Preparing for Worship

This week's post is about worship.

I enjoy worship. I love forgetting what is outside and focusing on what is going on in the chapel, church, dorm room or stairwell in which I am worshiping. Most of the time, a song we sang or a passage we read will particularly stand out to me, and I will write the lyrics in my Facebook status or on my wrist to remind me of how I felt using those words to worship God. Often I will think of my worship experience throughout the following day or week and think, "Yeah, God. Thank you for that time of worship."

...But.

Especially after learning about the spiritual practice of worship this past week, I do not think this is the full response to worship we should have. It struck me that worship does not only involve showing up to church, getting filled with the Spirit there, and then going out into the world with your new spiritual high.

It is about preparation.

I operate on the philosophy that fashionably late is right on time, meaning it is hard for me to leave for church or for chapel at my college until the last possible minute. I usually show up in a rush and sit down just as the music is starting. It is not until at least twenty minutes into the singing that I am really ready to genuinely worship my Lord and Savior.

Preparation is not one of my strong points. But this weekend was the time to change! I resolved to get ready for church on Sunday morning by going to bed early Saturday night and waking up on Sunday with time to prepare my heart for the service. Going to bed on Saturday was the trickiest part, since there were, of course, social events going on around campus and as a part of this living-learning community deal I am a little obligated to attend these events (not that I dislike them-- I would go even if I didn't have to). Eventually, I managed to sneak away, and got into bed a little after 11 pm. Sunday morning I woke up well-rested and realized that getting up earlier than usual meant that I had all sorts of time to get ready, eat breakfast, and get my hair and makeup just right.

Errr.... and then I realized I only had forty minutes until I had to leave for church. I had been planning to spend an hour with God before church. {Fail.}

After rolling my eyes at my depraved self, I got down to it. I read from the Bible, and wrote in my prayer/meditation journal for a while. As I wrote, I began to talk about all the tiny ways I had seen God in the past week. Then I spent a while writing my confessions for the week. I wrote for a good thirty minutes, filling pages with my revelations. Because I had spent so long writing, I was late for church (ha) but even so, I felt prepared to enter worship that day. I will not go into all the details of Sunday morning, since this post is already too long, but let me tell you, God was there. By examining myself before the service and getting my heart right with God and with other around me, I was ready to invest in worshiping my Savior, not just waiting for the worship songs to do something to me. I was ready to pour into others by praying for people during church rather than sitting in the service like a vacuum prepared to take in whatever edifying tidbits I could gather from the pastor and the people sitting next to me.

To sum up: Lesson learned this week = Worship is a before, during, and after thing.

Next week I plan to spent time again preparing myself for church. Learning about this practice makes me want to make this small change in my routine and think of Sundays differently.
The best thing about all this, of course, is that this preparation, if up to me, would have failed. I would have spent extra time in front of the mirror, less time reading the Bible, and probably no time reflecting on it. However, it was God working in me that led me to feel energized and rejuvenated. All glory to Him.

Until next time,
~Sara Joy~

*Note: Some readers may want to point out that worship is an ongoing experience. We should continually be in worship to our Savior. And worship is not only singing songs and praying. It is how we act and what we do that also constitutes worship, as it says in Romans 12:1- "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your true and proper worship." Okay, okay, you are right. But there is no denying that when you enter a place of worship, such as church on Sunday morning, there is an expectancy and a presence that is not always around during the week. We have church so we can gather together with the body of believers and worship Christ together. There is no denying that Sunday mornings are special. I am learning to treat them that way.

Introduction

The title of this blog, "Transforming in Community" is nothing catchy or clever. It is merely honest. This blog is setting out to be honest and real. One of the things that God has been teaching me in the past year is that Christians are supposed to be open with each other. We should encourage each other in the Body of Christ not only through sharing wisdom and praise with one another, but sharing our struggles. As it says in James 5:16: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." Being raw and vulnerable with one another is what truly grows Christian community. And if the prayers of righteous people are powerful and effective why wouldn't we want to be open with each other?
This year, I am participating in what is a called a living-learning community at my Christian college. This consists of a group of men and women living in separate on-campus apartments and throwing ourselves into learning about what it means to live in true Christian community. We have started out our study by reading "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In addition to living in community among ourselves, we are transferring what we are learning into our larger college community by leading Bible studies and creating a general atmosphere of intentional radical living for Jesus Christ.
And God knows what he is doing, because all this living in Christian community stuff is happening while I am taking a spiritual formation class. This class requires each student to create a blog and post about what we are learning each week. Therefore, I will be reflecting not only on spiritual disciplines, but on how the things I am discovering through this class are aiding me and my fellow community members in living for Jesus.
So back to the title of this blog. The word "transform" has been the word from scripture that sticks out to me and won't leave me alone. My testimony is that of a woman who is constantly being turned into something new. The word comes from Romans 12:2-

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Well, here I go God. I am renewing my mind by learning, and letting myself be transformed by it. Through this learning I am trusting that God will transform myself and my community and that we will better understand what God's will is for our college campus and beyond.