Jan 13 2012
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Discovering, Journeying, Living, Loving

Just A Few Days

It’s interesting to me that the folks always seem meet at the well in Genesis. Certainly it’s a life-giving place, so it has powerful symbolism in the story that way. Abraham’s servant finds Rebekah at the well; Jacob finds Rachel at the well. It’s very romantic and well-timed: the right people at the right place.

Great things happen at the well – and then they go home to tension in the tents. The servant and Rebekah at the well is a great, romantic feeling story.  Even with Jacob running to kiss Rachel, it is powerful. Then they go home to the tents.

I’m wondering why they just can’t live at the well! They can’t seem to get along too well at home. Rebekah and Isaac have a nice, happy life (though without children) until Esau and Jacob arrive.

I’m sure things were quite nice at Laban’s tent until Jacob appeared. You know, maybe it’s these chosen people who appear in the story – in the tent – who throw a wrench in things. Who knows!

At Laban’s tent, Jacob, for once, works very hard because he loves Rachel. And he works hard for seven years. Jacob then gets tricked by Laban. Perhaps he begins feeling a little of what his brother and father felt as they were tricked (Genesis 27).

By the way, where is Jacob’s father Isaac? He’s almost a small footnote. The one who seemed to live well, prospered, suffered, and then died. He’s almost a missed person, a missed chapter. He’s the reason Jacob is here in the first place because he prayed for his barren wife Rebekah. It almost seems unfair to old Isaac, and it’s certainly sad that his life ends with Jacob running away from his brother.

The Tricksters at Work

And while we’re wondering about old Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob gets his comeuppance. He gets what he deserved, or so we think. Maybe he gets what he needed to move him toward what God envisioned. After all, how is Jacob the trickster to learn and grow? Is it by being tricked  by others? Perhaps.

Jacob spends seven years working for Rachel only to wake up on the first day of the eighth year with Leah. That time he worked for Rachel seemed but “a few days” because of his love for her. Surely the week with Leah seemed like seven years. It’s ironic that the logic of primogeniture which Jacob denied at his parent’s home now becomes the logic behind Laban’s trickery with Leah. As Laban relates, they just don’t give the older sister before the younger.

Then, he received Rachel as his bride, but he has to work seven more years. I’m sure he does it gladly, savoring his time with her.

Laban is tricky; Leah is sad; Rachel is loved; and Jacob is working, hard – outside the tent and inside the tent for this is when all the children are born. It’s a trying and interesting situation with all these folks.

Where is God in This Too-Human Mess?

Does it bother anyone that Lead and Rachel were the “wages paid” for the work Jacob does for Laban? It makes us wonder about them – the women; they were just property. It almost makes them seem a little less than human, but they’re not. But we see the struggles they have. Leah is not pretty and not loved (except by her daddy). Rachel is barren, but loved by her husband. They are not ignored for God sees it all.

We might ask where in the world is God in all this mess? Is it just about Jacob learning? Is it just a stopping point? Is it a way to exalt Jacob and deride Laban? Is it about not having more than one wife? Is it just that we shouldn’t live with our in-laws for extended periods of time? How could God in good conscience be involved with these folks?

A way to look at these stories, at these people comes as we step back from the text and examine the larger picture of the narrative. If we want to know where God is, we need to see that God inhabits and surrounds these stories. Two theopanies, or experiences with God, bookend these episodes at Laban’s tent: Jacob sees God at Bethel (Genesis 28.10-32) and Jacob wrestles with God at the ford of Jabbok (Genesis 32.22-32).

The Promise of God is at the Center

At the center of the narrative (Genesis 29.31-30.24), we find the production of offspring with Jacob and his wives, i.e. the promise of God beginning to be fulfilled (Genesis 28.13-15). In these stories we see Jacob go from an empty-handed loner and fugitive to a prospering husband and father. We see Rachel as a beautiful, but barren woman, go from despair to hope as the mother of Joseph.

We see a complicated narrative with many twists and turns become a vehicle for telling the glory of God. God hears and God remembers (Genesis 30.22-24) in the story of these people.

Ultimately, no human device or plan prevails. The meeting at the well is God-incidental, the children are God’s gifts, the prosperity is God-given. The power and the humor come alive when Rachel sits on the household gods, as if our human devices can ignore or hide the movement of God (Genesis 31.34-5). No god, no device, no plan, no human manipulation can stop the power and the promise of the persistent One [Walter Brueggemann, Genesis, p. 249-260].

Who Carries God’s Blessing?

