Learning to be a Community of Worship (1)

 

 

I. Required readings

           

            Exodus 20:1-6

            Psalm 115

            Isaiah 44:9-20

 

Christian Biography for the Day: Charles De Foucauld

 

Bruce H. Leafblad, “Worship 101”

 

J. David Hoke, “Thinking Biblically about Idolatry”

 

"Facts About Marketing to Children"

  

 

II. Quotations for the day

 

“Father, I abandon myself into Your hands; do with me what You will. Whatever You do I thank You. I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only Your will be done in me, as in all Your creatures, I ask no more than this, my Lord. Into Your hands I commend my soul; I offer it to You, O Lord, with all the love of my heart, for I love You, my God, and so need to give myself - to surrender myself into Your hands, without reserve and with total confidence, for You are my Father.”

                                                                                                                                                                    --Charles De Foucauld

 

III. Journal prompts

 

1. The word "worship" comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word “worth-ship,” which means to ascribe worth to something.  As human beings, we are “worshiping” creatures—we can’t help but ascribe worth to all kinds of things.  The danger, of course, is that we will ascribe too much worth to the wrong things, which is what scripture calls “idolatry.”   The familiar passage from Exodus listed above reminds us of the ever-present danger of idolatry.  Similarly, the passage from Isaiah reminds us that we are not the first people to worship the work of our hands.  As you look around at the society of which we all are a part, what do you think are the primary candidates for “idols”?  In other words, to what (or whom) do you think we have a temptation to ascribe too much worth?  To what (or whom) do we give too little worth?

 

2.  Bruce Leafblad insists that Christian worship in our day requires recovering the priority of God.    How does one actually tell what people give priority to in their lives?  Is it enough to simply ask them what their number one priority is?  What might it look like to recover the priority of God in our lives?

  

3. In what ways might the church’s gathered times of worship shape us to live differently in our everyday  lives when it comes to such fundamental issues as what we give worth to?  In short, what is the relationship between the "worth-ship" that happens in our churches on Sunday mornings and the "worth-ship" that is embodied in our lives the rest of the week?

 

 

IV. Links of possible interest

               

Ken Read, “Is This the End of the Worship Fad?”   A perceptive article about what might be unhelpful about some of the ways we have been taught to think of “worship” and what might be coming next.

 

David Morris, “The Blasphemy of Flag Worship”   An article sure to upset some, Morris asks us to take a hard look at whether the way we are encouraged to regard the American flag  isn't really a subtle form of idolatry. (And lest you think this too outrageous even to consider, please do remember that some religious groups in the United States refuse to say the "Pledge of Allegiance" precisely for this reason.)

 "We Worship the God of Security."  A recent opinion piece in USA Today dares to use the language of idolatry and reminds us that we, like the ancient Israelites, are no less prone to it.

 

 

 

           

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