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Wednesday, June 14, 2006

chaos into order

Reformed or Presbyterian worship is also worship that is marked by order,dignity and decorum. Presbyterians may at times laugh in a service and Presbyterians enjoy worship, but Presbyterians have traditionally understood their worship as something rendered before the very throne of God, and we are not people who are inclined to hop and skip with abandomnet before the Holy One. God is, we believe, a God of order and not chaos, and the worhsip we offer up to God is marked by order rather than confusion.

What? Huh? Are you serious?

     As a Presbyterian who tends to end up worshiping with one hand in my pocket and one hand raised in praise to God, I feel as though I have been trapped by the self-righteous, "order and decorum" worship police.
     I came across this quote in Presbyterian Worship: a Guide for Clergy, and I found it rather bothersome because it expresses what I think most Presbyterians feel and believe regarding worship transformation.
     Too often they quote 1 Corinthians 14:40 and forget about David who dances with uninhabited joy in the streets (2 Samuel 16:16 and 1 Chronicles 15:25-29). [by the way, isn't "decently and in order" a bit of proof texting a Pauline statement regarding prophecy?]
     Dudley Weaver Jr. has it wrong.
     Because it seems to me that: Yes, God is the God of Order; but that does not mean that our worship, our theology and our lives have to be one of order. Rather the amazing thing is that the Holy Spirit makes order from our chaotic lives, and therefore can and will transform disorder into beauty.

1 comment:

jlee said...

I am going to dance naked in your church next year and see how you respond... My dance moves will be done in a decent and orderly fashion... (do I hear electric slide worship?)

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