In the story, however, we see Jacob emerging as the carrier of God’s blessing. What distinguishes Jacob in these stories is not so much his trickiness with Laban or his love of Rachel, but his determination.

Jacob’s determination comes from the promise of God in Genesis 28.13-15. His future becomes transformed as he learns to live by the promise of God.

God is the only One able to form the future in terms of fulfilling the promise. No human plan or device frustrates God’s plans; God continues to make his plans operate through these people in these situations. That’s what is so crazy.

We look at this story, and we realize that it is God who makes these things happen. The people are important because they really are like us – unloved, beautiful, hurting, needy, tricky, hard-working, planning, loving – and moving from day to day with the Lord.

It Seemed Like Just a Few Days

All these things – working for Leah, Rachel, and the flocks – took many years. It’s very much like the Abraham story with the promise of Isaac taking twenty-five years to fulfill.

The lasting touch of this story in our lives is that what we read in a few chapters in Genesis really transpired over many years. Jacob labored for Rachel over seven years of hard work, but it seemed to him but “a few days.”

Our lives are probably a little like that. We love, labor, and live, and it seems like it took such a very long time to get here. But, as we look into the past remembering the good times and the bad, it only seems like a few days because we can somehow see God moving.

Just like this story, God inhabits and surrounds our lives; God is the one moving us toward fulfillment of his promises in our lives.

Isaiah 12.2-6 tells us:

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

You know, we may not always be able to live at the well, but we sure can go there. “With joy [we can] draw water from the wells of salvation” knowing that God inhabits and surrounds our lives, fulfilling all his promises to us.

Godspeed your journey as you take the fire with you.

Explore the text for this post: Genesis 29.15-30.

Photo Credit: Medieval Well by Kevin H. (Creative Commons).

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Jan 12 2012
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Becoming, Discipling, Sacrificing

Remanufactured Lives

Remanufacturing is actually God’s idea. Only the remanufacturing that God does involves souls, minds, hearts, spirits. God remanufactures us human beings. That’s right, God remanufactures us human beings.

You see, when we look at our lives in Christ, we may think about sacrificing something to walk that road to Jerusalem with Jesus. We may give up chocolate, T.V., food, coffee, cokes, or whatever is on our list. We choose to sacrifice in order that we may identify with the suffering of Christ.

Jesus Comes to Remanufacture Us

While that’s great, and we need to do it, I want to suggest that something of the reverse happens with Jesus. Jesus identifies with us, not that he may suffer with us – although that’s certainly true. Jesus identifies with us, becomes human, that we may be transformed. That is, Jesus becomes a human being that we may be remanufactured.

Jesus became a human being that we might be “remanufactured” which is an industrial word. In a theological word, Jesus became a human being that we might be “transformed” and “renewed” after the image of God.

St. Anselm stated in Why God Became Man, “He became what we are that we might become what he is.” Jesus became a human being that we might be restored to the image of God, an image we lost in the fall from grace in the garden.

Now, the idea that Jesus became a human being to remanufacture our being according to God’s divine specs is really not so hard to swallow. It’s an  interesting idea, a new way of thinking, but it still manages to capture the truth that “God’s free gift [of Jesus Christ] leads to our being made right with God” (Romans 5.6). That’s the easy part, so to speak, for us to understand.

God Calls Us to Live Like Jesus

The hard part is thinking about the cost to Jesus. You see, Jesus invested himself willingly, lovingly, mercifully, and intentionally on our behalf. Jesus became what we are that we might be what he is. That’s a costly process and not an easy one. It begins with Jesus walking this earth – preaching, teaching, and healing. It continues with his trial, suffering, and death. It continues with his resurrection from the dead and his ascension into heaven. And the process finishes when Jesus returns to claim his own.

We’re not done on this one, though. We’re not just looking to the life, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus. We’re not done, because for us, we are called to invest our lives in the same way. That’s right. God calls us to live like Jesus that other people might know God.

You see, “[God] has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2.10). That  is, God remanufactured us through Jesus Christ that we may share that love with others. We are the “examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness,” and we must share this wondrous gift with others by investing in their lives (Ephesians 2.7). Like Jesus, we are the one through whom others may be transformed.

We are to share that mercy as God’s chosen people, God’s holy priests. We are to “show others the goodness of God” by investing in their lives like Jesus invested, and still invests, in ours. We have received mercy from Jesus; we must show mercy to others. That’s what we need to consider as we walk with Christ in our lives.

Godspeed your journey as you take the fire with you.

Explore the text for this post: Ephesians 2.1-10.

