Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Today's Frontline Devotion
Wednesday, September 3, 2003
PLEASING GOD
|
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Today's Frontline Devotion
Wednesday, September 3, 2003 PLEASING GOD |
|
Frontline Devotion for Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by Penny Risen
The
Pharisees were in His face again, challenging and questioning Jesus and His
motives.
"By
what authority are you doing these things?" they spat at Him. "And who
gave you this authority?" they probed, hoping to trip up this man from
Nazareth. Imagine telling the Son of God that He and disciples were committing
sacrilege in the temple!
Jesus in
Matthew 21, as on dozens of occasions in His ministry, lambastes the Pharisees
for dwelling on religious rules and enjoying the appearance of being religious
-- but on the inside being full of hypocrisy.
Jesus
answers them in parables about doing God's bidding, and not lying and doing
otherwise.
These tales
also say to us:
1.
How can we seek forgiveness and confess our sins on Sunday, then go back
to our own flawed and sinful habits, giving way to temptations, breaking God's
laws?
2.
How can we speak of peace in church or sing of joy and harmony, then go
sow seeds of distrust and disrespect of others?
3.
Are we just going through the motions, or is our personal worship
pleasing to God?
She sat with her eyes
closed, gray head bowed, wrinkled hands resting on her hymnal.
I thought she'd dosed
off next to me in the pew, so I patted her arm and mumbled, "Grandma, look
up -- the choir's singing."
"I'm pleasing God,
child," the old woman answered softly, her eyes still shut.
That was the last time
this nosy 10-year-old questioned the church conduct of my Grandmother Schumann.
Her simple message stuck with me.
By our time
together when she was in her 80s, this pastor's widow had simplified her worship
routine. Her days as a spirited church organist were done; her need to be
"on" as a Lutheran pastor's wife was in the past.
If she felt
it was time to pray or meditate -- to seek out God on her own even if the choir
or preacher had the attention of the rest of the congregation -- she did so.
It worked for her and God, and her actions showed me that her way of
connecting and pleasing God was the way to go. And looking back, it did work: My
grandmother was perhaps the most serene, humble person I've ever known.
An
ex-Pharisee, the apostle Paul, speaks to new Christians in Ephesians 5 about not
letting ritual and routine get between them and God: "Live as children of
light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and
trust) and find out what pleases the Lord."
So,
wrestling with worship style and authority is nothing new. Our feelings (or lack
thereof) about the "right kind" of worship space, of
"appropriate" music and accompaniment, of male or female clergy, of
traditional or contemporary liturgy: Are they building a wall between us and
simpler ways of worthy praise? Are we seeking to please ourselves instead of
God?
Matt Redman
thought so. A Contemporary
Christian composer, singer and worship leader in Watford, England, he found his
weekly "performance" of music at his church were becoming too much the
focus, instead of "praise" to the Lord during worship.
Something
was needed in his call to touch others humbly in worship, he thought: "When
you pour out your heart with the music and you back it up with your life -- that
is probably the heart of worship."
Matt took
the drastic measure of briefly suspending all music offerings at Soul Survivor
Church's worship: To help him, his choir and musicians restore the feeling that
they were making music out of love of ministry to fellow Christians and for
God's glory -- not their own.
Then he
wrote a song to explain this to worshipers:
"When the music fades, all is stripped away
And I simply come.
Longing just to bring, something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart.
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You, it's all about You,
Jesus."
(The Heart of Worship, Matt Redman, 1999)
Prayer for the Day: Dear
Lord, let us be as one in worship with You, to put You first in our hearts. Help
us find what's pleasing to you, and to humbly carry the Good News into our daily
lives. Amen.
To respond to this devotion, write mailto:pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org
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