My worship professor and academic advisor at Calvin often began his lectures on worship talking about his children. He would tell everyone that he has a 4 year old and 2 year old triplets at home and people would nod empathetically when he said life could be somewhat hectic and chaotic trying to keep the peace and raise them successfully. With 4 kids under 4 years of age, he said one of the most challenging, but also most rewarding parts of parenting was helping his children to develop good speech habits. It doesn’t come naturally to toddlers to say “please”, “I’m sorry”, “thank you.” Now that I am in the trenches of raising young children as well, I can testify to the fact that learning healthy speech patterns takes time, attention and lots of practice. Basic conversational skills need constant reinforcement. These words are the building blocks of healthy relationships – with parents and siblings, friends, colleagues, spouses.
Healthy speech patterns are central to our Christian lives as well. Of course we are called to love and care for those around us which includes healthy dialogue and conversation but we also need to practice good communication skills with God. We need to be able to come before him and say “thank you,” “I need help,” “please forgive me,” “I’m listening.” When we gather together for worship on Sunday morning, we are entering into conversation with God along with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Conversations are not one-sided, and neither is worship. We talk to God but he also speaks to us. If you look at our order of worship on any given Sunday, you can trace the dialogic nature of our worship.
Call to Worship -----“Thank you for inviting us and meeting us. We are here.”
Songs of Praise----- “We love you. You are awesome and wonderful.”
Confession------ “I’m sorry.”
Lament----- “Why?”
Assurance of pardon------ “I forgive you.”
Greeting--- “Bless you.”
Guide to Grateful Living---- “What can I do?”
Prayer------“Help”
Prayer for Illumination/the Word----- “We are listening.”
Offering----“Thank you. I will share.”
Benediction----“It’s time to go and serve”
This fall, we are starting a 12 week series on the Psalms. While we are gathered under one roof on Sunday mornings, we might very well be in different places. Some of us come to worship wanting to say “Thank You, Lord!” Others come wanting to cry out to God “Please help me!” or “Why is this happening?” Each of the 150 Psalms gives us a piece of conversation – praise, lament, thanksgiving, etc. They give voice to the deepest feelings and emotions in our souls. For 12 weeks, we will walk through these worship words using the Psalms as our guide. We will practice our conversational skills with God and work on the words that don’t come naturally. Dive into these next 12 weeks of being a toddler once again and take the opportunity to practice your speech habits as they express who we are and form who we are becoming.
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