Welcoming God

Things are changing. Are you ready?

This week the Church Calendar makes a dramatic shift. Advent will soon be here. The word Advent means simply “arrival”, and this neglected season holds wonderful and transforming gifts, if we will only prepare ourselves to receive them.

Divine Time-Keeping:
The Church Calendar may feel like stuffy, dry tradition to some, but for those who have taken the time to journey mindfully through the year, guided by its rhythms, it offers wonderful treasures: a deepening of faith, a rich connection with the Scriptures and their story of salvation, a transforming encounter with the living Christ.

The rhythm of seasons, festivals, readings and worship patterns that the Calendar provides reminds us that life does not have to be driven only by linear, chronos time (as the Greeks called it) – deadlines, “time-is-money' stress, and racing the clock. In God's reign there is a different kind of time – kairos time – the appointed moment, the significant season, the moment of God's divine purpose. When we allow kairos to invade our obsession with chronos, we discover God at work in surprising places and ways, and we grow more aware of the constant rhythm of God's Spirit at work in our world and our lives. This is what our worship, and the Church Calendar, is meant to do for us. And the first season – Advent – is the best place to start.

The God Who Arrives:
Advent is often seen as simply a preparation time for Christmas, but it is much more than that. Advent leads us into an encounter with the God who arrives – the God who refuses to remain distant and uninvolved, but who steps into our world, and gets up close and personal with us. The journey through Advent is intended to open us to God's coming in every moment, in every circumstance and in every relationship.

Through the readings and ancient pattern of worship, we are reminded that God has come to us – throughout human history, and ultimately in Christ. We are opened to the truth that God is coming to us now – and we are called into worship that opens us to this coming, not just on Sunday, but every day. And, finally, we are encouraged to look ahead to the hope we have in Christ, the promise of God's reign – God will come to us.

In the midst of Christmas preparations, end of year parties and mad shopping sprees, Advent calls us to slow down, to wait for God's coming, and to be ready to receive our God. In the midst of poverty, economic crisis and massive social justice concerns, Advent reminds us that God has not abandoned us, but is at work bringing “good news to the poor”, and justice to the earth. There was never a time when we needed this Gospel message more.

So, let us sing from the longing in our hearts, “O come, O come, Immanuel”, and let us be ready to welcome God whenever and wherever this divine arriving occurs.

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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.

Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.

Ending the “Worship Wars”

On what basis do you choose where you worship? Do you go to a traditional church out of a love for liturgy and structure? Do you attend a church with a great band and little apparent structure? Or have you chosen not to worship in church at all, finding it better to encounter God in nature or with a group of friends? Whatever we may choose, it’s tempting to believe that what we do is “real” worship, and other forms are somehow missing the point. If you’ve ever felt like this, then you’ve experienced what has come to be known as the “worship wars”.

The “worship wars” have been the source of much pain in the Church – and all from an understanding of worship that takes what is a very small part and makes it everything. What I mean is this: worship operates at three different levels, and we’ve made the least important element the one we focus on the most, argue about the most, and give our best energy to.

The purpose of worship:
As I’ve written many times, the Bible uses sexual language to describe our relationship with God (See 1 Cor.6:16,17 & Eph.5:31,32) The message is clear – worship is about intimacy with God. The purpose of the sexual act is not the act itself, but the experience of intimacy with another person. So, too, the purpose of acts of worship (singing, praying, silence, posture etc.) are not the acts themselves, but the experience of intimacy with God. It is in this intimate encounter with God that we are changed into people who reflect the compassion, grace and love of Christ – as Paul indicates in 2 Cor.3:18.

The practice of worship:
So, how do we facilitate this intimacy in our services? Through the centuries Christians have found certain practices reliable and helpful. These include adoration (praise), confession, thanksgiving, intercession, the sacraments, reading the Scriptures, and creeds. These practices can be “packaged” in a number of ways, and expressed differently, but their essence remains the same. For example, it is possible to offer praise in a song or in silence, in liturgy or spontaneously, through words or through images, but in each case, the practice of praise is essentially the same, and draws us into intimacy with God.

The packaging of worship:
The third part of our worship has to do with the “packaging” of these practices – which, as we often forget, is simply a matter of cultural or stylistic preference. Some prefer to express praise in silent meditation, while others prefer writing a poem in response to a moment of beauty and wonder, or singing to organ accompaniment, or to a band or acapella.

