Worship, Again

In the book of Malachi are described issues that the Lord has with His people. In Malachi 1, for instance, we learn that:
1. The people doubt that the Lord loves them (v.2);
2. The people do not honor Him as a Father should be honored (v.6);
3. The priests show contempt for His name (v.6);
4. They do this by allowing or even encouraging unacceptable offerings in the act of worship. That which is corrupted is offered instead of the first and the best that the Lord requires (vv.7-8);
5. The priests do not have their hearts in the right place for service to God (v.10);
6. The people show contempt for their offerings to God (vv.12-13);
7. The people offer corrupt sacrifices even though they have acceptable ones (vv.13b-14).

We see in all of this that all of the Lord's people have fallen into seeming apathy. The people have little interest in worshipping with hearts bursting with gratitude and love. The priests are little different. They do not guide themselves or the people into repentance.

In Malachi 2:1-9, the priests are again admonished. They need to listen to the Lord better. They are to re-set their hearts on the holy work of honoring Him (vv.1-2). In fact, the work of the priests is honoring, reverencing, and standing in awe of the Lord and teaching the people to do the same (vv.5-6).

The duration of Malachi 2 recognizes that idol worship and frivolous divorce within the community of believers causes the Lord to be slow to receive the worship of that community. We might say that sinful behavior amongst the Lord's people corrupted even the sacrifice of praise.

The time of Malachi reminds me of our day. Many of us have a really difficult time giving ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord in our worship. Because of this, our offerings are corrupt.

Likewise, priests like me have been too slow to call us to account as a community. I have tiptoed around the issue of worship just hoping that the matter will take care of itself. I reckon I need to start with my own repentance so that I have a clear conscience. But then I need to lead the people of my congregation to contrition and confession as well. I must honor, reverence, and stand in awe of the Lord and teach others to do the same.

Finally, we must all continue to root out sin in our own lives. We cannot continue to believe that our attitudes toward the Lord are untainted when we constantly strive for worldly things and partake of worldly activities.

It is time for us all to get down on our knees and ask for forgiveness. The Lord will restore us when we do, give us hearts of flesh, and our cups will overflow with joy that will become spasms of praise to Him.

Amen.

Worship

A Mennonite scholar recently wrote in regard to the American Church, "We are both in the world and of it." He meant that we are no longer just in the world out of necessity, to minister and to work, while maintaining a palpable identity as the people of God. Instead in our engagement with the world, the ideas of the world have become our ideas, the behaviors of the world have become our behaviors, and the values of the world have become our values. And now we have transported what we have learned into our homes and churches.

If this is indeed the case, we as churches have some serious reckoning to do. If we are truly taking our cues from what we learn and absorb in our culture, what we believe to be true is certainly skewed and inaccurate.

One example of this, in my estimation, is our attitude toward worship. Worship is by definition abandoning our souls, bodies, minds, and voices to the praise of God. It is freely and actively offering whatever we have to the Lord. It is necessarily (other) God-centered.

Unfortunately, we have learned from our culture that life is to be me-centered. Life is about a headlong pursuit of personal happiness, pleasure, and fulfillment. We find vestiges of this throughout worship.

Relatedly, our culture has taught us that we deserve to be entertained. So when we show up somewhere as a group (like a concert or movie), someone else is responsible for running the program and we simply sit back and watch. In this we have been taught to be passive observers and active only in either applauding what we like or criticizing what we do not. Our culture expects this response because things like concerts and movies are a product to be consumed and consumers who pay money have a right to be distinguishing about the products they purchase.

And now we take this approach with worship. We have so long taken this approach to our worship, in fact, that I do not believe we readily see it as being culturally formed instead of Spirit breathed or even incongruent with God's desires for us.

There are enormous and myriad problems with this consumer approach to worship:

1. It assumes that worship is a product that has been created to be consumed by people. We come to worship to get something.
2. Very simply, it makes our being pleased the focus of our gathering. This is a violation of commandment numero uno, "You shall have no other gods before me."
3. It assumes that we are doing God a favor by showing up at worship, giving a whole hour or two of our precious time. We might even pay attention...for a minute.
4. It assumes that worship should conform to cultural standards in regard to entertainment (sitcom length, action, technology, movement, concert-strength music, comedy, etc.).
5. It assumes that worship has something to do with personal preferences and, really, that is what matters. I can even get a new worship experience elsewhere if I am not pleased with the one currently being served me.

I wonder what worship would be like if we were to strip it bare of anything that reeked of our culture? I wonder what worship would be like if we only did those things that had biblical precedent? I wonder what worship would be like if it was centered on God instead of us? I wonder what worship would be like if we showed up for a single purpose: to proclaim our love for the One who has saved us.

Dreaming...

Jeff

Memory

Before Kathy and I got married I required (this word may be a bit strong!) her to memorize the entire starting lineup for the 1987 Denver Broncos. She did. I thought this was a small price for her to pay in order to experience a lifetime of joy in my presence! Yeah.

I can still recall the everyday lineup for the Cincinnati Reds during the days of the Big Red Machine: 1st base- Tony Perez; 2nd base - Joe Morgan; shortstop - Dave Concepcion; 3rd base - Pete Rose; catcher - Johnny Bench; outfielders - George Foster, Cesar Geronimo, Ken Griffey, Sr.

Some of us can recall the circumstances of May 7, 1945. Some of us can remember the middle names of all the US presidents. Some of us know 50 Cent's three top hits. Yes, we are good at trivia.

And, yet, many of us know little or no scripture by heart.

Proverbs 7:1-3 reads:
"My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart."

I cannot get into the head of the author here but it seems to me that an implication of writing something on the tablet of one's heart is manifold. First, it means to remember what has been taught. Second, it means to embrace what has been taught. Third, it means to remember by virtue of intentional memorization.

We would do well to resurrect that practice of memorizing various scriptures. When we do, we locate the Word of God in a place where we can always find it. It is available to us, then, when we want to meditate or find comfort or wish to teach and exhort.

To know trivia is okay. To know scripture by heart is divine. May we all commit to the greater good.