Photo Credit: Noojee Trestle Bridge by <ccdohi> (Creative Commons).

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Jan 11 2012
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Becoming, Giving

Animating Hearts

“Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.’” In these few moments from Nehemiah 8.1-12 as God’s word reverberated against the old city, the people recovered what they thought they’d lost: God’s presence in their lives.

We Have a Word for That: Hope

They thought the loss of the land, the city, and the temple had separated them from God. They mourned and cried as they heard those words read and interpreted from the book of the law. But, thanks to Nehemiah, they learned something Paul said centuries later in Romans 8.38: “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.” We have a word for that: hope.

Long before Paul, Nehemiah knew that hope, too. As he pulled them from their tears of sorrow, he reminded them of the joy of the Lord. He reminded them that God was with them. And in that moment, they received love and mercy and life and hope. In that moment in the square they went from building walls and gates to building something much more enduring.

“What Does Your Heart Tell Me?”

Jeanette Rodriguez writes: ‘I recently returned from accompanying the Tseltal (Mayan) communities in Chiapas. The religious leaders there are called animadores del corazón (animators of the heart). They animate the heart. They enlarge it, give it hope and strength. This is the role of the deacons in Chiapas. If you spend even a short time with one of their Tseltal communities, you realize how important the heart is. One doesn’t ask, “How are you?” They say, “What does your heart tell me?  How is your heart?  Come in, sit down, and rest your heart.”

She continues, ‘The heart is the vessel for the soul and the spirit. The Tseltals believe that the heart speaks directly to God, that they must be silent so that the heart can speak.  If one does not listen to the Word of God, one’s heart grows as hard as a stone. Listening to the Word of God softens the heart — to speak to God and to hear God’s voice.’

You know, we can be like Nehemiah. We can be the ones who bring the life-giving word of God to the people. We are animators of the heart – building hope and helping people hear God. We help people remember and know God’s presence in their lives.

In a time like this and a place like ours, we are the ones who bring the word of God to bear on people’s lives. With the word of God we are the animators of the heart bringing hope.

Godspeed your journey as you take the fire with you.

Explore the text for this post: Nehemiah 8.1-12.

Photo Credit: A Banksy in Chinatown, San Francisco by Suttonhu (Creative Commons).
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Jan 10 2012
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Becoming, Journeying, Loving

Words of the Saints [2]

“To be a disciple means that we deliberately identify ourselves with God’s interests in other people. ‘That ye loved one another; as I have loved you….’ The expression of Christian character is not good doing, but God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you from within, you will exhibit Divine characteristics in your life, not good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as a human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian is that the supernatural is made natural in him by the grace of God, and the experience of this works out in the practical details of life, not in times of communion with God” [Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest].

Godspeed your journey as you take the fire with you.

Explore the text for this post: John 15.9-17.

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Jan 10 2012
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Becoming, Challenging, Devoting, Sacrificing

He Who Loses His Life Finds It

I once read a story about how Sadhu Sundar Singh and a companion were traveling through a pass high in the Himalayan Mountains. At one point they came across a body lying in the snow. Sundar Singh wished to stop and help the unfortunate man, but his companion refused, saying, “We shall lose our lives if we burden ourselves with him.”

But Sundar Singh would not think of leaving the man to die in the ice and snow. As his companion bade him farewell, Sundar Singh lifted the poor traveler onto his back. With great exertion on his part, he bore the man onward, but gradually the heat from Sundar Singh’s body began to warm up the poor frozen fellow, and he revived.  Soon both were walking together side by die. Catching up with his former companion, they found him dead – frozen by the cold.

In the case of Sundar Singh, he was willing to lose his life on behalf of another, and in the process found it; in the case of his callous companion, he sought to save his life, but lost it.

If We Think Differently, We Live Differently

Similarly, in Romans 12.1-8, Paul tells us what giving our lives for Christ means. These few verses provide powerful insight, direction, and exhortation regarding how Paul understood being vitally involved with God. We are to be “living sacrifices” in continually giving ourselves, something that is “holy and acceptable to God.”

In fact, we’re not to be like this old world, rather we are to be “transformed (metamorphosis in Greek) by the renewing of our minds.” Why? So that we “may discern what is the will of God.” To be sure, when we think differently we live differently. When we realize that it is in giving our lives that we are living our lives, we operate in a mighty way within the will of God – “what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

We must give ourselves to the Lord, wholly and without reservation, as sacrifices – living, holy, and acceptable. When we come to the Lord Jesus Christ as 1 Pet 2.4-5 instructs, we are “built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.” If we live, no, if we give, in this way, we are the redeemed, holy in and through Christ by the Spirit in the world.

