A Pastor's Meditations: What is worship...

OK...so we go to church on Sunday mornings. We get all "prettied up"...put on our "Sunday best." We got to a building and maybe greet some people. We find our favorite seat (and don't let someone be sitting in it) sit down and wait? What are we waiting for? Why are we even here in the first place? What are we expecting to hear...to see... to feel? What is this worship thing all about?

Well we need to ask ourselves a few questions:

1. What is our attitude about going to church? Are you going there because it is an exclusive club for you or is it a place for both "sinners" and "saints" alike? Is it a joy or a drudgery?
2. What is our motivation for going to church? Is church a duty...a item on your checklist or is it something much more? Is it a place where you come to be entertained or a place you expect God to show up and is present amongst us?
3. What keeps us from going to church if that is what is happening...? Is it a place where you feel safe or is it a place where you feel you have to always watch your back? Has it become that social club and not a place where you experience the life changing message of hope?

OK...Romans 12:3-5 tells us:
(Romans 12:3-5New Living Translation (NLT)
³ Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. ⁴ Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵ so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

We gather together as the body of Christ...becoming one body with many parts. We come together to worship God...to thank God for all He has done and is doing in our lives and in the lives of the body of Christ...in the body of believers.

So why do we need corporate worship...why do we need to gather together in one place? Can't we worship God in our own homes...on our own? Well yes we can and should worship God in our homes and our work place...we should live a life of constant worship. But...but...when we come together in worship it renews our faith and renews our joy...we hold each other up in prayer and come along side each other in times of crisis. 

There is value in a Godly community. It is a place where we find our role in God's great design and our purpose for His Kingdom. Have you discovered your role or purpose? It can only be done in community. In community is where we should be able to find meaning and purpose in life. Otherwise we just go through life and not live the abundant life God has in store for everyone who believes.

I think our biggest deterrent to the issue of finding our purpose in life... We use those two favorite words "I can't"... You are right...we can't, I can't...you can't...but God CAN... In Mathew 19:26, Jesus tells us:

(Matthew 19:26New Living Translation (NLT))
²⁶ Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

We just can't do it on our own but God...in and through community with Him and other believers...can do far more than we can ask or hope for. As we come together in community, Ephesians 4:16 tells us"

Ephesians 4:16New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

We grow and become whom God would have us to be...even if we have a hard time, at times, believing in ourselves...God will always help us to succeed in what He has planned for us...God keeps His promises. This truth we can "Take to the bank...we can bank on it."

So what is worship? To me it is a way of life. You don't really "do" worship but you "be" worship in what you say and do. It is saying "Thank You" to God not with just lip service but with action. It is gathering with a rag tag group of people...as Jesus did...and hear the Good News. It is during worship I can expect God to show up and I will be changed forever. It is in and through worship I am free to love all...to see the sacred worth in all...to invite others into my "worship space" and feel the movement of the Spirit with in them.

So...what is worship to you and what will you do with your worship of God. I would like to leave you with a piece of scripture found in the Gospel of Matthew... it kind of says it all...

The Workers Are Few

³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Are you ready to be counted among the workers?