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Defining
Worship
by
Adam Davidson
One
of my favorite big theological words is
"Omnipresence", because it sounds more
impressive to describe this quality of God than it is to
say something along the lines of "God is, you know,
like...everywhere". Maybe it needs to be a big word
due to the fact that God really is all over the place --
every square millimeter of the globe, every planet, and
every galaxy can rightfully boast that "God is
here". This factoid is much harder to understand
than, oh, I don't know...cake. I can comprehend eggs and
flower. What I will never understand is that God's
omnipresence puts him above matter, time, and space; yet
he calls me to worship Him. In fact, God pursues me. He
wants me to stop, turn around, and get caught! He wants a
relationship --- he desires my worship. Of all the places
He can be (you know...like, everywhere) and all the things
he can do (read "omnipotent"), he chooses us. He
chooses me.
The
big question therefore is will I choose him? Will this
monopresent creation respond to the Holy call of the
Omnipresent Creator? If the answers is in the affirmative,
then I must realize that my appropriate response to God
(Worship) is nothing short of amazing. Worshipping God is
the most important things that I will ever do. It will go
on forever and yet it is momentary; my worship is tied
down to a certain time and place.
Based
on this, I would like to make two meager observations:
1.
Since God is everywhere all the time (Omnipresence) and I
am here in the now (monopresence), I have to realize that
it is only by God's incredible Grace that I can know Him.
Jesus literally stepped down so that I could know up (see Philippians
2:5-11)
2.
This means that I, as a worshipper, don't create worship.
I am, instead, defined by my worship. The rule of prayer
is the rule of faith. How I respond to Omnipresence speaks
volumes of my understanding of who I am and where I'm at
in this whole thing called "now". If I choose to
Worship God through Christ, or if I choose to worship
God's creation (there is no in-between), then I am defined
by my worship as either one who realizes God's
Omnipresence or one who forsakes it.
Humans
will never fully be able to define worship. Cake? Sure.
But not worship. What we can do is make a pretty solid
definition of ourselves predicated on how we respond to
God. He is everywhere. God's presence cannot be conjured
up; that would be redundant. The question (again)
is...will I respond to Him, and, more specifically, will I
respond to Him always? My answer to this question says
more about me than anything else ever could.
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Adam
Davidson is a husband (to Emily), father (to Alexis),
and serves as Worship Pastor at CrossRoads Church in
Temperance, MI. www.adamdavidson.net
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