God Squeezes the Sweetness Out of Us

We are the sanctuaries of the living God, in whom and through whom, the power of the Spirit works to make Christ known to the world. We are filled, empowered, and impelled to be ministers of the gospel. In giving ourselves as living sacrifices, we are alive to Christ, giving life from him who empowers us.

Oswald Chambers put it well:

“It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but that he squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at all” [My Utmost for His Highest].

Godspeed your journey as you take the fire with you.

Explore the text for today: Romans 12.1-8.

Photo Credit: Salentein Grapes by David Wilbanks (Creative Commons).

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Jan 09 2012
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Connecting, Journeying, Seeing, Worshipping

The Why? of Worship, Part 2

In yesterday’s post, we heard a little of Charles Finney telling of his conversion experience with a wonderful phrase: “liquid waves of love.” It was a very powerful in his life; I think it aptly captures what happened to him. It brought him to repentance; it brought him to wanting to change his life; it brought him, in a powerful moment, to conversion. It brought him into that relationship with God.

Now, if you read conversion stories, you know what, they all sound remarkably alike. John Wesley’s story, there in May 1738, he found his heart strangely warmed. He was reading Luther’s preface to Romans; “I felt my heart was strangely warmed, and that Christ loved me, even me.” And those liquid waves of love fell on him, too.

Finding the Stuff of Worship

Now the power of this, the power that conversion experience, the power of being in the presence of God, and God getting a hold of us in a new way – that’s where we begin to find the stuff of worship.

For the past few posts, we’ve discussed the “Who?” of worship, which is God. Our worship and what we do is about him, and only him. We’ve talked about the “What?” of worship, the presence of God, and worship is designed to lead us into his presence.

We’ve also talked about the “When?” of worship. Worship is more than for Sunday morning, it’s a way of life. We read that text from The Message translation: “Celebrate God all day, every day.  I mean, revel in him!” And it just takes a little reorienting of our hearts and our minds, really just remembering who God is, what God does, and how God loves.

Now, I mentioned those conversion experiences of Finney and Wesley because everyone of us has, or should have, a conversion experience where God really got a hold of our hearts and we really felt the presence of God.

Everybody’s experience is different. They don’t have to be a burning bush (Moses), a talking donkey (Balaam), a road to Emmaus (two followers), or a road to Damascus (Paul). So, when we talk about the “Why?” of worship, it has to do with our experience of God.

The One Word Question

How many of us can remember the wonderful question from our kids or grandkids or students that was only one word long? “Why?” That question drives me crazy now, but I cannot tell you how many times I asked that question; I cannot tell you how many times my kids asked that question.

As parents and grandparents, we know the answers. “Because I said.” “Because I’m the boss.” “Because I’m your dad.” “Because I’m the teacher.” And, one of my favorites from Bill Cosby, “Because I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.” “Why?”

Well, when we talk about the “Why?” of worship, it has to do with our experience of God. When we ask “Why?” of God, what does he answer? I think he just says, “I am.” That’s it. That’s what he told Moses, “Tell them ‘I am’ sent you,” in Exodus 3. That’s what Jesus told Paul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”

That’s what Jesus tells the disciples in John 14. It’s a really amazing moment as he says goodbye to the disciples. They want to see God, they want to know they’ll be with Jesus when he reigns, they want peace, they don’t want things to end. Jesus tells them, “And you know the way to where I am going.”

We get this great response from Thomas: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” You can hear the “what?” and the “why?” and the fear in the question. Jesus hears it, too, and says to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

The Answer to the One Word Question

Quite simply, Jesus tells the disciples “I am.” That’s the answer to all their questions, all their fears, all their worries, all their desires. He’s the answer for us, too. When we ask the question about the “Why?” of worship, the answer is “I am.” Jesus tells us the same things he told those disciples. “I am. You know me, and you know the Father. I am.”

And so, from the gospel of John we hear Jesus say things like:

  • “I am the bread of life,” (6.51);
  • “I am the light of the world,” (8.12);
  • “I am the door,” (10.9);
  • “I am the good shepherd,” (10.11); or
  • “I am the resurrection and the life,” (11.25).

All these “I am’s” point to not just who Jesus is, but how we experience him. Maybe he’s been our friend, our helper, our hope, our shepherd, our strength, our peace, our rock, our fortress, our defender, our healer, our provider, or dozens of other ways we may have experienced him. To all these things, Jesus is “I am.”

