One night this man had a dream. He dreamed that an angel brought him to church one Sunday. And as he and the angel watched, the pianist was playing furiously, the choir and praise teams were singing passionately and the pastor gave an impassioned sermon. It looked picture perfect! But there was one problem. He and the angel could hear no sound. It was as if it was all on mute…So the man asked the angel to explain what it meant. With some sorrow, the angel explained, “This is how much of worship on Sunday morning sounds to us in heaven.” The angel continued, “You’re hearing nothing because there is nothing to hear. As the Bible says, “These people are engaged in the form (or routine) of worship, but their thoughts are on other things and their hearts are far away (Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8).”
If you go to a church and you attend worship, take a look around. Do you see people with their thoughts and hearts on God?
Sadly, worship in many places has become a source of division, or it’s become entertainment and performance, or just an exercise to go through.
Of course this is not what God intended. Here is just a sample of what the Bible says about worship:
“I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, I will show forth thy marvelous works (Psalm 9:1).”
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord, our maker (Psalm 95:6).”
“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever (Revelation 5:13)!”
In these and other passages, worship is sacrificial, active, fueled by the Holy Spirit, thankful, joyful and all about giving ourselves to God.
See, somewhere along the way, worship became about…us. The main thing that comes to mind is that the church has been poisoned by consumerism. Consumerism is fine in its place – car companies, restaurants, grocery stores – they should be giving people what they want. But that same idea has infiltrated church and that is the heart of the trouble. Too often worship is designed and presented to please, appease or entertain – not God – but people – or even a combination of the two. Can pastors and worship leaders value, appreciate and be sensitive to the “voice” of the congregation (the whole – not just the loudest ones) and still honor God? Absolutely.
At the same time though, many worshippers are coming on Sunday morning to “get” something. Many people think, “I want to hear the songs or hymns I like” or “the sermon better not challenge me” or “I hope this doesn’t go over an hour” and so on. If we took the church elements out of those statements – they could apply to television shows, restaurants and other events. The instant we start dwelling on what we want – we switch from worshipper to consumer. As well, all of the division that flows from individuals or groups “fighting” for what they want dishonors God (the opposite of worship), breaks down covenant and unity, and so minimizes our witness to the community and world.
As you can see, this is the furthest thing from true worship. And with this approach, there is very little room for the source of true worship – the Holy Spirit. So it’s no wonder that like the story above says, “there is nothing to hear.”
But do not despair! There are three shifts we can take to move worship closer to its intention and design.
The first is that we have to shift from thinking of worship as only a ritual to thinking of it as an encounter or meeting with God. Could we come to worship prepared to meet God? How, you say? You’ll find Him through hearing His Word read and proclaimed, through loving fellowship of other believers, through prayer, through praising – music or otherwise – God is there ready to meet us through the Holy Spirit. And when more and more people show up expecting, believing that God will meet us as we worship Him – not ourselves, not music or musical groups, not pastors, not a building – just worshiping the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – they will vividly and tangibly meet us there.
Second, and related, is that we have to shift our thinking of worship as a once a week activity to everyday. Anytime we thank, think of, devote time to, serve, sacrifice for God – this is worship. Of course for a congregation, having a set gathering time to worship together is essential! But that should not be our only worship for the entire week! If we only walked or exercised once a week, our health and fitness would not improve much. Same thing with worship. Sunday morning should be both the climax and kickoff to more worship for the week.
Third, our approach as worshippers has to experience a paradigm shift. We have to go from “getting something” to “giving something.” We have to start coming to worship because we want to thank God for creating us, saving us and sustaining us. God is worthy of our worship in His own right, but then we also reflect on His marvelous works in our lives – and suddenly worship is more than an just an hour on Sunday. An offering should not just be some money in an envelope – it’s our whole self praising and thanking God! I know for me, there aren’t enough hours, days or years to thank God for all He has done for me. But I will show up on Sunday, as a leader and worshipper, ready to give God something.
What can we give? How can we give? We can give God our voices, our focused attention, yes our first fruits (money), our open hearts and minds – remember we are commanded to love God with all our strength, soul, mind – everything we have. How can we give? Joyfully, thankfully, passionately! Not dependent on what song or what sermon or which pastor. Would any of us have the nerve to say to God, “I didn’t sing that song that praised You because I didn’t like that kind of music” or because “I don’t sing well?” Or could we face God and honestly say, “That Scripture and sermon didn’t apply to me?”
And if anyone is still concerned about “getting” something out of worship, here is some hope. I have listened to many testimonies from people who have gone on mission trips. And one common theme is that while they were sharing the Gospel or building something or providing medical care – people always say that even though they were there to give they got so much more out of it – almost to the point of feeling self-conscious. Same thing with worship. When we “lose” ourselves focusing on God and/or our neighbors or those in need – that is worship! So instead of coming to “get” – come to “give” and give abundantly and we will find that we get so much more than we ever expected.
You know, each time God’s people in the Old Testament returned to God, it always started with tearing down idols (that had become distractions from worshiping God) and restoring their worship to be more focused on God.
Let this be the Sunday that it is true for all of us, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship and it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus. I am sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it when it’s all about You, it’s all about you Jesus (The Heart of Worship).”
Let this be the Sunday that we focus more, sing our hearts and voices out, are more thankful, give more, love and share more, and truly thank and worship God. “Let the “Amens” sound from His people again” – and that He hears them and is pleased!
Amen.
Rev. Christopher B. Wolf
Isaiah 42:7
Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook, New Jersey. He is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You Every Step of the Way (2011).
“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright
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