Colossians 3:12-17
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
“Passionate Worship”
A long time Christian went to the big city one weekend and attended a fancy big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was. "Well," said the man, "It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise songs instead of hymns." "Praise songs," said his wife, "What are those?" "Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like hymns, only different," said the man. "Well, what’s the difference?" asked his wife. The man said, "Well it’s like this - If I were to say to you: ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well, that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:
‘Martha Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, corn, corn… are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the CORN, CORN, CORN. The cows, the cows… are in the corn, corn, CORN.’
Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing about seven times, well that would be a praise song."
A new Christian was visiting relatives in a small town one weekend and attended a small town church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was. "Well," said the young man, "It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of praise songs." "Hymns," said his wife, "What are those?" "Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like praise songs, only different," said the young man. "Well, what’s the difference?" asked his wife. The young man said, "Well it’s like this - If I were to say to you, ’Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a praise song. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:
‘Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry!
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear, by and by…
to the righteous, immutable, glorious truth.
For the way of the animals is terribly uncouth!
There in their heads is no shadow of sense…
They sneak into my corn unless they are fenced.
They have broken free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then all my mild sweet corn they have utterly chewed.
So look to that bright shining day, by and by…
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry…
Where all good things of the earth are reborn,
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.’
"Then, if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on the last verse, well, that would be a hymn."
You could ask ten different people what “Passionate Worship” means… and you would get ten different answers. I mean… we can’t even agree on what “worship” is… little less on what “Passionate Worship” might be. We have to label and categorize our worship experiences so people can pick the worship services that actually worship God… and not that other drivel that has no place in a church. “Contemporary Worship.” “Traditional Worship.” “Blues Worship.” “Evangelical Worship.” “Half-Caff, Non-fat, No-whip Latte worship.”
There are as many churches made in the classic gothic theme as there are metal buildings with a cross on the top of them. There are churches that follow Calvin’s classic five movements in worship, like we have in our bulletin… and then there are churches that have no bulletin whatsoever. And let’s not get too deep into the Organ versus Drums argument. It makes me ask a very fundamental question in the midst of all these different kinds of worship experiences… “What is worship?” “What music is right?” “What form is right?” “What venue is right?” “Which worship truly glorifies God?”
Let me get into this just a little bit with a story. A few months ago, a couple of women came to our church trying to find the house that their Grandmother used to live in 40 years ago. During our conversation… the focus turned to the question… “What kind of worship do you have here?” Me… being the stinker that I am responded rather bold faced… “We worship God here.” The woman cocked her head a little, assumed I didn’t understand her, and insisted again… “No, I mean do you have ‘Contemporary Worship’ or ‘Traditional Worship?’” Still… being a bit of a stinker I asked, “What’s the difference?” “Well,” she said, “If I were to say to you… ‘Pastor, the cows are in the corn.”
But I think there is a very important point to be made in this illustration… “What’s the difference between worshiping God and worshiping God?” I mean really… what’s the difference between worshiping God and worshiping God?
Paul makes absolutely no distinction in his letter to the Colossians’. Let’s peek again back to verse 16:
“ sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. “
It is in the subtext but the message is there… worship is worship! If we could ask Paul which kind of music better glorified God… he would respond, “WHAT? No, no, no… WHEN you sing psalms, WHEN you sing hymns, WHEN you sing praise songs… do it with gratitude in your hearts to God. It doesn’t matter the kind of music… it matters how you sing… it matters whether you do it with gratitude or not!
And there is the key… it isn’t about the kind of songs we sing… it’s about how we sing! Are we doing it out of gratitude for God or not? And that point makes all the difference in the world. You see… worship is not defined by psalms, hymns, or praise songs… it is defined by the attitude that we bring. It is not defined by a gothic building verses a metal building or a bulletin versus a screen… it is defined by whether or not we come with gratitude and glorify God in WORSHIPING him! How do we then define worship… well that’s simple… worship, worships God!
The biggest danger to worship is not the kind of worship we have… no… the biggest danger to worship is when we come to church expecting to receive something… to get something out of the worship service. When we come to worship expecting to get something out of it… it becomes all about us. That is when it is no longer worship! Worship is not about us; it is about God. And the best part of it all… is that when we truly place our focus on God, our worship service becomes vital… becomes vibrant… becomes passionate. What makes worship boring is not the style of the music or the flow of the service; worship is boring when it is no longer about the God. Yes we may use video… we may use color… we may use stones we handout… we may use organs or guitars or drums to enhance the worship experience… but the point is that all those things should point to God and help us to know him, understand him, and worship him more fully! Haven’t we found that to be true? Don’t the sermons you remember the most have some truth about God that you can cling to… some message that you can carry with you… some point that makes you say “YES… this is truth!”
It’s not anything new… in fact Paul describes it in his message for us today! Lets look back to the first part of verse 16 that I conveniently skipped earlier:
“16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” the Greek word here indicates an abundance… an overflowing abundance… the kind of rich that makes you say “tsk… tsk… no one person should have that much money!” “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… as you sing.”
You want passionate worship? That’s easy… let the word of Christ fill you so fully that you burst. Let the joy of God fill you so abundantly that people say “tsk… tsk… no one person should have that much joy!” Worship God in so many different ways that the peace and understanding of God overflows your very being! Come to worship with that kind of attitude and it won’t just be your experience of worship that changes… it will be your very life that changes.
In Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Robert Schnase writes, "God in Christ changes people’s lives through Passionate Worship. Worship stirs people’s souls, inspires them, and strengthens them. They find such help and courage and belonging and care that they cannot help but talk about the sermons, ideas, stories, music, and prayers during the week" (Abingdon Press, 2007; p. 53).
And why shouldn’t we talk about it throughout the week… what the church offers the world in worship every Sunday cannot be had anywhere else. One cannot get it at the beach. It cannot be obtained on the golf course, and it cannot be had while hunting or fishing. Neither can we find it drinking coffee on Sunday morning while reading the newspaper. The good news of Jesus makes all the difference in the world, and we believers need to offer ourselves wholly and completely to God on Sunday morning - whether we sing hymns or praise songs, whether we lift our songs with organ or guitar. We need to worship in deep gratitude toward God in such a way that when we leave these walls, the message goes out with us… carries us through the week… allows us to grow, and learn… so that our life experience… just like our worship experience… may become passionate for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