By the way, Charles Finney became the primary preacher in the Second Great Awakening that happened in America in the early part of the nineteenth century.  Christianity spread to all of America because of this revival. Of course, John Wesley founded the Methodist movement in England during the remaining part of the eighteenth century, and Methodists are here today because he had that experience with Jesus.

And it all started with the liquid waves of love from the great “I am.” In end, the answer to our question about the “Why?” of worship is simply Jesus saying, “I am.”  That’s it. Nothing fancy, just real, just Jesus, “I am.” What’s God going to do with you as you hear “I am”?

Godspeed your journey as you take the fire with you.

Explore the texts for this post: Psalm 98.1-9 and John 14.1-7.

Photo Credit: “Sunrise Surprise” by Don Berquist (Creative Commons).

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Jan 08 2012
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Connecting, Journeying, Seeing, Worshipping

The Why? of Worship, Part 1

Several years ago, a friend of mine brought me a book containing the memoirs of Charles Finney, and I really enjoyed it. For those of you who don’t know much about Charles Finney, he was born in the late part of the eighteen century. By the time he was a young man, he had trained as a lawyer, and he didn’t have a whole lot of truck with religion.

Finney found ways to wrestle with his pastor, to wrestle with people in town about religion. What he didn’t know was that God was getting a hold of him in that time. As he was learning, as he was wrestling, as he was fighting it out with Reverend George Washington Gale, the Presbyterian minister there in Adams, New York, God began to really do a work in Charles Finney.

“I’ve Got to Be Different”

One day, early in the morning while he was walking to work, he felt the compelling of the Lord that it was time – it was time to get it right, it was time to get it straight. He just decided, “I’ve got to do it today, it’s got to be different.” So he went into the woods, and because he was full of pride – he didn’t want anyone to see him, he was so full of pride – he went as far out into the woods as he could there in upstate New York.

He found a place where trees had fallen, and he could get in the middle of them where nobody could see him. So, he got on his knees in there, and he got to praying and to seeking the Lord. Nothing happened. Nothing was breaking into his life. He wasn’t getting through to the Lord, and he knew something was wrong. He kept praying and praying and praying; and finally he realized, “I came out here to hide because of my pride.”

When he gave up that pride, all of the sudden the Lord fell on him, and he commenced to weeping and crying and repenting – weeping about his sin, weeping about not being in relationship with the Lord up until that point, weeping and getting upset. And then he went from weeping and repentance to joy and exultation, inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit; and he was just full of the glory of the Lord.

He was so excited he didn’t know what to do with himself, so he went back to town. Well, lo and behold, he found he had been out in the woods for most of the day – he was coming in for supper. Well, he ran into many people. He ran into people, and he told them about the Lord.

Liquid Waves of Love

He ran into people who saw him and thought, “Well this is old Charles Finney – all he does is wrestle about the Lord.” But Charles told them about the Lord this time. And the amazing thing about it is that for the first few days every person with whom he came in contact got to see this changed Charles, got to hear about this Jesus. Whether they were nominally Christian, whether they were unchurched, or whether they were in the church and really full of the Lord,  all of their lives were changed because of their contact with Finney.

Now, I tell you all this for one reason. When Finney was describing this experience and describing how the Lord fell on him, he described it like this: it was like “liquid waves of love.” I thought, “Man, ‘liquid waves of love’ – that’s a great sermon title; no that’s a great book title.” Liquid waves of love.

We’ll talk some more about “liquid waves of love” and the “why?” of worship in part 2 of this post.

Godspeed your journey as you take the fire with you.

Explore the texts for this post: Psalm 98.1-9 and John 14.1-7.

Photo Credit: Kids on the waves of Xiaomeisha beach, Shenzhen, China by Swamibu (Creative Commons).

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Jan 07 2012
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Connecting, Journeying, Seeing, Worshipping

The When? of Worship, Part 2

When we finished our last post, we talked about missing the worship of God. If we think we can worship once a week or so and get what we really need, we have missed it. If we think one hour on Sunday morning will give us what we need we miss it. Our notion of time for worship is too small, too short, too bound.

Our eternal God appears in the everyday affairs of his people, showing his grace, glory, hope, and love. The songs we sing, the prayers we pray, and the words we proclaim all tell of the intimate, saving involvement of the Lord in the lives of his people and the life of the world.

Worship Unbound

The kingdom of God is proclaimed in God’s arrival, and it is proclaimed in our lives. Suddenly, hopefully our notions of time for worship become taller, longer, unbound.

