Agabus (mark adams)

Last week, I led worship at Mountain Bible Church. I joined the team last November, and led worship once before, but not on guitar. In fact, I don’t play guitar in our services, contributing only vocals. The few other times I’ve lead worship on guitar — before now, only at camp — have taught me that worshipping God as “leader” is fraught with challenges. First, one focuses on playing and singing (I did not pick up the guitar until I was about 34, so I’m further challenged). Second, if one performs often in front of a crowd, as I have endeavored to do with my folk music, one forgets that the audience alone is really God. With practice, I might overcome the first, but the second is more daunting.

Emptying oneself is not a natural exercise. We need recognition and strive for it. Perhaps worship is best in private, but even then, pride and self-agrandizement are evident. No, worshipping God is a gift. It cannot be attained through human effort or even self-abasement. “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Col. 2:23). No, we must learn the meaning of Christ’s divine admonishment: “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mat. 9:13). True worship is the renewing of the spirit through faith.

As I was practicing for this Sunday’s worship, and noticing my deficiencies as a musician, I began to consider what sort of music we will make in the afterlife, in God’s presence in heaven. First, I considered the quality of the music, but then I considered the quality of the sacrifice, i.e. ourselves. “We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:12). If we thus “hope” in him, we purify ourselves (vs. 13). So worship is drawing near to God, as when we first drew near to Him. Worship is turning away from self, turning toward God.

The call to worship is primordial. Shortly after the fall and the martyrdom of Abel, it is said that “at that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord” (Gen. 4:26). And I am reminded that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom. 10:13). What distinguishes worship in this present age from worship in the after-life is this quality of being called out of the world; our song is a song of expectation.

Called thus to worship, we worship.

What we experience worshipping God is a test. If blemishes are found, the offering is not rejected, for as a sacrifice involves death, so we “die” worshipping God. We are called to worship so that we might experience death of self. As the poet says, “I should be glad of another death.”

Postscript: Today was also important in that Zander Smead, a member of the high school youth group, played bass, though not for the first time. Zander and I were to lead worship last Sunday, but I was not well, so he played with the team. The time that Zander and I have had together has been very important. We chose, for worship this Sunday, the following songs: “Just a Closer Walk With Thee,” “Today!” — one of my songs — “Forever,” “Here I Am to Worship,” and “As a Deer.”

Originally posted at http://gospeldays.com.

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