Big People Music & Little People Music

Leading worship is a big responsibility and a great joy. Leading worship while teaching children in this charge is an even greater responsibility and a greater joy; purposefully instructing and building future leaders. In a recent experience, one child joined us at rehearsal and heard the adults talking about the need to incorporate the children’s songs from Sunday School. Hearing the discussion, the child quickly spoke up about being able to sing “the big people music.” I loved that spur of the moment response; a beautiful, open hearted and intuitive answer that is worshipful in and of itself.

The thing about leading worship is that it is not really about whose music (i.e. big and little) is being sung or played. It is an act of sacrificial joy noted for leading ministry, armies and nations. These are the players of cymbals, harps and trumpets, amongst other instruments, specifically mentioned in the Bible. The singers conducted services of song and ministered with music, some even having their names added to the text. Yet, I think even with these details, it is important to note that there is not one word about style, personal preference or music wars.

Worship is done to honor God. It is not about what music I like, don’t like, prefer and don’t prefer. It is not about my mood, my circumstances or my particular activities on a given day. I may have to move past morning sleepiness, arrangements I love or don’t particularly care for, the need for many rehearsals, growing skill sets as we all seek to improve and technical difficulties. When I step up with a team to lead worship on any given day, you could see me after a morning of smooth sailing or it may be everything I can do to keep it together while on stage. The gist of this, is that worship is not about me or you. And that, that was what was contained in those words, “I can sing the big people music.”

“…when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:

‘For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,’”

2 Chronicles 5:13a

The end of the week approaches. People will be practicing for Sunday, preparing music once again. As we prepare our own hearts to worship, on Sunday and each day, I want to encourage you to reach out past the moment and circumstances, to worship the Lord because you love him. Maybe you can even learn the “little people’s” Sunday School music.

Missing Blessings

This morning quickly went from my normal get ready for work routine to something unplanned as turning the key to start the car resulted in nothing but silence. I tried again and there was not a click or sputter. Thankfully, there was another vehicle available and the silent car was left behind as I headed to work. When the key turned and the engine didn’t, I had an opportunity to choose my response. I could either let this moment completely throw off my entire day, or I could take a breath and regroup. I can honestly say that I have responded well to these unexpected moments at times, and not so well during others. However, this morning as dogs were barking and I was scrambling for a different set of keys before heading out the door again, a friend’s words came back to me about gratitude for blessings that are often missed during each day, those that we are completely unaware of. 

That thought has lingered with me all day. What blessings am I missing? What am I oblivious too and taking for granted? My world is alive with the nature around me, bright flowers greet the day as I walk down the block; intricate forms that seemed to have caught sunshine’s light. From the darkness of the day after the sun slips around the curve of the earth until the orbital trek is made again, the sky is steeped in beautiful light of the greater and lesser. I have food to eat that is both nutritious and tasty. The house is a sturdy shelter, warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Three beautiful, though noisy, dogs greet my every arrival with great excitement that leaves me smiling in return. Friends near and far offer hands of help and let me help in return. They are all blessings.

But these, though I can certainly take them for granted at times, these seem too obvious. I think I miss the blessings that are more of the kind that hold the next breath, the next heartbeat. I’m aware of them, but don’t spend much time thinking of them, let alone praising God for them. I think I miss the blessings for the events I don’t understand or when things don’t turn out as planned. When my path is turned in a direction I didn’t anticipate and cannot predict, I think there may very well be a missed blessing there.

As I hear tomorrow about the car and the repairs, I will endeavor to continue to both seek to see the missing blessings and to praise God for and through them.    

Worship in a Box

A series of boxes hold Christmas decorations. Each box is completely full and packed tightly. It’s time to start decorating, but to my complete confusion I have found someone who insists that we only use the decorations in one box, one box that they have filled. I can see all of the other choices, but the response is an insistence to just use that one box. I agree, hoping that when we get started with one box, others will be added – building on momentum. One box gives us the bottom of the center pole for a Christmas tree, three of the needed branches, a dozen ornaments, and a door hanger for a wreath.

Sound odd? Sound like hyperbole? Sound like there is more to the story? 

There is! But, we need to take a small side trip to get to the ending.

A few years ago, I heard someone talking on the radio about choosing a different word each year to mull over, think on, study, and intentionally consider over the course of the comings and goings of the next 365 days. I have done this for a few years, and my word this year is worship.

