Here I Am To Worship

We've been talking this evening at worship: what worship is, what it means to worship, how we worship.

 

Taken from the Old English 'weorthscipe' meaning worthiness, worship means to acknowledge the worth of. 

 

When we worship God, we are acknowledging who He is and, therefore, are acknowledging His worthiness.

 

But worship isn't something we do for half an hour in church on Sundays.  Or during the week when we listen to a 'worship' CD.  It's not even really about singing.

 

Yes, singing is a large and significant part of worship, but true worship is about living a life which acknowledges God's worthiness in all areas.

 

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well:

"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God.  Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth.  That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship.  God is sheer being itself - Spirit.  Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."

 

[John 4:24 MSG]

 

 

I love that line - those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. 

I love it and I am deeply challenged by it.  I'm not sure that I've very comfortable simply and honestly being myself: I'm not sure I feel enough.  Sometimes I like to dress myself up in different layers of disguise.  I'm not even sure I know what it means to be simply and honestly myself.

But I want to start to find out.

I want to say, as Tim Hughes sang, "Here I am to worship."

No pretense, no disguise, no distraction.  Not just here I am for 20 minutes.  But every day, every moment - here I am to worship.


 

 

 

 

The Hurt And The Healing

This evening I have been to watch a contemporary dance performance which considered the themes of loss and reconstruction following loss.

 

It was a fascinating portrayal of how loneliness can feel and how other people are essential in carrying us through times of bereavement and in helping us to restructure our lives.

 

There were six dancers in the piece and each one of them, at one point in the performance, was the 'odd one out' - the one by themselves.  The one dancing alone.  The one who was experiencing loss of some kind.

 

They each had a moment of dancing solo.

 

But then the other five would come and gather around them and physically support and strengthen them.  They would dance alongside them and lift and carry them.

 

It was a beautiful image.

 

And it was another wonderful picture of what God imagines the church to be like.

 

Paul writes,

 

"The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t.  If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing.  If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance."

 

[1 Corinthians 12:25-26 MSG]

 

I love that line: every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. 

 

In the same way that the dancers in tonight's performance were all involved in each other's hurt and healing, this is what God envisions and longs for in His church.

 

 

 

 

Everyone Has A Part To Play

Two nights ago I went to a concert performed by the Philharmonic orchestra.  It was completely wonderful.

 

We were really close to the musicians and I loved watching all of them following their music and working together to create a beautiful harmony.

 

It was really interesting to focus on one group of musicians at a time and to watch them closely: they would often sit still for minutes at a time with no notes to play.  But they still followed the music, waiting for their parts and they were as much a part of the performance as anyone else.

 

I found this particularly fascinating with the triangle player ('Triangulist'?).  He sat through the first two movements of the symphony without moving or playing a single note.  But as the third movement began, he started to play.  I loved seeing how he felt just as much a part of the performance as did the rest of the musicians.  He was engaged with what was going on and was proud of his part.

 

Everyone had a part to play.

 

If they had all played the same thing at the same time, the music would certainly have been loud, but it would also have been dull.  It was the harmonising, overlapping, complementary sounds which enriched the performance.

 

In the same way, the church is like this.  Everyone has their own part to play, their own role to fulfil.  Sometimes this can mean being in the limelight; at other times it will mean sitting quietly and watching someone else playing their part.  Sometimes we will be the soloist, the centre of attention, at other times our role will be to support.

 

Paul's description of the church like a body is useful for us here,

"A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge.  It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.  If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so?  If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body?  If the body was all eye, how could it hear?  If all ear, how could it smell?  As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.  But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance.  For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of.  An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster.  What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place.  No part is important on its own."

 

[1 Corinthians 12:14-20 MSG]

 

No matter what our strengths and weaknesses, we all have a part to play.  No part is important on its own.

 

 

Many Hands Make Light Work

I have been absolutely fascinated watching the builders across the road from me today. 

I have quite literally stopped what I've been doing for 20 minutes at a time to observe their progress.  The flats have shot up - even since yesterday - and I am amazed at the pace of their work.

I noticed today how all of them have their own, individual jobs to complete which fit into the bigger, overarching job.  Some of them were moving bricks with machines.  Some were carefully spreading cement and laying bricks and checking they were level.  Some were filling in the gaps between the outer and inner walls with insulation.  Some were moving and rebuilding the scaffolding surrounding the site.

All of them had their own job to do and all of them were working diligently.

