139 -- The Blessing

Sunday in Godsfield -- Worship Without Borders

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Thy praise.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.

Worshipping without borders, which is a contemporary turn of phrase, as far as I know, does not have credence because it is clever or new, but because it reflects the old, the solid, the True.

It does not mean anything goes, but rather, that nothing separates God's people from one another when worship it focused on the Lord. 

Where we have borders of doctrine, God has declarations of love.

Where we use traditions -- long-standing and new -- God uses His Word, His Spirit to break through to new ways of showing and knowing what has always been.

Where we use denomination to create distinction -- and even "non-denomination" is a denomination -- God uses tongues of flame to reach every nation, every language, every culture, for there is no distinction, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

To worship without borders is to turn our faces to Jesus, and with lips that are opened, to declare His praise.

Yesterday was a Godsfield day, beginning with an inspiring testimony by 26-year old Kamryn Babb, whose four ACL knee tears and recovery, coupled with one moment of football glory at Ohio State, combines to bring attention to Jesus, because of that journey.  The one pass, one touchdown career gives Kamryn attention that he has placed in the arms of his Lord, with the prayer, "O Lord, open my lips...."

It involved the Greek festival at the Orthodox Church, with a bishop in the Church of Latter Day Saints, and concluded with a baccalaureate service for Crestview graduates, with 15 percent of the class attending with their families, who will attend at least 10 different churches this morning.

And it involved me getting ready for Pentecost Sunday services at a Lutheran church and a Disciples of Christ church. 

At the Crestview service, one of the worship leaders led us singing a song that inspired her when she first heard is, at the beginning of the pandemic -- "The Blessing," which has a remarkable Spirit-grounded story about its creation and timing.

And yet this contemporary song uses the words that God gave Moses to tell Aaron to confer upon the Israelites, nearly 4,000 years ago; a blessing that has had no borders, offered to this day in Israel; pronounced weekly in every liturgical congregation from the earliest church; embraced on worship occasions in gatherings throughout the kingdom, in every culture, century and continent; that Jesus himself no doubt spoke to his disciples many times, the words of the Lord speaking the Word of the Lord, as the living Word himself.

Speak that this morning to your family, your worship community, and hear it from the source of all blessings -- your Creator. Let the Lord open your lips to declare His praise:

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Amen.