One of my earliest recollections of a worship service was one held under
an enormous Mango tree behind our house in Bwiru, Tanzania. Yes, you read that correctly, worship under
a Mango tree. The large tree with its
wide spread branches provided shelter from the late morning African sun. Several rows of wooden benches lined neatly
in rows faced a primitive pulpit.
Looking back, I am surprised that my parents allowed it, but on one
occasion I had a seat in the balcony. . . one of low laying branches. Another unique aspect of worship under a
Mango tree was that my golden Rhodesian Ridgeback dog was also able to attend. No, this is not an argument for covenant
animals in worship, but an example of worship conducted before the eyes of the unbelieving world. As we sang, prayed
and heard the Word preached, young heard boys paused their herding, and passersby
stopped and observed.
Obviously, there is a lot I liked about worshiping under the Mango.
What child wouldn’t enjoy sitting on a branch with his loyal dog lying
below! Nevertheless, looking back after
serving as a pastor for over 30 years, what I now appreciate was the
opportunity for God’s people to do transcendent worship before watching eyes,
and seeing them drawn in to what was going on. It was a not revival under the Mango tree, it
was God’s people gathering for worship.
Because worship is God’s people gathering to
celebrate Him, it makes sense that we do it following what is given to us in
Scripture. Or put another way, God is
the one who gets to make the decision on how He is worshipped. If you are tempted to think that
regulating worship, is narrow, outdated, or foolish, please know that buried
beneath these simple requirements there awaits a precious gem of grace: a means
of grace. The Reformers described it as
“ordinary” realizing it is not the only way God works, but it is the normal way
that He provides spiritual nourishment.
Far too often we look for God in
the extraordinary, thinking that the transforming power of God is only found in
the unusual, spectacular, or what stirs emotionally. On the contrary God’s normal or “outward and
ordinary” way of working is “the Word, sacraments (the Lord’s supper and baptism),
and prayer.” (WSC 88)[1]. This has its foundations early in the life of
the New Testament church where Believers “devoted
themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and prayers” (Acts 2:42). Word, sacraments, fellowship, and prayer
where the focus of worship and vital to God’s blessing.
The grace of saving faith that
enables us to believe is the work of the Holy Spirit and ordinarily comes
through the ministry of the Word.
Our faith then is strengthened
by the same grace that comes only by His “Word and Spirit” as we are “enabled
more and more to die unto sin and live and live unto righteousness” (WCF 10:1;
14:1; WSC 35). Sadly, the very thing needed for spiritual vitality has become
so “ordinary” that it is considered boring or irrelevant! I am however
absolutely convinced a worship service formed around what Scripture teaches,
screams the gospel and is powerfully transformative to the believer and
unbeliever alike.
In addition to Word, prayer, and
sacrament, is the singing God’s people which ministers grace as we praise the
Lord, call on his saving power, and encourage one another. As Jesus sings with us, (Heb. 2:12) we are drawn
to him as well as one another. Here at
Covenant singing is very important to us.
We also believe that God centered (means
of grace) worship transcends style and trends and uses the best music and a variety
of instruments. We also believe what we sing should be both formative (teach)
and expressive (meaningful and emotional).
Therefore, our worship is neither contemporary nor traditional,
but one that firmly grounds us in our Biblical Reformed heritage, yet invites
and draws a diversity of cultures as well as the unchurched.
No comments:
Post a Comment