Coming Back to the Heart of Worship by Kabrena Rodda
July 7, 2011
So there I was, sitting in Compline Wednesday night, when Fr Ed delivered a nice big poke in the eye in his homily. He was talking about the fact that many Christians forget that because of the cross we are no longer imprisoned, and we fail to appropriate God’s power in our interactions with other people. We fail to share the good news out of fear. More to the point, we fail to speak up when a person – such as supposed Biblical scholar, Harold Camping—or a whole church, for that matter, turns away from the Gospel in pursuit of something better. Fr. Ed gently-not-so-gently reminded us that when we see this happening, this is the perfect opportunity to remember that the door IS actually open, and it remains for us only to step through the open door and point out the truth, that the other person may turn again toward Christ. But how many of us actually pluck up the courage and do it?
Ouch.
Here’s the thing: the truth that Jesus Christ saves is plenty attractive. God does not need our help in this area. He does not need us to make Him seem “cool” to those who do not know Him. I think what repulses seekers is when we proclaim with our lips God’s saving grace yet we act toward our neighbors with hatred, impatience, jealousy, or evil speaking. If people are to be drawn to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior because of something we say or do, it will be because we are open and clear conduits through which God is able to reach others; not because of anything we do through our own power. So our focus needs to be on relying on Him to help us live according to His teachings, plainly spelled out in the Bible. The problem is that as soon as our focus turns toward doing or saying something to “jazz up” Jesus, we take our focus away from the one thing that can open people’s eyes to the truth: our total reliance on God to help us live out His plan for our lives. What’s at the heart of your worship?
I can think of multiple such gimmicks well-intentioned people have actually used to make church more inviting: liturgical dance, insisting on certain means for providing the congregation access to the words to the liturgy and music (i.e. focusing on implementing a certain tool to do it as opposed to focusing on the meaning of the words themselves), changing the order of service to fit our lifestyles and culture (like never doing Holy Communion in order to keep the service short), and even borrowing from new age traditions to make prayer feel more comfortable. I want to be very careful here and say that I absolutely believe God can use many of these things to reach a person if He so chooses. Nothing is impossible with God. The problem is that at best, all of these things have the potential of becoming things of worship instead of tools to help us worship; they can become THE FOCUS when we should really be focusing on God. Like the words in Matt Redman’s song, “The Heart of Worship,” say,
“You search much deeper within through the way things appear; You’re looking into my heart.”
The thing God cares about most is where our hearts are. He wants relationship with us more than anything. He wants it so much that He sent His only Son our Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins! If we start to care more about a thing than about God, even if it’s a way we think will help us worship Him better, I think it repulses God. As my friend, Rebecca Ford, so eloquently put it recently,
“…faith is not about what WE do, but what GOD does.”
Last Thursday morning, after talking at length with Dan about it the previous evening, I was struck by how the Daily Office readings for Morning Prayer, as well as a couple of Daily Devotional readers I use, clearly spoke to the heart of this very matter. It started with the collect:
“ALMIGHTY God, who showest to them that are in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness; Grant unto all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Religion, that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. –1928 BCP”
This collect brings with it some hope. We ask God to help us to “avoid those things that are contrary to their profession” so that we “may return into the way of righteousness.” It also reminds me I cannot do it in my own strength. Then there was the first lesson:
“And it came to pass, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.” — Ex 32:19-20 (NKJV)
I find comfort in the idea that our propensity to turn away from God and find a way to worship which we think is better/cooler/more palatable is nothing new to God, and He knows exactly how to handle it. That is not to say that turning away from God is OK, but simply that when I realize I’m doing it, and repent, there is hope for us sinners. The second lesson carried an exhortation:
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” — Heb 10:23 (NKJV)
This lesson reminds me that although I am confident of my salvation of Jesus Christ, I am to continue in His teachings and not waiver. I am to remember Whose daughter I am and act as an heir to that eternal Priesthood. Oh yeah…then there were the readings from two Daily Devotionals to which I frequently turn:
“Your god may be your little Christian habit, the habit of prayer at stated times, or the habit of Bible reading. Watch how your Father will upset those times if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes….” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
“The challenge continually before you is to trust Me and search for My way through each day. Do not blindly follow your habitual route, or you will miss what I have prepared for you.” — Sarah Young, Jesus Calling
WOW. Both these devotionals pointed out something of a sore subject for me: God wants me to be open to His leadings at ALL times, not just when it is convenient for me, and not necessarily in the way I expect. Since then I have been trying to listen at all times, and to loosen my grip on my “Christian habits.” I am also (again) becoming aware of how much of a control freak I have been toward God. I realize that as long as I clutch tightly to my own ideas, I cannot lay hold of what God has in store for me.