In studying the word worship, I find that it is first mentioned about 700 years ago in a format we would find more familiar in an English root. Basically, it is defined as a sense of reverence for something that is worthy of honor, glory; a divine being. I love how big this word is!

After learning about where the word came from, I started looking around at how this word is used around me. I caught glimpses of that broadness, but most of the time I have found worship smashed into a box, kind of like those Christmas decorations. (Told you we would get back there eventually.) 

Remember the one odd ball box of decorations? I don’t decorate like that and I bet you don’t either. But I found worship compressed into one media - one style - one speed - one color, or maybe if it was a big box, two or three.  The one, two or three worship definitions smashed into the box has nothing wrong with it. Not wrong, but limited. I have struggled and grappled with this all year, looking for my own box limits in worshipping God. After all, who best to revere than Jesus? I have found many spots where I needed to expand and look at several boxes.

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I want to encourage you to consider, as you also haul the Christmas decorations in boxes through the house, what your worship boxes are. Will you join me in expanding horizons?

An Advent prayer from Common Prayers:

Give us ears to hear, O God, 

and eyes to watch, 
that we may know your presence in our midst 
during this holy season of joy 
as we anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Praise from the Garage Floor

I was sitting in the garage floor yesterday, painting a small window a lovely blue color, and listening to Rend Collective Experiment from my computer.  Singing along to some of the songs, I started thinking about worship and praise, and how my definitions of what that means narrows my width of worship and praise opportunities. 

Let me back up – worship and praise of what?  Worshipping and praising God, taking time for an action of gratitude, a heart of thanks for all that my God is and was and will be.  It’s an act that is uplifting, refreshing, energizing, and at times draining. 

So with that part said….

I’m sitting in the floor, paint brush in hand, and thinking about how worship is more than one style or one type of art and how my very definition limits me.  There is a painter who paints to music and creates incredible paintings as an act of worship.  The gardener who tends the plants so carefully to create a living canvas of color is acting out worship.  A dancer, with every fine tuned motor skill practiced, can move in time to worship.  A musician, a writer, a sculptor, a teacher, a child playing in the sprinkler… the list goes on and on.  Worship can take so many forms; I don’t want my definition to be so limiting – especially when we were made with so many ways to express praise. 

I’m going to start looking for new ways to praise, intentional actions to thank God for his goodness.  I wonder what forms it will take.  

Worship Comes in Many Sizes, Colors, and Sounds

I’m a musical person, singing for just about any reason and at any time.  This includes grocery stores, gas stations, home, work, or just walking down the sidewalk.  As much as I love music and to worship my God through music, I love how there are beautiful elements of worship all around us.  Like a banner spread across the sky, the scarlet, crimson, blue, and tangerine oranges coloring a sunset paint an extravagant and elegant view of praise.  The way the feathers on an eagle wing bends as it cuts through the air, showing worship in the subtleties of creation, serves as an illustration.  It is the sparrows in the bush outside the kitchen, singing their songs that speak to my heart, I praise with them in their songs.  It is the cardinal in the snow bush, puffing up to hold in warmth and creating such a striking view in the snow.  It is the first greening of the spring moss as the snow crystals start melting.  It is the coo of a dove and the laugh of a baby.  It is the first daffodil of spring, one of a host to bloom.  It is the sound of a family laughing, of work being accomplished, of efforts being made, and hurts being healed.  Worship is all of this and so much more.

These words are written out on a post-it at my desk; not on a fancy plaque or special piece of art, just a little yellow post-it.  “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  These words in Colossians 3 are my reminder of how worship is not a one size, sound, color sort of act.  It is so much bigger!  These are just a few of things that remind m-e of and help me celebrate Jesus.

Tornado Song

   Just over three years ago, a tornado caused severe tree damage to my home. Around 100 trees were literally picked up and twisted from the earth. Arriving home, I found the yard completely covered in sections by entire trees. It was overwhelming, so much work needed to be done to fix this. A phone call came from a state about 8 hours away. A crew of friends came out and helped work. They drove for hours to work, worked extremely hard the next day, and then left the following day to go back to their jobs. As a way to say thank you, a slideshow/video was put together of the many hands that had served. They did such a tremendous amount of work, both in cleaning up the trees and in raising our flagging spirits. One of the songs on the CD was Chris Tomlin’s God of Wonders. The song recognizes the wonders that God has created on earth.

