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Restoring Sunday to 'Sonday'

Revelation 5:11-14 gives us a glorious look at a worship service in heaven! It says this:

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

"Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!"

Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

Can you imagine what it will be like to witness such worship when we all get to heaven? What a day of rejoicing that will be! In the meantime, is your church worship at all like the worship pictured in Revelation 5? Probably not, if my experience is anything like yours.

As I think of church worship, my mind goes back to childhood impressions. My early memories of worship services are far different than the Revelation service you just heard. Mine could easily have become a series of Norman Rockwell scenes: a cozy church, wooden pews (empty in front and crowded in back), poor ventilation, long services, starched white shirts, tight collars, itchy slacks and grown-ups whose waists I barely reached. There was comfortableness in the familiarity and predictability of it all. Everything fit into a cozy whole.

Years have passed and times have changed. Now we are members of a very large church. Pews are padded, services are punctual and the temperature is perfect. Starch is out, collars are in but open, my slacks don't itch and I'm taller than most other adults.

Yet, some things have not changed at all. For many church attenders, there's a problem: We allow church to become just another activity center that revolves around a weekly meeting. The worship service itself becomes primarily a time to get together with others and feel good about the fact that God loves us. Is this all that God wants from a worship service? God wants our church worship to be much more than a time of sitting, singing and listening to a preacher talk. He wants it to be a time in which we focus on Him, a time in which we open our hearts to Him, a time in which we express our love for the God who loves us. In true worship, God is the Audience. We are the performers, giving Him the glory He deserves. That's what we see in Revelation 5.

Frankly, although a good worship leader can help us enjoy a very special time of worship, the final responsibility is our own. Whether we worship or not is a matter of our own heart.

Suppose, for example, that your church meets every Sunday morning. As a demonstration of your commitment to God, you dash to church for an hour or two. As you grab some breakfast before leaving the house, you and your spouse have a "mild lack of agreement." On top of that, your children were up late on Saturday night, and now they're moving slowly and acting cranky. This makes you leave later for church than you'd hoped, which adds to the morning's agitation.

Finally, you swoop into the church parking lot, run to church, try to resolve your spousal dispute in subdued voices underneath the organ prelude—and then you wonder why you wander throughout "the worship service."

True worship is a discipline in which there are no substitutes for time and practice. To be any good at it, we need to take time to prepare our whole being: body, mind, and soul. As this becomes a habit, our practice may not make perfect, but it will certainly make better.

"Good idea," you say, "but how about some practical suggestions?" Here are several ways to give it the time and practice your heavenly Father deserves:

If your church meets on Sunday mornings, make a habit of easing back on Saturday evenings. When you get used to this, Saturday nights will become welcome sabbaticals from activity-filled lives.
Help your family understand not only what you are doing as you make this change on Saturday evenings, but why. This preparation for worship is itself an act of worship: It acknowledges God's worth in an acceptable way.
If your children tend to start slowly in the mornings, maybe having them lay out their clothes and take baths on Saturday night can ease pre-church tensions on Sunday morning.
Arrive at church with enough time to enable everyone to get where they need to be without stress. For some families - mine included - this is a real challenge, but it really helps to get rolling sooner.
Don't pick Sunday mornings as a time to resolve the prior week's family communication problems. Do that on Saturday.
Once you're at church, take time for fellowship with other believers - that's part of the fun of getting together as God's children. Yet, allow time to prepare your own heart for the worship service. As the starting time gets closer, gradually pull out of conversation and move into contemplation. Remember, in worship God is the Audience and you are the performer. Get your heart ready!
Once the service begins, set your mind on making each part of the meeting an expression of worship to God. This is where "the rubber meets the road."

When the leader prays, you pray. Ignore the kid playing with keys in the next row.
When the group sings, you sing, making each sentence a dialogue between your heart and God's. Forget the off-key singing of the man nearby.
When the group gives, you give-without comparing your gift to the others around you. Give with gratefulness that you have anything to give, since it came to you first from God's hand.
When the choir sings, worship with them. Don't count their noses or fret about their jewelry. They are there to help lead in worship; don't worry about the small stuff.
When the sermon comes, listen and respond in the ways you think will please God the most.
When the service concludes, be less concerned about who greets you than about how you worshiped God. Take the initiative to talk with others instead of expecting others to come to you.

I hope these practical suggestions are helpful for you. If they seem too cumbersome to remember, simply remember this principle: If you wish to practice true worship instead of simply 'playing church,' take time to change your focus from yourself to the God who loves you.