Last Sunday, Between Two Worlds published this post on worship:
When Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 to present our bodies as living sacrifices, he is instructing us about a proper approach to worship.... When we gather as the people of God, as many of us will do this morning, we are called by God to present ourselves as living sacrifices, and that is the kind of worship/service (a priestly word in our passage) that will be pleasing to him.---
What does that mean? Well, at least on one level it means that worship takes work. For the priest to offer a sacrifice, it meant a great deal of work on his part. So also with us. We come before the Lord to sing his praise, and confess our sin and hear his promise of forgiveness. We come before the Lord to confess our faith and hear his word. And it takes work and practice to do this together as the people of God. We should sing vibrantly; we should respond joyfully and clearly in corporate prayers and readings. We should be engage throughout the worship service. We should have attentive ears as the minister preaches the Word. We should participate in communion as if we have been lifted up into heaven to sit with Christ because indeed, that is where we are by faith. And we should leave with the blessing of God knowing that we are going out into this world as salt and light. In our culture, all of these issues take practice and patience. May the Lord give us the grace to lean against our cultural trends and present ourselves as living sacrifices to him.
Indeed, Father, give us the grace to lean against our cultural trends and present ourselves as living sacrifices to you. May we reject the consumerism of our culture. My we reject the selfishness of our culture. May we reject the consumerism and selfishness within our own hearts. May we come together this morning, around the world, to worship you with all our hearts, all our strengths, all our minds, and all our souls. May we focus more on the messages of our pastors than on the suits and ties of our pastors. May we focus more on the theology of our hymns than on the tempos of the music. May we see sweet things in your word and in your work among us. May we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, join together for the mutual support and encouragement of our family. May we build each other up and send each other out into the world to have an impact for you. And let us, through your Spirit, turn the world upside down. May we dedicate our entire beings to your glory.
In Jesus name. Amen.
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