are complaining that all I want to do is celebrate and party with everybody, you are like children who don't know how to play and won't let anyone else play either." (that's my paraphrase, of course). But perhaps Jesus' invitation to take his yoke, is not so much about it being weak or for lazy folks but rather it is an invitation to stop working so hard at worship, and at trying to get all things right. We don't have to impress God, Jesus has already done that for us. In other words, as I like to say, "slow down before you hurt yourself."
When we realize that worship is not service, it is our grateful response to a grace filled God, then we begin to see that gratitude comes in all kinds of expressions and when they are authentically allowed to be presented as we gather to worship it is the most liberating, healing and transformative experience we can have. Its not about me, its not about you, its really about God and how God moves in US!
The thing is that God is incredibly trusting of us. Think about it. Knowing that we would make constant mistakes and we would get most everything about God wrong, God continues to use and dare I say, rely on us to do what Dr. Cornel West says, "the great human effort to grasp in time our deepest passions and yearnings as prisoners of time...to move us beyond language to the dark roots of our scream and the celestial heights of our silences."
The Epistle reading for this week also conquers with this reality when he says in Romans 7, "I can will to do this things of the Spirit, but in my flesh I just can't. So who will save me from myself?" But then he also recognizes that Jesus can, and has and will continue to call us to stop struggling and rest in what already has been done. This is the hard part of the yoke, its hard because I have to let go of my addiction to get it done my way, "the right way" and to learn to be wide open like a lake.
Well, if anything I hope that these are the right questions because I certainly don't have the right answers. Or maybe, I shouldn't even be worried about the right questions. The only thing God is looking for is a broken and contrite heart and I'm trying to learn how to do that, I hope. But in the meantime, I have another worship bulletin to prepare......help me Jesus!
Just a thought along the way,
Lydia
I know because I have been involved in them all, all the styles and all the debates. Often enough I find myself sucked into defending this way or the other, trying to be balanced, and trying to keep everybody happy. Guilty, I am so guilty of this. I've also realized that over the years I have become addicted to it all. I have become addicted to worship! That's right, that's what you just read, addicted to worship.
Now, you are probably thinking, well if you are going to be a addicted to something, worship isn't such a bad idea. I mean its not like they have opened up an office of worship addiction recovery in this administration or anything like that. However, I hate to say this but I think they should. The truth is that all of this debate and concentration on inspirational worship and seminars, workshops and academic programs on the subject indicates to me that perhaps we have become a little obsessed with worship.
Here is the test. The next time you are at a church meeting just take a mental note how many times the effectiveness of church and worship are combined and mentioned. What I am noticing is the false belief that worship is equivalent to faithful witness. For me worship is one part of faithful witness. Here's an idea, we probably should be worshipping about the things that we are already doing in our communities and in our world. What sense does it make to sing about "What a friend we have in Jesus" when we can't even be friends with our neighbor across the street! Or "Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary" when we don't even care to discover the needs of sanctuary that so many in this world have, and I'm not just talking about immigrants.
What would happen if we began to consider seriously that part of the role of worship is to challenge our narcissistic tendencies to hear ourselves, and our need to satisfy the needs we have to put together the best program we can in order to respond to some emotional vacuum because we were the nerdy kid or the neglected kid growing up. Maybe that's what David was thinking about when he heart fully put together that wonderful liturgical confession "create in me a clean heart, O Lord my God and renew a right spirit within me."
As I enter into this next phase of church planting, I am aware that I am often planning worship services without realizing the big mistake that I am planning, I am doing. What's up with that? Is it because of my own fear that all the things that "should be" a part of worship will not get done? Is it because as much as I tell people to trust the community to exercise their own ability to connect spiritually and create their own responses, I don't really do it myself? I had a conversation with a good friend and he reminded me that we have this program called "re-think church" in our denomination. Its a great program, however he said "do we really know what we are asking, when we ask people to rethink church?" As leaders are we capable of nurturing this, if we are still hostages to a liturgy that comes from, well frankly, an old European model? When do we release it from that and let it be?!
Its only fitting that this weeks lectionary reading for the Gospel is Matthew 11 where Jesus calls all of those with heavy burdens and weary hearts to come to him because his yoke is easy and his burden light! (although I think we can probably say that there might be a little bit of false advertising here!LOL) At the beginning of the chapter Jesus is confronting the religious folks of his day, as usual, and he tells them, "look when John was here you complained about his drudgery and mourning style of worship and now with me you are complaining that all I want to do is celebrate and party with everybody, you are like children who don't know how to play and won't let anyone else play either." (that's my paraphrase, of course). But perhaps Jesus' invitation to take his yoke, is not so much about it being weak or for lazy folks but rather it is an invitation to stop working so hard at worship, and at trying to get all things right. We don't have to impress God, Jesus has already done that for us. In other words, as I like to say, "slow down before you hurt yourself."
When we realize that worship is not service, it is our grateful response to a grace filled God, then we begin to see that gratitude comes in all kinds of expressions and when they are authentically allowed to be presented as we gather to worship it is the most liberating, healing and transformative experience we can have. Its not about me, its not about you, its really about God and how God moves in US!
The thing is that God is incredibly trusting of us. Think about it. Knowing that we would make constant mistakes and we would get most everything about God wrong, God continues to use and dare I say, rely on us to do what Dr. Cornel West says, "the great human effort to grasp in time our deepest passions and yearnings as prisoners of time...to move us beyond language to the dark roots of our scream and the celestial heights of our silences."
The Epistle reading for this week also conquers with this reality when he says in Romans 7, "I can will to do this things of the Spirit, but in my flesh I just can't. So who will save me from myself?" But then he also recognizes that Jesus can, and has and will continue to call us to stop struggling and rest in what already has been done. This is the hard part of the yoke, its hard because I have to let go of my addiction to get it done my way, "the right way" and to learn to be wide open like a lake.
Well, if anything I hope that these are the right questions because I certainly don't have the right answers. Or maybe, I shouldn't even be worried about the right questions. The only thing God is looking for is a broken and contrite heart and I'm trying to learn how to do that, I hope. But in the meantime, I have another worship bulletin to prepare......help me Jesus!
Just a thought along the way,
Lydia
