Living the Lyrics...a recent change

So not that anyone really noticed (except for maybe Erica), but I recently changed the blog description to "living the lyrics." I thought since I haven't posted anything in a while I would share a few brief thoughts about that phrase. Being that I am a worship pastor and music guy, I often think about the songs that we sing when we gather to worship together on Sundays(it would be really bad if I didn't carefully think about them). I am always careful to call this time "corporate worship," because I never want worship to be confused with just being a time, place, event, song set, etc. Worship happens during those times and believers worship together, but true worship is a lifestyle of loving God above all else. The phrase "living the lyrics" does intercept the lifestyle (individual worship) and corporate (public worship)that happens when we use music as a tool to worship together on Sundays.

Here is what I want to focus on though; do we as believers believe and live the words we sing on Sunday? Unfortunately I would say that one rarely "lives the lyrics." I know I have certainly failed to do that at times. I want to constantly keep my focus and priorities on God living a lifestyle of worship to Him. He is the only One worthy. Sometimes, even though we sing to the Lord, we do not mean what we are saying. In our corporate worship times our lives are not transformed, we leave unchanged. I would suggest that this is typically because it is not the One True God we are worshiping when we sing. We are just participating for the sake of the event.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to preach at Central. I spoke primarily on John 4 and worshiping in spirit and truth. Later I may try to link the audio to the blog in some way. Anyway in my prep for the sermon here is a quote by C.S. Lewis that I re-discovered.

"But God wills our good, and our good is to love Him, (with that responsive love that is proper to creatures) and to love Him we must know Him: and if we know Him, we shall in fact fall on our faces. If we do not, that only shows that what we are trying to love is not yet God--though it may be the nearest approximation to God which our thought and fantasy can attain."

How can we claim to be truly worshiping on Sundays if our lives during the week do not show Christ. Without private worship, there can be no public worship. So my charge is that we would not just sing empty words each week when we gather together, but that we would live the lyrics that we sing each day as we continue in worship. It is my desire that Erica and I would live the lyrics!

I love the end of Romans 11 and beginning of chapter 12. This section (Romans 11:33-12:1) is often referred to as the Romans Doxology. It is a spontaneous outburst of praise from Paul.  If you recall the previous chapters in Romans one can understand why Paul gets to this point. He had explained the essential doctrines of the Christian faith (justification through Christ's work on the cross, continued sanctification through the indwelling Holy Spirit, the confident expectation of one day being glorified in heaven with Christ, the realization that sin was defeated and one has a new life, the understanding that Christ's righteousness was not just applicable to the Jews but also the Gentiles, etc.). After this praise Paul explains something very important, that we are to be "living sacrifices" because this is our spiritual service (or act) of worship to the Lord. What a crazy term, "living sacrifice." Most of the time when I think of a sacrifice, it is dead, going to die, or fixing to be gone and done way with. But believers are called to be living sacrifices. That is they are to continue sacrificing themselves (dieing to themselves, their flesh, their desires) and living for Christ. He must increase, we must decrease. We are to continue in worship.....lets live the lyrics!

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
   How unsearchable his judgments,
   and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
   Or who has been his counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God,
   that God should repay them?”

For from him and through him and for him are all things.
   To him be the glory forever! Amen. 

 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 11:33-12:1