Hey! Who Turned off the Water? - The Worship/Shower Analogy

A great worship experience is like a great shower and shampoo. When it's going great, you can just stand there and let the whole thing wash over and envelop you. Ahhh, that wonderful washed clean feeling. Surrender to it.

There are a couple of things that can cause this awesome experience to fail. These are what I'll call my "pet peeves" of worship, which I'm going to rant about in today's post.

This post is #3 in a series about worship. Also see my previous, kinder, gentler posts, 4 Musical Languages of Worship and I Kiss with my Eyes Closed.

So for a minute, imagine yourself in the shower, getting ready to wash your hair. You're looking forward to it. You have everything you need in easy reach. Shampoo, creme rinse, soap, towel, hot and cold water controls. The water temperature is perfect. The water pressure is just right, not too hard, and not too soft. Everything is perfect. Grab the shampoo, palm it for a second, then massage it into the top of your head. That fantastic smell is all around you, that wonderful immersion into the bubbles and the water is deep within you. Let's let it happen.

Ok, so now for a minute, imagine yourself in the best worship situation possible. The lights are dim but you can still see. The music is perfectly balanced and seems to come from all around. Feel the bass and kick drum gently rock your rib cage. You know the song by heart, the words and tune, you're ready to start belting out your heart to your awesome God who loves you so very very much. Open up your heart, take a deep breath, sing the words of your joy and pain into the ear of the God who gave Himself for you. It's bliss. Let's let it happen.

Now, we get to the pet peeve part. The song winds down and the sound stops. The worship leader is talking about the next song. The moment that was, is no more. We've moved on to the next song, but we're not quite there yet. Waiting in between as the worship leader breaks the mood by pausing the worship and talking.

This is one of my pet peeves. It's like somebody turned off your water in mid-shampoo. What the heck? Who would do such a thing? What could possibly be so important that we have to stop the worship experience just because we're moving from one song to another? Do I need to be told that this next song is new? Do I need to be told what the song is about? Do I need to hear anything other than the conversation I'm already having with God?

Nope, nope, nope. I don't want any of that. What I want is that worship experience turned back on as soon as possible. I want that wonderful water washing over me again, renewing and cleaning me inside and out. That’s what I want and I’m not getting it. My worship is interrupted. It’s going to take me a couple verses of the next song before I can get back in the zone again.

Now that it's been said, let me let go of the rant. Let me find forgiveness for the worship leader who's just trying to do his job. Let me return to thoughts of that wonderful worship experience I crave like no other. Let me stop ranting and start to beg.

Please, Mr. Worship Leader, I know your heart is in the right place. I know you love the Lord as much as I do and all you want is to lead others into His throne room. But please, sir, once the worship starts happening, just get out of the way and let it happen. Embrace the medley. Embrace the parade of same-sounding familiar, even trite and mindless songs. We love those songs like we love that same shampoo we've bought and used since junior high school. Embrace that familiar warm cocoon of worship that seems to go on forever. Let us lather, rinse and repeat again and again. Let us stand in that warm water long after the last of the creme rinse has gone down the drain. Let us dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.

That wonderful washed clean feeling. Surrender to it.

Jennifer and Nick - Not their real names

Today I heard from my old friend. We'll call her "Jennifer" but that's not her real name. This girl has had a lifetime of challenges in 20 short years. And today, she was having another of those challenges. So she called me.



I met Nick some time after I met Jennifer. Nick also had been dealt a tough hand. Jenn and Nick had a bit in common and found companionship and strength in just being together. They were both patients in the mental healthcare system from time to time. It's a tough life, as I said, and if you're not a part of it, I want you to say a quick prayer of gratitude for your good luck.



So Jenn called to say that Nick had taken his own life. He was found in the river, wearing his glasses, wearing a red dress. I wonder what kind of pain he must have been in to throw himself into the river in such an outfit. I wanted to hug him and tell him that I understood and that Jesus understood and that we both wanted to wrap him in our arms and cry with him until he felt better and could laugh.



But I couldn't do that. It's too late for me to hug Nick. Too late for me, but I bet Jesus is hugging him now, telling him He understands, holding him until he felt whole again and could laugh. Maybe even putting a really great dress on him; who knows what they wear in heaven.



So I listened to Jennifer cry on the phone. She was mad at God. She asked why He doesn't help people. I thought that was good. Good question, and good that she still thinks of God as real and capable of helping. And good that she called me, of all the folks she could have called. I want to be the one people call when they are mad at God.



I listened. I cried. We hung up.



I wish I knew why God heals some folks and not others. God has healed me from time to time. God has refrained from healing me at times, too. God is God and I'm not God so I don't understand God.



But I know one day, we'll see face to face and we'll know.



And maybe I'll be wearing a really great dress.

Salt Sandwich

Jesus calls us to be salt and light.

Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

Mark 9:50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

Luke 14:34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?

Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

What do you think it means? It's a strange metaphor and I've heard many sermons about the meaning. Jesus, what did you mean when you asked us to be salt?

Me, I like watching people. And I have noticed one thing: everybody likes a little salt.

A little salt. Not the whole shaker. No matter how hungry you are, no matter how much you like the sparkle salt adds to food, nobody orders a salt sandwich. Nobody eats the whole shaker.

Also, folks grab the salt shaker and do their own sprinkling. The salt doesn't jump out of the shaker without an invitation.

So let's go with the metaphor, and apply the salt lesson to our Christian walk.

First of all, we gotta be out in it. Out with the tax collectors and prostitutes. Out with the gays and the democrats. Out where the food is, where the salt is needed and wanted. Where people need Jesus, where they are hurting and lonely.

Second, we need to sprinkle ourselves, not lumpy and heavy like a big ole salt sandwich. What if the hungry folks in my life feel judged and not loved. Then all I've done was serve them a salt sandwich. Yuck.

And we gotta be who we are, and not pretend to be sugar or crack or even sweet-and-low. Be salt. God made you just that way. Sodium and chloride.

So sprinkle yourself around and love somebody. Be salt for Jesus. And if you see me out there, be sure to sprinkle some of yourself my way. I need love and salt every day.

Expectancy

I don't usually put out the birdfeeders this early. But this year is different. This year, I'm so ready for spring, so desperate for birds and bees and flowers, I actually got the birdfeeders out early.

This is a good faith exercise for me. I get to react to something that hasn't happened yet because I have faith that it will happen. I know it's silly but I feel like I'm putting feet to my prayers as I pray for the return of spring.

So I put out 3 feeders for hummingbirds. I put them out on the far corners of the back porch. Some lucky hummingbird male will be able to keep an eye on all 3 from the Silver Maple out back. Bright red liquid hanging in plain sight. Easy to see Easy to defend.

I have been tracking the hummingbird migration on the web. http://www.hummingbirds.net/

They fly north this time of year, up from somewhere warm and southern. The first sitings in VA were at the coast, a couple of weeks ago. According to the website, hummingbirds made it to Richmond today. Shouldn't be too much longer until some scale the mountains and come flying my way. I am ready.

I also put out a feeder for songbirds. Just one. Usually the songbird food attracts squirrels and silverfish. Bluejays and cardinals will fly up to the feeder and get themselves some food. Then as they get their own food, some will fall to the ground for the doves and finches who are ground feeders. Soon we'll have a yard full of songbirds.

Soon. But not yet.

I'm ready.