Finding our worship "voice"

I just came from Wednesday night classes at Friendly Ave.  I am always so blessed to be with friends doing what all of us love: singing.  I am truly blessed to be part of a community of believers that is discovering how everyone has a different voice in worship settings.  While my true voice is singing, I have found that there are many others around me that have various talents given to them by God that are equally beautiful and glorify the Creator in ways I would have never recognized until recently.

About a month ago my wife, Valerie, and another sweet, Godly woman, Amy, put together an event called "Created: Reclaiming the Arts for His Glory."  The idea was to call people to worship in a totally unexpected way by allowing them to share their passions dedicated to the Lord.  Of course we had singing, both instrumental and some really great acapella.  But we also enjoyed a good friend, Renee, demonstrating how to make sweet bread.  She shared how she thinks of various scriptures relating to the bread and prays over those she plans to deliver it to.  We also saw Randy's collection of wooden bowls.  He explained that he makes the exquisite bowls from the pieces of wood that are always discarded due to their hardness, knotty textures, and lack of wide appeal.  Then he shared how making something so beautiful from the wood others regarded as throw-aways made him understand the way we must be seen by God.  Outstanding!  We were also treated to Prince's reading of traditional African poetry, Rachel's commentary of her "Gray Hair Talking" video about losing her grandson (her YouTube channel has subscribers in over 40 countries!), and Valerie's interpretive reading of "God's Trombones."  I never knew a white, middle-aged mother of two could deliver an African-American sermon quite so well.  Lastly, I laughed until I was out of breath at the teens and college students who presented a drama entitled, "A Bad Day."  It was an evening I will remember for some time.

All these talents got me to wondering: how many talents must we be completely unaware of that God is just waiting to bless us with through those who are so often overlooked?  Planning our worship time outside the boxes we have imposed for many hundreds of years is often scary and seems almost sacreligious.  I have been challenged in recent days to see beyond the orthodox approach to worship -- beyond the status quo into the realm of possibilites God has waiting for us to be blessed by if we could just open our eyes to the silent greatness He has created all around us in each other.  I mean, isn't that the purpose of the Church?  Aren't we here to spur each other on and find strength and beauty in those who are called to be His children?  I am sure there are those who may be afraid that this kind of thinking could lead to disorder and even more of a stage show than a worship service, but I am finding that there is nothing more worshipful than to see God working through the lives of those He has called to discipleship through the ordinary in extraordinary ways.  In the end no worship could be more true and honorable than witnessing His ability to pull us from the discard pile and create something beautiful by whittling away the ugliness into something of indescribable wonder.

Peace