Reformed churches are fond of talking about the "already, not yet" nature of our Christian life. I have nothing against that and believe it's certainly a biblical and helpful concept for us to reflect on and remember as we face challenges every day. If we forget that some of the promises of God are on their way, and falsely believe they should be in our laps now, we are far more prone to disappointment and disillusionment with the kingdom of God.
One aspect I have reflected on recently is around the "already, not yet" nature of our gratitude. That we have not only things in our lives at this very moment that we can surely be thankful for, but that we can have future gratitude for the things that are on route to us now.
Today, we thank him for: -the power to refuse sins invitation -freedom from sin's penalty -access to the person of the Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us, seal us, and empower us -a local church where we belong and can be built up
We can also with full sincerity be thankful for those things coming to us in the future, such as:
-the final death of sin and its effects on this world including us -the power to beat death like our big brother Jesus -the remaking of the earth and heavens in even more spectacular beauty than what we see today
what comes to mind for you when you think about gods promises being fulfilled in the future? What do you have the most passion or excitement about? What would you want to thank him for some thing that is guaranteed to transpire and cannot be canceled or rerouted? Anything God sends, is a guaranteed delivery.
We recently walked through, arguably, the most familiar parable in the New Testament. Even though we may find it familiar, it's very possible we have a missed Jesus' central point. It is not first and foremost about the size of the younger brother's sin, but the contrast of how the father and the older brother, respond to the younger brothers return.
Read this slowly.
God has immense joy in redeeming sinners.
As you gather for worship this Sunday, start by remembering the way God celebrated when we first received his grace. Remind ourselves that this passion doesn't wane. We haven't burned up our chances.
Listen to the words of the second verse 2 of an equally ubiquitous song, "How Great Thou Art":
And when I think, that God His Son not sparing Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing He bled and died to take away my sin
How many of us have skipped too quickly past that word, "gladly". It's incredibly important, and captures what the scriptures teach over and over again. That God is not hesitant or apprehensive or annoyed to meet us in our weakness and serve our needs, not just our daily nourishment but even to die in our place because of our inability to save ourselves. God does not despise you. God is not frustrated with you. He has immense joy in redeeming you and watching you each day, even on those days that are more filled with struggle than victory.
For the mothers of our church, who show us the sacrifice and service of Jesus, We praise you, O Lord; and bring you thanks today.
For those with mothers who have cherished and nurtured us: We praise you, O Lord; and bring you thanks today.
For those who grew up without a Mom, or a mom that brought more harm than care you stayed by our side, and offer your healing even today, We praise you, O Lord; and bring you thanks today.
For the other relatives and friends who have filled in where mother's were absent or couldn't be there, We praise you, O Lord; and bring you thanks today.
For the Church, who like a mother, nurtures us in the life of the Spirit. We praise you, O Lord; and bring you thanks today.
Bless all of our mothers Make us grateful for their goodness. Help our children respond to them in loving obedience; help our husbands to cherish them in marriage, and strengthen our single moms that carry a heavy load. Minister to those who have experienced loss, and for those longing to become mothers, bless their wishes and breathe your peace on them as they wait.
Part of what worship leaders do is to keep a compelling vision of why the gathering, and more specifically, why our time together singing, is beneficial and significant in the life of the believer.
It's been said by many leadership gurus that every vision bucket has a leak. The bucket (the containers that hold our vision) can be too small, or two scarce, or maybe the vision itself is "thin" and runs through every possible crack or puncture in the bucket. No matter what you engineer or design as far as rhythms and expectations, you will always as a leader have to return to high level vision for those that you lead.
Over the course of the last ten weeks, we've taught through the Song of Songs at our church. In preparation for the series, I zoomed out and asked what we needed from our Call-to-Worship moments in the gatherings right now. The vision leak I sensed was a robust understanding of why singing is incorporated into our gatherings.
Below you'll read the summaries we used to begin our gatherings over the series. They might differ a bit from what was actually delivered on stage, but the heart of the idea is there.