Many hands make light work.

I think it is probably no coincidence that I was listening to 'Build Your Kingdom Here' by Rend Collective when I first paused to watch the builders earlier (listen to it here -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcSWpVKKMcs).

The words of the chorus are -  
 

"Build Your kingdom here
Let the darkness fear
Show Your mighty hand
Heal our streets and land
Set Your church on fire
Win this nation back
Change the atmosphere
Build Your kingdom here
We pray."
 

As I watched the builders today and listened to this song, I was struck by how it offered a beautiful picture of the church: everyone working together on different jobs, to build God's Kingdom on earth. 

We often pray the words of the Lord's Prayer - "Your Kingdom come", but we don't often acknowledge our role in bringing - or building - this Kingdom.

God has a part and a purpose for each of us.  No matter who we are, or how we got here, we all have a role to play in the building of His Kingdom.

"God is building a home.  He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building.  He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together.  We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home."

[Ephesians 2:20-22 MSG]
 

Many hands make light work.

Peace And Quiet

As a child, every year, at our village church Carol service, I would read the passage from Isaiah which foretold Jesus’ birth.
 

This year, I am back by popular demand.

 

It is one of my favourite Christmas passages and I probably know it off by heart. In fact, I even mentioned it on this blog just over a week ago.

 

       “The people walking in darkness

       have seen a great light;

       on those living in the land of the shadow of death

       a light has dawned […]

       For to us a child is born,

       to us a son is given,

       and the government will be on his shoulders.

       And he will be called

       Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,

       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

       [Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 NIV]

 

Last night, we were discussing this verse in detail and were considering the different names given to Jesus.  In particular, we considered what the title Prince of Peace meant.

 

When we think of ‘Peace’, we tend to think of it as being partnered with ‘Quiet’.  We enjoy a moment  of ‘Peace and Quiet’.  Peace is lying in the bath, relaxing with a glass of wine.  Peace is passive and still and tranquil.*

 

Or is it?

 

If we think of Peace in a war-torn land, or Peace between two fighting families, we find that Peace is something immensely valuable.  Peace is something worth fighting for.  Peace is the absence of conflict, it’s the end of a struggle.  Peace takes effort and sacrifice and intervention.  Peace doesn’t just happen.

 

Jesus came to bring Peace to men on earth.  Peace between men and Peace between man and God.  He came to bring wholeness and completion.  And He fought for it on the cross, until it was won.

 

Now, if we want it, we can have true, deep, lasting Peace, through a relationship with Jesus.  In the same way that a city can sleep peacefully because it knows its watchmen are vigilantly guarding the walls, we can have peace because Jesus is vigilantly watching over us.

 

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

[Philippians 4:7 NIV] 

 

 

* Or Peace is, as the 70s would have it, all-embracing, all-accepting, totally awesome.

 

Blackberries

I love Autumn. 

 

I love the crisp chill in the air.  I love going for walks in the countryside in my wellies.  And most of all, I love blackberrying.

 

I love that, for those who have a few hours to spare, there is an abundance of delicious blackberries waiting in the hedgerows to be picked and enjoyed.  For free.

 

Yesterday, I spent a very enjoyable afternoon doing just that.

 

There are so many parables I could draw from the experience [and perhaps I will in another post], such as looking in the right places and taking a different perspective on things, and having to fight the thorns for the fruit. 

 

But what really struck me yesterday was the shape of the blackberries.  When I was little, I used to enjoy trying to pull off each of the drupelets [apparently the technical term for each of the little bobbles] to eat them individually.  It is a fiddly and messy business but, if achieved, can be quite satisfying.

 

All of the tiny seed-bearing bobbles joined together around the soft core made me think about what the church should be like. 

 

We are all unique individuals with our own roles to play.  We each have a 'seed' within us which will grow and develop and produce a flourishing plant.  But we are all joined together around the 'core' - the central person of Jesus.

 

Paul explains how we are all joined together through Christ -

 

"You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body.  It’s exactly the same with Christ.  By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives.  We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything."

 

[1 Corinthians 12:12-13 MSG] 

And he continues to explain how we are all linked together and affected by each other -

 

"The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t.  If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing.  If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance."

[1 Corinthians 12:25-26 MSG]

 

The church isn't a club for religious people to hang out at on Sundays.  The church isn't the building.  The church isn't the pastors, or the vicar, or the worship leaders. 