   I heard that song yesterday during church and it was such a reminder to me of the wonder of God! Every tree that fell either fell away from the house or was angled in such a way as it did not cause major damage. We had many who came and helped, many who worked long hot hours amidst chain saws and logs. In the middle of literally destruction, God’s wonders were many and were overwhelming.
   It is easy when the mess is cleaned back up to forget that wonder and awe. It is easy to forget the feelings of friendship and of persistence to clean up the mess. But, then I heard my tornado song and it all came back. God is a wonder indeed.

Celebrating with Flags

   He stood in the midst of a crowd, fellow concert goers who were all piling into the baseball diamond. Armed with lawn chairs, snacks, picnics, blankets, and eagerly talking to those around them, many did not notice him. His purple t-shirt really didn’t make too much of a color splash in such a crowd. He didn’t have many surrounding him and talking to him. He didn’t even have a lawn chair to lean back in and enjoy the splash of the late summer sun. He stood in the field with a long thin box.

   The music started and from the box, he drew out a white flag. With such earnestness and seriousness on his face, he waved the flag in time to the music. Other clapped, some swayed from side to side, and he waved the flag. The music changed, a different song, a new mood and a new flag. This one was purple.
   He didn’t look around to see the reactions of others. He didn’t ask if others thought it odd that he was waving a flag of white or a flag of purple. He didn’t seem to care what they thought. He kept it up all evening. He celebrated the joy in the songs, beauty of the lyrics and instruments, the worship of God with flags. He was worshipping and it was beautiful.

Sharing Cookies with Jesus

My house smells like oatmeal cookies right now. Oats, sugar, apple sauce, eggs, butter, cinnamon, and salt all mixed together in a bowl and then placed on a cookie sheet. Heating up the oven to 350 degrees, and placing cookies inside soon the whole kitchen smells sweet.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of making cookies with a young girl who loves discovering the outdoors and playing chess. She mixed and measured, adding sugar and butter. When I handed her the apple sauce to mix in, she made the funniest face. Apple sauce in cookies? The cookies turned out nice and sweet, but it was nothing compared to the moment when our discussion of loving our neighbors (Matthew 19:19), took a twist. She wanted to share cookies with Jesus.
It struck me how we often make worship such a complicated thing. We want the music to be just so, the sanctuary to look just so, dress just so, but in reality worship is something that is not about the style of music or the look of the sanctuary or those great new shoes. It’s about acknowledging God and sharing our gratitude with him. It’s just offering the oatmeal cookies up.

Be Attitudes – Is it My Be Attitude?

Attitudes are contagious, they are viral.  They are choices with prolonged thought and in the heat of the moment.  Beatitudes can seem pretty contrary to common sense, at least the common sense that we are used to.  Perhaps it is a bit too common and not quite enough purpose behind them.  Ever wonder why we are so attracted to movies, plays, and books about powers, nobility, special things?  I think that we want to be recognized as different, as special, as unique. 

Check out this list again from Matthew 5.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Well, that would be a rather unique thing wouldn’t it to be able to do those things.  I don’t know anyone who has mastered all of those, I certainly haven’t!

Poor in spirit, humble before God.  Poorness is much more than financially poor, though I am just a recovering grad student – so the wealth is not exactly rolling in.  Poorness is much more than that.  Those who are poor in spirit can sometimes be incredibly wealthy.  Perhaps, it is more of an attitude of reliance on God. 

Come on, I’ll be honest if you will.  Things go great – God is good and then we kind of move away from Him, we get distracted by all the great things around us.  Then, the fog rolls in, the storm comes and rains on our head, the lightning strikes, the wind knocks us down, the earthquake leave us trembling, and the tornado leaves us bruised and vulnerable.  Where are you God?  In the overwhelming moments with the wind whipping around us, the lightning flashing and our own feet teetering about on the waves as they knock us down and drag us in over our head, it is in the overwhelming moments that we often hear most clearly that still, small voice. 

And when we listen, when we lean on God in the storm and in the calm then He has a chance to move the way He wants to.  The landscape is changed, the drought is lifted, the rain is soaked in, the lightening dissipates the charges that were growing, and the sun will come out.  It is in the storm that I may listen the best, but it is in every season that I wish to lean on God.  For my heart to be humble before God, made aware of my smallness next to his greatness, wisdom, goodness, and mercy; for my mind to jump quicker as an act of obedience and trustful faith; for my heart to listen better to that whisper and be in tune to it’s insight. 

