|
Response to the Self-Revelation of God
full-life response to God. The author, Don Hustad, extends on the words of Jesus, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). RESPONSE TO THE SELF-REVELATION OF GOD Christian worship is our affirmative, transforming response to the self-revelation of God. . . . We are not seeking to find or to know an obscure, frightening being who needs to be placated. God makes and continues to make the first move, showing himself in power and in love, inviting our response. In fact, worship is any and every affirmative response to God. There is no point to a question raised by some, whether it is more important to "express adoration to God" or to witness and to minister in our church life. One act gives corporate voice to our inner commitment; the other is our outward expression of worship in obedience to Christ's second great commandment, ". . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31). To worship is to think about God and to converse with him. To worship is to preach God's good news and to minister to a hungry, hurting world in the name of Christ. To worship is to serve God as a banker, a farmer or an engineer and also as a church deacon or elder, a Sunday school teacher, or a member of the choir. To worship is to love God more than anything or anyone else in the world. To worship is to enjoy and use and preserve God's world—including all good art, beneficent science, and healthy entertainment. For the Christian, every act of life should be one of worship, with love that responds to God's love. —Don Hustad, in JUBILATE II: CHURCH MUSIC IN WORSHIP AND RENEWAL, Chapter 5, "The Nature of Christian Worship in Relation to Its Musical Expression," Carol Stream: Hope Publishing Co., 1993. [Heart, soul, mind and strength. That's pretty much everything.] Have a great week, Chip Stam |