 

The church is you and me joining together through our shared faith in Jesus and sharing our lives together - the hurting and the healing, the joy and the weeping.

 

 

 

Red Lips

Yesterday, I discovered a red lipstick that I had bought a while ago in the bottom of my make-up bag.


Despite buying it a few months ago, I haven't really worn it much. It is a bold, vibrant colour, which doesn't really call for half measures. Properly applied, it is a glamorous pillar box red, reminiscent of the 1920s. Tentatively applied, it looks like Pat Butcher.


I haven't worn it much because I have always felt it was a bit too obvious and I wasn't sure I wanted to draw that much attention to myself. It calls for boldness and forces me to decide: am I in or out?


In the same way, in Revelation, Jesus wrote to the church at Laodicea, asking them to decide: are you in or out? He criticised them for being "lukewarm", for not being fully committed to Him or His church.

“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!"

[Revelation 3:15, 16 NLT]

In the same way that red lipstick is better not applied than applied cautiously, Jesus said it was better for the church at Laodicea to choose one way or another.


Fully committed or not at all.


His challenge is for us too: are we in or out? Will we commit everything we have to Jesus, trusting in Him to meet our needs, or will we only offer Him half-hearted commitment when it suits us and is convenient? If it is the latter, Jesus goes so far as to say that He would rather we didn't bother - He either wants all of us, or none of us.


Jesus, like red lipstick, demands that we choose: either in or out.  All or nothing.

Coffee, Cups and the Cosmos

Whilst I like coffee, I'm not one of those people who is completely fuelled by it.  You know, the sort of person who is dangerous to approach in their pre-coffee state, or is completely useless before they've had their morning cup (tea, on the other hand, is another matter...)

However, our church is full of coffee people.

It is in such popular demand that we have come perilously close to running out of coffee on several occasions.  And this has sometimes been coupled with the equally devastating problem of no cups.

Naturally, this discovery, less than an hour before the service is due to start, has led to a panic for the hospitality team and an emergency trip to Sainsbury's for coffee and cups.

However, a few times, even though we have looked everywhere for coffee cups, someone else has gone to "have one last look" and has returned joyfully wielding coffee and/or cups.  Somehow, somewhere, we have found coffee where we thought there was none.  We have found something where we thought there was nothing.

In the same way, Genesis tells us that God created the world from nothing.  In his modern retelling of the Bible ("Word on the Street"), Rob Lacey rewrites Genesis 1:1-2 like this:

"First off, nothing. No light, no time, no substance, no matter. Second off, God starts it all up and WHAP! Stuff everywhere! The cosmos in chaos: no shape, no form, no function– just darkness ... total. And floating above it all, God’s Holy Spirit, ready to play."

Now, whether you see the creation story in Genesis as the literal word of God or an allegory, the message is the same: God has the power and the ability and the resources to create something out of nothing.

Why does that matter?

Not only does it show us God's power, it gives us hope when we feel at the end of ourselves and as though we are stuck in a dead-end situation. 

"When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead-end, because I am God, your personal God."

[Isaiah 43:3 MSG emphasis mine]

When we feel that there is no answer to our problems, when we don't have the energy to keep going, when we don't have the money to pay the bills, when we don't have the coffee to fuel the church, God can make something out of nothing.

False Advertising

How many advertising slogans can you recall without having to call upon the help of Google?

Nearly 20 years later, I can still sing (word for word and in perfect tune), the radio jingle for "Corsham Building Plastics".  I'm not sure if the company still exists, but the jingle will forever be imprinted on my mind.

Adverts bombard us: from the television, from the radio, from bilboards, from magazines and newspapers, from emails, from internet searches.  So much so that I would venture to say it is nearly impossible to avoid some form of advertising over the course of a day.

And adverts no longer just sell a product, they sell a lifestyle.  And if we are dissatisfied with the lifestyle being offered, we can easily shop around for a better, cheaper deal.  We live in a world where consumerism is God and the market place is our Temple. We worship in the supermarkets and shops and (more recently), on internet shopping sites. 
As Mike Erre says in 'Death by Church',

"Advertising now promises to give us what religion used to deliver: meaning, purpose, significance, and identity."

But whilst advertising appears to promise a better lifestyle, in reality, it simply creates a hunger in us that it is incapable of satisfying.  It shows us a perfect and ideal lifestyle which seems to be attainable.  If I change supermarkets and change my clothes and change my hair and get a better car and a better phone and a better computer I will be satisfied.  Content.  Happy.  Successful.

