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Hebrews 10 : 19 – 25 Recently it was pointed out to us that our church rolls need to accurately reflect those attending church in order that the stats of the diocese can be more accurate. With this in mind I took a look at our rolls and noticed that there were a number of people on the rolls who seldom if ever come to church. Now I realise that this is a very special church with strong links with the community and many people feel affiliated to this church through weddings, baptisms and funerals, even though they do not come to church on a Sunday, so I came up with a compromise. I suggested we start a Friends of Holy Trinity list. Jonathan and I then started ringing around and those who seldom come were given an opportunity to go on the Friends of Holy Trinity list and to come off the rolls. What we found was that hardly anyone was prepared to come off the rolls. What these people seem to be missing is this that if you want to be a part of this faith community then you need to gather with the rest of this community for worship. If you are a member of the rowing club then you need to row with the club, if you are a member of the bridge club then you play bridge in the club and if you are a member of a faith community, then you need to gather for worship with that faith community. As the stats currently go the numbers on the roll are around the 400 mark. At 8am our numbers vary from 35 - 50 on any given Sunday and at 9.30 they vary from 95 - 140. Even on a good day only half of those who are on the rolls attend. So it is clear that there are many people on the rolls who never gather for worship with the community and there are those who do so sporadically. I wonder what we might conclude from this phenomenon? Is it because people don’t understand the importance of worship or perhaps even what worship is? I have noticed that there is a trend for people come to church with an “I” focus. When they come to a service they seem to be asking What can I get out of the service, what’s in it for me, which of my needs will be met here today? People who come to church with this approach are likely to be disappointed when those expectations are not met and so they may be discouraged from coming again or alternatively they may come erratically since they will only be motivated to come to church when they feel they have needs the church might be able to meet. The Bible encourages us to worship for completely different reasons. In Hebrews 10: 19 - 25 we are encouraged to meet for worship so that we might:
The I factor doesn’t really feature. It would seem that the focus of Worship is less about I and me
and more about God and thee. “Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but let us encourage one another”. Entering the presence of God through fellowship is one of the duties of a Christ follower. The purpose of worship is to enter the presence of God with other believers and together be formed into his people. Authentic worship is directed toward God. It is less about what we can get out of worship, what’s in it for us, and much more about what we can gratefully offer to God by way of our time, our talents, our resources and our very selves. In worship we are called to be fully present to God. To build together as a community a throne of praise and thanksgiving for God; to create a space for God to shine in our midst. The limelight moves away from us, from our wants and preferences and is directed towards God. It was as the disciples sat gathered in prayer that Jesus appeared to them after his death and it was similarly in the gathered presence of the disciples at prayer that doubting Thomas made his epiphanal confession of faith: “My Lord and my God” Now let’s be clear here. We cannot add to God nor take away from God’s glory. God is the focus of worship but God does not need our worship to be God. God delights in us and delights in our worship but the ones who ironically need our worship and who reap the benefits of our worship is us, we gain so much from authentically worshiping God. Here’s why 1. When we worship God we are reminded that we are not the centre of the universe, God is. It is good for us to be reminded of this. It makes us humble and it is reassuring for us. 2. Worship reminds us of the Spiritual dimension to life. It is given to every person on this earth, to live in two worlds one of space and time and one of spirit and eternity. Our danger is that we become so embroiled in the world of earthly things that we forget the other world. The discipline of regular community worship ensures that we do not succumb to the danger of allowing the spiritual and eternal dimensions of life to be overshadowed by our physical and temporal concerns and preoccupations . Communal Worship draws us away for a time to pay attention to God and God’s presence in our lives and prioritizes for us those things that are of eternal value. 3. Worship is our opportunity to stand and be counted for God. It bears witness to our spiritual reality. Worship is our public witness to our spiritual reality as we acknowledge for all to see, our personal and corporate relationship with God through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is our opportunity to stand up and to be counted for God. We show our spiritual colours and in doing so we are strengthened in our faith. 4. Worship is the food that nurtures and sustains the body of Christ. The church is Christ’s gift to the world. It is through the Church that he continues to work in the world. It is his body and the unity his body is sustained through the act of gathering for regular worship. If you like, worship is the spiritual glue that holds our faith community together. Without worship the church disintegrates, ails and at worst dies. 5.Worship reminds us that God is the overarching authority in our lives. Worship keeps us on track by reminding us : whose we are, why we are here, whom we serve and from whom we receive the many blessings that drench our lives. As we gather we live out the truth that God has called us and we have responded to his call. As we praise him together we announce his authority over our lives and we acknowledge the salvation we receive from him. As we worship we open our hearts and lives to God’s word and enable the inspiration of His Holy Spirit. 6 Worship shapes us as individuals within the Community. We both shape and are shaped by our worship. We prepare our worship service, the prayers, the songs, the liturgy, and we prepare ourselves for worship and then our worship changes, transforms and shapes us. As an architect once noted, when you are designing a house you are in a sense shaping your world. But once you move into it, from then on it shapes your world. We are being formed as disciples personally and corporately by our worship, into the people of God. A lively life-giving church is not a church with a certain type of music or a certain style of preaching. Though these might be important, a life-giving church is a church where all its members gather regularly with a right attitude and offer authentic worship to God. A right attitude is one that acknowledges that when we gather as a faith community we have been called out of the world into the holy presence of God and so we are on holy ground. Here we will be privileged to receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit. A right attitude expects that just as in Jesus’ encounter with God on the mountain of the transfiguration we will emerge from our worship experience with faces aglow and hearts on fire and be sent out to take the healing power of God into the world. To have a right attitude we need to set aside our personal needs, irritations and expectations. Turn your attention away from ourselves and towards God and remind ourselves each and every time we gather that we are in God’s presence and that this is holy ground. Authentic worship demands that we come before God with a right attitude, and our life in the faith community requires that we should do so regularly. Come now is the time to worship. |
