Extra Credit Recap
Night Two Recap
Sunday night's discussion centered around worship and the Sabbath, talking specifically about the second and fourth commandments. Dr. Tom Jenkins, our Minister of Music, started the conversation on creativity and aesthetics, particularly related to Sunday morning worship time. He reminded us that we all have the capacity to be creative, not just those who write music, play instruments, or paint pictures. We all have our own musical tastes, we all have our own preferences for color and design, and we all have our own opinions about what should go into a worship service. However, if we're not mindful of our heart's posture in worship, those preferences and opinions can become idols that take our focus off of God and create tension in the body of Christ.
God warns us in the commandments to not fashion for ourselves idols in the shape of anything found in creation because our worship is meant exclusively for the Creator. The Israelites chose to make idols out of gold and in the form of a calf, but our idols are sometimes fashioned out of the pages of our hymnals and worship bulletins or from the metal and plastic of new technology. It can be just as easy to find ourselves bowing before human innovation as it is to bow to human tradition. That isn't to say there isn't room for both innovation and tradition in worship. But both mindsets, the one that says "We've always done it this way" and the one that says "We have to do new things to stay relevant," can twist our worship away from God and onto ourselves. It can quickly draw our hearts towards seeking to be entertained on a Sunday morning and grumbling when we're not.
What might it look like if instead of frowning our way through the hymn or worship song we don't enjoy, we instead spent the time listening to our fellow believers lift their voices in praise and praying for the non-believer sitting in the pew to be open to the message of the Gospel? What if, instead of complaining that the church doesn't have this or that children's program or this or that youth event, we spent more time praying with one another for the spiritual formation of the next generation and how we might aid in their discipleship. We can serve one another in a multitude of ways when we gather together for worship on Sunday mornings, a point Tom reminded us of on Sunday night as the conversation moved from how we worship to when we should gather for worship.
Dr. Brown and the other ministers talked about the importance of the fourth commandment and how it applies to Christians. If the first portion of the Ten Commandments is concerned with our relationship with God and the second portion concerns our relationships with one another, then the fourth commandment is where the two purposes meet. The fourth commandment was for the Israelites to work for six days and then rest on the seventh, in imitation of God. He gave this command to them for several reasons: 1. As a mercy to provide them rest from their work, 2. As a reminder of their dependence upon God, and 3. As a weekly testimony to God as Creator (Exodus 20:11) and Redeemer (Deuteronomy 5:15).
As Christians, we celebrate our day of rest on Sunday, the first day of the week, in honor of Christ's resurrection. Just as the Old Testament end of the week Sabbath was a picture of God's rest in the finished work of his creation, the New Testament beginning of the week Sabbath, or Lord's Day, is a picture of the finished work of Christ and the beginning of a new creation. While we may be a new creation in Christ, the Old Testament reasons for observing a day of rest are still relevant for us. We still deal with the curse of laborious work and need the rest that God provides (that's probably why Sunday afternoon naps feel so refreshing). And our Sunday worship gatherings allow us to reflect on our dependence on God, to remember Christ's saving work, and to present a weekly public testimony to the world that God is our Creator and our Redeemer.
That's why our worship is important, and God wants us to delight in gathering together, not because we have to or because it's just something we've always done. But because there is no greater source of encouragement for our soul than to gather together on Sundays, lift our voices as one in praise of our Heavenly Father, and serve one another. So is it any wonder the writer of Hebrews exhorts us towards godliness by telling us to "consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together"?