Shade Tree Wisdom 9/18/10

Some years ago several of us had been invited to spend some vacation days at a friend’s cottage on Lake LeALanau in northern Michigan. We spent time visiting, boating, sight-seeing, and enjoying some sports. Our final evening there we were sitting on the front lawn, enjoying the lake, while the women were preparing something to eat. Night was nearing, and the sunset over the lake was simply spectacular. We called to the wives to come and watch it too.

The sun set, and the afterglow was red, then shaded to purple, then slowly ended. All of us were struck with the majesty of that sight that really left us speechless. It was grand. Too grand for words.

The Psalmist declared, “The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showed knowledge. There is no speech, nor language, where their voice is not heard.” Psalm 19,1.2.

I believe worship is like that.

Worship is that time when we stop to remember who we are, and how we fit into God’s plan. E.C.Peterson, in his “Leap Over a Wall” writes, “Worship-is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves, and attend to the presence of God. It is a time we assign for deliberate attention to God. . .because our self important is so relentless that if we don’t deliberately interrupt ourselves regularly, we have no chance of attending to Him at all”.

So the worship hour is at hand. The acolytes have lighted the candles, the Pastors have processed and spoken a word of welcome. Perhaps, “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Then the invocation. We are doing this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. That brings us to the repentance, and the forgiveness. The load of sin is lifted “by the authority of Jesus Christ Himself”.

Several Bible readings follow, and then comes the Sermon, God’s Word explained and laid before us for us to consider, think of, praise, and give thanks to God for His guidance, assurance, and presence in our life.

That brings us to our offering, and then the Lord’s Supper, where we receive the real Body and Blood offered and shed for the forgiveness of our sins. The prayers and the Blessing send us out, back into the world, strengthened and refreshed and renewed for the week of living in an often uncaring world.

But for that hour, our attention has been on what God is, has done, and what He has told us for our living. And we are reminded again that “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever. The purposes of His heart for all generations.” Psalm 33,11.

GP 9/18/10