M.O.D. - Worship

I've received much feed back about people's interest in my recent posting about coaching discipleship as "living W.O.R.S.H.I.P.", so I've promised to write seperate posts on each of the marks of discipleship in the acronym. This week's post is on the mark of worship.

Worship the living Lord always and everywhere.

That's the first mark of discipleship for those who follow Jesus. He is our living Lord. Holy Spirit empowers us to get involved in his mission of reconciling all things to his Father. In this trinitarian activity, we are welcomed into the glorious presence of God. Here, we find ourselves as God intends us to be -- in communion. This is true worship.

Our first core value for family ministries at St. Stephen the Martyr is that "worship is the source and goal of all we do." Worship is what the Christian life is all about. It begins with the community claimed by the bath and gathered at the feast. It continues throughout our days in serving our neighbors and loving our enemies, reconciling the world to God.

In cutting a coaching covenant, this is the one mark for which I initially encourage disciples to think about "inside" worship, because for so many of those who want to grow deeper in discipleship they are not already worshipping regularly with the gathered community. So we address this aspect first. If where I'm at now is that I worship periodically, then one step forward for me could be to worship twice monthly. If where I'm at now is that I worship regularly out of habit, then one step forward for me could be to worship joyfully with my whole self.

For disciples who already make the community's worship their top priority in giving shape to their whole lives, then I encourage them to covenant for worship beyond the gathered community, or "outside" worship. This doesn't mean looking for other times to worship with the gathered community throughout the week, i.e. Wednesday evenings, Lenten vespers, etc. -- though those are also important. Rather, disciples who seek to keep the main thing as the main thing can reflect upon how they can present their whole lives as a living worship. Where is my life out of sync with the communion of God? How are my relationships in disharmony from God's shalom?

We read in scripture that true religion is taking care of orphans and widows -- those neglected by society. How can we serve Jesus daily in such a way that values the neglected, that honors all people as God intends them to be? How can I live my worship by participating through Holy Spirit in Jesus' mission to reconcile the world to God?

These are the questions we ask ourselves when cutting a coaching covenant with disciples intent upon discerning how God is calling them to grow in their worship.