We sing because it helps us remember. God uses music to attach the things we need to hold in our minds and hearts to us. It serves as a glue that binds our most important beliefs and convictions to our hearts. The repetition that is often mocked in modern music looks similar to the repetition of the psalms, and certainly like the prayers of the Jews in the OT who would repeat the same tents for their own memory and edification.
We sing because ithelps us desire God. Worship through song reminds us of the glory and power our hearts long to be connected to. We grow in our desire for Christ as a person when we are clear about how unmatched he is, how far over all worldly things he is, and how he meets our needs exceedingly. It is near impossible to enjoy our walk with Christ when he are detached from everything that is attractive and compelling about the nature, character, and works of God.
We sing because ithelps us obey. When our hearts are replenished and we come back to the Gospel truths that saved us, we are pointed in the right direction to follow Christ everyday. We are far more likely to obey Christ when we treasure Christ.
We sing because ithelps us know the Spirit's voice. The Spirit interacts with us in unique ways in the gathering, and as we participate in singing together, if chosen wisely, we become increasingly familiar with the tone and content we would expect to find in the Spirit's voice. Rather than chase emotionalism and an experience, we chase God himself. We long to hear from him in our singing and times of prayer because He is what we need most.
We sing because ithelps us connect our bodies to our hearts/minds. We are meant to be integrated beings, with body and heart/soul not being disconnected in our lives and certainly not our worship. Offering God praise through the posture of our body and hands as we sing about adoration, helps connect us more deeply. It is a small way that we worship more genuinely, and reminds us that singing, is always meant to be tied to our physical response or raising hands, helping the poor, and making choices to love others everyday.
We sing because ithelps us awaken our hearts to receive from the gathering. Walking in to the worship center is not enough to prepare our hearts for gathered worship (though physically being there is HUGE). We all walk in with different anxieties and frustrations, from the small squabbles in the backseat on the drive in to the big news from the doctor we didn't expect, it's our default to begin the gathering distracted. Singing together recalibrates our focus and opens up our heart to disengage the speed of life to hear the Lord speak to us.
We sing because ithelps us level out our highs and lows. We are quick to worship our circumstances, both up and down. Worship brings us to a steadied and constant state, remembering that the most important things do not change. Biologically, singing removes anxieties, lowers stress in the body, and provides a ton of other physical benefits. Spiritually, it re-centers our hearts on the things we do have control over.
We sing because itprepares us for and reminds us of Heaven. We don't know a ton about the details of heaven, but it's clear that singing is on the agenda. And not just singing, but unfettered, untainted, unbelievable adoration is poured our through many ways, including SONG. There will be no theological concerns or key concerns or melody concerns or grumpy critics with their arms crossed protesting the song they have issues with. Singing today is a taste of the adoration that will jump out of us tomorrow in glory.
We sing because itdisplays the unity God desires. Different lives, stories, backgrounds, races, ages, and economic status...joined together by common melody and lyrics. A picture of the level playing field we serve our God from, and a beautiful moment of unified activity, minimizing if even for a few minutes our differences. It is a declaration that the most important thing about us is the God we were made by and not the differences in his creation. Singing together also sends us on a common mission.
We sing because itis commanded. Ultimately, we want to obey our King that commands us in multiple places to sing. He knows the benefits far better than we do...and he commands every local church to include and prioritize the singing of truth as a central ingredient in our gathered worship.
BONUS: We sing because itis a training for families and communities When we sing together, we practice the discipline and gift of worshiping through song that can be included in our worship at home, and in the gatherings we participate in throughout the week. Missional Communities and DNA groups always have the opportunity to sing together. Families can worship together over a few songs as part of their connection spiritually to each other.
My hope would be that these concepts could be contextualized and used by other worship leaders in these key moments in our gatherings, where we have the great privilege of reminding our fickle and ever-changing people of the Savior and His good news that is constant and unchanging.
1I love you, Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.
Vending machines are still around. That's weird to me.
If you had asked whether the pay phone in front of my high school or the vending machine would be there in twenty years, my money was on (and occasionally, in) the pay phone. But I would have been wrong.
