WORSHIP - an acronym may help?

WORSHIP - Working Organizing Responsible Solutions Healing Inspiring Praise

Definition: "The acts or rites that make up a formal expression of reverence of a deity"

The Beginning of Worship:

From the earliest history of humanity, worship seemed to have developed trying to prevent tragedy and hardships that were feared and mysterious. People assumed that the conditions in their world were controlled by gods in the heavenly realm above and believed that placating and appeasing them was the solution. They developed rites and practices showing their reverence and their desire to please these deities in order to prevent and stop harmful circumstances beyond human control.

In the Bible, Abraham left the country of his people who practiced human sacrifice as part of their worship. When Abraham finally had his first son from Sara, named Isaac, he felt it necessary to offer him as sacrifice. Having prepared the altar for the sacrifice, Abraham again heard a voice saying, "Do not lay a hand on the boy,” and, “Do nothing to him." A ram found caught in the bushes by its horns became the sacrifice. Abraham named the place "The Lord will provide." "Now I know that you fear God, because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:1-12) Many years passed before the Prophets came with new wisdom about worship.

The Progressive Revelation of Worship:

Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says, “These people worship me with their mouths and honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is based on rules made by humans." In Jeremiah 31:33-34, “But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying, ‘Know the Lord.’ All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” declares the Lord, “because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them.” In Hosea 6:6, "I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices. I want you to know me, not to give me burnt offerings."

Here is a good summary from Christianity Today, "True worship, in other words, is defined by the priority we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of priorities. True worship is a matter of the heart expressed through a lifestyle of holiness. Thus, if your lifestyle does not express the beauty of holiness through an extravagant or exaggerated love for God, and you do not live in extreme or excessive submission to God, then I invite you to make worship a non-negotiable priority in your life." [http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/bible-answers/spirituallife/what-is-true-worship.html]


How Jesus worshipped God:

Most people with greatness whose lives influence and inspire, like that of Jesus, are sparse and few. The influence of Jesus, siting his teaching and ministry, grew especially after he was crucified. When the second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, the four Gospels about the life and mission of Jesus were written over the next 30 or 40 years. There is a significant story about his youth in Luke 2:41-51 when Mary and Joseph find Jesus with the Teachers in the Temple Courtyard. After their frantic search to find him Jesus said, "Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you realize that I had to be in my Father’s house?” At the close of this story Luke adds, "His mother treasured all these things in her heart. ... Jesus grew in wisdom and maturity. He gained favor from God and people."

The Gospel's primary focus is on his ministry in the area of Galilee. Jesus went to the Temple for the Feast of Passover and often taught in the homes of people to read and hear the Torah. Jesus was an iterate Rabbi and is recorded as saying, "I can guarantee this truth: Until the earth and the heavens disappear, neither a period nor a comma will disappear from the Scriptures before everything has come true."  The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7, are as relevant today as they were when Jesus spoke them! For “whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). According to John R.W. Stott, “The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed” (The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, 1973, p. 15)

WHAT IS WORSHIP - [Working Organizing Responsible Solutions Healing Inspiring Praise]

As the acronym  points out, Worship is a way of living as Jesus taught and demonstrated by his own life among us!

What is our common understanding of worship today? Today's dictionary defines that: "The acts or rites that make up a formal expression of reverence of a deity." We have turned it into formalities and ceremonies which we gather to perform about one day a week on Sunday. Unfortunately our "formal expressions" mostly tend to define our many different denominations that too often keep us apart rather than bring us together. Our worship enables us to feel that we are "reverencing God" through "formal expressions" instead of daily service to our world and the needs of one another in body, mind, and spirit.

In a daily meditation on January 17, 2016, Richard Rohr says that God's Love is "What Is Right in Front of You." "The God Jesus incarnates and embodies is not a distant God that must be placated. Jesus' God is not sitting on some throne demanding worship and throwing down thunderbolts like Zeus. Jesus never said, "Worship me"; he said, "Follow me." He asks us to imitate him in his own journey of full incarnation. To do so, he gives us the two great commandments: 1) Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-28). In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus shows us that our "neighbor" even includes our "enemy" (Luke 10:29-37).

