GPS

Have ever visited a church that was a different tradition than your own? If you have then you know the sense of disorientation that often afflicts us when we are out of our comfort zone. We aren’t sure when to stand or when to kneel or when to sit or even when to come in and go out. You might frantically search the bulletin, if there is such a thing, to help you navigate these unfamiliar roads through the act of worship that seems more and more alien the more lost you feel. A few places, who pay attention to those who might be traveling these roads for the first time, might think to add in the notes that help you feel on the right track. But many places are places that assume you already know and leave you to stumble up blind alleys or to head north on south roads. It is confusing, to say the least.

What we need is a Global Positioning System for worship on occasions like that. Something that will put us in the right place in the right time so we don’t look like we don’t know what we are doing. Even when we don’t know what we are doing. I mean, it’s ok to not know, but no one wants to look like they don’t know. You know?

And that is just the issue in front of us in the first of our Lenten Series of 2009. Yes, Lent has begun again. Talk about disorienting! I thought I had more time!! Yikes.
Anyway, our Lenten Series is titled "Selah," which is a word that is found in many Psalms. The problem is we don’t know for sure what it means. Some think it means a rest in between ideas or verses in the Psalm. Others that it is a musical interlude of some sort. Still others think that it means a crescendo of sorts, a peak of words and music, an exultation.

Even though we don’t know exactly what it means, we know it is a direction for worship. It gives a signal to the fact that worship requires some sort of action, some sort of response. The Psalms were the worship book for the people of God for hundreds or thousands of years. They helped the worshipers find the rhythms for worship, to find the moods of worship.

So, this Lenten series is about worship. It is about the centrality of worship to the Christian life. It is about the structures for worship and patterns of worship. It is about the attention we pay during worship to the presence of God and our willingness to present ourselves as we worship.
Which is what the first Psalm of the series is suggesting. Take a look:

Psalm 25:1-10 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. 3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. 5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. 6 Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD! 8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

Lifting up one’s soul was more than simply saying ‘I am happy,’ or even ‘I love you.’ It was actually a pledge of faith, it was a commitment. The soul was the essence of the person in Israelite thinking. It was not a separate entity that separated upon death, but the core of the being. To lift up one’s soul was to offer the essence of the self. It was the ultimate statement of trust and obedience. The Psalmist is saying I have found the source of direction, I have found the one who will show me the way.

The "way" is repeated often in this Psalm, both in the passage we have chosen and the verses that follow. The Psalmist is declaring that the source for direction and purpose, for meaning is found in the One to whom we would lift up our souls. "Make me to know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth..."

Your truth. In part this is a realization that for many truth is relative. There is no objective truth that is self-evident to everyone. If there were it would be so much easier. We could just point. We could just say, use your brain, people, use the sense that God gave geese! A no brainer, we declare. Everyone should know that!

The truth is not everyone knows that, whatever the that might be at the moment. Not everyone claims the same truth, not everyone agrees on the same behaviors, not everyone accepts the same priorities. Truth grows out of relationship. Or perhaps better, truth is discovered in relationship. Lead me in Your truth, declares the Psalmist, help me to understand, help me to live by that which You declare to be of ultimate importance. Show me the way.

The Psalm is about learning to live a godly life, or we would say, a Christ-like life. And at the beginning of such a life is the realization of the need for a savior. It begins with humility, "He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way." There is an acknowledgment of brokenness or sinfulness: "Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love... Do not remember the sings of my youth or my transgressions." Don’t let my failings define me. Let my relationship with You be that which determines who I am - "according to your steadfast love, Remember me, for your goodness’ sake!

But wait, I thought the Psalms were about worship. Now we seem to be talking about life, about living one way as opposed to a different way. About learning right and wrong, about being defined. That’s a whole lot more than just worship, isn’t it?

Just worship. I get asked, usually by the musicians of the day, sometimes the ushers or worship leaders, even on occasion by someone in the pew, "Anything special today?" I know what they mean, but I want to answer and sometimes do answer with "Yes! It is all special. It is Worship of the Living God! It doesn’t get any more special!"

Worship is where we learn God’s way, and worship is where we practice living it out. The way we encounter the act of worship is reflective of the way we hand over our souls to God, it is indicative of the allegiance we place to God’s kingdom living. If our worship engagement consists only of passing judgment on the talent of the musicians or the eloquence of the preacher, then we are missing the opportunity to be shaped, to be taught, to led through the wilderness of living by the light of Way that is our faith through Jesus Christ.

The GPS that we need is not really for worship. In fact it could be argued that worship is the GPS for life. Without that orientation that comes from gathering with the community around the living word and lifting up our souls again and again, we are truly lost. And if we are lost without it, what about those who have never experienced worship at all?

Shalom,
Derek