Simply put, God’s appearance in Jesus changes the world. The opening lines of Psalm 98 read: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”

Mary echoes these words in Luke 1.54 as God helps “his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.” Paul declares the same thing in Romans 1.15-17, “So I am eager to preach the gospel….For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes….For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

These few scriptures and many others proclaim God’s current salvation, and they give us clues to the future of the world. God is here, right now, bringing salvation, hope, faithfulness, and loved, and he claims us for himself in Jesus. Our notions of worship needs to expand to meet the surpassing greatness of our God.

Where God Should Be Seen

That’s precisely what that old familiar song “Joy to the World” pronounces. “Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; let every prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.” Christmas, the appearance of God in the Christ child, is the decisive event in the history of the nations and the history of the world. Our songs proclaim the truth of saving love and righteousness, the power of the God-event, the Christ-event in the world.

The point is that the appearance of God should make a difference in the world; it should make a difference in our lives. The only way it does is if somewhere deep in our hearts we understand that this is the truth, and our lives show this truth, not just in the church house, but the streets. We do not spend much time in the house of the Lord each week, but we do spend much time in the streets of the world, and that’s exactly where God can and should be seen.

The “When?” of worship is exactly what we hear in The Message translation of Philippians 4.4-9:

“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them.  Help them see that the Master is about to arrive.  He could show up any minute!  Don’t fret or worry.  Instead of worrying, pray.  Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.  Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.  It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!”  That’s the “When?” of worship, folks. Because God has made a difference in our lives, we worship. Because Jesus Christ is the center of our lives, we worship. Worship doesn’t happen because we say or do the right things; worship doesn’t happen because the pianist or organist or choir or choir director did all the right things; worship doesn’t happen because the preacher made you feel good on Sunday morning.

Can We Live on One Meal a Week?

No, worship happens because we know him, because we know him, and we come expecting to see him. And if we only see him once a week, I’ll just suggest that we don’t really know him.

That’s probably hard to hear for most of us, but let’s think about it in terms of food and exercise and relationships. How many of us could survive on one meal a week? Could we live very well, if at all?  I think we all know the answer is “No.” How many of us could get enough exercise if we only exercised once a week? Could we live very well, if at all? I think we all know the answer is “No.” How many of us could have loving, intimate relationships with our spouses or children or friends if we only talked once a week? Could we live and love very well, if at all? Once again, I think we all know the answer is “No.”

You see, we get the examples. You guys already have the point, and I haven’t even said it. We understand that there’s just some stuff you have to do to have things. Our worshipful relationship with God is no different.

Worship is Everyday

When we ask the “When?” of worship, we have to understand the foundation of that relationship is the “right now, but not yet” of God stepping into this world. Because God has stepped into this world, history is different – our lives are different. And his very presence makes the “When?” of worship an everyday occurrence.

I always tell people this, but they don’t always like to hear: if you want to truly worship God, you can’t just do it on Sunday morning. It’s got to be part of your daily lives. And I’m not talking about “having church” in the kitchen. I’m talking about a relationship with the living God who claims us for his very own: it can come in Bible study, it can come in devotions, it can come in the rising or the setting of the sun, it can come in grandkids.

What I’m suggesting is that worship is more than for Sunday morning, it’s a way of life. “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!” And it just takes a little reorienting of our hearts and our minds. “Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ becomes the center of your life in worship.”

Godspeed your journey as you take the fire with you.

Explore the texts for this post: Psalm 98.

Photo Credit: Astronomical clock in Prague, Czech Republic by Anthony Dodd in Fotopedia (Creative Commons).

P.S. That clock reminds us that our God is astronomical, providential, cosmological; our worship should be the same.

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Jan 06 2012
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Observing, Seeing, Connecting, Worshipping

The When? of Worship, Part 1

When Isaac Watts penned his famous Christmas hymn “Joy to the World, he based the song on inspiration from Psalm 98. “Joy to the  World” is a powerful song of praise to the appearance of a mighty God who brings salvation and hope to this broken world. Like Psalm 98, the song represents a kind “imperative hymn of praise” (it’s like we’re commanded to praise him) that calls everyone and everything to praise the Lord God Almighty. We are called to praise God, making a joyful noise the One who “has made known his salvation” (Psalm 98.2).

The song, like the Psalm on which it is based, tells us that God comes as a gracious, mighty king to judge the earth in righteousness, the same kind of righteousness evidenced towards Israel is given to us today. It’s a saving righteousness. We hear the “Joy to the World” speak of salvation and hope, faithfulness and love, telling the story of Israel, of us, of our God (See James Mays, Psalms, pp. 312-13).