So how do we love God? Most of us seem to have concluded we love God by attending church services. For some reason, we thought that made God happy. I'm not sure why. ... Jesus never talked about attending services, although church can be a good community to start with, and we do tend to become like the folks we hang out with. The prophets often portray God's disdain for self-serving church services. "The sanctuary, the sanctuary, the sanctuary" is all we care about, Jeremiah shouts (7:4). "I hold my nose at your incense. What I want you to do is love the widow and the orphan," say both Isaiah and Amos (Isaiah 1:11-17, Amos 5:21-24), as do Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Micah, and Zechariah in different ways. The prophetic message is absolutely clear, yet we went right back to loving church services instead of authentic living. I believe our inability to recognize and love God in what is right in front of us has made us separate religion from our actual lives. There is Sunday morning, and then there is real life.

Marcus Borg, a theologian and author of many books, makes this point:

"To be faithful to God means not only to love God, but to love that which God loves—namely, the neighbor, and indeed the whole of creation. Faith as fidelitas thus includes an ethical imperative." (Marcus Borge, The Heart of Christianity - chapter 2)

"Speaking in the name of God and addressing the rich and powerful, Amos contrasts their worship of God with what God really wants:"...  "“Let justice roll down like waters” and “righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” are synonymous phrases. Justice and righteousness are not two different things, but the same thing. Justice is righteousness, and righteousness is justice." (Marcus Borg, Speaking Christian - chapter 12)

An acronym for CHURCH [Charitable Humanity Utilizing Resources Creating Hospitality] perhaps sums up the real point and place of "worship" for this 21st century.

Gerard A. Pisani, Jr.

BALANCE: a great asset for living well.

Balance: a great asset for living well

BALANCE – [Being Aware Leveraging All Notions Creating Equality]

A meaning in the dictionary is, "Stability of one's mind or feelings: the way to some kind of peace and personal balance."

As we have moved into the new year of 2016 I suspect that balance is certainly one of the attributes that is most essential today.

Being Aware: Aware, "concerned and well-informed about a particular situation or development." A being does not stay alive and healthy for any length of time without awareness.
Leveraging All Notions:
Leveraging, "The power to influence a person or situation to achieve a particular outcome."
Notions: "A conception of or belief about something, an impulse or desire."
Creating Equality: "the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities."

Awareness is something that seems to be lacking among humanity today. A saying that many have heard, "sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me." This may be true about our frame or skeleton but has less worth for our internal feelings and well being. Some refer it as "political correctness," interpreted as using polite and appropriate terms when speaking of others. Too often, however, it shows distain and prejudice toward another with judgement leading to bullying at best and, at worst, crime and death.

As a retired Episcopal priest, I am especially dismayed by those who claim to be religious knowing "love thy neighbor as thyself" but who continue to speak and act uncharitably toward others. With the expansion of travel and communications throughout our expanding world, especially in urban populations, our neighbors are closer. With these and other changes our neighborhoods are increasingly diverse which causes more strain on our sharing equally. It makes our democracy more difficult to honor that all human beings are endowed by their Creator with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Being aware of these growing changes, that will always continue, we must learn to live with these evolutionary core values of our universe; change, diversity, and equality. Utilizing these core values is essential in Leverage All Notions to empower and achieve positive outcomes for living well on this planet. If our notion or reluctance about them is weak then our leveraging will wain because they were established in creation and will always be a part of what happens in the universe. Change, diversity and equality are a given and not a choice!

Creating Equality, part of this universal core construction, needs to become part of the way we always live and function. Our human life is equal with all other parts because we are constructed from the same elements and atoms that are the core everything that exists. Each part may be unique and special, not suggesting uniformity in any way, because of the core value of diversity. An excellent example is when we compare children who are born from the same parents, especially in large families, and seldom are exactly the same or alike. Each person is special in their own way and deserve equal respect for their individuality and diversity.

Until we understand, except and live with this BALANCE – [Being Aware Leveraging All Notions Creating Equality] we only create chaos and destruction. In this 21st century we must learn to practice balance so as to promote and maintain life as we acknowledge and want it to be. Notions of Superiority or Inferiority are beliefs and ideas that cause imbalance to our living together, preventing the love and respect necessary for proper growth and development.

Gerard A. Pisani, Jr.  

A Mantra for the Church in the 21st Centry

A Mantra for the Church in this 21st century!

