Let's Worship

By Danette Key

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     You know, it's probably a greater responsibility we have than we usually stop to realize, trying to direct and stimulate each other's thoughts as we do in our meetings together. So the most appropriate and worthwhile thing we should do first is to ask for God's direction and stimulation of our own thoughts.

     If something is said that seems to be critical of anybody personally, just know it's being said to everyone generally, and digs to isolated individuals are not intended. But of course, as Cinderella's stepsisters said to each other, "If the shoe fits..."

     Okay, now if we were going to give a synonym-type definition of "worship," what are some of the words we might use? Adoring, communing-communication, praising, respecting, renewing,...etc. Let's remember these as we move on.

     It's interesting to notice that almost every, if not every, so called "act of worship" we have revolves around what we usually consider to be just one lone "act of worship." And that's prayer.

     You know the "acts of worship:" such and such and such and such and prayer. Well, I'd like to suggest that we put prayer at the top of our list rather than

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sandwiching it in the middle somewhere, or tagging it onto the end, like an afterthought.

     So now let's work on a synonym-type definition of "prayer." Praising, adoring, communing, respecting, renewing--where have we heard that list before? Maybe it's not such a crazy thing to say that prayer is the most integral part of worship.

     A lot of people say, "Why make such a big deal about prayer? I've tried it and it doesn't work. It's 90% self-psychoanalysis and auto-suggestion anyway. It's only those fanatic-types that keep on with that 'Prayer changes things' business." This reasoning reminds me of a very good analogy where a person unsatisfied with the Christian life is compared to the fellow who was told that a feather bed was a grand thing. So he found one feather and didn't think it felt good at all, and he promptly came to the decision that feather beds were just for the birds. The Christian life is like that. Prayer is like that.

     There are two of what I will call extremes in this matter of public prayer, which is what we want to focus on in contrast to private prayer although they are almost the same thing. Probably most of us have heard one of these extremes to the almost total exclusion of the other. I'll try to define these two extremes, as I have labeled them.

     Number One extreme is the filling of the air with noisy gong and clanging cymbal (spelled S-Y-M-B-O-L). "I am an educated person, and I am going to confound you (and probably the Lord) with my amazing command of the English language and the myriad intricacies of the theological realm of thought which I personally have fathomed, and..." and so forth. First of all, I want to say that whether or not I like his approach, I am wrong if I take it upon myself to decide upon his sincerity of heart. It is, thank the Lord, not my decision to make, and I may have even gone too far toward this in my example. But I will say that if I am leading a prayer for other people, they must be able to follow the thought.

     Extreme Number Two I have encountered on only a few occasions. In this extreme the prayer leader is in direct opposition to the extreme formalism of Number One. He uses exclusively words and phrases of the vernacular, terms on the "gut" level, and may refer to and address the Father as Daddy. Now, as I understand it, this form of address is not the "hip" address, but is used to signify the personal closeness involved. Again, it is not my place to make judgments regarding sincerity.

     So what's the point of bringing up these two extremes? Just to say that in private prayer, the most honest forms of expression natural to you are undoubtedly the best, but in public prayer, you have the additional responsibility of leading your brother's thoughts to his Maker, not to you. Total honesty and humility in no way have to be sacrificed, but you might as well be doing a tap-dance if putting on a show is your goal, consciously or unconsciously. So I find myself in a congregational meeting where variations of extremes One and Two, including the "well worn cliché" filled prayer, are in progress. What do I do? First of all, I consciously decide that I will not make a personal judgment of the presiding brother, which may take considerable effort. But I have no idea what condition his heart's in. And I can see my own heart, and if it's busy fudging, it's not praying. If listening to someone's prayer prevents you completely from praying, tune him out (we usually find that pretty easy, don't we) and pray your own prayer. But better still, determine that you are going to pray along with him what you think he, ideally, is praying. Does that make sense? It does to me.

