Monday, July 6th

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Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

A number of years ago, just after I had become Senior Pastor at FBCG, we had a particularly powerful and uplifting worship service at our East Campus. Our worship teams work hard week by week to plan worship in a way that helps our church family sense and respond to the presence of God; but this service was especially powerful. In particular, the sanctuary choir and orchestra presented an anthem that was so moving that I just had to respond; so as piece ended and I stepped to the pulpit I started to clap...and the whole congregation followed. It was a moment of spontaneous joy offered as an act of worship. In our culture clapping is what we do when we enjoy or appreciate something. Generally, we don’t scream or shout or jump up and down in church like we would at a football game...we just clap.

By the time I got to my office after the services were over I found a note slipped under my door. It was a rather critical and ugly note that included the phrase, “You set the church back 20 years today by encouraging applause in worship.” Something like that.

That note made me sad. It made me sad, first of all, because the person who wrote it completely misunderstood my intent. It made me sad, second,  because it revealed a heart that was incapable of expressing joy in worship. The truth is, I should have been trying to set us back 2000 years!

Look at what the Psalm says!

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

I know it’s a lousy analogy in many ways but these words remind me of what I felt and how I expressed myself at my son’s State Championship football game. When his team scored a touchdown, believe me, I shouted for joy! When the game ended and he became a state champion, I was filled to overflowing with gladness!

What strikes me is that I am capable of feeling and expressing great joy and gladness; I am capable of shouting so loud that I risk rupturing a vocal chord and embarrassing myself all at the same time! And that’s just a high school football game!

But what about when I come into the presence of God himself? When I offer my worship to the God who created me, gave me life itself, loved me enough to die for me, and promises to dwell in me through his Spirit and to dwell with me forever?

Do I shout with joy or do I mumble a few lines of a song? Is my heart filled with gladness or do I steal glances at my watch wondering when the service will be over? Is there anything at all about my worship that could be called extravagant or joyful or even glad?

Lord God, forgive me and forgive us for reserving the joy of our hearts for lesser things. Teach us to see the beauty and joy of your own nature and to respond with great gladness!

Brian Coffey