I want to highlight the importance of worship as a way of centering our being towards God’s heart for us. Most of these reflections are borrowed from James K.A. Smith’s “Desiring the Kingdom” and Mike Cosper’s “Rhythms of Grace.” I highly recommend both books for those wanting a fuller picture of worship. Here are three thoughts on where worship leads us as followers of Jesus:
1. Worship serves, teaches, and reaches ALL of God’s children, regardless of aptitude, education, or status. Music (including sacraments, liturgy), as a worship practice, at it’s most empathetic, “both honors the fact that all humans are desiring animals while at the same time making sense of how Christian worship is developmentally significant for those who can participate in rituals but are unable to participate in theoretical reflection” — i.e. the poor, uneducated, marginalized, and disabled.
2. Worship engages our hearts, not just our minds. Don Sailers writes, “This knitting of an embodied theology happens whenever Christian congregations sing, even though they do so in a great variety of ways from one culture to another. It has been happening since the earliest Christians extemporized variations of praise to God in the new images of Jesus’ teaching and ministry, and above all in images of the mystery of his death and resurrection. The Trinitarian character of faith was sung long before it was put into the language of doctrinal theology. Indeed, the church’s theology was embodied in its liturgical and singing practices before more formal theology developed.” Worship exposes our heart heart (and mind) to both the ministry and mystery of God.
3. Worship tells the whole story of God: Creation, fall, redemption, consummation. We need specific, holistic reminders that connect our heart to the story of God in scripture. Music and songs help weave together these pieces of the story to illuminate the entire meaning of God saves us from our sins. Music and songs incubate Christian faith as a compacted theology (Richard Mouw).
At Kairos, I hope we can continue to have our motivations and desires clarified, transformed, then offered up as worship, both in heart and mind, as God propels us towards lives fully lived in Him.
– Micah