Robert Austell is Pastor of Good Shepherd Presbyterian in Charleston, SC. I have a lot of admiration for him: he's a pastor, musician, and is currently writing his D.Min. dissertation at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte on the subject of music and worship.
Robert and I struck up friendship online, and I threw him a bone I knew he would want to chew on: What is the most surprising thing you've learned about worship?
It isn't difficult to find a Biblical basis for saying we were made for worship. And that is plenty to try to wrap our minds around. But what completely boggles my mind and continues to humble me is that God has chosen to allow us to participate in the eternal worship of Heaven and the inner life of the Father, Son, and Spirit. We are not just spectators to divine worship, but are invited through Jesus to add our voices to the chorus, yield our hearts in loving submission, and carry forth the life-giving news of God's gracious love. And even where, in our humanness, our worship falls far short, the Holy Spirit binds us to Christ, through whom our feeble acts of faith, hope, and love are presented lovingly (and perfectly) to the Father. It is no wonder that Paul gushes without pause through the first chapter of Ephesians, for while life from death is far more than we deserve or frankly could imagine, God has poured out grace after grace in an unimaginable overflow of love. The more I glimpse all that worship signifies, the more profoundly humbled I am.
(Visit Robert at his blog)
