Worship and The Little Red Hen

The Church of the Holy Ghost in Heidelberg, Germany

     One of my all time favorite stories when I was growing up was based on an old Russian folk tale entitled "The Little Red Hen".  The story is about a hen who finds a grain of wheat and asks all her animal friends to help her plant that seed.  No one volunteers so she does the work herself.  Later, as each stage of the process went along (harvesting, threshing and milling the grain into flour), she asked her friends for help but none were interested.  When the time came for her to bake the bread, she inquired once again, "Who will help me eat the bread?"  This time all of her friends volunteered.  However, the little red hen told them that since none of them had been willing to help, she and her chicks would enjoy the fruits of her labor and they ate it all up.  Not hard to get the point of this story is it?  If we put our effort into an activity, we reap the benefits in the end.
     When it comes to our worship in the church are we more like the little red hen or more like her friends who passed the opportunity by?  To put it another way, do we take seriously our part in the worship of God as we come to church each week?  Most folks think that just making the effort to be in church is really all there is to the process, but there is much more to it than that.
      While our pastors are ordained and called to preach, teach, administer the sacraments of baptism and communion as well as lead in disciplining
the Body of believers, we followers of the Lord are to be prepared even before we come to church to hear, receive and meditate on God's Word.  An attitude of expectancy, of knowing that we are going to meet with the Lord in worship goes a long way in opening our hearts to receive His truth.  Preparation, then, is key.  Prayer for the pastor(s), for the choir or musicians, and reading God's Word prior to church is a good way to begin.
     Once we come into the Lord's House, we need to enter in to the service.  We need to be attentive, respectful, and lay up God's treasures as we hear the music played, the scriptures read, prayer
requests lifted up and especially to the preaching of God's Word.  In church, we are all participants not just spectators.  Whether we possess a singing voice or not, we need to attempt to sing the hymns and spiritual songs as though we were in the very presence of God....because we are!  Listen to the prelude and the postlude and do not be so quick to dismiss the ministry of music for this, too, is an important part of the service.  In addition to the music, shut out distractions when the time for the preaching of the Word comes.   Personally, I have found that taking notes during the sermon helps me retain more of what is being taught.  I can look at these notes after church and reflect on the message and scriptures.
      When it comes to the Lord's Supper, it is even more important to examine ourselves, confess our sins and prepare to renew that covenant between the Lord and us.  Being attentive to this meal makes us more aware of the cost of our sins.  There is no room for passivity when it comes to worshipping God our Savior.  The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians who seemed to take lightly the celebration of communion (I Corinthians 11:17-34).  He is careful to describe the proper celebration and then he warns the believers in verses 27-29:  "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.  Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself."  Those are stern words of warning which we need to take seriously.
     Jesus made two important points when considering our time in worship before the Living God.  First, He commanded us to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind (Matt. 22:37) and secondly, we are to worship the Lord in Spirit and truth as He told the woman at the well (John 4:23b).  Our Lord also taught us to pray and by His life set the example of worshipping God on a consistent basis.
     At this point, we have to ask ourselves, "Am I going to church to be entertained and do nothing or am I going to enter into the service focusing on the worship of God for His glory and my instruction?  We can be industrious like the little red hen and be prepared to enjoy the blessing of meeting with the Lord or we can be passive like the hen's animal friends and miss the fruit that comes from laboring in worship with heart, soul and mind.  I pray that for each of us we will take seriously the time we spend before the Face of God each week.  Let us pray for our pastors, our music directors, our choirs and most of all, pray for our own heart attitudes that when we come together we will bless God in true worship.  Selah!


     For those of you who would like to dig into a deeper understanding of worship, I have been reading a wonderful book written by D.G. Hart and John R. Muether entitled "With Reverence and Awe".  The book can be purchased in paperback at Amazon.com.

Do not forget to visit www.theologyforgirls.com to read another story in the series "Women in Scripture" tomorrow.
   
