We gather on Sundays to worship God, and to be with the body of Christ, the church. The past few weeks have reminded me powerfully of the importance of this gathering, and how much each part of the body needs the others.
1 Corinthians 12 continues to draw my attention and my heart. You may remember Tim's messages (pt 1, pt 2) on this chapter in January. In it, Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, compares the church to a body, and the church members as parts of the body which are unified for the mission and glory of Christ, but which are also diverse in function and purpose. What's more, we as followers of Christ are interdependent: we need each other. Paul writes, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!' ... But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." (1 Cor 12:21,24b-26)
We need each other. After a string of memorial services, as well as seeing friends in suffering from illness and hardship, it has never been more clear to me that God has put us together so that we can "have equal concern for each other." When one rejoices, we should rejoice with them. And when one mourns, we should mourn with them. Life is too short and too hard to be lived with detached apathy for those God has placed in your path.
In the past few months, we have said goodbye to Gary, a greeter and servant of God who went out of his way often to get to know you; Debra, who loved on kids in Discoveryland for years; Brook, whose smile, personality, and love of Christ inspired everyone around her; as well as several family members connected to New Cov families. As a body is interconnected, and as each part affects the other, the passing of this brother and these sisters in Christ is painful. We will need to recover and heal over time, and still scars will remain.
With that in mind, there are three reasons why on Sunday I had us pause during the service to read the words of Revelation 21:1-5b.
First, our pain is real. It is relevant to our worship because it is part of our petition and prayer to God. We tend to equate worship with praise, rejoicing, bordering dangerously on a shiny-happy-inauthentic-image-management sort of worship. But worship is also any response to who God is. When we cry out for mercy, deliverance, help, we are acknowledging that our faith is in God and we need Him to rescue us. We can be authentic when we come to God.
Second, God's word is true and powerful, no matter what we are facing. Revelation 21 is relevant to our worship because John's vision points to the promises of God. Though our pain lingers, though we still recognize the darkness that surrounds us, we also know that Jesus will redeem all things. That is the hope we must cling to.
And third, we need to speak God's word to one another. It is a light for our path (Ps 119:105), a tool for discipleship (2 Tim 3:16-17), a hope and comfort in times of suffering (Ps 119:49-50), and a firm foundation (Matt 7:24). God's word is true (Ps 33:4), it endures forever (Isa 40:8, Matt 24:35 , and it gives understanding (Ps 119:130). I've found that the more I read and internalize God's word, the more it comes to mind when I'm with people. And when we bring God's word into our conversations, we invite the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts in a powerful way (Heb 4:12). What a gift we've been given!
I truly believe that worship—all worship—is spiritually formational. We are formed by how we worship, both corporately and individually. Sunday morning, I hope, was a reminder of the importance of God's word, and that we need to speak God's word to each other. May God's word give us comfort, peace and wisdom, especially when we feel battered by the storms of life.
No comments:
Post a Comment