Now, how many times have we sung that song? How many times have we thought about our God coming in righteousness, bringing salvation and hope, faithfulness and love? How many times? How many times has this song gone from the church house into our lives? That’s the $20,000 question for the day.

A Revolutionary Idea

What I want us to recognize is that worship is not just for the church house, but for our whole lives. Our lives should be lived in worship of the Lord who brings salvation; the way we live should reflect the One we know. What happens in our worship services ought to fill our souls for the work beyond the walls. It may very well be a revolutionary idea. Making a joyful noise to the Lord is not just about worshipping inside these walls; it’s our lives making a joyful noise to the Lord when we leave this place.

In the past two blogs, we’ve discussed the “Who?” of worship, which is God. Our worship and what we do is about him, and only him. And, we’ve talked about the “What?” of worship, the presence of God, and worship is designed to lead us into his presence. Well, today, we’ll talk about the “When?” of worship. When do we worship?

The When? of Worship Starts with God’s Time

You see, when we talk about the “When?” of worship, we’ve got to talk about God’s way of doing things, God’s way of seeing things. The time of worship, folks, is larger than an hour on Sunday or a day during the week or a week or even a season.  As a worship question in relationship to God, “when?” has to start with God’s time.

Time, as we know it, actually moves around the God story, the God event. We live in a “right now, but not yet” with the Jesus story. Jesus has come, Jesus is alive, Jesus will come again. It’s like those familiar, though maybe missed, words we say during the Great Thanksgiving during communion: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”

That understanding of the eternal God stepping into the now of time in Jesus is the foundation and framework from which we begin to understand the “When?” of worship. It’s a “right now” God is present to us, “but not yet” in our eternal relationship with him.

I know that’s heady stuff, but think of it like this: Let’s say you’ve got an investment of some kind, in land, a CD, a stock, some gold, or even a business. The “right now” is what you’ve got in your hands, the money or land available to you. The “but not yet” is the yield that will come in six months, six years, or sixty years.

In spiritual terms, we’ve got a relationship with Jesus Christ. The “right now” is that Christ living in us, we’re new creations in Christ. The “but not yet” is expressed in the promise that we will live eternally with him. We have him now, Christ is risen, but the promise is also that we will have him then, Christ will come again.

How We Miss Worship

That’s where we must really begin to think about the “When?” of worship. You see, if we think we can worship once a week or so and get what we really need, we have missed it. If we think one hour on Sunday morning will give us what we need we miss it.

Join me in the next post for more on the when? of worship.

Explore the texts for this post: Psalm 98.

Graphic Credit: Katie Ward Knutson at neweyes.atlblogs.com (Creative Commons).

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Jan 05 2012
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Observing, Seeing, Connecting, Worshipping

The What? of Worship

There’s a story I once read which concerns a mother cutting the ends from her roast. As her young daughter watches her prepare the roast, she asks her mom why she cuts the ends of the roast.

“Well, honey, that’s the way grandma did it, I’ve always done my roasts like her. But, I’ll tell you what, you can call grandma to find out why she did it.”

So, the little girl calls her grandmother, and she asks the same question about cutting the ends off the roast. She hears almost the same thing from her grandmother: “Well, that’s the way my momma did it when I was a young girl.”

Well, the little girl then decides she needs to call her great-grandmother to solve this mystery of why we cut the ends off the roast.

“Great-grandma, why do you cut the ends off the roast?”

“Well, baby, because when I was a young bride, I didn’t have a roasting pan large enough for the roast. I’ve always cut the ends off the roast to fit the pan.”

We Do Stuff Because We Do Stuff

Truth is, sometimes we just do stuff because we do stuff. Maybe our mom or dad did it, maybe something happened to us a long time ago, and we haven’t changed the way we do it. Maybe that’s just the way we like it. But, we do stuff because we do stuff.  And the trick, as the story suggests, is discovering why we do stuff.

It’s not always so easy. Some of us don’t care why we do stuff, we just do it, and that’s all there is to it. Some of us know exactly why we do stuff, and we’re not going to change it. Some of us do stuff because that’s how folks did it before us, and we don’t see any need to change it.

From the kitchen to the garden to the yard to the barn to the job, we all have things we do just because. It’s no different in worship, either. We may have our liturgy, our way of doing things; sometimes we just do it because that’s the way we did it in 1940 or 1982, it was good then, and it’s good now. Sometimes we do stuff because of a certain person or a certain preacher.

