The Mystery of Worship

I've recently had a few powerful worship experiences. Each was in a different setting (in a downtown park, in a suburban school, in a downtown office building) involving different activities (one involved listening, one singing and communion, another involved serving) with different people (one was mostly black, inner city brothers and sisters, one was predominantly white, suburban brothers and sisters, one was with homeless strangers) but each contained the essential elements of worship - spirit and truth. Worship is where we encounter the unpredictable Spirit and the unchanging truth of the Word of God.

I've started to view these two elements as strange bedfellows rather than warm companions. For me, truth, is contained in the Bible. I can hold it in my hands, carry it around with me, put it on the shelf or the night stand. It is concrete, solid, tangible. I always know where it is. It provides surety, stability, security. It is solid ground, a sure foundation on which I can build my life. It is a rock that I can trip over, stub my toe on, pick up and throw at someone, or simply sit and rest upon it. It gives me a sense of balance in a changing world. It lets me see tomorrow. Its predictable - whether I follow truth or ignore it, the outcome is predetermined and sure. I like truth.

But then there is Spirit. Jesus reminds us that God is spirit and somehow, in worship, our spirit must connect with His. But Spirit is nebulous. It is undefined, impossible to contain, unpredictable. It is infinite, invisible, incalculable. I can't see it, smell it, or grab it. If truth is solid, spirit is gas. If truth is ground, spirit is air. Jesus said it was like the wind - we don't know where it is, where it is going or when it will show up. We like spirit but only when it behaves.

Unfortunately, we usually don't allow both of these elements to operate freely. Truth without spirit is rigid and predictable. It is prone to legalism and prompts you to judge. It sets the "order of service" in stone. It formats the sermon to "three points and a poem." Truth is used to tame the spirit rather than to unleash it. Spirit is reduced to a lump in your throat or a tear in your eye as if it is an emotion rather than a force.

Spirit without truth is more like drunkenness rather than empowerment. You wake up the next morning and wonder what happened, what you did, what you said. Experience trumps truth. It is prone to false teaching and misguidance.

But what made my recent experiences meaningful was the presence of the unpredictable Spirit and the unchanging truth together. I went to places where I didn't know the order of service, what the protocol was, where I was going to sit, who I was going to see. I heard truth, sang truth, ate and drank truth, and practiced truth with people who had different perspectives and backgrounds. And when I woke up the next morning, there was a sense of awe that the truth lives in every setting and the Spirit moves freely and powerfully in the hearts of men.

A Sweet Story

While going through one of her Mom's picture albums, Pattie came across a picture of a young lady holding a baby. She did not recognize the new mother. But behind the picture was a card written by the young lady to my mother-in-law. I am giving you the contents of the card so that you can get a glimpse of Pattie's mother and how her love affected even this stranger.

Dear Mrs. Carolyn,
My name is _________________. I don't know if you remember me, but I had a baby eleven months ago. While I was pregnant, you wrote me a letter. I never wrote you back, but I wanted you to know that I slept with that letter beside me for 6 months while I was expecting. That was a very hard time for me but I'll never forget - you wrote to me that you were excited for me. That made me so happy. Everyone else told me that they were sorry I was going to have a baby. But not you; you were happy for me. Knowing that helped me through one of the hardest times of my life. You also wrote that my daughter would be a blessing. You were so right. I'm sure you know from my Grandma that my brother died 2 days after my daughter came. His birthday is soon . . . I've been missing him so much.

I came across your card today and it reminded me of how lucky I am to have my daughter.

Thank you for taking the time to write to a perfect stranger over a year ago. Your words have helped me so much.

I love you,
_____________________