Thoughts Along The Journey

I was reading through some old journals and came across this statement by Steve Smallman in an article called, “The heart of worship”:

“Be still and know … So, while there is indeed singing and praise and expressions of repentance, the essential element of worship was silence and humble submission.  In his book, Reaching Out, Henri Nouwen says that this silence calls for much discipline and the taking of risks.  We always seem to have more important things to do.  “Just sitting there” and “doing nothing” more times than not, disturbs us more than it helps.  But there is no other way. At the heart of all prayer, lies our natural discomfort of being “useless” and silent in the Lord’s presence.  We are told in Psalm 46.10, “Be still and know that I am God.” What encourages me about this command is that although it is very difficult, it is something we can do.  Our worship will only rarely be the result of a dramatic encounter, but learning to be still in the presence of God puts us in the same place as the great worshipers of God in Scripture.”

That small paragraph raised a number of questions in my heart.  Here are two of them:

• Why do I, why do we often experience this “discomfort of being “useless” and silent in the Lord’s presence”?
• What would encourage me, what would encourage us to be “still in the presence of God” more often?

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The musical score of a song can be pleasing to our ears.  I’ll often catch myself humming a few bars of a song I have recently heard.  Sometimes I might remember the words, but that usually takes longer as I need to hear or sing the song a few times before the words are committed to memory.

Maybe you have discovered the same reality as I have: that sometimes a melody can be fun to sing, but he words attached to it are rather shallow.

In prayer and worship, I’m recognizing more and more how important are the words we say, we sing and we pray.  Those words need to express the feelings of one’s heart as well as (or more importantly) lift one’s eyes back on God.

The song below is one that was used during a community time Rebecca and I attended in Hong Kong.  It may not be familiar to many, but the words took my heart and mind off of what I needed from God and created a desire to give back to him the adoration He deserves.

We bow our hearts we lift our hands
we turn our eyes to you again
And we surrender to the truth
that all we need is found in You
Receive our adoration
Jesus lamb of God
Receive our adoration
how wonderful you are
We choose to leave it all behind
and turn our eyes towards the prize
the upward call of God in Christ
you have our hearts Lord take our lives
Receive our adoration Jesus lamb of God
Receive our adoration how wonderful you are
Every soul you´ve saved sings out
everything you´ve made resounds
all creation´s standing now
lifting up your name
We´re joining in the angel´s song
we´re gathered to your ancient throne
children in our Father´s arms
shouting out your praise

One possible application: commit to memory the words and melody of a song that draws your heart back to God and use it as part of your individual and community worship.

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Okay, I’ll admit that I have a ‘liturgical bone’ in my background and that from time to time I enjoy the richness of a community time centred on certain practices which originated in the early years of the Christian faith.  Liturgy, though, is actually another form or expression of worship; a form that focuses on declarations and response to those declarations.

It is worship that is more than just music.

For me, the reciting of the Nicene Creed (first written in 325 AD) is one of those worshipful declarations of faith:

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

I am not arguing for a liturgical element in the worship of the communities of believers that we establish.  I just want to highlight the fact that believers over many centuries and from many different cultural contexts have discovered acts of worship that express for them their growing understanding of who is this great God they serve.

Worship is declaring what we know of this God.  It is making music to celebrate who He is.  It is talking with Him about His promises.  It is serving others because we have experienced His grace and love.  Worship is reflected in all of our life.

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