Cruciform Worship

 
Psalm 67:1-2

¹May God be gracious to us and bless us
       and make his face shine upon us,
 ² that your ways may be known on earth,
       your salvation among all nations.




A leader in the denomination I serve has asked an important question. Why do we make a distinction between "vertical" and "horizontal" words and actions and songs? If the second command is like the first, then why separate them? This is a question of integrity and I think it's a no-brainer, so I'm simply going to draw an obvious conclusion from it:

We need to write and sing songs that deal both with the vertical in Heaven and Earth and the horizontal in the Church and the Nations as though they are all meant to be addressed at once. Our Sacred Head was crucified at the point where these concepts intersect and are reconciled in space and time. A post and a crossbeam formed the image to which our every movement must conform. We need to write and sing songs that make no distinction between loving God and loving people. 

I'm not saying that your favorite hymn is unacceptable for worship because it's not holistic enough. (I'm also not not saying that.) But what I am saying is that if Christ is supreme in all things and in all ways, then we should strive to sing and write songs that see mission as a natural conclusion of worship and the reconciliation of heaven and earth as inevitable and pursuant to our existence.

Where Can I Go?

I am continually amazed that Cecily doesn't hold my disciplining of her against me. When she receives correction, she cries and immediately looks to me for comfort and acceptance, which I am compelled to give by an equal urgency. It's like I expect her to reject me for having stood against her will.  But when I stop and think, it's simple: where else would she go? In her world, Mommy and Daddy are one, and there's no one else to go to for comfort and acceptance when she needs it.

I am always surprised, because I'm not as good a son as she is a daughter. When my Father who loves me disciplines me, I often shake a rebellious fist at Him and turn to my lesser gods for comfort and acceptance. I'm not very much like Peter, who said, "Where else can we go, Lord? You have the words of life." I'm not like David who understood that there was no where he could go to flee God's presence. I'm not like Cecily who doesn't know the hollow comfort and cheap acceptance of idolatry.

Have mercy on me oh God, according to your steadfast love. According to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Teach me to accept your correction as from a loving Father who seeks reconciliation. Where else can I go for true comfort and acceptance? I reject any other source of Love. Amen.