Dear heavenly Father, forgive me for my arrogance of thinking I know best. Please strengthen my resolve to step through doors You open for me, and help me to keep my focus continually on You.
One final note: last night I flew back to Florida to spend the weekend with my husband and stepson. As we made our way back to Satellite Beach, “Heart of Worship” started playing on the radio. I guess God really wanted me to step through this open door and speak up about it!
“I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made itWhen it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus.” – Matt Redman, “Heart of Worship”
Eradicating Suffering
July 5, 2011
“But I have received no assurance that anything we can do will eradicate suffering. I think the best results are obtained by people who work quietly away at limited objectives, such as the abolition of the slave trade, or prison reform, or factory acts, or tuberculosis, not by those who think they can achieve universal justice, or health, or peace.” ~ C.S. Lewis, “Why I am Not a Pacifist,” The Weight of Glory
Liturgy Lesson for Independence Day: Invoking God in the Affairs of the Country
July 3, 2011
Why does the Church offer prayer for the nation and its leaders? To teach her people the duty of loyalty and submission to civil rulers and to secure peace and righteous government. (Read 1 St. Timothy 2:2). Our liturgy employs prayers for our government in several places. In today’s Holy Communion we celebrate our Nation’s birth with the propers (Collect, Epistle, and Gospel) especially composed to render the Eucharist, or Great Thanksgiving, with the intention of thanking our Heavenly Father for our free land and His blessings on it, while at the same time calling down further blessings from Him for our country. In the Prayer Offices, we pray the Prayer for the President and Civil Authority, derived from the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, a 4th Century rendering of the Holy Communion service. In it, we ask for Godly leadership, inspired by the Gifts of the Spirit exercised in obedience to God. In other places, we pray for Congress, the military, legislatures, justices, and our Country in general. We also pray for fruitful seasons, rains, relief from rain, safety in calamity, education, and Christian service. And, of course, we also thank God for His provision and Grace to our land. Clearly the Church, along with the Founding Fathers (mostly Anglican) intended us to invoke God into the affairs of our Country. May we continue in their footsteps…may God bless and revive America!
Father Chip’s Devotional: Hazmat Removal—God’s Way
July 1, 2011
Bible Reading: “Be silent, and know that I am God! ”–Psalm 46:1
Bonus Readings: Ephesians 4:30-32; Luke 17:3-4; Matthew 5:23-24; Hebrews 12:14-16
Offense. Easy to take. Easy to keep. Really low maintenance…just keep it away from Grace. And…anybody can have it. Been there, done that. Got the T-shirt. But redeemed, praise God.
Jeff Caliguire is a Cornell University and Dallas Theological Seminary-educated entrepreneur who wrote Leadership Secrets of Saint Paul after learning many of them the hard way: “I simmered over things that weren’t going my way,” he says. “I painted worst-case scenarios. My depression affected my marriage, my health, and my children.” Ultimately, he says, like the apostle, we must begin to see ourselves as servants if we expect to be truly effective over the long haul. Caliguire found out: offense is just another choice we make in life’s spiritual cafeteria. This is exactly where I found myself not long ago. I had chosen it and allowed it to persist a while. And when I really got down to it, my offense was…all about me. I think that’s the thing. We insist on our rights.
Sometimes we say that we’re sorry. But, in our hearts, we hold on to the offense. We pet it, cultivate it, nurture it…and let it continue. We’ve gotta go further than that. Let’s talk heart. Our secret places. And we all know where those are. We have to let God’s Grace redeem us…and then pass that on to each other.
C. S. Lewis writes, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” Faith is living with the understanding of how much Christ has forgiven us, then turning around and forgiving someone else. It’s not easy, not by a long shot, but it’s life-giving, God-honoring work. And it’s work we gotta do. This is it: it’s not a matter of IF we get offended, it’s a matter of when. And if we don’t forgive, the results can be pervasive and insidious.
A number of years ago, a guy in a small rural town discovered a greenish, toxic rust flowing underground from an auto junkyard, making its way into a stream, then flowing through his backyard on its way to a lake. It quickly became apparent that residue from this ancient metal was polluting their water supply and possibly affecting their health. A town commission approved the obvious solution: remove the source of this hazardous waste by digging up the decomposing cars. Sooner was better than later.
Like this buried waste, unresolved tensions and unforgiveness can make their way to the surface of our lives and affect our perspective–even poison us with bitterness. Resentment is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “a sense of injury or anger arising from a sense of wrong.” Resentments take the breath out of our work and can actually dull our vision. They zap our energy and steal the enjoyment of working with others. They build up over time and rarely dissipate on their own. Resentment and unforgiveness are hazardous materials–HAZMAT for our souls and spirits. They dilute our intellect, color our perceptions, cloud our emotions, and separate us from God and His family. The sooner we dig them up and get them out, the better our health will be.
