Sacrifice of Praise

People prefer different styles of worship.  We know that.  What can you do when you don’t easily connect with the style of worship where you are?  I think this is an important question as worship styles change all around us.  The reason for change in worship style is usually related to the work of reaching different people, drawing in a new population to connect with God in worship.  For those who are already settled in a particular worship service that changes in style, or for those of us who visit a church that worships differently, how can we continue to connect with God through worship when it is not our favorite style?  Here is an excerpt from “Common Prayer” that addresses this question, though mostly it seems in defense of traditional worship.  I am excited about this prayer book, by the way.  It is a great daily reading and is co-edited by a Duke classmate, Enuma Okoro.

“There is an old saying many Christians use: ‘Offer the Lord a sacrifice of praise,’ referring to Hebrews 13:15.  In many circles this notion of a ‘sacrifice of praise’ almost becomes cliché. (Perhaps because worship does not come at much cost, especially compared with the sacrifices of saints who’ve gone before us.)  But when we worship with folks of various traditions, there are times when we may hear a prayer that uses language we might not naturally use or sing a song that isn’t really our style.  That is part of what it means to be a member of a community as diverse as the church is.  And perhaps that also helps shed some light on why it might require some sacrifice for us to give up ourselves.

When a song isn’t working for you, consider praising God, because that probably means it is working for someone else who is very different from you.   Offer your worship as a sacrifice rather than requiring others to sacrifice for your pleasure or contentment.  There is something to the notion of becoming one as God is one; it doesn’t mean that we are the same; it just means that we are united by one Spirit.  After all, we can become one only if there are many of us to begin with.

Liturgy [ordered prayer, Bible readings, etc.] puts a brake on narcissism.  Certainly, there is something beautiful about contemporary worship, where we can take old things and add a little spice to them, like singing hymns to rock tunes or reciting creeds as spoken word rhymes.  But liturgy protects us from simply making worship into a self-pleasing act.  So if a song or prayer doesn’t quite work for you, be thankful that it is probably really resonating with someone who is different from you, and offer a sacrifice of praise.”

Summertime and the Living is Easy

Yesterday, I was scanning Facebook and saw lots of pictures of people on vacation, playing at the lake, relaxing on the beach, and just having a good time these last few weeks of summer break.  These are special times for families and friends to spend together and make memories that will be enjoyed for years.  Seeing all the pictures made me a little sad that our family has not had as much time as we would like to just play this summer. 

Today, I was scanning news reports and saw lots of painful images and stories: riots in England, families of Navy Seals mourning the loss of precious life, Hispanic families in our own state living in fear, and news of mass starvation in eastern Africa.  A particular headline caught my eye, “Which Child Dies? Famine Forces Impossible Choices” (http://news.yahoo.com/child-dies-famine-forces-impossible-choices-145356561.html).  Seeing all these things made me feel physically sick and very thankful at the same time.  I am thankful that the people in our congregation are not currently facing such heart breaking situations, but I am sick over there being people anywhere who have to face such conditions.

As we take advantage of these last weeks of summer, I want to encourage you to be thankful for all the enjoyable times you have spent with your friends and family this summer.  And I want to encourage you to make yourselves sick, so to speak.  Let’s not just look at the pictures, read the painful stories of others’ lives, and then turn off the computer or T.V. and go on with our easy living.  Let’s carry those pictures and stories with us and lift up the people we read about in prayer.  And let’s share the gifts and resources we have that make our lives easier to help make the lives of others more livable.

Helpful Links for Making a Difference Through the Ministries of the United Methodist Church

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/  United Methodist Committee on Relief (info and donation site)

http://www.northalabamaumc.org/pages/detail/1608  Alabama Tornado Relief Information

www.umvim.org  United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (global service opportunities)

Why did you stomp the ant?!

This morning on the way into Canterbury UMC to take my kids to their daycare classes, I saw a big ant scurrying across the sidewalk in front of us.  Then I saw my five-year-old daughter's foot come down on it with forceful intention.  I looked at her and asked, "Why did you just stomp the ant?"  She kind of shrugged her shoulders.  And maybe because I am a mom, or maybe because I am a preacher, I went into a short lecture on how the ant was just living it's life not doing anything to  bother us and then she just stomps it for no good reason.  I reminded her that it is a living thing too--that God made ants.  None of what I said seemed to sink in.  Maybe that is because she has seen me on numerous occasions smash, stomp, and slap various insects in our home--but that is totally different, right?

This memory from the morning has come back to me as I have been preparing the sermon this Sunday.  Psalm 8 speaks both of our distance from God and our closeness to God.  As creatures who are "a little lower than God, and crowned...with glory and honor" (vs. 5), we humans are in a particular role of responsibility.  Created in the image of a merciful and loving God, we are called to live like the One after and by whom we were created.  We have been "given...dominion over the works of [God's] hands" and have "all things under [our] feet" (vs. 6).  So what does all this mean when we are faced with the question of whether to stomp an ant walking across our path?  Is it wrong, or does it even matter?  What does/should our particular relationship with God and our responsibility for creation shape the small and significant decisions we make about how to interact and coexist with the rest of the world?  This question seems to apply to so many things going on right now:

• illegal aliens
• war
• "fracking" to produce fuel
• political disagreements
• making personal sacrifice to give to tornado victims

If we refuse to work with one group of people because they disagree with us, does it matter?  If we only damage a small portion of the earth, does that matter?  If we share the love of God our Creator with one person, does it matter?

If we just smash one ant, does it matter?