July 2006
WORSHIP – SOMETHING WE “DO”
July is going to be a busy month here at Union City
UMC. On the evening of July 16th we will be blessed
with a visit from a missionary to urban Lancaster, PA,
the Reverend Sally Wisner-Ott, who is the executive
director of Lumina. On July 23rd be ready for a choir
reunion at worship. And on July 30th we will be
hosting the community hymn sing and finally, July 31st
is the beginning of Vacation Bible School. All of
these events offer us an opportunity to be in service
(as volunteers are needed for each event) and to be
blessed beyond measure through our participation.
July 2nd will mark the beginning of our combined
service at 10:00 a.m. I am excited about the change
and the fact that we will again be worshiping as one
body.
There will be some among us that initially won’t like
the format of worship. Some will find it difficult to
accept the praise songs at the beginning of the
service and others will struggle with the traditional
hymns. Some may not like the liturgy or the style of
the prayers. This conflict regarding the style of
worship has commonly been referred to as the “worship
wars”.
In some churches the intensity of this conflict has
led people to leave the church because of their deep
dislike of one style or another. They would tell you
that they don’t get anything out of the worship; it
doesn’t move them. My response to them is that you get
out of worship in direct proportion to what you put
into it.
“Worship” is a verb; an action word. As such, worship
is something that we do; not simply something that we
attend. To be in “worship” is to actively show our
respect and adoration toward God by offering ourselves
and engaging in acts of liturgy, prayer and devotion.
“Liturgy” literally means “the work of the people”.
It’s not just something that we read or say together;
it’s what we do in response to the God of the universe
that loves us enough to be in relationship with us. He
loved us enough to send his Son to die as atonement
for our failures – our sin – and restore us to
relationship. God doesn’t need to be in relationship
with us; we need to be in relationship with God – it’s
the very reason for our being; its why we were
created. To deny that is to deny God.
Too often in churches today, worship becomes a
passive experience where we sit back as congregations
and go through the motions but fail to engage;
especially when we don’t like the worship style that’s
offered. In part that is because we become the
audience and the pastors and choirs and liturgists
have become the entertainers and we expect simply to
be fed. Somehow we have managed to get the cart before
the horse and left God out of the equation. In true
worship, we as the congregation are the entertainers;
God is the audience; pastors and worship leaders are
there to aid and assist. That is not to say that we
aren’t moved by acts of worship; it is impossible for
a person to be engaged in true worship and not be
touched by God.
Worship, regular worship is an essential if we are to
continue to grow in our faith. Worship must contain a
corporate element. Most, if not all, of us have heard
the story of the man who was visited by the pastor
after failing to attend church for several weeks. Not
a word was spoken; the pastor simply sat with the man
in front of the fireplace. Then, using a poker, the
pastor moved one coal from the read hot bed below the
fire and both watched as it quickly cooled and went
out. The man simply replied that he would be at church
on Sunday.
Regular worship is also essential if we are to rise
up our children as disciples of Jesus Christ. If we
don’t make worship and spiritual growth priorities in
our own lives, they will never become priorities in
the lives of our children. When we sacrifice what is
essential to eternity for what is transient and of
little real significance, what kind of message do we
teach our children? How will we answer to God on that
great and terrible day for what we have or haven’t
done?
Our new worship service is an opportunity for all of
us to start fresh; to step out of our routine and be
just a little uncomfortable. It is a chance for us to
be challenged by something fresh and engage our
creator on a new and different level. It is an
opportunity for us to reconnect with God on a deeper
level and truly put God first in our lives. It is my
prayer that each and every one of us can and will move
to new levels of intimacy with our God, our Lord and
Savior, and with each other so that through the power
of God’s Holy Spirit we can move forward and engage
the world with radical hospitality to the glory of
God. AMEN
Grace and Peace, The Rev. Rob Hughes
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© 1997
O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing