Allowing

Dear Worshippers,

Last week we began a journey together. Rather, I began talking about the journey we are on to better understand and experience corporate worship in our church. Thank you for walking alongside me for this journey as I endeavor, with our Elders, to walk alongside Jesus. Let us all move along and find our encounters with our living Lord more vibrant than ever before.

We started our journey with a very brief overview of how we arrived at this place. The Elders have accepted the responsibility of defining the Core Values of our corporate worship, and have charged that task to a subcommittee chaired by me. We quickly affirmed the vision of our worship ministries [revelation and response] with this statement. “We are committed to worship the Lord corporately by giving Him the opportunity to reveal Himself and ourselves the opportunity to respond. When we gather to worship, all that happens should serve these two primary purposes, revelation and response.”

In that same meeting the Elders considered the following phrase which fueled the next part of the work for the committee. “We are committed to allowing these things to happen by…” In our most recent meeting the committee discussed the word allowing and I had to remind them of the reasoning behind the choice of that word. As we continue along together, let me bring you in on that discussion.

It is important to look back at the phrase and consider what we are allowing. The statement says “these things”. What are these things? Revelation and response. The committee began saying that we want to take a more active role in worship through possibly changing the word to encouraging. Although that is a part of what we ultimately want to do the reality is that we cannot make either of these things happen. The word allowing captures that humble submission more accurately.

You see, we can not make revelation or response happen. We can declare the Word, exalt Christ, and esteem the moving of the Spirit, but the Lord has to do the work of revealing Himself, and His people have to choose to receive that revelation. Even when they receive it, they have to choose again to respond and God has to enable and empower that response. Though worship is a command (Exodus 20:3), God allows us to choose to worship Him, and in so doing find the greatest delight available on earth. We sing that, “the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose You now.” [Come, Now is the Time to Worship, Brian Doerksen]

Even the Father in His infinite power and wisdom allows our worshipful response to Him Jesus said in John 4:23, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” It does not say “they are the kind of worshipers the Father makes.” He allows our response, so we can only take an active role in doing the same. We are committed to doing that.

We will spend some time considering how we do that near the end of this journey, but over the next several weeks we will begin to look at what are some of the Core Values that inform those expressions, actions and elements. I am so glad we are in this together, and am thankful to the Lord for the opportunity to worship Him and lead in such a way that allows others to do the same.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott