The Heart Of Worship

In every town, you will find houses, apartments, and townhouses.
Many places to choose from in which to live.
Communities are popping up that are designed to be self-contained.
Adorable little streets with community pools that serve a section of homes.

Stores, shops, restaurants, and bookstores are there.
It is a town within a town.
Walking paths, nature trails, softball fields, and playgrounds.
Everything you could possibly want is within walking distance.

The days of far-away houses with acres of land seem to be less appealing.
Small communities with town centers are thriving.
One such community is close to me.
A lovely restaurant, with outside seating, is a favorite of mine.

The town center of this community has what I like to call a mini central park.
Beautifully landscaped, it has a pond filled with water lilies, bullfrogs, and toads.
Each week a farmer’s market is there selling local produce and gourmet foods as well.
Throughout the summer, there are concerts and open-air theater presentations.

People bring their chairs and blankets and sit in a bucolic setting.
A perfect way to enjoy a summer evening.
Something for everyone; even movie nights for the children.
We happened to be at the Town Center last night.

The area around what is affectionately known as the Square was blocked.
Something was going on.
Scenery was set up near the fountains that serve as the open-air stage.
We walked past costumes and props and waiting actors; seeing the set from behind.

The play began and could still be heard as we sat for our dinner.
It was Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
It was Shakespeare, as you have never seen it performed before.
It was in the contemporary setting of the 1960’s that the play took place.

We walked passed actors and actresses dressed in 60’s garb.
We heard the music of the 60’s being sung and performed.
The characters looked very different from when it was first performed in 1605.
The story was the same, just placed in a contemporary setting.

I expected to hear the actors talking the way we talk.
However, I still heard the language of Shakespeare in the costumes of today.
When you shifted your mind a bit, you began to enjoy what seemed to be disconnected.
The past and the present met on the Square.

Today, in our churches, hymns of the faith are contemporized.
The same words, the same doctrine, the same melody but modernized a bit.
This offends some people; the hymns should be left alone, they say.
The doctrine of the hymns should be left intact; one cannot improve on the theology.

However, a guitar where only an organ was heard before is welcome.
A violin, mandolin, or even a banjo can allow someone to hear for the first time.
The message is the same; it is not lost.
The integrity of the message comes through.

Music tends to be divisive in the church.
Personal tastes and preferences put people on opposite sides of the proverbial fence.
That should not be.
We fail to remember that when we sing these songs in our hearts, we personalize them.

We may whistle or hum the melody of a hymn.
We may play the melody slow or fast, with percussion or without.
The important thing is that God is praised.
The main thing is that the theology of the hymns remains intact.

So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord…When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servant as any vulgar fellow would!” David said to Michal, ” It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the Lord . I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. (2 Samuel 6:12-17,20-22)

I will celebrate before the Lord.
I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.
What was deemed proper was tossed out the window when David rejoiced over the ark.
The heart of David’s worship was what was acceptable to God.

Too often, we get wrapped up in the method of worship and forget about the heart.
The heart of worship is what God sees.
A hymn played on a kazoo with a pure heart is precious to Him.
We need to bring our best to the worship of our God.

Who decides what is best?

Only God can see the heart of the worshiper.
Only God can know if it is for entertainment or show, or it is for Him.
Only God can critique our worship as acceptable or not.
In the meantime, we divide and we take our sides and we forget Who we are worshiping.

We forget WHO and we forget WHY.
Rather than worrying about the instruments, let’s concern ourselves with our heart.
That is the most important instrument we bring to worship.
A fully devoted heart is the music that God wants to hear.

 

2 responses to “The Heart Of Worship”

1. So true, and whether it is a hymn or a song — Worship of Christ-centered., not us- or me-centered.

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   • Janna, that is so true!
     It is not about us…it is about HIM!
     Gina

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