One Sunday morning at church, I found myself positioned behind a giant of a man.  He was over a foot taller than I and about twice as wide.  Needless to say, his form took up most of my view.  It wasn’t annoying though as I could still see the worship lyrics and participate.

As the congregation was singing, I noticed that as I took a breath, the man in front of me was taking a breath too.  His entire bulking frame would expand noticeably.  Seeing his frame expand made me visually aware that we were breathing in unison.  I was amused by the thought that it appeared as if we were connected by some imaginary string.  Then the spiritual reality of this physical image dropped on me like a ton of bricks.  We truly are tied together invisibly!  We are joined in, by, and through the Holy Spirit in worship of our Lord and Savior.  In that moment it was as if I could actually see the invisible spiritual reality.  His voice, my voice, and everyone’s voices were rising together in the air, dancing and weaving themselves together to form a beautiful, living, breathing tapestry.  It was rising as an offering to God. 

Worshiping God in song is amazingly unifying.  All of us are focused on the same God, the same words, at the same pace, unified even to the point of breathing at the same time.  No wonder worshiping together is so powerful! 

This unity in worship should not be confused with uniformity.  There was diversity in the unity.  Voices were lifted in harmony, weaving into the melody.  The instruments added dimension to the tapestry.  Strings added a light and sweet strand.  The percussion added a course thread that provided texture.  The guitars provided a range of colors giving the tapestry dimension.  The piano danced in and out, up and down, tying all the fibers together.  It was beautiful.  It was alive.

But what about the person who cannot sing or play tunefully?  Does that not disfigure the weave?  Most certainly not!  True worship comes from the heart, not the voice or instrument.  Psalm 98:4 even encourages us to make a joyful noise to the Lord.  It’s like those disclaimer tags on handmade or individually processed items.  Have you seen them?  They typically state that any differences in size, color, or texture between products are not defects.  Instead, those irregularities are an indication of the distinctiveness and uniqueness of the product.  It’s what makes it special!

Our worship is like that as well.  What some may view as a defect is in fact what makes the worship experience more valuable.  Worship is not something that is perfectly mass produced.  It is unique, produced by human hearts.  If something made by human hands is valuable, how much more so worship crafted by the human heart; a heart touched by the Spirit! 

God does not desire perfection.  Newsflash!  He knows we are incapable of perfection.  He desires our participation.  God wants you to be involved with Him and with others.  Worship powerfully connects us with other believers.  When you worship, focus not so much on yourself, but your community, your family in God.  Worship together.  Create unique and beautiful fibers of worship together.  Let them weave and dance, rising as a beautiful offering to the Lord our God.

Below I have included a few scriptures about worship to revel in this week.  If you are able, please leave a note or insight in the comment field at the bottom.  Your comments provide so much more dimension to the posts!  I limit myself on how much I post each week, but there is so much more that can be said!

Psalm 98
Isaiah 42:10-13
Psalm 89:1-8
Ephesians 5:15-21
Psalm 149