Using the vending machine in the break room of my Mom's workplace growing up was a highlight of going there. The ping pong table was always lacking a ball that wasn't dented. The TV was small and turned to news channels. But the vending machine was, in a silly way, a small form of adventure. I didn't love the machine, mind you. Just those delectable CornNuts.
There is a profound difference in loving Christ and loving what He provides for you. I'm not sure I always keep that straight and I am beyond certain that many of the Christians I speak with know how to either. Ask someone what they love about Jesus and hear how much of their answer has to do with what they get as opposed to who He is.
In reflecting on this, I wrote this prayer for our gatherings as we studied Psalm 103 together.
We love you Lord, because you ARE a powerful God not just because you give us strength
We love you Lord, because you ARE unchanging not just because you steady us.
We love you Lord, because you ARE a protecting and kind God not just because you protect us.
We sing because you ARE worthy of praise despite our circumstances, despite our preferences, despite our evaluations,
I've recently started incorporating something in our gatherings that I used to do more often. It's effective as both a teaching tool and as a means of preparing the room to gather and receive from God...
it's praying through a hymn.
We currently hold two gatherings which meant this particular Sunday I had two opportunities to pray through the first verse of this well known hymn. I script the main ideas in advance, but then listen to what the Spirit would have me say and pray over each service. I firmly believe that His work is unique, even when the liturgy is the same.
You can read my prompts below. I hope this encourages you to try this sort of thing. It's a great fit for a call to worship, or a means of engaging the song differently when they've heard it a thousand times.
In Christ alone my hope is found What did we hope in this week? We trust to carry us through the troubles and stresses of our every day lives? What ways did we add other hopes into the mix this week instead of just trusting him as our soul provider of strength and hope?
He is my light my strength my song We know that Jesus is called the light in the scripture, but do we see the world differently because we know him? If he is our light then everything we see and touch his experience differently because his light reaches everywhere. Our family, our neighbor, our coworker, are all seen through his eyes if he is our light. Is he the one that helps you see the world?
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground An important part of the character of Christ in these last couple of years has been his consistency. We are constantly surrounded by chaos. He doesn’t shake or change. He isn't one sin away from changing his mind about you.
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm Some of us have had dry seasons this past year and as we look ahead to 2023, we need him to replenish our soul and restore the joy of our salvation. It's time for the season of drought to end. Where do we need him to refresh us?
What heights of love, what depths of peace No matter how long we have walked with the Lord, even if it has been 50 years, we have barely scratched the surface on understanding his love for us. The wider and deeper our understanding goes, the more our every day lives are directly impacted by it. Some of us are bored out of our minds in our faith and need to be awakened to some height and depth again.
When fears are stilled when strivings cease! For some, 2022 buzz jam packed full of various fears and effort to do better. Discipline in our walk is essential but a constant striving and lack of contentment is poisonous to our soul. We have been saved for good works and not buy them so let us rest and know that every active obedience helps us grow but does not change his affection for us.
My Comforter my All in All For all those who need comfort, His comfort lasts and is powerful enough to meet us in the depths of despair. Where other comforts fall short and burn out, his comfort carries on. He's the only one strong enough to hold us, and there is no entertainment, adventure, vacation, substance, or bottle that can come close to what he offers.
We recognize that you see us, and give grace freely. We recognize that we need you today and everyday. We recognize that you, Christ, are our remedy and only hope for healing.
For those of us with greed, Help us receive your love that is always generous Be changed by your giving heart And shaped to share like you do, freely and without reservation.
For those of us with envy, Help us to see our own blessings To celebrate the wins of others Because you are not limited or bound in your love That we would be content with our portion.
For those of us with wrath, Help us express righteous and assertive anger But abandon our fears and hurts that lead us to play god That we would extend the mercy you’ve given 70 x 7 times.
For those of us with lust, Help us be healed in our eyes and minds Restore in us the picture of your creation in our brothers and sisters. Shape in us the integrity you have, unchanging in circumstance or regardless of who’s watching.