Direction of Steps

Who gets to decide which way to go in life?   Is it your choice as to where to go, where you will be?  Before you jump to the yes conclusion, such great exercises jumping that way though…  We can make decisions most definitely, we decide all sorts of things.   But how are our steps really directed?

“I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps,” (Jeremiah 10:23).

The answers come in the words before and after this phrase.  It was a lifetime ago when a group of 8^th and 9^th graders headed to the University of Chicago History Museum with a few adults other than me in tow.  Entering one hall, the kids looked over a large stone statue that had once been worshipped by a people who are now long dead.  Gathering around it, one of the kids asked me – “how could they ever worship something like this?  Were they just stupid, I mean it’s just rock!”  I could understand where he was coming from, to this teen, looking at something from the perspective of 2000 plus years later.  So, let’s change the clock and move it forward. 

The words of Jeremiah 10 are still so applicable!  The Lord cautions Israel to stand apart, to “not be terrified by the signs in the sky.”  There have been some pretty terrifying signs in the sky haven’t there.  September 11, changed so much.  Do you remember the uneasy feeling when the flights started running again?    We don’t have to be afraid! 

The “customs of the people are worthless” they are worshipping things that we can make by hand.  Think about it, how much time have been spent on hobbies, resources of time, money, emotions spent on wasteful things.  This next part is just so amazingly worded that I’m going to just let you read it yourself, “Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk.  Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good."

The Lord is so unique, so mighty – it does make sense to trust him to determine our steps.  

Sheep Pen Front Row Seats

There are a few groups that I will pay to see up close on stage and many more that I’m fine with sitting up in the nose bleed section and just listening.  But for those few, I want to see every detail, every movement as well as hear each note. 

I can just imagine the shepherds, the angel came and they were terrified.  Then – just when the adrenaline levels start passing their peak, a whole bunch of angels appear!  “A great company of heavenly host appeared with the angel,” (Luke 2:13).  I wonder just what a great company is. Was it fifty, a hundred, three hundred, nine hundred, a thousand, ten thousand?  Can you imagine the brilliance of the light and sound as the praise was given to God, reflecting His glory? 

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14)

Glory first, peace second, favor third – did you notice the order? 

Glory is first – putting God first in all things.  A great strategy that enables and empowers us to grow, reach, change, strive, and continue seeking through God’s grace.  This is a time of reflection.  Not reflection as in a mirror bouncing light, but more like a prism that is shined on and then is a tool for that light to make a beautiful rainbow of color.  If we focus on God’s glory, we focus on being clear for God to use us as a tool – His tool. 

Second is peace on earth to men.  Sorry ladies, I promise that this is not a chauvinistic maxim; men as in mankind.  If I look at the news, which I don’t really do to often, it is full of everything and anything but peace.  There are wars, innuendo, rumors, politics, fights, feuds – it just seems to go on and on.  But, this century really isn’t anything different, so where is that peace?  Well – it’s because peace is number two in the statement, not the finishing line.  God’s peace is really three fold.  One is the peace that as a child of God we can have, the peace that “passes understanding.”  This is an internal peace, deep down, which is not changed by our daily trials and endeavors.  The second part of peace is that which comes as a promise when we are in heaven and with God.  Imagine that peace!  It’s not a boring, laissez faire type of peace; this is peace with action and movement.  Finally, there is a peace after Jesus comes again – and restores God’s creation.  Peace on earth indeed, won’t that be amazing to witness.  I long for the day that amber alerts, terror alerts, and news alerts have become a dark part of the past; when the ultimate war has had it’s final skirmish fought; when the foot soldiers are finally called home and healed completely.

The third part is the one which really applies to the peace on earth to men on whom his favor rests.  Can you think of who this might apply to?  Perhaps an Old Testament patriarch, an ancient queen who saved her people, a modern day hero or heroine, a loved one, a personal mentor, the list could go on and on.  God’s favor resting, the wrap of favor round that person’s shoulders, is such a comforting and beautiful thought.  What does favor mean though?  David might have expressed it best in the Psalms.  Swept up into uncertain times, facing difficult and dangerous situations favor described by David was “God making the mountain standing firm, rejoicing afresh after the difficult nights are over, it is healing, being spared, and being lifted from the depths”.    

Christmas is only a few days away – are you a crystal prism?  Have you experienced God’s peace?  Have you sought God’s favor?  Are you sitting in the front row enjoying the spectacular praise offering of the heavenly host or hanging out in the nose bleed section?