These “packages” are the least important part of our worship. As long as worship leads us to intimacy with God, and embraces all of the practices that enable this to happen, the “packaging” is unimportant. However, when worship becomes all about the packaging then we have settled for less than it can be. Ironically, most worship wars are fought not about the purpose or practices of worship, but about the packaging!

Let's declare a truce in our churches. Let's begin to focus on using the ancient practices to lead us into fulfilling worship's purpose – intimacy with God. And then, let's make space for as many different and creative ways to package our experience as we can.

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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.

Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.

A Crucial Question

What’s the point of Sunday worship? Why bother to gather with a bunch of people who struggle to live up to what they believe to sing a few songs, mutter a few prayers and listen to someone ramble on for half an hour? These questions are heard all too frequently, both inside and outside of the Church, and almost every Christ follower will ask them – even if only in their own thoughts – at some point in their journey.

It’s because of these questions that some people in the Church have begun to think of worship in new ways. This attempt to re-imagine our practice of devotion is a good thing, but not all of our conclusions are helping us. As I mentioned in my last article, the popular tendency to call worship a ‘lifestyle’ can trap us into a consumerist view of worship. In an attempt to avoid this trap, some Christians have taken to speaking of worship and service as synonymous. Others have emphasized that all we do, think and say should be offered to God as an act of worship. There is a sense in which both of these ideas have value. Our whole lives should, indeed, be devoted to God, and this must mean that we become people who are more sacrificial, serving and compassionate.

However, I have grown increasingly convinced that we lose more than we gain when we start equating worship with other activities. Perhaps I can make the distinction this way – if I am a true worshipper, then everything I do will be done ‘worshipfully’ because my worship will inevitably overflow into every part of my life. But, just because I say that something I am doing is worship, does not make it so, if it does not flow from a faithful and consistent practice of devotion to God. I can serve others worshipfully, but I can equally serve others with no reference to God’s character and purposes at all. I can offer my work to God as a worshipful activity, but I can equally work without any real reference to God’s reign, even as a person of faith. Or to put it another way – worship, truly done, will embrace, include and transform every part of my life, but no one part of my life can be considered to define worship, except for those specific practices that bring me into a living, transforming encounter with God.

The Bible uses sexual language to describe to our relationship with God (See, for example, 1 Cor.6:16,17). This is a helpful way to understand what I’m saying. In my marriage, I try very hard to make everything I do an act of love for my wife. I work hard to provide for my family. I take time to wash dishes, to cook and to help with raising my kids as a way of expressing my love for her. However, none of these are the defining act of intimacy in our relationship. I can do any of these acts for others without her ever being threatened or feeling betrayed. But, the act of physical, sexual union is our private, unique connection – and that can be given to no other. It is our lovemaking that defines and most truly expresses our intimacy, and it is from this deep intimacy that these other acts gain their value as expressions of love.

So it is with worship. Worship is the regularly practice of intimacy with God, from which everything else in my life gains value as expressions of my love for God. Without the act – what I like to think of as the spiritual discipline – of worship, though, these other acts will always struggle to lead me into true, life-transforming intimacy with God. So, service is not worship in and of itself. My work is not worship in and of itself. These things only become worship when they flow from a life that is regularly connected and transformed by the discipline of intimacy with God. This discipline of worship is what Sunday services are intended to be all about, and when we get it right, then our worship truly does define, and empower, the whole of the Church’s life.

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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.

Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.

A Worship Lifestyle

Some years ago, at the wedding reception of a groom from a well-known rugby-playing family, I watched with amusement as a young man tried to impress a beautiful woman at his table. Leaning toward her, in hushed tones and with great seriousness, he explained that “rugby is not a sport. It's a lifestyle.” It only took a few minutes for this woman to find a reason to excuse herself from the table.

'Lifestyle' is a fashionable word at the moment. We have lifestyle magazines and TV shows, and it seems that we are all expected to choose our particular preference from a range of lifestyle options on offer. Now, in the Church, it has become fashionable to speak of worship as a lifestyle – which, I must confess, makes me a little uncomfortable.

If we are honest, for many of us “worship as a lifestyle” means that we don't just sing in church, but that we also listen to worship CDs in our cars, in our homes, or at work. We don't just pray in church, but we also pray every day, bringing our personal needs and concerns to God in a constant stream. These practices are not bad in themselves, but I'm not convinced that they amount to anything more than pasting a “worship veneer” over our largely unchanged lives.

