To groan from the weight of the world

Groan:
1. A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief:
2. A deep, inarticulate sound uttered in derision, disapproval, desire, etc.
3. A deep grating or creaking sound due to a sudden or continued overburdening, as with a great weight

In a church in England, the congregation gave up worship music as they had known it. The pastor of the church became tired of the complaints and struggles about different worship styles, so he did something radical. He dismissed the band and the sound system and would only allow a cappella songs to be sung. His point was that they had lost their way in music worship and the way to get back would be to strip everything away. In the words of the pastor to his congregation, “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?”

The songwriter and worship leader of the church, Matt Redman said, “Before long, we reintroduced the musicians and sound system, as we’d gained a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus, and He commands a response in the depths of our souls no matter what the circumstance and setting. ‘The Heart of Worship’ simply describes what occurred.”

When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come / Longing just to bring something that’s of worth that will bless your heart… / I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, Jesus

Music should not make or break a Sunday morning. If it does, then there is something else wrong. Sure, it feels good to be filled up on a Sunday morning, but in its essence, church is to give back to Him who gives us His all. It should be an outpouring of our love and gratefulness to a God who loves us like no other. If the message is sound and the doctrine lines up, then we should simply come.

To me, a church with two worship styles, like traditional and contemporary, is akin to two denominations under the same roof, never to meet. A blended worship brings both sides together to worship the same God. The traditional gives us a chance to praise and worship the God who Is. More often than not, it is written with scriptural words, straight from the Bible. It becomes our chance to pour our hearts out to God as a body. Contemporary music helps us to better relate on a personal one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ. Both together, if accepted and acknowledged, can become a mountain top, precipice experience.

Despite what one may think, especially in today’s society, church should not be, at its essence, a consumer experience. If the Lord has brought you to a church, then it’s there you belong. If you have felt God’s presence there, or felt His glory in the place, then you are where you belong. Of course, always line up the teachings and the songs with scripture to measure the truth of the service. But, having done that and finding truth, if you are ‘feeling’ disgruntled with the music, then you must pray through that and ask God to show you how to worship Him with what music He has given His instrument to play.

We give our money to church not because we are ‘paying’ for an experience. We give our money because God has mandated it be so. We give to God because He has given much to us. By no means should we control our purse strings by our selfish desires.

In this day, a Christian’s heart should cry to bursting with the desire for unity among the brethren. It should be the opposite of living for ourselves in this day. Peter pleaded with the people of Jerusalem, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” And our pleading should sound the same. We have to banish the thought that worship is a means to make us happy, or tickle our ears.

And, in addition, the Christian worshipper has the Spirit interceding for them. He knows that no matter what the style of music, we are still singing it from this earth rather than at the foot of the throne of God. I am convinced that the Spirit takes our worship and pours it out for us as an offering, which is all we have to offer back to the God who gave us the breath to sing in the first place. It would be good for all of us to remember that we show God love by our obedience.

Read and hear what the apostle Paul has to say about the Spirit and groaning,

“Meanwhile, [when we are weak], God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves…and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Romans 8.26-28 The Message.

But do not just take it from me; allow an evangelist from the 1800’s, John Darby, add his commentary:

“What a sweet and strengthening thought, that when God searches the heart, even if we are burdened with a sense of the misery in the midst of which the heart is working. He finds there, not the flesh, but the affection of the Spirit; and that the Spirit Himself is occupied in us, in grace, with all our infirmities: What an attentive ear must God lend to such groans!”
“The Spirit, then, is the witness in us that we are children, and thereby heirs; and He takes part in the sorrowful experience that we are linked with creation by our bodies, and becomes the source of affections in us, which express themselves in groans that are divine in their character as well as human, and which have the value of His own intercession. And this grace shews itself in connection with our ignorance and weakness. Moreover, if after all we know not what to ask for, we know that everything works together under God's own hand for our greatest good.”

There will never be a church that can be one hundred percent perfect, just as most are not satisfied completely with their jobs, houses, or bodies. Nothing will be perfect this side of heaven. In another church, the music may be sound but the instrument may be broken.

I know first hand the struggles in worship styles. God fills my heart with song and I pour my heart out to Him with song and word. However, I know that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people, regardless the style. And the idea of singing hymns with the likes of David and the pillars of our faith that came after him makes my heart beat a little faster. Sure, I struggle to be comfortable with raising my hands in praise with hymns, but I have found I cannot keep them down regardless.

It all boils down to what we are looking for when we come to church to worship on Sundays. Are we looking for something to satisfy our carnal natures, or are we willing to change and adapt in order to find harmony and unity amongst one another? All God’s children need to be singing “Alleluia, He reigns.”

In the words from a hymn written in 1758 by Robert Robinson, a minister-

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love

“In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” 2 Timothy 2:20-21

(for Matt Redman's outlook on worship, read this! It's pretty incredible!)
http://www.mattredman.com/?page=reflections&id=19&offset=9