Made to Worship

There’s a great Chris Tomlin song (what Chris Tomlin song isn’t?) on my mind.  It goes,

You and I were made to worship, you and I are called to love.  You and I are forgiven and free. You and I embrace surrender, you and I choose to believe.  You and I will see, who we were meant to be. 

We were made to worship.  But a sad commentary is that trying to get people “to worship” can be like pulling teeth.  Each week at church I have to admire our worship team, especially during our 8:30am early service.  They give all they’ve got, full of energy and enthusiasm perhaps they don’t always feel, but they’re always there, pumping up the audience and encouraging them to praise God. 

I’m new to the Facebook world.  I like the idea of being able to share photos and catch up with long-lost friends.  I’ve already made several awesome connections with people from years’ past.  But one of the things I don’t like about it is that I feel like I can see into people’s lives a little more than I like.  For example, most will put “Christian” under religious preference, or some will write “Jesus” (like I did) or something of that sort.  But then sometimes, it seems like that’s where Jesus ends.  Everything else about the profile says nothing about being a Jesus-lover.  The reality of the profile is that He is just that — a religious preference.  He’s not praiseworthy, compelling, beautiful, captivating.  He’s not the reason tto live.  And please hear me in this, I’m pointing this finger at myself.  What do I love, adore, and crave?  Jesus?  That’s one thing that I love about my husband.  He truly loves and craves Jesus Christ.  Jesus is beautiful and compelling to him.  I long for a hunger that parallels his.

Now please hear me here, my point is not about facebook profiles.  It certainly doesn’t mean that every book, movie, quote, activity, or interest should be centered on doing Bible studies and singing hymns.  Not at all!!!!  I have seen and worshipped and experienced God listening to James Taylor and watching Sweet Home Alabama.  So really, that’s not what I’m saying.  What I’m saying is, what were we created to do?  Who are we, really?  We were created to worship, and we all do worship, we naturally worship whatever it is that we most love and enjoy.  What do you worship?

This Tuesday I have the awesome privilege of playing the djembe for Multnomah Seminary’s Day of Prayer event.  I’m thrilled to get to play again in corporate worship after almost three years.  BUt the best part is that I have to “practice” the songs … which means more worshipping!  Everlasting God, Step by Step, Agnus Dei … all these awesome worship songs have been blaring through our house as I practice my beats.  And as we’re caught up in how awesome God is, we see that this, this is what we were created to do!  Here is joy and peace.  Here is sweetness and rest.  Here is solitude and surrender.  We were made to worship.  We lose ourselves in His greatness.  Nothing compares to His love.

CS Lewis usually has some pretty cool things to say. 🙂  He usually says it better than me.  This is the essence of what my heart is beating right now:

“The most obvious fact about praise — whether of God or anything — strangely escaped me.  I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor.  I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberatly brought in to check it.  The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising thei countryside, players praising their favorite game — praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars.  I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balances and capacious, minds praise most, while the cranks, misfits, malcontents praised least … Except where intolerably  adverse circumstances interfere praise almost seems to be inner health made audible …I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely?  Wasn’t it glorious?  Don’t you think that magnificent?”  The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about … I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.  It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one anther how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete until it is expressed.  It is frustrating to discover a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with … This is so even when our expressions are inadequate, as of course they usually are.  But how if one could really and fully praise even such things to perfection–utterly “get out” in poetry or music or paint to upsurge of appreciate which almost bursts you?  Then indeed the object would be fully appreciated and our delight would have attained perfect development.  The worthier the object, the more intense this delight would be.”

You and I were made to worship.  I find it easy to praise Dutch. To praise Chris Tomlin’s worship songs.  To praise Nikki’s sweet mango with sticky rice.  Do I find it easy to praise my Savior?  What do I worship, really?  What do you worship?