Worship That Inspires

I have been sharing my ministry story over the last couple weeks in Coffee with Rev. Tim on Sunday mornings between worship services. If you’ve missed it, I encourage you to join us this Sunday for the last one! Sharing my story multiple times in a row naturally causes me to reflect on what events and forces shaped me into the pastor I am today. One of those shaping forces was spending my adolescent years serving in my local church, especially the time I spent as part of the youth praise band. I loved being in the praise band, and especially loved getting to lead in worship. Worship was probably my favorite thing in the world for a time, and still ranks pretty high on that list. 

You can imagine my reaction, then, when I first read our text for this Sunday with one of my fellow bandmates. It’s Amos 5:21-24 and I’ll paste it here for you: 

I hate, I despise your festivals,

    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

    I will not accept them,

and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals

    I will not look upon.

23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;

    I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

24 But let justice roll down like water

    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Festivals, solemn assemblies, offerings of grain and animals, the noise of songs, the melody of harps – these things sure sound like worship to me. “God doesn’t like it when we worship??” I remember asking myself. I spent a long time pondering this. I knew worship was important, but I couldn’t argue with the plaintext reading of this prophetic passage that told me God doesn’t want my music. 

It wasn’t until I was in seminary that I really came to understand what this passage is really trying to say to us. Amos was a prophet. In the Ancient Israelite world, prophets were people who challenged the status quo and sought to open the eyes of the people of Israel to the vision of God. When Amos was working, the kingdom he spoke to was spending a lot of time worshiping God, and very little time helping the people who needed it. Amos isn’t telling the people that God “takes no delight” in any worship, but rather seeking to remind the people of the purpose of worship: to inspire worshipers to acts of justice. 

Faith is the same way. The Letter of James in our New Testament says that “faith without works is dead.” Having faith – trusting in God, believing in Jesus, etc., – is nothing if it is not inspiring us to love our neighbors, center the marginalized, and seek justice in our world. This week in worship, we’ll explore this tension and how Just Faith is a call to live our lives aligned with Jesus, not just worship the right way. 

See you Sunday!

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Tim