Tonight I will be part of a team leading worship for a Maundy Thursday service. The emphasis will be on the shedding of blood; communion. I can't wait. Really.
There's another point of emphasis we could have pursued. It was on the Thursday of Passover that Jesus washed his disciples' feet. Have you pondered the magnitude of that act lately?
The One who left the glory, not of an earthly palace, but of heaven... the One who not only left there but reigned (and reigns!) there... the One who was with part of the party at creation when feet went from imagination to implementation... the One who, according to Colossians, is holding our feet onto our bodies... That One, knelt at the feet of fishermen and a tax collector, at the feet of those striving to be faithful and one waiting to commit betrayal.
That One. Jesus.
He came to seek and to serve.
He washes our feet in ways we'll never see, never know, never imagine.
And then He asks us to do the same.
"You ought to wash each other's feet."
I don't know about you, but I find that the times I have literally washed someone's feet to remind me that it isn't beneath me to serve anyone, anytime, in any way. Not that I always get it right. It's why I need to be reminded.
So as you consider this day how you will remember what Jesus has done for us, I encourage you to think about what you might do for others.
Worship Pastor? How will you serve your teams? Your Pastor? Your congregation?
Worship leader? How will you serve your Worship Pastor? Your Pastor? Your fellow worshipers?
Worshiper? How will you serve?
It's simply doing what Jesus commanded.
Oh yeah, that's what the word Maundy means, command. Seems a good time to remember.
For about 4 years I've been listening to the podcast from Wisdom Moon and Ben Abu Saada called All About Worship. The content is toward contemporary worship models (they record a well known artists most episodes) and leans toward songwriters. It's been a refreshing practice for me. This latest interview is with Kristyn Getty, a young lady my family thinks the world of! Among my other favorites have the conversations with Kristyn's husband Keith, Stuart Townend, Bob Kauflin, Paul Baloche, and a bunch of folks I might not have heard of otherwise.
Well I'm excited to take today's blog post to redirect your attention to the AAW website where I've just been "published" as writer of a devotional thought. I was very excited about the piece when I wrote it. And rather than include it here, I'll just ask you to click on this link to read.
If you're much into the contemporary worship scene at all and aren't familiar with AAW podcast/website, I hope you'll find them a source of encouragement!
I've been pondering something for a few weeks. Maybe you can help me discern its truth?
If you've read much of my blog, you know I prefer the positive side of things, encouragement, hope, etc. But today I want to offer a word of caution.
I think the church may be largely impotent in our culture because of how impotent the object of our worship is.
Let me try again.
I think maybe we are failing miserably at bringing God's Kingdom to earth because Sunday mornings reflect so little of His Kingdom.
Upsetting?
I'm increasingly convinced that marriages are failing, life is not cherished, and addictions are prevailing inside the church because what we really worship on Sundays is, in the spiritual realm, pitiful.
I wonder if you're steaming mad, mildly curious or just confused.
Perhaps this will help.
Idols are powerless hunks of wood.
North American Idols are powerless human creations.
The most prevalent idol--or object of our worship--in the US church is the worshiper.
And if any sociological observation can be easily demonstrated over the last half century in the US, it is that we are powerless to change ourselves.
The incredible irony is that the One true and living God, Jesus Christ, is the source of unfathomable power. He restores marriages, He teaches us to sanctify life--all life, He breaks addictions. He can--and did--bring God's Kingdom from heaven to earth.
While I am increasingly fearful that this is an accurate description of the churches I see around the country, I'm not as sure how to break the idol of self in churches so comfortably nestled in our consumeristic culture.
Except perhaps, that we return our attention to one of God's top ten list: "You must not have any other God but me." (Exodus 20:3)
As worship leaders, we can keep pointing people to God. That means pointing them away from music, from technology, from worship leaders, from ourselves.
What about you? Agree with my concern? Have any suggestions to offer?
This one is easy.
Family. Family. Family.
Take care of your home. Run errands. Be together.
If you're single, connect with your family of origin. Or connect with friends. Or get adopted into a family.
Well, okay, you and I probably have to be prepared to spend some time fixing whatever church stuff isn't unfolding like we'd planned.
If you've been leading worship for any time at all, you know that regardless of how well prayed over, planned and prepared everyone is through the week, stuff happens. Life happens. People get sick. They get called in to work. They have a death in the family. Etc.
