In the last post, I had mentioned the word INVITATION quite a few times and so I thought it might be good for me to expound on the idea of INVITATION and how it has really shaped me.
If at its core, worship is a response… and I believe this statement to be true with all my heart, then I think every one of us needs to wrestle with the question, “A response to what…and how exactly?” We could just say that our worship flows out of our hearts, as a response to all that God IS and all that God DOES and that would be absolutely correct! However, I think there is richness when we dive into the details of who God is, what He’s like and all that He’s said and done!
As I said in the outset, one of the realities that has really shaped the way I have worshiped privately, and have tried to lead publicly over the years is the idea of INVITATION. Seeing God as a God of INVITATION behind all that He is and what He’s done has really helped me in my thinking of worship as response, and how I should then lead others to respond. Maybe I would say it this way…
worship is what flows from our hearts as we continually respond rightly to invitation from God.
In Matthew 22 we read Jesus’ Parable of the Wedding Feast, where He compares His Kingdom to a king sending out an INVITATION to a wedding celebration. We read that having been ignored by the original invitees, the INVITATION goes out to everyone else that would come!
I guess the question for us is, what have we been invited to, how do we respond and how does it shape our worship? To see God through the lens of INVITATION is to go right to the beginning and start with fresh eyes…
From the very beginning of creation God has extended the INVITATION for all of creation to reflect His glory and goodness. Mankind was invited into the perfection of God’s creation in order to worship and enjoy their creator. Even after the fall we see the whole of the Old Testament as God’s continual INVITATION to His people, where he makes ways for them to continue to enjoy Him and experience His goodness, despite their fallen-ness. To see God from this framework shatters the false narrative that the God of the Old Testament is just vindictive, angry and upset.
Furthermore, we see the greatest cosmic INVITATION of all, through Jesus! God WITH us, God COME to us. Through His life, death and resurrection, we have been extended the INVITATION to find freedom from ourselves, peace with the Father and life in The Spirt. This is the Gospel! In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus Himself invites us to follow Him and to find rest for our souls as we do.
As the church is born, we see the INVITATION continue! The INVITATION to mission (to become inviters ourselves) and the INVITATION to walk in this new life by what we call the means of grace (See the last post). We are invited to discover life in the Holy Spirit, the adventure of living to spread the gospel, the power of prayer, the transforming nature of scripture, the deep joy of diving into gospel-centered community and the riches of leaning into the never-ending well of God’s grace. And then we are invited to extend this INVITATION to others! This has been so helpful for me as a worship leader.
More and more, I see my job as a worship leader to simply extend God’s INVITATION to be worshiped and enjoyed. More than anything I want people to find joy and satisfaction in God’s presence as we corporately worship. However, my desire to see them find that joy can never come from a place of demanding or frustration. I’m not the Holy Spirit and so all I can do is let worship flow from my own heart and continue to encourage and invite others to join, just as God has pursued me with INVITATION.
Are there people in your life you long to see experience the Gospel and the freedom found in Jesus? People you long to see become worshipers? Friends? A spouse? A son or daughter? Family members or maybe a coworker? Maybe these thoughts will help. Continue to graciously invite as God has graciously invited you. Avoid frustration, demands and weariness. Trust in the Holy Spirit and just extend INVITATION!
If worship is a response to what we have received and what has been revealed…from God and by God, then a people that are overwhelmed by the goodness and glory of His INVITATION, and are answering that INVITATION will produce overflowing hearts resounding with WORSHIP!