CHURCH [Charitable Humanity Utilizing Resources Creating Hospitality]

In the universe, without exception, everything changes constantly. The church, however, tries very hard to avoid any change. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why so many churches are losing members as people become "nones," those who affiliate with no church or organized religion.

May I share with you why I believe that this acronym may be helpful in defining a new way to look at church in this 21st century; an acronym that may allow the inclusion of most people who are charitable.

CHURCH [Charitable Humanity Utilizing Resources Creating Hospitality]

As humans we think of ourselves as body, mind, and spirit. Our body is the physical frame and context of many parts that function together enabling our activity in the world. Our mind, the element that enables us to be aware of the world and our experiences, enabling us to think and to feel. Our mind is our faculty of consciousness and thought. Our spirit is the nonphysical part of our personhood that is the seat of emotions and character - the soul.

May I suggest that this acronym for church, similar to the ways we view our humanity of body, mind, and spirit, might be helpful in encouraging and enabling us to function together as a people.

Body: [Charitable Humanity] The people who make up the corpus of a church. When humans come together in any group or community they are the physical frame and context of the diversity of its members.

Mind: [Utilizing Resources] Using the diversity of all the minds of the individuals gathered enables their collective facility to be conscious and thoughtful in serving others and each other.

Spirit: [The emotional energy and character] that excites and drives; the soul equalizing their cause and action; the flexibility and inspiration that helps direct the talent and ability of the whole.

The simple focus of this acronym invites the integration of all groups to join each other by simply engaging Charitable People. This identity eliminates barriers of doctrine, creed, and other titles that cause most of our divisions. The common sense of loving one's neighbor is hardly the cause since most ascribe to love of God and neighbor and in today's world, with so many resources available, that can only give us strength toward interdependence. Since a good majority of religious groups in America ascribe to "serving the common good" and creating hospitality, we are more apt to join together as we drop identity barriers.

The open invitation of Jesus was simply "follow me." As a Jew and an itinerate Rabbi, his teachings and manner of life was emphatically serving others, especially those who were disenfranchised or neglected by the political authorities of his day. The teachings of Jesus, especially in the "Sermon on the Mount," (Matthew chapters 5,6, &7) are held in esteem by many major religions. In John's Gospel we note his compassion and kindness to Folk at a wedding, a Centurion's son whom he healed, conversation with a Samaritan woman, feeding the people who came to hear him, the lepers, blind, lame, all without regard to their religious connections while demonstrating the love of God has for all people, everywhere in all time.

Perhaps this acronym might be a mantra for Jesus People today, following the Jesus of Nazareth, and all who ascribe to "loving your neighbor as you love yourself" in making a tremendous difference toward healing the wounds causing hate and destruction.

Gerard A. Pisani, Jr.

Worship?

WORSHIP - [Working Organizing Responsible Solutions Healing Inspiring Praise]

Definition, "The acts or rites that make up a formal expression of reverence of a deity"

The Beginning of Worship:

From the earliest history of humanity, worship seemed to have developed trying to prevent tragedy and hardships that were feared and mysterious. People assumed that the conditions in their world were controlled by god's in the heavenly realm above and believed that placating and appeasing them was the solution. They developed rites and practices showing their reverence and their desire to please these deities in order to prevent and stop harmful circumstances beyond human control.

In the Bible, Abraham left the country of his people who practiced human sacrifice as part of their worship. When Abraham finally had his first son from Sara named Isaac he felt it necessary to offer such a sacrifice. Having prepared the altar for the sacrifice Abraham again heard a voice saying, "Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. A ram was found caught in the bushes by the horns and became the sacrifice. Abraham named the place "The Lord will provide." "Now I know that you fear God, because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:1-12) Many years passed before the Prophets came with new wisdom about worship.

The Progressive Revelation of Worship:

Isaiah 29:13 "The Lord says, “These people worship me with their mouths and honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is based on rules made by humans." In Jeremiah 31:33-34, “But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying, ‘Know the Lord.’ All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” declares the Lord, “because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them.” In Hosea 6:6, "I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices. I want you to know me, not to give me burnt offerings."