   

Out of the Ordinary

   

Firefighter Nathan Thayer

 When we hear words like "exciting", "new and improved", "emergent", "radical", "transformational", "outstanding", "life-changing", we tend to take notice.  I know I certainly pay attention to these terms.  While out shopping the other day, I wanted to try a product because it announced that it was "new and improved" with five times the cleaning ability.  Now who wouldn't want that?  However, my husband wisely pointed out that the only "new and improved" thing was probably the packaging, and the increased cleaning power probably meant using more of the product, so I passed on the item.  This just goes to show that we are a consumer mentality type of society.  Unfortunately, some of this same use of superlatives has started showing up in evangelical circles as well.  In an effort to draw people to the Gospel, have we become so consumer oriented that we neglect the ordinary?
      In a recent White Horse Inn Podcast, the host Michael Horton began a four part series entitled "Ordinary" to explore what it means to live a life for Christ within the context of our vocation.  His special guest was Tish Harrison Warren.  She and her husband are involved with Intervarsity Christian
Fellowship on a college campus in Texas, but she wrote a blog post entitled "Courage in the Ordinary".
The entire program explored the idea that if we could find joy in the ordinary church, the ordinary job, the ordinary home life, then we can make our witness "radical" out of what most people would call mundane.
     During the interview with Mrs. Warren, she stated that even if God called her to live in Africa as a missionary, she would still have to do the dishes, wash the clothes, care for her children and even tend to a sick child.  There is so much of the ordinary no matter where we are in life.  Just because we go on the mission field, take a short term mission, give all our money away to help others and downsize our living accommodations, there is still the ordinary life we must live to meet the needs of family.  So much in our Christian culture seems to shout for something "new and improved" that many of us feel "less than" in our walk with Christ.  However, God has not called us to "good works" to improve our position in terms of salvation.  Rather, He wants us to bloom where He has planted us even if it seems routine and "ordinary".
     For example, our son recently completed 14 weeks of physical and preparatory work to become a firefighter.  The course was tough and the training was rigorous.  He completed the course and is now a full-time firefighter.   When we hear about someone becoming a firefighter, we think of excitement, challenge and even glamor.  We also think of danger.  However, there is reality too.  Thus far, in the month that our son has had this full-time position in Lexington, KY, he has not had much activity aside

from maintenance, painting, checking equipment, and even working on the landscaping around the fire station.  Ordinary tasks which must be done describe the 24 hour shift he works along with continued training.  There have been no spectacular fires or major emergencies.  Routine EMS runs, but nothing earth shattering.  However, his job is extremely important to the citizens of the town who count on emergency personnel when there is a major catastrophe.  This is the vocation to which God has called him, and along with the major events that could take place, there is also the mundane daily duties that need to be completed.  Isn't this the case with most vocations?
     Not all of us are called to be a minister of the Gospel as a full time vocation.  However, all of us are called upon to share the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever God has planted us.  Each of us has a special call upon our lives to serve God in whatever job He has called us to do.  Whether we serve as a farmer, teacher, doctor, lawyer, homemaker, businessman, we know that God can and will use us even in the ordinary circumstances of daily living.  On Sunday, I spoke with a visitor who, like my husband, is an optometrist.  She said that so often her patients come in and tell her their life story.  This gives her an opportunity to point them to Christ or pray with them.
     As Scripture teaches, the Lord gave spiritual gifts to men and to the church, He gave:  "...the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:11-14).  If everyone was a missionary, who would plant and harvest the crops to produce food?  If we all were evangelists, who would raise the children at home?  God has called men and women to serve according to the vocation for which He has prepared them.
     My prayer is that God would teach us to rejoice in the ordinary lives He has called us to live; for in them, we will find the abundant life in Christ if we put Him first.  As Scripture teaches us: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams" (I Samuel 15:22).  If we are obedient in the small things, God will enlarge our opportunities for service.  We need not feel "less than" if we do not do some extraordinary activity for God.  Remember, our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever in whatever vocation He has placed us in.  Selah!


I encourage you to visit www.theologyforgirls.com tomorrow for a new story in the series "Women in Scripture."

New Series to Begin Tomorrow

 

THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORIES  OF

ORDINARY WOMEN
WHO WERE TRANSFORMED  BY THE POWER OF AN
 EXTRAORDINARY GOD

Beginning September 2nd
 

  Please join us for an inspiring  new series as we journey with the

 "Women in Scripture"   

Dorcas ~ Hagar 
Esther ~ Sarah
Lydia ~ Hulda ~ Phebe
 Euodia &  Syntyche  

Priscilla ~ Manoah’s Wife
Lois ~  Eunice ~ Hannah

Gomer ~ Mary, the Mother of Jesus

And More!

   Theology For Girls is pleased to present this  new series as we will be  hearing from a group of  women  writers who love  Jesus Christ and  share a common commitment to the Scriptures.  

We'll also be having a Book Give-Away.  

 

This series will run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week with a new story of a woman of faith from God's Word.  I will be writing about Sarah on September 18th.  Please bookmark this website:  www.theologyforgirls.com .  or click the button on the left side of my page.

 

Blessings!