upper room daily devotions

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Postures During Worship

My children's sermon today was about postures in worship and how there are three basic postures in worship that are utterly different from the rest of life.

The first posture is a subordinate posture - to sit at the foot of a master. Worship is to sit at the foot of a teacher or even God and to listen eagerly and yet patiently. The second posture is the posture of prayer. In the West that posture has been head down, neck exposed - a posture of complete trust that the one whose presence you are in will not harm you, but will welcome you. And the third posture is the posture of receiving. Arms in front and open. For people more used to earning than receiving, this posture can be quite difficult to maintain. We want to fix, make right, do, be in charge, opt out, and do every other thing except receive. To receive is a vulnerable thing - what if someone revokes the gift? The challenge is to trust the divine one enough to know that the gift cannot and will not be revoked. The gospel was the story of Mary and Martha - Mary at the feet, Martha unable to lose her distractions and see the holy before her.

My word for today: accept what is handed, especially the good stuff.

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