From Hosanna to the Heart of Worship

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
........“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
..............“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
...............(from today's New Testament reading-- Luke 11:37-40)

Mike Pilavachi tells of a time when his church was making the transition from renting a school to moving into their own a state of art (i.e. “expensive”) church building. It was an exciting time, but to him it seemed that something had been lost in their worship. After thinking about the problem, he decided, “We became connoisseurs of worship rather than participants.” They fell into the trap of critiquing worship rather than worshipping. They had state-of-the-art sound and lights, so they were constantly fussing with them. They had access to audiovisuals, so they tweaked and experimented. So Pilavachi got rid of their “order of worship.” He decided (with advance planning, one might assume) that everything would be spontaneous. People got into circles and shared prayers, readings. Songs were started by one group and were gradually picked up by other groups. When they stopped focusing on the worship event, they found the heart of worship.

The people in Jerusalem worshipped Jesus… with their words. These same voices only a week later latter would be screaming “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” As Jesus rode into Jerusalem admit the shouts of praise and outward signs of devotion, was he not struck by the difference between their words and their heart? I wonder if He is ever struck by that difference today? Can we give God our worship acts and our worship words without ever giving Him our hearts?

When the church mentioned above did finally go back to their normal order and routine of worship, they sung a song especially written by their worship leader Matt Redmond for the occasion, “The Heart of Worship.” The song is a powerful reminder of what gives our "Hosannas" real meaning--

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’ll bring you more than a song, For a song in itself
........is not what you have required

You search much deeper within, the way things appear,
........You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to the heart of worship—
........and it’s all about You, it’s all about You.

I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it—
........When it’s all about You, it’s all about You

God is calling us to the heart of worship. The heart of worship isn’t our songs, our order or even our preaching. It’s all about Him.