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November Focus - Worship
What in the Hell is Going On?
"What in the hell is going on?" A statement like this out of the mouth of a child could result in a mouth washed out with soap. But it may be the most important question a child can ask.
Hell breaks out wherever humanity neglects, ignores and turns away from God's word. The Kingdom of God emerges wherever humanity responds to the divine word. There is but one hopeful answer to the question: "What in the hell is going on?" Worship alone has the power to transform any Hell into Heaven. Worship is an invitation to live in the creative possibility of God's abundance. When humanity neglects worship, all Hell breaks loose.
What exactly is Hell? The medieval world imagined a Hell of eternal torment. A human being roasting in flames like heretics burned at an eternal stake. This image has lost its power in the contemporary world. One hears talk of "fire and brimstone" today most often to refer to nutty, irrelevant preachers.
Author and Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis developed an image of Hell more sensitive to the modern mind. In The Great Divorce Hell is a lonely existence where neighbors continually pack up and move away from one another in eternally expanding concentric circles. Hell is a ghetto where individuals live alone in broken down tenements of broken windows and peeling paint, the closest neighbor miles and miles away separated by abandoned buildings and streets filled with litter.
Perhaps Lewis developed this idea from the first chapter of the book of Genesis. Here the English bible says the Earth was "without form and void." In the power of Hebrew poetry the words convey a frightening nihilism - a terrifying oblivion beyond the human imagination. It evokes an empty existence, a nothing beyond nothing.
Lewis imagines humanity holding on to a pathetic and pitiable existence in the absence of a witness and response to partnership with God. Formlessness and void rises out of the chaos of individual selfishness that has become absolute. Ignoring God's presence degrades community to anarchy. Only God's eternal word elevates human existence to a place of creative possibility. It alone transcends personal opinion and calls every individual will to yield to a higher purpose.
In other words, Hell is simply the absence of worship.
Just as C.S. Lewis conceives of Hell as concentric circles radiating eternally outward, separating individuals who can't stand one another, he conceives of Heaven as concentric circles radiating eternally inward as individuals comes together to form more and more intimate community.
Worship says, "Lord Christ, we hear you. Show us the way." It begins with a listening heart; it ends with neighbors coming together for mutual support.
The earliest form of Christian worship centered on a shared meal in a domestic setting, no organs, choirs, or worship books with numbered hymns. "The beauty of holiness" was expressed in its purest form - faithful people gathered together to hear God's word and to respond in faith committing oneself to God and to neighbor in the strong bond of a covenantal meal whose host was the Resurrected Christ present in their midst through the mediation of the Holy Spirit.
The presence of Jesus at these meals was mystical, but not magical. Jesus was not present as a magical power that made life effortless for the believing community. Jesus was present as a mystical person who challenged the believing community to live faithful lives in covenant with their neighbor.
As the church grew and became a significant presence in the Roman Empire the simple meal moved out of the home and into public buildings. But as it developed it retrained its essential meaning. The people gather to hear God's word, to respond in faith, and to share a "meal" binding them together with God and one another in the name of Christ Jesus.
A variety of artistic expressions have developed through the years that accompany this fundamental form. Music and iconography have sometimes enhanced the core covenantal experience of hearing/responding/committing.
From time to time elements secondary to worship grew stale and became a hindrance to the divine intent. The worshiping community would stop and ask, "What must we do to worship well?" "Worshiping well" never refers to an aesthetic standard. It always refers primarily to the community's ability to hear, to respond and to commit to the word of God.
The invitation to worship is God's response to the question, "What in the Hell is going on?" Worship alone can restore the creative possibility of humanity created in the image of God for partnership with God in a world of multiplying blessing.
Monthly Focus Archive
2006:
Easter Focus: New Covenant
Lenten Focus: A Covenantal Response to Poverty
February Focus: Moving Forward
2005:
December Focus: Longing
November Focus: The Gift of Years
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Foundations
Summer Focus: The Book of Acts
Easter Focus: Tapestry
Lenten Focus: Rule of Life
January Focus: The Next Wave
2004:
December Focus: Surprising Grace
November Focus: Free Indeed
October Focus: Money Madness
September Focus: The Outrageous Promise
Summer Focus: Into the Fullness
June Focus: Thick Faith
Easter Focus: All Things New
Lent Focus: A Hungry World
February Focus: Commitment
January Focus: Unity
2003:
December Focus: Hope
November Focus: Worship
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Seasons of Faith
Summer Focus: The Gospel of John
May Focus: Faith
April Focus: Resurrection
March Focus: Truth
February Focus: Covenant Groups
January Focus: Sabbath
2002:
December Focus: Shut Up and Sing
November Focus: Spiritual Gifts
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Intentional Faith
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