What does worship mean to you? Recently I read this statement about worship. It reminded me that worship is not about us.
"Sometimes worship is difficult. We don’t want to praise God or hear God’s voice. Sometimes worship grabs us by the nape of the neck and shakes us up as we come face to face with an ineffable God. Sometimes worship is comforting as we bow down before a God who loves us and gave up everything for us. Sometimes worship is joyous as we praise God who does great things for our world. And sometimes worship is all those things at once. Worship should never be a passive experience, and it is never about us." Postmodern Children’s Ministry – Ministry to children in the 21st Century, Ivy Beckwith, Page 151.
Let's consider this phrase again ...Worship should never be a passive experience, and it is never about us.
What did Jesus say?
When Jesus was being tested in the wilderness by the enemy Jesus reminded us of Who we are to focus our worship on.
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Luke 4:5-8 NKJV
Jesus' words are very clear ...
'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.'
The Message Bible says it this way,
Jesus refused, again backing his refusal with Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God and only the Lord your God. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.” Luke 4:8 The Message
What is worship?
We can think about worship in many different ways. One of the ways we are probably most familiar with is the 'singing time' in church, which at the moment, due to COVID-19, has greatly dimished in the wake of social distancing rules.
I'm so grateful that our church has been able to meet again, in smaller numbers, and have a time of worship, albeit quite differently to what we are used to, but still a beautiful time of worshipping Jesus.
With the absence of the familiar corporate worship time during COVID, we have had to purposefully seek out and embrace alternatives to continue fellowshiping and drawing closer to God. So as with many aspects of our faith during this time of COVID, the small group gathering and our individual devotion time with Jesus has taken on a more central role.
Worship in the small group
For me, my early experiences of home-group / life-group involved a time of worship. While there was some singing during the worship, mostly it was a time of sitting in the presence of God, focusing on the words that declared truth about our Saviour. For example, Lord of All, Hillsong Worship
'Lord I long to see you glorified
In everything I do
All my heartfelt dreams I put aside
To see your Spirit move with power in my life.
Jesus, Lord of all eternity
Your children rise in faith
All the earth displays your glory
And each word you speak brings life to all who hear.'
I'm grateful for those experiences and what I learned. They were one aspect of the equipping that enabled me to start a life-group in 2019, where we normally include a time of worship, sitting in the presence of God, with our heart and mind focused on Jesus, Lord of All.
God prepares the way
How perfect is that for today's scenario of COVID-19 when singing has so many restrictions around it. I love how God goes before us, preparing us for what we need, before we know we need it.
And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8 NKJV
Despite the social distancing restrictions, we can still listen to some anointed worship songs, lay down our concerns from the day and turn our hearts and minds towards God.
Here are a few of worship songs we play:
Find me at the feet of Jesus- Christy Nockels
What A Beautiful Name - Hillsong Worship
Breathe/Rest (Spontaneous Worship) - Cory Ashbury
Goodness of God - Bethel Music and Jenn Johnson
Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth
In these times though, when our experience of 'church' is a little different, I think it is important to pause and consider the wider definition of worship, and how we are living that out in our lives.
CompellingTruth.org has an interesting article, How can I worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth, refering to our response to John 4:23-24.
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24 NLT
And here is the same scripture in The Passion Translation ...
From here on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with the right heart. For God is a Spirit*, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who worship and adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24 TPT
A side note, or perhaps the key note when it comes to worshipping Jesus, ... the footnote in The Passion Translation says,
*Or “God is breath,” or “God is wind.” Jesus refers to “Spirit” more than one hundred times in the four Gospels.
The transforming power of the Holy Spirit
The power of the Holy Spirit transforms us, over time, into more sincere worshippers of Jesus. His power transforms our lives so we become a reflection of God's love - ie the fruit of the Spirit grows in us ...
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV
Here is a more contemporary translation from The Message:
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Galatians 5:22-23 The Message
Worship is not about us
So we have meandered from that original statement by Ivy Beckwith ....
Worship should never be a passive experience, and it is never about us."
... to Jesus' words in Luke 4:8 ...
'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.' Luke 4:8 NKJV
... to Jesus' words in John 4:24 ...
For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 NLT
... to Paul's words about what happens in us when we allow the Holy Spirit transforms us ...
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV
We need to choose to engage in worship
So yes, worship is not about us, but we need to choose to engage in worship. We need to fully engage and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us through worship. Fully engaging means we continually choose to put Jesus first in our lives, acknowledging that He is Lord of All.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV
Today, let's choose to engage fully in worship, however that looks for us - singing, loving, serving, and through that worship allow the Holy Spirt to transform us to be more and more like Jesus in this place.
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