Praise God that He gives us open and honest Christian fam that help us bear these burdens, His Word to govern our souls, and His Holy Ghost tool box to get the excavation and removal done. Our job, like in so many other Faith settings, is…to just be faithful. Do what the Word says, and let God handle the details, knowing that we received God’s Grace, and owe it to each other.
Put some Truth on It
First thing we gotta do is read Matthew 18 and communicate with each other, understanding the Word enjoins us that our anger expires at sundown. And I mean sundown on the same day. We communicate directly, honestly, but with the intention of not injuring each other or demanding our rights. We don’t justify ourselves, we don’t run away to stew on the offenses, and we don’t plan revenge. Fact is, if we don’t forgive each other, the Father doesn’t forgive us. And, if He doesn’t forgive us, He doesn’t hear our prayers. We are out of His communication loop, and we can’t live our lives that way. In God we live and move and have our being.
So, OK, that’s a no-brainer. But how about some other practical advice?
In His book, The Bait of Satan, John Bevere makes some pretty savvy points about how we respond to the offenses that invariably come in our Christian lives. Here’s a few of the best:
Dealing with the Tough Spots
- If we become offended we can’t just leave. If we leave a difficult situation without the Holy Ghost’s leading, we often fail to learn the character lessons that God wanted to teach us. Thing about not learning in God’s classroom–if we don’t get the first time, we get to do it all over again. And again. And…well, you get the idea.
- If we do leave a difficult situation without the Holy Spirit’s leading, it may take many years before we see the offense we have kept hidden in our heart. God will eventually make us face our problem, even though we may avoid it for many years. If God does not, we may never come to grips with our own character flaws, and never come to the place of maturity we need to live victorious lives in the Lord, doing the job he has for us.
Reconciliation
- If we won’t forgive someone deep in our heart, then we are waiting for vengeance. We have made ourselves the judge and are demanding justice before we forgive. What if Christ did this?
- God wants us to make it our top priority to help a brother who has stumbled, and not try to prove ourselves correct in our judgment of him. Even if the offense was his fault, we should humble ourselves and try to be reconciled. Jesus Himself told us that!
- When a brother offends us, sometimes we confront him with a wrong attitude. We want to tell him his sin more than we want to be humbly reconciled. The only way to pursue peace and true reconciliation is to maintain an attitude of humility at the expense of pride and our personal rights. Pride defends.
- Humility is willing to yield and tries to find agreement. And, remember, our Bible tells us that pride precedes a fall. I, for one, have enough scars from that.
- When we are ready to forgive an offense, we are eager to find a way to make peace.
Other Points
- Listening to the Holy Spirit – It’s huge to stay tenderhearted and acutely sensitive to hear when the Holy Spirit is telling us we have a small area of bitterness growing in our heart. We can’t be afraid to allow Him to examine our heart. We’re truly doing this when we hear insights our fam in Christ has about our attitude, and are searching for what God wants, and not simply standing up for our “rights.”
- Bitterness – The story of Absalom is a good example of how a person can become angry over a legitimate offense, but then allow bitterness to grow in his heart until it causes much evil. Absalom judged his father David, and then allowed his bitterness over his injustice to rule his life, ultimately costing him that life.
Steps to Overcome an Offense
- Admit you’re hurt. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s promptings. Confirm what you think He’s telling you in the Scripture.
- Forgive the offender and release him from your attention on his guilt.
- Practice and strengthen your ability to forgive others when they offend you. This will help you keep an injury from happening again. Stay free.
- Go to a higher level of forgiveness and freedom by praying for the person who offended you. Pray like you would want Jesus to pray for you. Pray for the offender’s sake.
- Go to the person and clearly, humbly communicate reconciliation, apology and forgiveness to him. Learn to love him again despite his faults. You are going for his sake, not yours. You’ve already forgiven him. Communicating reconciliation will seal your forgiveness of him and demonstrate Jesus’ nature to him.
- Let God be God. Be still–know He has the situation under control.
- The Holy Spirit will lead us in this process at a pace that we can handle. It may seem at times that we are only getting worse. But we will come out of the situation a more mature Christian who is thankful for this experience if we let HIm do the work.
Let’s call the Hazmat crew!
Pray about it: “Where’s my HAZMAT?”
Independence Day Koinonia
July 1, 2011
Celebrate our nation’s birthday with us at a very special Koinonia on July 3, 2011 at 6 PM. Come enjoy the music, food, fellowship, and fun. There will also be games for the youth.
Bring your favorite side dish or dessert to add to the fajitas and hot dogs.
