Real worship can happen anywhere

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 24 September 2004 08:33:46

For the first time in ages I felt like I had worshipped God, and it happened in the middle of a funeral. I didn't mime some Hillsong version of personal happiness. I didn't try really hard to think of good things to say about God in order to learn to worship through it's practice. I simply had a profound sense that God was above all else, and his plans will prevail.

We sung the grand old hymn How Great Thou Art. And I felt exactly, "'Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!" I'm finding it hard to find the words, but I was aware I had surface feelings, and yet deeper still within me, my soul was responding to God.

When I thought of the greatness of God I cried, (which is of course perfectly acceptable at a funeral.) We sang on, "And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;" I felt pain that the dear person sitting next to me doesn't want to believe it, while the dearly departed was singing in heaven, "Christ has come, with shouts of acclaimation to take me home, what joy has filled my heart!"

Over at a Heartbreaking work of staggering tiredness fishsoup has been blogging about her non-hand waving feelings whilst being amoungst the Christians of the shout-thank-you-Jesus variety. I saw said Christians at the funeral. As we sang the hymn "How great thou art," and as my silent tears dropped onto my hymn sheet, and I not so silently sniffed my nose, I saw the person in front of me bopping to the music, then catch the eye of her pentecostal-megachurch variety Christian friend across the room. She mimed conducting the band, winding them up for the crescendo. They were having a great time. I trust that as our worship reached the heavens, God smiled at both of us.
God, your kingdom come. Let there be love, acceptance, forgiveness and unity on earth.