False advertising.

But there is someone who promised a bigger, better, fuller life.  And He delivers on His promise:

"I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of."

[John 10:10, NIV, emphasis mine]

And all we have to do is ask.



All together now ...

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Conservatories, doors and windows too
We'll get your place fixed up like new.
Just one call
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And the prices are fantastic!
Just call 811 663
Corsham Building Plastics.

The "Christian" Post

Yesterday, I read a post about worship music and why we call it "Christian music", which has got me thinking a lot today...

In his post, "Erasing the Line Between the Secular and the Sacred" 
(http://benjamindunn.tumblr.com/post/25517102516/erasing-the-line-between-the-secular-the-sacred), Benjamin Dunn says,

Christian Music? What an extremely weird concept. To think that a song, band or genre of music can be dubbed “Christian” is an anomaly to me. Can other things in this world be “Christian” as well? (i.e. My, dogs, my socks, my dirty tour sweater)?

His article procedes to discuss the meaning of "worship music" and the sacred nature of music, which isn't my intention here (although it makes for interesting reading).  However, it got me thinking about our attitude to separating and segragating the different aspects of our lives.

How often do we prefix areas of our life with the word "Christian"?   "Christian radio", "Christian TV", "Christian film", "Christian book", "Christian song", "Christian art", "Christian conversation", "Christian place", "Christian job", "Christian blog"...

And what do we mean by it?  Does shoving the word "Christian" before another noun somehow alter it and sanctify it?  Is my "Christian job" more important than your (presumably) "non Christian job"?  Is a "Christian film" somehow better for me?

And how do we define it?  Do we have to prove it has been written or painted or designed by someone who professes to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour?  And how do we go about proving that?  And if I am a Christian musician, am I capable of writing an "ordinary" song?  Or are all of my songs "Christian" because I am?  And does it really matter?

Isn't labelling things as "Christian" more about confining God and putting restrictions on Him?  And isn't that more about us being in control and making us 'God'?  If we put God in a box and only expect to experience or hear from Him when we are listening to "Christian radio" or watching a "Christian film" then we probably will. 

But if we open up our eyes and our ears and our minds and if we erase the lines and break down the walls, perhaps we will see God in the ordinary as well.

After all, Jesus wasn't born in a Temple, He was born in a stable.  He didn't just work for a religious organisation, He trained as a carpenter.  He didn't just teach in the synagogues, He taught on the hills and in boats.  He didn't just have Jewish friends, He befriended the lonely and broken and poor and outcast and sinful.

Jesus came to earth to show us that God isn't distant and unreachable and only interested in the "Christian" aspects of our lives.  He is personal and intimate and bigger than any human fences we erect, and He longs to speak into every area of our lives:

"Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life.  We didn't fence you in.  The smallness you feel comes from within you.  Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way.  I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection.  Open up your lives.  Live openly and expansively!"

[2 Corinthians 6:11, MSG]

'Godliness' and 'Humanness'

Where do we get the idea that ‘godliness’ and ‘humanness’are at opposite ends of a spectrum?  We seem to have a common misconception that to be a 'Christian', or to be 'godly', we must strip away anything 'worldly' about us.  And so we go to church and leave our sense of humour at home; we leave our anger and our resentment and our bitterness behind (for an hour or two).  We talk to each other and we are all "Fine, thanks!"  We put on masks of joy and peace and love and hope no one peaks beneath the surface.  When we are 'godly' we don't swear, we don't drink and we certainly don't talk about s-e-x.

 And so we divide our lives into sections: the 'godly' and the 'human'.  The golden and the grey.

But Jesus went to parties and drank wine.  He hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors.  In fact, the only people that he criticised were those who thought themselves to be too 'godly' to mix with 'regular' humans.

It is in Jesus that we see the fullness of who we were made to be:

“He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.”

[Romans 8:29-30, The Message]

In these verses, we see Jesus as the forerunner of who we were made to be: a full human, who didn't hide or disguise Himself, but embraced and integrated His 'godliness' and 'humanness'. 

Rather than seeing our 'godliness' and our 'humanness' as opposite points on a spectrum, we need to see these two aspects of our lives as overlapping circles on a Venn Diagram: they are unavoidably and intrinsically linked. 

And our aim as we grow in faith and become more like Jesus will be for the two circles to grow closer together.  Our aim will be to live in the overlap, to be like Him.