Whenever I come across a song that really resonates with me I have a tendency to listen to it over and over for a lengthy period of time. My wife started helping lead children’s worship where we attend and so she has a couple music cd’s she is currently working through. A week ago one of the songs got my attention and so my wife had to deal with me playing it repeatedly all week long. On the way to church yesterday morning we listened to it a couple more times. Imagine my utter joy, and my wife’s utter misery, when the first song we sang as a congregation was that same song! The main chorus is a very simple and repetitive "Glory to God. Glory to God. Glory to God forever." As I sang and as I listened I couldn’t help but feel that in some way the hundreds of people that showed up to church on this particular Sunday morning decided to participate in the worship song that I had been singing all week. This song had been moving long before the congregation showed up to join in.
The truth of the matter is this sort of dynamic is present each and every time we gather for worship. Praise and adoration of God has been sung for forever in the literal sense with no breaks and on repeat as some rather interesting creatures give glory to God. God does not wait for us to strike up the band, warm up the piano seat, or whatever else we do to prepare for worship. Worship does not start with us, wait for us or depend on us and it’s going on whether we like it or not. The big question is whether or not we’ll join in on the song that is being sung. If you want to know the words to this song there are plenty of places in scripture providing the lyrics.
My favorite word recently has been ‘participation’ as I’ve seen that it can be used to describe many of life’s experiences. This past week was the last week of basketball coaching for the year as I coach the guys at work. Participation for us was not a matter of simply showing up but involved us engaging and interacting for practice and games. This participation included struggles and achievements, success and disappointment. Similarly, worship is not something you just show up for and worship is inclusive. It is wide enough to include the whole range of our experiences. Our suffering and our joy as participants are both welcomed as we gather.
I think this range is particularly important as Easter draws close. From the lows of Good Friday (which I’ve always found to be oddly named) to a victorious Easter morning we participate in so many different ways. For my wife the resurrection can’t come soon enough and a few years ago she was overjoyed when we went to a celebratory Easter service just a couple hours after a very solemn Good Friday service. I, on the other hand, find myself fighting to keep the knowledge of Easter morning at bay so as not to detract from what happens at the cross. For those that love reading mystery or thriller novels I can only imagine how much a knowledge of what happens in advance would remove the suspense of the moment.
As I approach Easter this year it seems that there are many that I know who have had to deal up close and personal with death. A father and husband. A wife and mother. A son and brother. A daughter and sister. For the loved ones left to deal with the loss I can’t imagine what an event like Easter stirs up as they hear once again about the death and resurrection of Christ. I remember where I was when the realization that Christ participated in suffering and died sunk in for the first time. Sitting on the floor of my room on a Good Friday following the funeral of a close friend it became clear to me that God is no stranger to suffering and those who suffer.
It seems like forever since I was doing an internship in Indianapolis and staying with a wonderful host family. One Sunday morning I woke up to the sound of the television in the neighboring living room at full volume. Tom, the dad, had come across a song that he fell in love with on a Gaithers VHS tape and needed the television turned all the way up so he could hear it upstairs while he got ready. When the song would finish he would come downstairs, rewind the tape, and the song would once more fill the house. Tom was not alone in his worshipful participation with this song but the rest of us really weren’t willing participants. We were taken captive more than captivated on this particular morning. When I heard that he had passed away I immediately wondered if he was happy with the current volume and intensity of worship.
Whether it be in communion, baptism, or worship, the whole range of our lives is offered up to participate in the song that was sung, is being sung, and will be sung forever, day and night:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.—Revelation 4:8
In joy or in pain we all have the opportunity to worship as we are. The question still remains, "Will we?".
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