JULY 21, 2024 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings: 2nd Samuel 7:1-14; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Calling Us into Worship
As I told you last week, we are going to look at all the components of a worship service. Last week was about gathering for worship. In coming together for worship, we first must come to church with the mindset of being in worship. When we gather, we bring our own stories and experiences of the week into the house of God. Included in the Gathering for Worship are the morning announcements, birthdays, anniversaries and any changes to the worship order for that morning. You might ask; what about passing the Peace of Christ? It IS all a part of us gathering in the temple preparing for worship. If not then it would be easy or the congregation would already be prepared for the call to worship.
There was an article this week that HSJ Online published about me. I am truly humbled by the skill of the reporter in crafting the article. I had almost forgotten I’d been interviewed. I stated in it, that you don’t have to come to church to believe in God. That in itself is true. Satan believes in God and believe it or not, even he comes to church. Not for the right reasons. However, coming to church, assists you in doing what just believing in God cannot do for you on your own. Gathering at Church helps you grow in your faith, but you also help others to grow in their faith journey. One commentary stated that we should not look at gathering in church as a weekly time out from the reality of the world. That gives us counterfeit peace. To be honest we should be in worship mode with God in all that we do. Instead, we make it about the building, the pastor, programs, personal relationship, although those are important, but the focus needs to be on God. We will even make church about political games. Christ is our sole source of strength and the direction we need to be moving. Despite what Satan has done and is doing, as long as someone believes, God never leaves the building.
Today we are looking at gathering the Call to worship. The Call to Worship is the formal beginning of the Church Worship service. You could call it the overture to worship. It must have the same theme or thought as the hymns, Pastoral prayers, the words of confession, assurance of forgiveness, message/sermon, and most of all the Scripture readings. All the components must be gather in unity. You could say that the call to worship is an attention getter. It is a way that you can gather your thoughts and heart in unison with all who are gathered in this church, in person or online. Call to Worship is a call and response process. It is also an invitation for the Holy Spirit, but it is also an acknowledgment for us desiring to be one in the Spirit. It is not a song to be sung. It is a thought that is spoken and allowed to sink into the heart of the worshipper. There are three questions to be answered this morning. Where do these words in the call to worship come from? What are we actually doing in the call to worship? Why do we even do it at all? I will address them accordingly today.
All the passages today have one common theme, Gathering in the call! In Samuel, God is gathering all His chosen people together in the City of David. David is allowed to rest, as we would see it today, seated on the deck of his brand-new wooden house sipping on a cold glass of iced tea, contemplating firing up the grill. There are no more battles to be fought or won. It is a time of peace. Then God speaks to Nathan and tells him, with everything being peaceful, it is time to build God’s house, or temple. This is to be the place where the people gather to give worship and praise to the Lord God. The tent has become tattered and torn due to age and it is time for an upgrade. God relays to Nathan to tell David what all God has done for David. It’s time to gather the people together and build a church. The Lord Himself has chosen David as the one to build the house. Nathan needed to present the message from the Lord to King David that would invite the king to join in the call to worship.
In Ephesians, Paul is telling the people it is time to gather all the people together, that is to include the Jews and gentiles. Christ is the cornerstone for the new church to be built upon all that the Apostles have started to construction. Paul is trying to unite all of God’s creation. Each side has created walls of division, those walls must come down so that a new upgraded wall can be constructed for the House of God. A new house for God to dwell in. Satan has been allowed to come within the walls of the House God built and construct new walls for division. We all have forgotten what God has done for us in the past, so we too need to be reminded. We need to tear down those walls of hate and disobedience. We have forgotten that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. We continually chose what Commandments and Laws are relevant to follow and what we’ve rewritten as humans. We are all children of God and as children we all make mistakes. This temple is a hospital for sinners, it is not a country club for saints.
In the Gospel of Mark, the people gathered around Jesus to receive a new healing. By His healing we all are made followers of Jesus. We are to come in the house of God for healing of our sin sick lives. When we gather in the name of Jesus, the fragments of our lives can be mended back together by the healing power of Jesus. He is the son of man and the one true Son of God. These people gathering before Jesus are calling him to heal their ailments. Back then those afflictions were looked upon as an effect of sin. They were coming to Jesus for forgiveness. Their asking of Him for healing was a call to worship. In their requests and thanksgiving for the healing was worshiping Jesus the Son of God. When we come to church and truly participate in the call to worship, we are asking of Jesus for the healing of our sin sick souls.
So, what about this call to worship in today’s churches. Well first, what is your favorite part of worship? Admit it you have a favorite component of worship! I would be willing to bet that not one of you even thought about the call to worship being considered worship. The call to worship is looked upon as nothing more than the ringing of the bell before school starts, the bell of a train as it is coming into the station, or for you sports fans, the blowing of the whistle before the game starts, oh wait we have already rung the bell. Most congregations look at the call to worship as just a warning, “hey be quiet, it’s time to start”. The call to worship is to be an attention getter, but it is much more than that.
In our gathering we also bring to worship our certainties, our doubts, our faith, our questions, hopes and fears. Yet, there is a wholeness that comes in our messy lives when we gather in the name of Jesus. With the call to worship, we are invited into a new perspective and a new way of seeing Christ as opposed to being of the world. There are those that come to church and worship but only to pick the worldly ways back up the minute we cross the threshold of the outside of church. We are not to just leave our troubles at the door when we come to worship, only to pick up where we left off when we leave. Worship is to give a new or renewed way of seeing ourselves and our connections with God and others. Church is a relationship of support and acceptance amongst fellow Christians. That is not what the world teaches or accepts. If you are different than others or have a differing opinion, then you are against the world. I am sorry to say that is the way churches practiced in the past and some still today.
So, where do these words in the call to worship even come from? Some come from the back of your hymnal in the Psalters. Most of those come from the book of Psalms written by King David. Others are found in the Pastoral Lectionary. Those are a combination of Psalms or other Theologians have written some. Others still are from an individual pastor who has been inspired by the Holy Spirit as a platform to get the congregation in sync with main subject of the sermon. It is still the Lord God calling us into worship for His Grace and Love.
What we are doing in the Call to Worship, I have alluded to in several respects earlier in this message. It serves to prepare you for, set the tone of, get you personally involved, and present to you what the main subject the Scriptures have to say to you today. In layman’s terms, the call to worship gives you the Readers Digest of what today is about in church that you too participate in it. It brings you personally into worship. All of that is “the” why we do it.
Worship is the place where we remember that God is in charge. Besides, it is God’s vision, God’s way of seeing the world that guides us in living out our lives. When we gather, we are called into a new way of being, and worship is the best description we have of what it means to live as God’s people. Let us hear the call and live our worship when you walk outside.