Worship leader and song writer, Gerrit Gustafson, has told of an encounter with Mother Teresa that changed both his understanding of worship and his life. After giving her a few of his worship CDs as a gift, he asked her what songs the Missionaries of Charity sang in their worship. Mother Teresa gently returned the CDs to him, explaining that she had nothing on which to play them, and then explained that there was little singing in the worship of her order. Finally he asked her what worship meant to her. At this her eyes lit up, and she quoted Jesus' words in Matthew 25 - “[whatever] you did to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me.”

If a worship lifestyle is nothing more than taking the actions and music of Sunday into the rest of the week, it is little different from any other lifestyle choice – fashionable, pleasurable, offering us a sense of identity, but making little difference in the world. If, however, we allow God to transform us through our worship, and if we take, not the music and prayers of worship, but the transformed lives that worship creates, into the world, we cannot help but make a significant impact for good. And the ones who will most benefit from our lived worship are the poor, the weak, the marginalised and the hurting.

So, is it appropriate for us to adopt worship as our lifestyle of choice? If worship – the service and adoration of Jesus – is both the context for our lives (see last week’s article) and the manner in which we live in the world, then it is perhaps the most important lifestyle choice we'll ever make. But, don't expect to see it promoted in any magazines in the near future.

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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.
Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.

The meaning of worship

Every Sunday we gather in buildings around the country and around the world. And this gathering has become the defining act of the Church. When 'outsiders' explore joining the faith, Sunday is often where they start. When denominations seek to differentiate themselves, Sunday is one of the primary places where this can be seen. When generations and languages and cultures seek to express their faith, Sunday is the platform on which they stand.

Why should this be? What is the significance of this weekly gathering that it should carry so much weight? These are important questions to ask when, on the one side, so much energy and money is spent on Sunday's worship, and on the other hand, so many people are leaving the Church because of dissatisfaction with Sunday. In the light of this, one simple shift may help us to find a way to worship practice that is healthy and life-giving.

Worship as Context:
Most of the conversation about worship starts with what we do – what songs we sing, what instruments we use, what structures (or lack of) shape our services. But the truth is that worship, at its heart, is not something we do, but something we are. Every human being is a worshipper. We are hard-wired to offer our allegiance to something beyond ourselves. Whether it's science or spirituality, a person or a god, a thing or an ideology, human beings will find something to form both the centre and the context for their lives. Whatever it is that gives us meaning, direction, a set of values and a focal point for our living and loving – this is what we worship.

What this means is that most, if not all of us, fall (at least at times) into a functional atheism. We sing and proclaim one thing with great vehemence on Sundays, but then live around a completely different centre of gravity. While singing and praying a Gospel that is supposed to be good news for the poor, we spend the rest of the week trying to pretend that the poor don't exist. While celebrating community and sharing on Sundays, we return to our individualist, consumerist lives on Monday. By making worship about a few small activities, we have released ourselves from the call to make the worship of Jesus the context in which all of our relationships, ethics, finances, work, leisure – and praying – are done.

Sunday in Context:
But, once we make the shift to worship as the context – the realm, the kin-dom – in which our lives are played out, Sunday begins to take on a whole new role. Instead of being the beginning and the end of worship, Sunday becomes the place where we seek to learn the priorities and values that must guide our lives. Rather than making Sunday the time and place where we “worship”, we embrace the gathering as a call to allow the light of the Gospel to search our motives and actions and point us in the direction of authentic Christ-likeness.

In today's Church all too many of us follow the Church rather than Christ. We follow worship rather than Christ. We follow our preferences rather than Christ. Perhaps it's time to return to the only One who is truly worthy of our worship. And to make worshipping – following – Jesus the primary reality in which we live.

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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.
Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.

A Good Life

If I ever doubted the value of faith, this week my doubts were completely erased. I have journeyed through grief with many people over my years of ministry, but I have never experienced it first hand in the way I have in the last ten days. On Sunday the 10th of October my father died after about six months of struggling with heart failure. He was just a few weeks short of his eightieth birthday.

What amazes and comforts me as I walk through this whole experience is not so much the faith I have that his life continues after the demise of his body. Rather it’s the impact his life of faith had on me and my family while he was still alive, and the effect this had on the funeral service, on our acceptance of his death when it came, and on our journey together as we grieve.

