Joyful Worship Pt.2

Here is pt. 2 of the Sunday bulletin series I am doing. This is the unprinted version. I am going to remove the "Maybe this" paragraph for print. This is sort of like the deleted scenes version. Once again, kudos to my friend Dan Morris for help on this topic.

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So what is worship? How do we approach worship? Is it something that can be defined? Let’s take a quick look at history.

The Israelites had been crying out in captivity for 400 years. No response. Within a very short period of time, God makes himself known powerfully. Plague after plague strikes their captors. Release comes. Millions line up and march out of Egypt. They find themselves trapped against the Red Sea, only to see it lifted out of the way. Finally, they stand before the mountain of God, covered in fire, thunder, and lightning. The earth trembles.

What would it have been like to be there? They were instructed to erect a fence so that not even an animal would touch a single stone of the mountain. God was going to descend upon it in full view of the people and they had three days to prepare. Four hundred years of silence and now you have 72 hours to get ready. How do you approach holiness and not be changed forever? What do you say in the presence of Jehovah?

Maybe this… “Why don’t they sing that tambourine song they used to sing? I really liked it when Miriam sang that song. Why don’t they sing old songs like that again?” Or maybe, “ I wish Aaron would lead worship. I don’t really like it when Moses leads worship. Too slow. I’d just as soon go home.” How about, “All this smoke and fire and trembling, that’s too formal. I like a relaxed atmosphere. Why does it have to be so formal?” Or possibly, “Three days to get ready for worship? Doesn’t he know we have things to do? If he talks that long, I’m out’a here.”

Would you say something like that in the presence of Jehovah? And today, what do we say in the presence of the Holy? We may not have a mountain of fire, but He is here nonetheless. God has descended upon us in full view. As we worship together, God inhabits our praise. The spiritual foundations of the earth tremble as the worship of his people is lifted high. The “how” of worship takes a distant second place to the “why.” Could it be that part of true worship is in understanding His presence and reverence at the awe of his majesty?

Oh God, we come seeking your presence, your mercy and your power. Help us to have eyes that see you and hearts that reverence your holiness. May our worship honor you and you alone.

Spiritual Intimacy

I spent a good part of last weekend at the Zoe Conference in Lubbock. I was glad to go. Even though I lived in Tennessee for 15 years, I never cashed in on the opportunity to go to the Zoe event in Nashville. I intended to a couple of times, but something always came up.

It was a refreshing experience. The worship was wonderful and I got to reconnect with lots of old friends. Growing up in Lubbock, I saw a lot of people from my youth. I also got to connect with folks from my old road life, like Nathan Tillotson, Brian Randolph, Randy Gill and Jeff Walling.

While the worship was great and the messages were moving (get the CD of Jeff speaking about being "closer"), it was the small group experience where I was most challenged. I participated in the worship leaders small group, which was led by Brandon Thomas of Zoe and Rich Smith of Levi Ministries.

Rich is an amazing young man. It is obvious that the Holy Spirit has done some powerful work in his life. I'd love to know more about his background (which apparently includes some serious work), but his humility seemed to keep most of it behind him. That's cool.

Anyway, he gave me one of those "aha" moments. I have talked about John 17
many times over the course of my life. For years, it was a centerpiece of Acappella's ministry. Vs. 20-21 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

I've preached the unity of believers from that passage many times. It's an important message. Unfortunately, I've worked that passage so much that I missed another important element. He prays not only for unity of believers, but for unity of them with HIM. The lesson I took away from this day:

We have whatever level of intimacy with God as we will pursue, even up to the level that Jesus had with God.

I've always strived for a closer walk with God. I don't think I ever realized that I've put boundaries on that. It was certainly unintentional, but there nonetheless. Who am I to say that I can only come so close to God and no closer when Jesus himself prayed that we would be one with him as he was with God?

Again I say, "aha!" Excuse me... I have more pursuing to do. ~Gary