At aqueous we have been talking a lot lately about worship and what that means in our context and how we as a faith community, together, will walk it out. This past week we talked a bit about how instead of bringing ouselves in offering to God, we can stand by in passivity and indifference while letting the more “talented” people do our worshiping for us. Shouldn’t we be creators? Should we not passionately create worship; each and every one of us? I mean, God is the God who created heaven and everything on earth that we see. And for the understatement of the century: He is a creative God! And if we are to become more like God, then we must begin creating. Following are some excellent thoughts from Kester Brewin that I believe are very helpful and can offer a lot of insight into where a faith communitie’s worship should be heading.
In terms of ‘worship’, or what we do when we gather, ideally this ought to be a space where gifts are exchanged… One of my key concerns about church is that when we look at worship we see only a couple of bland gifts at work. Unless you are an orator, can play guitar or sing, you’ve really got little chance of taking part. But worse than this, worship is far too often seen as consumption: I come to get, not I come to give. ‘That was a great time of worship, I really got a lot out of it.’
Who the hell are we to expect to get anything from worship?
Our attitude should be ‘what gift can I bring to worship?’ So, connectedly, our gatherings need to become places where people can exchange gifts - song, video, theatre, graphics, design, music, installation, dance… I’ve often wondered whether the reason God rejected Cain’s offering and accepted Abel’s was because Cain gave something that didn’t have integrity - wasn’t integral to him, wasn’t a true gift. As we used to say at Vaux, it’s like he popped into the petrol station to grab some cheap flowers to give on the way. Costing him… nothing. And when we stand their singing stuff over and over and over, the same old songs… I just wonder if God is saying “come on, where’s something from you!”
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Very good, thought-provoking questions and comments. I love the theme of coming to GIVE not get. Which is exactely what worship is… worshiping our creator. A lot of times we expect to “feel” good after a worship time… the expectation to meet people’s needs in worship is completely backwards. We need to come before Him in humility and with gratefulness.