My father was no saint. He was stubborn, opinionated and loved a good debate when he was bored - which meant he would often take an opposing position even if he didn’t believe his own argument. He was unremarkable in many ways - an ordinary guy who loved his wife for more than the 56 years they were married; an entrepreneur who had good instincts and who did well enough in business to feed his generosity to friends, family and the underprivileged. He was a committed church member for pretty much his whole life, and loved singing in the various church choirs he was part of. His was a simple life, but it was a life that is most accurately described as “good” - which is why it had the impact that it did.

On that Sunday morning as I drove home from the services I had been leading I listened to my brother’s shaky message breaking the news, and I found myself laughing and crying at the same time. I wept because I felt hollow and empty at the loss of a mentor, a friend and an anchor for my life. But I laughed, because there was nothing to regret. Dad had no unfinished business in his life. I know he would have loved to have been around for his sixtieth wedding anniversary, but I also know he was ready to die. He had lived and loved with commitment, passion and a determination to stay close and connected with those who were important to him. He died a man who was very deeply loved, and with no enemies left to gloat.

There are men of my age who can find nothing in their lives that their fathers taught them. This is not the case for me. As I watched him sacrificially and whole-heartedly love my mother, I learned how to be a considerate and self-giving lover. As I watched him pursue dreams with tenacity over years, I learned not to give up, and to stay true to myself and my calling. As I debated religion and politics with him I learned how to ask good questions and how to think for myself. As I watched him apologise for his mistakes, I learned to face my own failures and take responsibility for my messes.

I am not the first person to lose a father, and I certainly won’t be the last, but I am so grateful that my father was a man of faith. His commitment to Jesus, made him a good man, and I am a better person because of his influence. Now as I grieve him, I also celebrate him - and the faith that made his life so rich and full and good. And so, if I ever doubted the value of faith, I do so no longer.
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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.
Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.

New perspectives

How do you feel about the state of the world today? Do you feel the world is improving, or do you believe that it is sliding inexorably into chaos and evil? These are important questions. Our answers determine how we relate to this world, how we interact with others - particularly those who are different - and how we understand the role of our faith in our earthly existence.

Unfortunately, too many of us see the world extremely negatively. We have been taught that the world is going to get worse, until the time when it is ultimately destroyed and when we are evacuated to another realm called heaven. And so we look for - and find - evidence that evil is winning the battle over this planet. We see our faith as an insurance policy that guarantees our salvation when God finally swoops in and destroys it all in a final conflict with the forces of darkness.

But, I’m not sure that this is a biblical perspective. In fact, the story I read in Scripture is almost the exact opposite! What I see in the Bible is God creating a world and pronouncing it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). I see human struggle and brokenness often bringing pain, but also human nobility - given and inspired by God’s Spirit - bringing goodness, healing and restoration. I see Christ proclaiming that God’s reign is among us in this world, and teaching us to pray that God’s reign would come more fully to earth and work among us here (Matthew 6:10). I see a purpose in history in which God teaches us and challenges us to become more compassionate, more generous, more selfless and more attuned to God’s presence and purpose for creation. And, within the evil and pain of our world, I see this glorious vision being played out. In this scenario, faith is the commitment to live according to this glorious vision of God. It is not a guarantee of safe evacuation, it is a recruitment call to service here and now.

There are a number of spiritual practices that help us to get God’s perspective on the world, and that empower us to live from this new perspective, but perhaps the primary one is praise. The practice of praise is a simple, but powerful activity. Praise can be spoken or sung; offered in silence or in sound; enacted or simply imagined. However we may choose to express our praise, though, we can never engage in this activity without being changed.

Praise requires awareness and reflection. The heart of praise is the recognition of who God is. When we take the time to slow down, and focus our awareness on God, to open the eyes of faith to God’s presence and purpose, to reflect on God’s attributes and actions, we are inevitably filled with a vision of God and God’s reign. And then our hearts cannot help but cry out in awe and wonder, in adoration and in surrender to the mystery. As we regularly open ourselves to the praise experience, we enter the world with open eyes and hearts, and we cannot help but see God’s presence and activity everywhere. And then, the ultimate act of praise happens - we choose to participate in God’s saving, beautifying, restoring, glorifying work.

How we see the world - what perspective we have on it - is a direct reflection of how committed we are to the discipline of praise. And if the world needs anything right now, it is people who bring hearts of praise into every situation and moment. May we be those people!
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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.
Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.