For those of us with gluttony, Help us seek the gifts you’ve given as a means Of having more of you, never replacing you Never giving us counterfeit comfort Help us walk in the Spirit, that we would be controlled by Him and led by Him.
For those with laziness, Move in our hearts to have the courage and passion to act Help us feel the worth of our souls and lives And let your patience with us move us toward steps of obedience and joy.
For those with pride, Give us your perspective of our value and worth Broken, but beloved. Needy but an image bearer. Let us be "right-sized" in our own eyes, and enjoy your praise more than our own.
For all these, you are the mercy we need, the grace we don’t deserve, and the hope we must cling to. Thank you for your kindness toward us.
The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
Psalm 33:16-19
Let's take one last look at Psalm 33. There's something here that we can't miss, because as hard as waiting is, there's a way we can actually make it infinitely more difficult. Psalm 33 mentions, as it does many times in the Bible, the concept of a war horse. It's a powerful image and a metaphor that God uses repeatedly.
Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
Psalm 147:10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man...
Proverbs 21:31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.
Hosea 1:7 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.
Continually God makes the point that war horses are powerful creatures, but they are not worthy of our trust and confidence if God is involved...and God is always involved. Kings lived and died by the size of their army. Many of the territorial borders you can find on a world map today were given their distance and direction by a war horse, whether ancient or modern.
War horses would make or break the outcome of a battle in the time of this Psalm's writing. They were fast and strong and carried the strongest soldiers to be able to kill multiple enemies in quick succession. Any thinking (or betting) person in this time would say, these are the things that make all the difference.
This is why the war horse is such a perfect symbol of idolatry. It's the ultimate historical example of our tendency to hold most tightly to our icons of power, provision, and practicality. We want to grab a hold of the world rather than the Maker of it. Trusting in our war horses actually makes waiting on the Lord more difficult, because our power is limited, our vision is limited, and our resources are limited. But His are not.
If you read books like Joshua and Judges, God is constantly showing that the smaller army or warrior often comes out on top. Again, because He is involved and has no regard for our math when it comes to the battles we face. God's economy is not our economy.
Here's something that the world wants you to forget but time makes obvious:
Life can be hard and heavy. If you lean on things that aren't meant to bear the weight of our lives, eventually those things collapse. If your work life or love life or hobby life or even (hold your breath) your family life is the thing that matters above all else to you, you are going to find sooner than later that those things, even really GOOD things can not hold the weight.
And the writer of Psalm 33 says, the war horse is actually not strong enough to save you. It's a false hope. Counterintuitively, freedom comes when you’re not counting on leaders or wealth to win the day.
So then, let's pause a moment: what is your war horse?
I'm really asking.
The best way I know to answer this is these two questions: 1. When you're alone and it's quiet, where does your mind wander?
2. What's the thing that if it was gone for a couple of weeks (or hours) you'd get anxious and depressed and irritated?
The waiting we do as Christians is hard. No coffee cup verse is going to make it easy. But it's possible that waiting is harder for us right now because we've been praising and trusting a war horse, and it's not built to hold the weight of your life.
If you want to encounter the Spirit-led confidence and peace that comes with worshiping while you wait, let your power, provision, and practicality fall down the list. There's a time and place for those things, but Jesus claims the throne of the world, and He deserves the top spot in our own hearts as well.
Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
Psalm 33:20-22
Do you know what I see in those verses? That it is possible for every one of us to have a glad heart when we are waiting. And it freaks me out if I'm honest.
How can our heart be glad when we're waiting on something we want really bad? Gladness comes (in part) from knowing you’ve seen Him show up before. You've seen Him do it before. You've heard Him say, “watch this!” Then miracles unfolded. Not everyday, but enough times to know He is able.
Ever notice, we do a lot of waiting in our faith? God says, "wait" quite a bit in the scriptures. It's over 100 times. Based on my experience with God, that tells me two things:
A. God is a good Dad B. we tend to run ahead of Him
If you aren't in a season of waiting now, you might be soon. When that comes, you will have the opportunity to worship in that waiting.
