1/24/25 Digesting the Word in Worship -Dave Hook

This first blog attempt is part blog, part lesson...
When it comes to crafting worship “flow," orders, and liturgy, I have had one foot planted in two different worlds. 
One foot is planted firmly in evangelical tradition, where the Word of God preached is the centerpiece of worship. However, within the last 25 years or so, my other foot has explored ancient church liturgy and worship practice. I have studied this form of worship through the writings of theologians, scholars, and church fathers and have seen this form of worship through the lens of a choral musician and guest keyboardist. Often, I slip away to a communion service at a local Episcopal, Lutheran or Catholic mass. Within the framework of this tradition, the Table of the Lord is central to the worship experience; I long to spend more time and energy worshipping the Lord in this manner and practice. When I catch glimpses of the early church in worship, it seemed as if they struck a balance between Word and Table (and music! more on that in a later blog).
I have sat through more than my share of sermons, most of which are at least 40-50 minutes long. I must confess that I often walk from the worship gathering still feeling spiritually malnourished and hungry for something more; and, like most people, I've placed most of the blame on the preacher/teacher. I don't think that's completely unfair. As an educator,I must say that many preachers/teachers would benefit from studying the various forms and ways people learn, process, comprehend, remember, and apply instruction. Furthermore, I have always wondered why those of us tasked with the ministry of the Word don't try harder to study how the most outstanding teacher of all taught. We could gain so much from patterning our delivery and approach after the parables of Christ and the greatest sermon ever - the Sermon on the Mount.
On the other hand, we could do more to hold our listeners accountable too. If the message/sermon is really the centerpiece of worship within the evangelical tradition-when the Lord speaks to us, confronts, calls, and corrects us. In that case, we must become much more intentional and careful to ensure that we are alert, focused, and listening to Him during the sermon, and even when a passage is read during worship.
A few weeks back, my church was coming to the end of a sermon series through the book of Nehemiah, and I was assigned to preach on Chapter 7. I entitled the message, "May It Be Said of Us." Now, anyone would look at that chapter and wonder how one could preach anything compelling and coherent. As I made my final edits and preparations, I asked myself, "how can I help people cooperate with the Spirit of God-what can we do to get them in a position to hear and respond? Especially with a passage that is challenging to glean anything from, much less preach on?"  I know I sound a little critical-it's not my intention, but I must say that, sometimes, evangelical preachers feel they aren’t doing their job if they only “tell the story.” We need to learn to teach people how to think about God's Word and not just what to think. I would challenge preachers to avoid the usual tendency towards rote exposition, fill-in-the-blank notes or alliteration-obsessed list-making (no, not a pet peeve with me at all).
Simply put-all of worship is prayer, and prayer in its simplest form is conversation. So, to put it into child-like terminology, the sermon is the primary time we listen to the Lord during worship. I think we all could learn to listen in a much more robust and comprehensive way. So, I crafted this simple (and slightly contrived) prayer for the people to recite and consider as they open the Word of the Lord and prepare to hear from Him. I think this embodies how we should always approach the ministry of the Word in our worship gatherings and personal times of study and prayer. As you pray this prayer, it may seem peculiar, but you might want to point to the specific part of your body mentioned in parentheses:
 

Spirit of God, I now give my attention to Your Word:


(head) Show me things I’ve never seen before and change my thinking. Help me to truly repent by changing how I think. May my thoughts be taken captive and made obedient to Christ.


(ear) Open my ears as You speak, Lord-your servant is listening. I want to know Your will.


(face) Confront and challenge me with the truth. Grant me the humility and courage to adjust my life according to Your Word. Your Word is truth.


(heart) Soften my heart and fill me with Your Spirit as my soul is nourished, and Your Word quenches my thirst- give me a heart that longs to obey Your commands.


(feet) Order my steps according to Your Word-may it be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Show me Your will.

Here are some practical tips might help us tune out the voices and noise that echo throughout the spaces in our minds each time we gather to worship Him. Worship should feel, sound, and operate differently than the other aspects of life; even more accurately, our everyday lives need to feel and sound more like our worship life (hey! here I go, making a list):
1. Go low tech - use a printed bible instead of an app. Use an actual paper journal - put the pads and devices down!

2. Stop and pray before you read or listen. Use the prayer I offered or one of your own. Keep a list of scriptures nearby (maybe the inside cover of your bible)-a few verses from the Psalms that focus on the Word of God (for instance, See Psalm 1, 25:4-7, or 119).

3. Respond verbally to moments of truth and statements you resonate with: "Yes," "Amen,"  or"That's the truth" - this isn't meant to draw attention to yourself or an just hyping the worship service up, and you don't have to lead a shout right in the middle of worship. When done appropriately and authentically, you will find yourself genuinely engaging your total being and entering into the biblical narrative, encouraging your pastor as he preaches, and inspiring the other worshippers to stay focused, too. Why do this, any educator will tell you that the more that you engage in learning, the more you retain -read it, hear it, respond to it, repeat it, apply it.

4. Don't just ask the Lord to show you His will for You—ask Him to show you His will, period. We tend to over personalize scripture and make the pursuit of God's will a "me and Jesus" matter. Instead, ask the Lord to show You Himself and His purposes, then show you how to adjust your life and thoughts so that you align with Him and join Him in His work.