     Another thing we do every Sunday, which I personally feel to be the most misunderstood or confusing "act of worship," at least in my own background, is the Lord's Supper. For years I found myself, with great difficulty, trying desperately to conjure up the picture of a very dark, very sad scene with a lot of soldiers and crying women in blue and crying men in brown and three crosses

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stuck in a hill with Jesus dying on the middle cross. Now, that was hard for me to do for ten or fifteen minutes straight, and I usually felt guilty when I couldn't keep this tableau in mind that long without a wayward thought or two invading. It became somewhat easier after I saw the movie The Greatest Story Ever Told, but even then something still seemed wrong. Then somehow or other, by what means I can't recall, I became aware of something wonderful.

     What is one of the terms we used defining worship--communing-communication. What is another term we too lightly toss off for the Lord's Supper--Communion--the same, continuing communing-communication! The purpose of the Communion service is communing! Why should something like that hit me like a ton of bricks? It's kind of like the color-blind man wondering for a long time what color an orange is supposed to be, and suddenly finding out. During this special, beautiful memorial service the fact of our Savior's death for our sins is certainly present in our minds, but there's so much more!

     We remember that He's alive this very minute knowing our every breath and thought. We remember that we all, together, are sharing in his love as a family unit, as a family united. And remembering His presence we can, best of all, actually communicate willingly with Him. If He is the head and we are His body, then of course He knows our thoughts. But we can consciously open our thoughts to Him, too. And we can consciously invite Him to lead our thoughts. So each communion service is an exciting experience. Your communication with Him may be mostly repentant, mostly solemn one time. The next time it may be totally joyful. We must let Him have our minds and our hearts to lead as He wills. And please, let us not lose any of this precious time, especially not by worrying about how we look to others or how somebody else looks to us. It's too wonderful an opportunity to throw away for any reason. There's one "act of worship" we do before the Lord's Supper that most congregations do afterward--and that's pulling the hen's teeth, also known as passing the collection. One of the saddest sights I see at the college church I attend most of the year is that of the collection plate being nonchalantly passed from hand to hand down a row of 20 or more students with not so much as an IOU landing on the felt inside. It used to be passed, at least, like a hot potato, but it's not even given that much respect any more by so many.

     Now who's poorer than a student? We like to think of it that way, don't we. But how come there's always enough loose change for a coke or two every night, or a pizza, or a heavy date--or two coffee breaks every day, new initials for your briefcase, or new wax job on your car. It all boils down to a matter of priorities, doesn't it? Of course, most of us don't like to think of it that way, do we? I don't, because although I give, I have never given until it hurts very much, if at all. And if you wonder how it's going to be spent, pray about it and trust the Lord. And be glad you're helping His work at least a little. After all, it is literally the least we can do.

     In most congregations, the greater portion of the formal Sunday meeting consists of the sermon, or "talk." And, like prayer, there are similar extremes in sermon delivery. However, during the sermon the big pitfall for the rest of the group--the temptation to act as judge--is much greater. But if we decide to be critical, we've had it, for we've made up our minds that we will not allow God to speak to us through this person. I came to realize this rather dramatically.

     One place where I attended church meetings had a preacher that was, hopefully unique. His presentations usually were conspicuously lacking in message, but they were staged and enacted with great theatrical talent. Or so we all said. None of the people who were my peers had any words of commendation for him, and I only heard a few of his own peers who did not have harsh things to say about him. A sad situation. He was di-

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rectly responsible, I feel sure, for a considerable drop-off in attendance. I kept going, but I didn't stop complaining until one Sunday morning I prayed that God would speak to me through this man's words and teach me what He knew I needed to learn. And God did. I'm ashamed that I was surprised that He did. So I prayed the same thing the next time and the next. And God did again and again. What a lot of messages were lost to me and my friends because we had turned them off and had not cared enough to ask for them. Because when deep down inside you ask for something worthwhile, even when you don't know what it is, you can rest easy and trust Him to answer in the best possible way. And if we find ourselves listening to a speaker for God who gets his points across to us easily, we can then be doubly thankful. Let's just don't take the easy way out and blame the preacher if we are left empty. God could have filled us full if we would have only asked Him sincerely. Try it and let's worship! Comments?

     (Editor's Note: Danette Key is a senior at Harding College in Searcy, Arkansas).