mission(al) as worship
I have written before (HERE and HERE) about an apparent tension between worship and mission. And I still clearly remember a passionate "discussion" with one of my dear friends on whether worship or mission was more primary to our purpose and calling as Christians (I argued at the time for worship).
I have intuitively clung to both as significantly important to our purpose and calling, but the present sermon series has helped clarify for me the connection (and perhaps unity) between the two activities.
As Jesus responds in Luke 15 to the grumbling of the religious sort over his association with the non-religious sort, he tells three "lost" stories. We rightly focus on God's seeking of the lost (missional!), which is the "hook" of each story, but I (at least) have failed to really absorb the "punchline" of each story, which is God's profound joy and rejoicing over those who are found. Sunday's Luke 15 sermon HERE.
We believe that God created us to share in the joy of a "this is good!" creation. We confess it as our chief end, and we see the lead characters in each of the parables in Luke 15 calling together friends and family to celebrate when the lost are found. To participate in God's missional activity is to share in God's joy - and that is worship! It is not the full extent of our worship, but it joins our sent-ness to our coming together and it draws a vital life-line between our love of God and our love of neighbor.
Just some Monday morning ponderings.... :)
I have intuitively clung to both as significantly important to our purpose and calling, but the present sermon series has helped clarify for me the connection (and perhaps unity) between the two activities.
As Jesus responds in Luke 15 to the grumbling of the religious sort over his association with the non-religious sort, he tells three "lost" stories. We rightly focus on God's seeking of the lost (missional!), which is the "hook" of each story, but I (at least) have failed to really absorb the "punchline" of each story, which is God's profound joy and rejoicing over those who are found. Sunday's Luke 15 sermon HERE.
We believe that God created us to share in the joy of a "this is good!" creation. We confess it as our chief end, and we see the lead characters in each of the parables in Luke 15 calling together friends and family to celebrate when the lost are found. To participate in God's missional activity is to share in God's joy - and that is worship! It is not the full extent of our worship, but it joins our sent-ness to our coming together and it draws a vital life-line between our love of God and our love of neighbor.
Just some Monday morning ponderings.... :)