Also, find time to be in prayer for Sunday. Maybe you go to the church alone and prayer-walk the room. Maybe the family sits in the parking lot and prays. Maybe you meet some friends to spend some time praying that the platform becomes a platform for transforming truth.
So Saturday is the day to be flexible. To trust that God knew about the things that were going to have to be changed at the last minute--trust in the work we have done all week long--and then hold our plans loosely.
Just one more thing about Saturdays.
Family. Family. Family.
Give your spouse and/or children attention. Do something out of the ordinary. Take a walk. Play some Rook. Laugh. Unpack (debrief) the week prior. Talk through the week upcoming. Pray.
And enjoy these gifts from God just as you enjoyed His gift of Sabbath the day before.
That's a pretty fair description of my Saturdays, I think. Seldom the same, but always the same. How about you?
Rest.
Sabbath.
Non-Sunday thru Thursday stuff.
I stink at taking time off. Really. It's one of the things I'm worst at. Honestly, I'm bad at several things, but I am terrible at taking a day off.
And I'm convinced the reasons I'm horrible about doing it are the very reasons God is so insistent about us all taking it.
Sabbath is not just mentioned once or twice tucked away in the minutia of the Torah--Old Testament law. It appears 154 times in the NIV translation. Lest we think it is a "before Jesus" concept, there are 58 references in the New Testament, including Jesus' teaching that Sabbath is a gift for mankind: Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man..." (Mark 2:27)
For me, the lack of ability to receive the gift of Sabbath reveals how far I still have to go in allowing my pride to be sacrificed with Christ (Gal 2:20). To be blunt, I tend to believe that if I take a day off, the world will not function the way it needs to. As if I'm the reason for the world operating ideally--my world, my family's world, my work world, my church world, etc.
But it isn't my world, is it? I am invited and empowered to be part of building the Kingdom of God, not the kingdom of Rod.
And so I battle week to week, month to month, year to year, to take a day off.
Not because I deserve it, but because I don't.
Not because I am not needed, but because I must remember that God is needed.
Not because I can't get everything done on the other six days, but because without a day of Sabbath I am less likely to get it all done, regardless of how much I work.
Maybe your Sabbath will be Monday or Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. I honestly don't think it matters what day we receive the gift of Sabbath from God, but I do think the teaching of scripture is as clear here as with other parts of the Christ-follower's journey: we're better off when we receive God's gifts.
OK. Your turn. Agree? Push back? Argue? GO!
Hope this is helping you think through ways to make the most of your time each day of the week.
Before I talk about Thursdays I need to let you know that Friday was my day off. My Sabbath. I'll talk about that tomorrow.
Because Friday was off, Thursday was spent doing three big things:
1) Evaluating and cleaning up from Wednesday night and resetting those spaces for Sunday.
2) Finalizing any lingering details for Sunday. People. Bulletin. Etc.
3) Looking again at the calendar (like on Monday) to see what was coming next week, and depending on what might be, doing some advance work.
Thursdays tended to require/provide a little more "alone time" due to the intensity of Wednesday night. I love to be with people, but I also enjoy time to think, ponder, and do some administrative tasks.
You're up. What makes your Thursdays most effective?
Continuing the work-week-rhythm conversation, what did I do on Wednesdays?
First, I'd get to the office later. Most of the time I'd be at church until 9 or 10 on Wednesday nights, so in order to be at my best for an evening with people, I would try to wait until at least 10 am to start my work day.
I also learned to find a time between arriving and starting the evening of activities to leave the building. That helped me be fresh and energized to lead the rehearsals.
Well, I am most comfortable working on things up close, not far away, so my Wednesdays are typically spent getting ready for Wednesday nights.
Rehearsal plans for whatever rehearsals I had. (depending on the church I was serving that'd be choir, orchestra, praise band, vocal team, etc.)
Sometimes those rehearsals would involve playing song samples from a CD, something from itunes, or video, so getting those things ready
Room prep for rehearsals
Think about how to do a devotional connected to the music and/or prayer time
Sometimes a handout for the choir, depending on the season
Contact a person or two to invite them or check on them (if they are already part of a group)
Revisit the plan for Sunday and make sure non-musical elements were getting addressed
Your turn. How do you make the most of Wednesdays?
