22 Sep
Has the Inversion of Revelation and Response Hindered Worship?
God’s revelation occurs when He offers us a glimpse of His activity, His will, or His attributes. Our response is the sometimes spontaneous and sometimes premeditated reply to that revelation…worship. A model for this worship conversation is found in Isaiah 6:1-8. The holiness of God is revealed to the prophet Isaiah and his natural worship response is contrition, “Woe is me, for I am ruined.” (Isaiah 6:5). God reveals His mercy and Isaiah’s worship response is service, “Here am I. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8).
When we instigate the worship conversation by encouraging God to reveal Himself as a result of our worship actions aren’t we actually inverting the biblical model of revelation and response? Is it possible our worship has been hindered through our efforts to generate worship instead of worship occurring as an outflow of God revealing Himself to us? Instead of offering our worship actions while hoping that God will show up shouldn’t we offer our worship actions because God has shown up?
Richard Foster states it well, “Worship is our response to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father. Its central reality is found ‘in spirit and truth.’ It is kindled within us only when the Spirit of God touches our human spirit. Forms and rituals do not produce worship, nor does the disuse of forms and rituals. We can use all the right techniques and methods, we can have the best possible liturgy, but we have not worshiped the Lord until Spirit touches spirit.”[1]
[1] Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1978).
Posted by Mike Murray on 22.09.10 at 8:47 am
I think I have finally come to the realization that I cannot make “worship” happen. The point you bring up concerning “form and ritual” and it’s balance, I believe, is accurate. We have all the form and ritual but that doesn’t mean we will worship. We must focus on God and not style or length of service or other phyical things present and yet these very things can aid/hinder us and lead us to worship God or be distractions. Where is the balance and how do I (we?) as a “music leaders” effectively move my (our?) congregations to understand this balance? With all my (our?) understanding and tools why am I (we?) still not getting it right? Maybe I am getting it more right than ever before but articles like this cause me to take a deeper look and see that more needs to be understood and communicated. Thanks David.
Posted by Georges Boujakly on 22.09.10 at 8:47 am
I remember while in Seminary when Jack Taylor was saying that Worship is a reaction and not an action. It was at that time when I began to develop much more seriously an awareness of what God was doing in me and around me. Reacting to that was deeply moving, and worshipful. The idea is that God is constantly working in us individually and corporately whether we are aware of it or not. Becoming aware of it is sheer grace. It cannot be worked up no matter how the mood is set, etc… Reacting to his work and to his will is worshipful.
Perhaps another way to think of it is to ask whether we have confused the form of worship (our actions: singing, reading, meditating, etc…) with the substance or content of worship (a heart that is attentive and ready to respond to the call of God). One is of the Spirit, the other is of the body. The body is the carrier of the spiritual but it is the spiritual reality of the presence of God that we react to with our brains, our bodies, our voices, our gifts, our repentance, our joyful tears, and our minds).
Thanks for posting again a way forward out of the morass of “worship” that has beset us these days.
Posted by Alden on 22.09.10 at 8:47 am
Our paradigm for worship seems to be influenced by our thinking that worship happens at a set time of OUR choosing (Sunday morning 10:45 on the hour). The Worship circle is initiated by God and completed by our responding appropriately.
I was reminded in my reading this week that we not only Live For God, but the biblical model is that we also Live With God. Worship is certainly something that is FOR God, no argument there, but Worship is a word which is “relationship” oriented. I like the “spirit touches spirit” picture Foster uses. It alludes to this relationship concept of worship.
With this in mind I might take Fosters to “heart” literally. “Our response to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father.” Worship isn’t simply meeting God or meeting with God, worship is intimate. Spending time with God, initiated by Him, on His terms, responding to the specific way He is calling or blessing or healing us, but always dwelling with us. But the key word is “responding” as Foster points out. His blessing, calling, healing, dwelling by itself isn’t worship. Our responding completes the circle.
I have long been bothered when people’s evaluation of worship is “I was so blessed.” Our question should be “Was God blessed?” It’s not that the former statement has no value… It in fact has great value…, but it is only the first part of the worship equation… our blessing God in response that we are in control of.
As we live FOR God, let’s not forget to live WITH God.
Mike you are right, we can’t make worship “happen.” And we can’t make others worship. But Worship is the gift we give back to the Father and we can only try to be as generous as He has first been to us.