A Taste of Worship
This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking time each day to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord as well. I encourage the use of a devotional, a scripture reading and prayer, then finally some form of artistic mark to tie it all together.
Today's devotional is taken from: Zacharias, Ravi. The
Logic of God: 52 Christian Essentials for the Heart and Mind. Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2019. [E-Book] Chapter 33: A Taste of Worship
Opening Thought: Today’s devotional focuses on the power of worship. I want to
make a distinction between “going to church” and “worship”. One might think
that they are they same thing and use them synonymously but there is a subtle
difference. I will put it this way, if you were to go to a restaurant and all
you did was sit there and looked at the décor but never actually ordered or ate
anything, could you say you were dining out? There is a difference between “going
to a restaurant” and “dining out”. In Zacharias’ devotion chapter, to help give
a wider understanding of what worship is he shares a quote from famed archbishop
William Temple, which says, “Worship is the submission of all of our nature
to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment
of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening
of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose – all this
gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.”[1]
If you simply go to a church every Sunday, but do not do at
least a portion of the Temple quote, than you are really just traveling to a
building out of habit or for the sake of social ties.
The devotional begins with: James 5:13-16
Is
anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing
songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of
the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the
Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick
person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be
forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray
for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person
is powerful and effective.
Second Thought: When you truly take advantage of the benefits of quality
worship, particularly in community with other believers, your life outside of
formal worship times will being to develop to be an extension of that time in worship.
This is taking on an ownership of the calling to worship God. If you have a
whole community who does this efficiently and with genuine dedication, you have
the strength in community to do anything.
I think may people think that worship is about appeasing some
need that God has to be worshiped. That is not the case. God does not need our worship;
God is a being of infinite and transcendent reality. Worship is part of the
Christian life because it is good for us; it is us taking time to recognize the
worthy-ship of God; noting that God is worth pursuing over all other things and
beings. If we do not take time to remember and internalize that what we seek as
truth seekers is the ultimate and perfect reality of God, the source of all
that is and will ever be, and the redemption in the person of Jesus Christ,
then what we end up doing is just going to the restaurant and never asking to
be fed.
Continual Work: Think about how you participate in worship experiences, are you engaging
in a way that would speak to the Temple quote, and if not what are some steps
you could take to deepen your worship experience?
What Rev. Jacob is Working On: Your emotions will often give you insight to if
you are fully engaged. Because I preach almost every Sunday, I often will
experience my worship experience when the Holy Spirit guides me in my worship
offering. Sometimes the Spirit moves me into a place I did not for see before I
started the service. I also take time with devotionals (published and non-published)
to give me time to reflect without being live in front of a congregation or an audience.
Prayer for your day: Lord let out day today be a worship in
itself, were we lit our hearts and mind rejoice in the glory of Your existence
and the gift of life that you share. Amen.
Artistic Close: One of the major differences in church
denominations is the style of worship spaces. Being a part of a protestant line
of churches, our worship spaces are pretty simple, but sometimes I like a
change of space. My wife is Catholic and occasionally I enjoy the more immersive
feeling of a cathedral sanctuary. Here is a beautiful example of one.
Sanctuary of the Nativity of Mary, Blessed Virgin Catholic Church, also known as the St. Mary Catholic Church, in High Hill, a little community near Schulenberg in Fayette County, Texas. This is considered the "queen" of what Texans call their "painted churches." Its decorative paintings were executed by Ferdinand Stockert and Hermann Kern in 1912. They also painted the walls and ceiling of Saint Joseph's Catholic Church in San Antonio. Original image from Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress collection. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.
There are times when I definitely feel like the spirit is active in a worship setting. Sometimes it feels stronger than other times, or it is that I am more receptive to it. I remember a sermon from Martin Luther about preparing for worship and I think that is important to still ourselves and push away all of the other distractions in life. Sometimes too there are elements of the service I feel can distract from the intention of worship, (announcements etc...). I like that time of centering. Music can certainly help us be more open to the spirit as long as it doesn't verge on performance and is about worship. That can be a tricky one.
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