PRIORITIES: A REFLECTION ON WORSHIP

There was probably a general sense of emptiness in the hearts of some pastors all over the Philippines last Sunday with the expected drop in worship attendance and giving!

The culprit is none other than the Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz boxing bout which people, even Christians chose to watch at home instead of going church to worship! Manny Pacquiao's fights always take place on a Sunday morning (because Sunday morning in Manila is Saturday night in Las Vegas), and each time there is a scheduled fight, churches worry about an inevitable attendance drop- much like Superbowl Sundays in the US when churches cancel services on Sunday afternoons and nights for the NFL finals!

Anyway, I was never a fan of boxing so I really don't know the feeling of struggling between choosing to watch a boxing match and worshipping in church. Even though boxing first began in Greece, for me it is nothing more than a modern-day counterpart of ancient Roman gladiatorial matches where people fight to the death and people enjoy the site of gore and the stench of blood! However, today, boxers fight and get paid big time! People still enjoy the site of men rearranging their faces with their fists, so it's all the same.

On the way back to Church from a lunch date with Tommy Walker and his team from Christian Assembly, I reflected on the amazing service that was and thought about how many Christians missed a great time of worship at GCF! Our attendance was still in the thousands, our offering still reached a seven-figure mark. But it's not about the numbers, it's about the experience that they missed, the priority misplaced- worship.

Priorities. Whenever the topic arises I couldn't help but think of Abraham.
If ever there was a text that would represent for modern people the primitiveness of religion it is perhaps the one we read from Genesis. A father is asked to do the unthinkable, sacrifice his child, in order to satiate the need of his God. Who is this God of Abraham? Is this the same God we worship?

People think the Bible is a dangerous book to read to children because of stories like that of Abraham's. In truth the Bible can be a dangerous book for adults to read too, and it should be handled with great care. It’s wild, untamed, filled with surprising, often shocking stories that rightly give us pause. And the wildest, most untamed, surprising part of scripture is the God it reveals. This God of Abraham, this God we worship is anything but predictable, domesticated, or boring.

The God Abraham knew was always asking the unthinkable. There was never a time in Abraham’s experience of God when things were calm, simple, easy. As the story goes, from their very first encounter God asks Abraham to do the unthinkable: leave everything behind – his homeland, his family, his work, his security – in order to settle in an unknown land. As the story unfolds, we learn that Abraham and Sarah have been unable to conceive a child. Wanting Abraham to have a child, Sarah offers him her servant Hagar and together she and Abraham have a son named Ishmael. Later, God tells Abraham and Sarah something that to them was unthinkable. They were greatly advanced in age, and had given up hope of having a child of their own, but God declared that in spite of her advanced age Sarah would become pregnant and that they would have a son. It was so unthinkable that Sarah’s response to the good news was unrestrained, incredulous laughter. But soon Isaac was born, and their joy must have been complete.[1]

Then the unthinkable happened once more – not once, but twice. On two occasions Abraham is commanded by God to rid himself of his sons. After a quarrel between Sarah and Hagar, God tells Abraham that he must send Ishmael and his mother Hagar away, never to dwell with them again. Can you imagine how unthinkable that must have been? Shortly thereafter God says, "Abraham! Take your son Isaac, whom you love, and....offer him as a burnt offering." This is not only unthinkable, but barbaric.[2]

The initial barbarism and primitiveness of the story gives way to something quite important for you and me. It brings us back to that question: What is your idol? For Manila residents, of course, there are some obvious possibilities – the quest for money, the drive to succeed, the determination to find a life’s partner, more money, the need to have just the right address, the right look, more money, the right pedigree – all potentially badges of personal honor rather than gifts from God. But there are more subtle idols, images or needs we cling to at all costs, that are equally in need of examination – that persistent fear of failure or scarcity, notions of unworthiness or shame, the secret assumption of being a fraud or hypocrite, panic at the possibility that we will end up alone. These too can be idols we refuse to part with and which identify us at our core, but which are equally destructive barriers in life and in relationship to God.[3]

Back to our Sunday worship issue. A Christian's individual call to worship God is not an option, neither is the call to the whole church to gather and take part in the work (liturgy) of the Body.

I remember deferring, and ultimately seeking amnesty for not taking ROTC military training for religious reasons back in college- that's my choice and conviction. Even as an exchange student, wherever the exchange program took our team, the first place I looked for is a church where I can join others for worship. I've always believed that Sunday is particularly special for the Lord- not that other days aren't, every days is the Lord's. But the Bible sets apart a particular day to observe and engage in the worship of God with other people.

In a conversation between a Campus Crusade staff and another church volunteer tonight, I heard the Crusade staff say, "People are completely satisfied in the pew, worshipping whenever convenient. That has to break."
The story of Abraham is a story of anguished faith because it reveals that in order to walk into the life God has promised we must rid ourselves of that which does not belong to God, and by association does not truly belong to us. The good news in this story is that on the other side of the unthinkable Abraham experience a better sense of faith and life. In the end, Abraham was more blessed because He understood who God was and chose to please Him.

Is worshipping an option for you? Do you go to church only when it's convenient or is it a part of your life?

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1 Viera, Javier, Risking the Unthinkable, June 29, 2008 CCNYC
2 Walter Brueggeman, Genesis, (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982) p. 185
3 Viera, Javier, Risking the Unthinkable, June 29, 2008 CCNYC