This passage comes from "Common Prayer" by Shane Claiborne, Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma. I am simply copying instead of summarizing or rewording because they have done a better job then I could, but to be fair there are three of them.
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There is an old saying many Christians use: "Offer the Lord a sacrifice of praise," refering to Hebrews 13:15. In many circles this notion of a "sacrifice of praise" almost becomes cliche. (Perhaps because worship does not often 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 that it is working for someone else who is very different from you. Offer your worship as a sacrifice rather then 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 same; it just means we are united by one spirit. After all, we can become one only if there are many of use to begin with.
Liturgy puts a break narcissism. Certainly, there is something beautiful about comtempory 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 a 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.
I wish I was more like this. Please pray that God would challenge me more with this in mind.
Daniel
Hi Dan,
ReplyDeleteI don't know you (but I do know your wonderful wife, Kari!), but I wanted to comment on this anyway! Thanks for sharing this passage from Common Prayer. It sparked a great conversation for me with my husband, as we're in the process of finding a new church home in our new city/state. I'll be praying for you, as you wrote, that God would challenge you with this. Take care!
Jess (Feusier) Lex