Here is a good summary from Christianity Today, "True worship, in other words, is defined by the priority we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of priorities. True worship is a matter of the heart expressed through a lifestyle of holiness. Thus, if your lifestyle does not express the beauty of holiness through an extravagant or exaggerated love for God, and you do not live in extreme or excessive submission to God, then I invite you to make worship a non-negotiable priority in your life." [http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/bible-answers/spirituallife/what-is-true-worship.html]


How Jesus worshipped God:

Like most people with greatness and whose life influenced and inspired our lives, their days of youth, like that of Jesus, are sparse and incomplete. The influence of Jesus and his ministry grew especially after he was crucified. When the second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, the Gospels about the life and mission of Jesus were written over the next 30 or 40 years. There is a significant story about his youth in Luke 2:41-51 when Mary and Joseph find Jesus with the Teachers in the Temple Courtyard. After their frantic search to find him Jesus said, "Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you realize that I had to be in my Father’s house?” At the close of this story Luke adds, "His mother treasured all these things in her heart. ... Jesus grew in wisdom and maturity. He gained favor from God and people."

The Gospel's primary focus is on his ministry in the area of Galilee. Jesus went to the Temple for the Feast of Passover and often taught in the homes of people to hear the Torah read and learn about God. Jesus was an iterate Rabbi and is recorded as saying, "I can guarantee this truth: Until the earth and the heavens disappear, neither a period nor a comma will disappear from the Scriptures before everything has come true."  The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7, are as relevant today as they were when Christ spoke them! For “whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). According to John R.W. Stott, “The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed” (The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, 1973, p. 15)

WHAT IS WORSHIP - [Working Organizing Responsible Solutions Healing Inspiring Praise]

As the acronym  points out, Worship is a way of living as Jesus taught and demonstrated by his own life among us!

What is our common understanding of worship today? Today's dictionary defines that, "The acts or rites that make up a formal expression of reverence of a deity." We have turned it into formalities and ceremonies which we gather to perform about one day a week on Sunday. Unfortunately our "formal expressions" mostly tend to define our many different denominations that too often keep us apart rather than bring us together. Our worship enables us to feel that we are "reverencing God" through "formal expressions" instead of daily service to our world and the needs of one another in body, mind, and spirit.

In a daily meditation on January 17, 2016, Richard Rohr says that God's Love is "What Is Right in Front of You." "The God Jesus incarnates and embodies is not a distant God that must be placated. Jesus' God is not sitting on some throne demanding worship and throwing down thunderbolts like Zeus. Jesus never said, "Worship me"; he said, "Follow me." He asks us to imitate him in his own journey of full incarnation. To do so, he gives us the two great commandments: 1) Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-28). In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus shows us that our "neighbor" even includes our "enemy" (Luke 10:29-37).

So how do we love God? Most of us seem to have concluded we love God by attending church services. For some reason, we thought that made God happy. I'm not sure why. ... Jesus never talked about attending services, although church can be a good container to start with, and we do tend to become like the folks we hang out with. The prophets often portray God's disdain for self-serving church services. "The sanctuary, the sanctuary, the sanctuary" is all we care about, Jeremiah shouts (7:4). "I hold my nose at your incense. What I want you to do is love the widow and the orphan," say both Isaiah and Amos (Isaiah 1:11-17, Amos 5:21-24), as do Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Micah, and Zechariah in different ways. The prophetic message is absolutely clear, yet we went right back to loving church services instead of Reality. I believe our inability to recognize and love God in what is right in front of us has made us separate religion from our actual lives. There is Sunday morning, and then there is real life."

Marcus Borg, a theologian and author of many books, makes this point:

"To be faithful to God means not only to love God, but to love that which God loves—namely, the neighbor, and indeed the whole of creation. Faith as fidelitas thus includes an ethical imperative." (Marcus Borge, The Heart of Christianity - chapter 2)

"Speaking in the name of God and addressing the rich and powerful, Amos contrasts their worship of God with what God really wants:"...  "“Let justice roll down like waters” and “righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” are synonymous phrases. Justice and righteousness are not two different things, but the same thing. Justice is righteousness, and righteousness is justice." (Marcus Borg, Speaking Christian - chapter 12)

An acronym for CHURCH [Charitable Humanity Utilizing Resources Creating Hospitality] perhaps sums up the real point and place of "worship" for this 21st century.

Gerard A. Pisani, Jr.