Connecting to God in Life Giving Ways

When John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, began his movement in England in the mid 1700’s, believe it or not, communion was not celebrated very often. It was not practiced often in any of the protestant, reformation churches. Even in the Roman Catholic church, the communion mass did not enjoy the same kind of frequency it did in the early church (See Keith Drury, The Wonder of Worship: Why We Worship the Way We Do, pp. 68-71).

Now, Wesley believed communion was as important as prayer or scripture or many other spiritual practices, and he tried to make communion more readily available to the followers in early Methodism. When people would ask Wesley how often to take communion, he would say, “As often as you can.”

The question for us, then, becomes why? Why take communion as often as you can? Wesley would answer: because communion is a means of grace, a channel or way God communicates his grace to you. Like prayer or scripture or singing, communion is a channel through which God communicates grace into our lives.

Now, communion is not the only means of grace, there is prayer, scripture, singing, fasting, celebrating, and a host of other spiritual disciplines – things we do to grow in our relationship with God. These means of grace help connect us to God in meaningful, life-giving ways.

In a communion service, the way we get connected is the celebration of communion, that’s the way we recognize the presence or the revelation of God. But what about a regular, non-communion service? The what of the service is the way God communicates grace to you and me through presence and revelation. Scripture, sermon, song, prayer all are means of grace where God communicates to us. But, the primary way, the primary “what,” with communion itself, is the Word of God in holy scripture.

God Shares His Voice with Us

Obviously, we see the Word of God in the scripture reading and in the sermon. These hold very special places in the service of the Word. Hearing the Word read and proclaimed makes a real difference in our lives. It’s as if we have God taking the time to share his voice with us, reveal his will to us, unveil his presence before us. The Word does all of that for us.

But, there are other places we may see the scripture so clearly, but it is evident, and it’s important. Places like the prayer of confession (an example is Psalm 51), the affirmations of faith like the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed, or in songs we sing, are ways scripture and things coming from scripture are used to communicate God’s grace to us.

Another place we are not so likely to look is the movement of the service. A service with a liturgy moves somewhere. When we look at the tabernacle in the wilderness or the temple complex, we can see that the movement in worship goes someplace, really it goes to Someone.

Moving Towards God

In both the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple complex, the holy of holies, the place where God’s presence dwelled, is the focal point of the structure, the place where people see God. The difference for us is that when Jesus died, the veil in the temple separating the holy of holies from the rest of the temple was torn. The presence of God, as it were, is let loose. We remember and celebrate that presence in things like communion, the Word, prayer, singing, etc. – all the ways God communicates his grace to us.

Now, if we’ll remember what Jesus says in John, if he is lifted up, he will draw all people to himself. Now, obviously, he’s talking about the lifting up on the cross, but in a more general way, if we lift high the name of Jesus, he will draw people to him. Notice it’s not the fellowship hall or the sanctuary or the church house or anything else. He will draw people to himself.

God’s Presence Makes the Difference

That’s the what? of worship – the presence of God, the revelation of God in Jesus, and our worship looks to that presence, to that channel of God’s grace communicated to us, that’s what to keep us centered in our worship, and in this life.  We tend to look at worship as something that happens here, when it’s really Someone who happens here. It’s God’s presence that makes the difference, not us, not the buildings, not even the trappings of worship.

And, maybe we don’t know all the reasons we do things in worship, but there are reasons, and the primary one is the presence of God. Just imagine if all this went away – all this stuff, would we still be able to worship God? Our worship is not the what of the buildings or the world around us, but the what of the presence of God. And worship leads us to his presence.

Can we see the interesting problem with these story I related?  It’s not really the small roasting pan which is what we tend to consider. We see the stuff. The real “What?” of that story is the roast. It represents the meal, the coming together of the family, but we are thinking about the pan.

When we come to worship, we come to worship in Spirit and in truth, and the “What?” of worship is the presence, the revelation of God. He is the reason we are here, and he comes to show us his love for us in Jesus. All the stuff that we do, all the stuff we think is so important should really lead us to God’s presence. It is his presence that makes all the difference, and nothing else.

The “What?” of worship is the presence of God, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.

Godspeed your journey as you take the fire with you.

Explore the texts for this post: John 1.1-5, 14 and Psalm 19.7-11.

Photo Credit: Loci Lenar on Fotopedia (Creative Commons).

P.S. You know, it was the presence of Jesus that made the difference for those disciples caught in a stormy sea. In our lives, wherever we are, whatever we face, the presence of God in Jesus really does make all the difference.

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