The Formation of Worship

By Brandon Brown

My wife and I are attending a Ministerial Candidate Workshop as I write this post. This is part of the journey toward ordination and a weekend wherein we learn a little about ourselves; or at least have someone else reflect who we are based on assessments. Part of the weekend is worship periods and I notice when a group of pastors and their spouses get together, everyone sings out, responds to the speaker, and seems fully engaged. This is partly because of our own recognition that we worship a loving God whom we love in return; but it is also because it is one of those rare instances where those involved in ministry can truly stop and be in the moment of worship. We have no responsibilities in the planning, execution, or even the behind the scenes; we are able to simply worship with others in that moment and we respond as deer panting for clean and living water.

While singing and hearing, I remembered what my friend Bill said in class this past Wednesday evening. “If we look at what we are singing and pay attention, we see that we are truly worshipping.” This may not be the exact quote, but it is the essence if what I heard. He is so very right in that statement. I had that on my mind as we sang songs and a hymn all pointing toward the message of holiness and the call to ministry. Our worship was simple, Craig Adams leading with just a piano and Tim Green preaching, but in that simplicity, the formative nature of worship was on weaving its way through our midst. We sang because we believe what we sang and we believed because of what we sang. A great paradox of the Christian mind is that we form and are formed in worship. We were prepared for the message as we sang and then worshipped by listening and responding to the message.

When you sing of a God who has always been faithful, you make that a reality, even if you feel doubt. When you sing of a God who loves completely, you make that a reality even if you feel unloved. These are moments of formation in which our hearts are turned toward God and away from those things which distract us. You remember why we worship when you hear about the God who is odd and unique. When you hear of the God who sees, hears, knows, and says go, you remember what holy means. When you hear of the God who is with us and with that thing which would be a barrier, we remember our God is holy. This forms you and reminds you of the God who is there in the midst of suffering, pain, and joy. We remember that holiness is not a moralistic attitude, but a giving of oneself to the doxological nature of faith. (Hat tip to Brent Peterson)

In the message, we were reminded that a holy God, a God who is odd and unique, is a God who sees, hears, knows, is coming, calls, and is with us. This is not, as Tim Green said, “a God who plays chess and checkers with the universe or micromanages” (I would add is not a potentate) but a God who is present and working in our lives fully needing us to go when called. We are formed in worship of a God who is with us in all things in life, not a God who is far away, directing everything around us. Worship forms us even in the crucible of pain and suffering because we recognize a God who is with us in that crucible but does not cause that crucible. We worship a God who sees, hears, knows, is coming, calls, and is with.