Monday afternoon we were driving as a family to see some friends and I got a voicemail. It was a coach from one of the club teams we really liked. I pulled over. Called the coach back, and he offered my son a spot on his team. I finished the call, and then told the car.
There was yelling. There was cheering. Oliver was smiling his biggest smile. We celebrated that. And even though it's just baseball, and it's just kid sports, it felt like an act of kindness from the Father toward our family. It felt like we could see why God said, 'wait'. We were grateful for His kindness to show us and to answer our simple prayers.
Here's the truth: it doesn't always work out that way. We don't always get to see the plan carry itself out. There's plenty I'm still waiting on in this life, and I'm not confident I'll see the things I am pining for. Many of them are infinitely more important than baseball.
Some of us are waiting for the Lord to do something significant in our lives. We're waiting for Him to provide clarity on our calling or help us make a major life decision. We're waiting for him to provide a spouse or a child we've longed for. Or maybe waiting for someone we know and care about to finally have their eyes opened to the path of destruction they are on, and to know Christ for the first time and begin a new path of restoration and love. We have an ache that fades in and out of our thoughts throughout the week. We're waiting. It hurts.
Maybe its far more urgent or far more pressing than that. We're waiting for the doctors to tell us how long we've got to live. We're waiting to see if our spouse meets us half way and healing can begin. We’re waiting to see if our next visit to our aging parent is the one where they forget who we are. We’re waiting to see if the state rips our foster child out of our home.
Every breath in the mean time feels a bit harder. The waiting is exhausting. It's not the kind of tired a nap can fix.
If you're reading this I want you to know that Christ is with you in the waiting.
Your body may war against you. Your marriage may war against you. But the prince of peace has never left your side.
You may feel like you're not sure you can go another day. But your days are in His hands. And you may only have the smallest amount of praise and trust left. But God can carry you in the waiting.
Even with the smallest amount of faith, even faith that is surrounded by walls of doubt, you can watch as your praise and trust turn waiting into worship.
Our family has had a really good summer so far. The biggest thing at the Zim house recently, surprisingly, has been baseball.
Here on the Eastside at age 12 you age out of "recreational baseball". There aren't many opportunities to play baseball until you get to high school, unless…you make a club team. Making a club team means you play year-round. As a parent it means you pay a bunch of money and give up a bunch of weekends, and then sit in the rain watching a sport meant for sunshine so that a grumpy adult can tell your kid why everything you've ever taught them about the sport is wrong.
It's a dream, really.
My son has participated in several tryouts the past few weeks. It's been brutal. From the extreme heat (major heat wave here in the PNW, rare triple digit temps), the coaches, and the sheer group size of 70, 80 boys all vying for 2 or 3 spots on a team.
After all the tryouts were done, my son only had one offer. One is better than none, right? But here was the problem: the team that gave him an offer, was a concerning tryout. The coaches were talking down to the players, the players were talking back to the coaches. They weren't organized, they weren't sure even who was going to coach the team.
It felt like a big decision for our family. Is this the end of the road? Or do we say yes to this team with toxic culture that would be shaping him and taking our money?
We start hearing from other parents. Who made a team, who didn't, which teams are filling up...the entire next year was being decided. And we all sensed God was saying:
"WAIT."
Its been my experience that the three most common answers I get from the Lord when I ask him about something I'm desiring, are "yes", "no" and "wait".
Call it what you want. God's "not yet". A holy delay. Of the responses God can give, most of us don't like that last option because it lacks the concrete clarity of the first two. If we're honest, we generally avoid waiting at all costs.
I don't know what situation you're facing right now. Maybe he's answering your prayers with a resounding "YES". Maybe he's saying "NO" to something you long for.
But I'd bet some of you reading this are in limbo. You're in this middle ground of "not yet". Maybe you're asking him or you've been asking him for something for a long time. And the light hasn't turned green yet. The psalm we're going to walk through in this blog series is going to be a help to you.
Because praise and trust turn waiting into worship.
