This week, we come to the always-provocative topic of corporate worship. Everyone at LAC knows I long for us to find ways to worship God together in our services. Little did I know that Pastor Ray and Anne Ortlund were as committed to this when they were at Lake Avenue Church as I am—maybe even more so! As you prepare to worship, consider these sections from Anne's book Up With Worship: How to Quit Playing Church:
Pastor, in however long a time God gives you with your people—three years, thirty years—you have to get your people from here to there, together... The pagan deity Janus was two-faced: one faced looked forward, and the other looked back. A congregation will become two-faced when the conservatives attend the one consistently "straight" service while the "progressives" experiment with the latest in contemporary. No, no! Put elements of both old and new in whatever the people experience, but pace your people to go forward experiencing everything together. Some older ones will grumble. Some younger ones will want to cavort more...
Expect both reactions, and help both groups to be considerate of each other's feelings... People will someday know when it's all over that they grumbled and endured together, but they saw some glory together, too. Together they lost some of the old, and together they gained some of the new; but they all were a body together—conservatives and progressives struggling to put it together—together!
After all, every car must have both gas and brakes. That's the very way it gets from here to there.
And then Anne turned to the very text we're looking at: Exodus 12–15. She wrote,
One thing we learn about how God deals with people is that he does it in togetherness.
The children of Israel moved together across the wilderness. That wasn't always easy.
The young, vigorous ones probably wanted to go twice the pace.
The young mothers with babies and toddlers needed to take it easy.
The oldest probably never wanted to move at all.
It took a lot of give and take, a lot of consideration for the condition of the other... But when it was all over, they got from here to there—together...
They grumbled and were punished together, but together they also saw waters part, flowers bud, and fire come out of heaven... They did it all together.
May the Lord teach us the same lesson in a fresh way as we bring our praise to him and listen to his Word... together!
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor