How we love to laugh at ourselves! A joke frequently told in parts of the upper midwest USA that exposes its Scandinavian heritage is, “Did you hear about the Norwegian who loved his wife so much that he almost told her?” (You could put Swede, German, or any other Northern European group in there.) Yes, we Scandinavian and Germanic folk are known to be a somewhat emotionally reserved. Some would say we are emotionally constipated! Granted, we are not a little reticent about open public displays of affection. We were taught early on to guard the expressions of our hearts.
Unfortunately, this cultural attitude creeps into our attitude and expressions of worship towards God. Our definition of worship done ‘in decency and order’ means in an acceptable fashion to our cultural tastes; something that does not move one out of his or her comfort zone. At the same time, we can look across the great diversity of God’s kingdom and see many expressions of worship that draw upon our hearts: southern gospel, urban gospel, African American gospel, not to mention the other diverse styles and types of worship around the world. If you were to sit through a Latin American or African church worship service, the sight and sounds would be a lot different than a typical upper midwest USA service.
Never mind cultural flavors in worship, the Bible describes worship as “bowing low, kissing another’s feet, expressing adoration.” Simply, worship is the love language of the worshipper. How much do you love the One you worship? That will indicate the level of your extravagance in displaying your love to the object of your love. Now, I am not talking about weirdness. Neither am I talking about expressions that draw attention to the individual worshipper instead of to the Lord. True worship points to and gives focus toward God only.
Opening Rose Bud, Bush House Gardens, Salem, Oregon, 2009 ©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)
The book of The Song of Solomon is an extravagant display of affectionate words and actions between two lovers. To real conservative people, it comes across as being ‘over the top.’ When I was a poor Bible college student, I wanted to show the girl I was interested in how much I cared for her. On Valentine’s Day, singing groups on campus would deliver Singing-grams with a carnation. So, I used the last of my pocket change to have a group deliver a carnation and sing, “You Light Up My Life” (Yes, I’m THAT old!). I wanted to do something extra special to show how much I cared for her. (Unfortunately, I later learned it was a song she hated! Oops. Well, she married me later anyway. Some things are forgivable.)
Two stories of Scripture that have always captured my imagination are found in 2 Samuel 6 and Luke 7. In both of these cases, something extravagant was done to worship the Lord. In 2 Samuel, David “wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might…with shouts and the sounds of trumpets.” David’s worship, along with “the entire house of Israel,” before the Lord was an extravagant celebration of his love for God. Michal, David’s wife and the daughter of Saul, was embarrassed by David’s unbecoming conduct and “despised him in her heart.”
David’s response to Michal was not to gain her approval! He told her, “It was before the LORD…I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes…” I have to admit that I cannot recall a time in my spiritual journey where I would call my worship of God “undignified” or something that caused me to be “humiliated”. Still, it this proposal by David challenges me and prods me. Have I ever allowed my worship of the Lord to become that extravagant? I am more like Michal, I am afraid, than David.
In Luke 7, a story unfolds that is recorded in all four gospels. It is the record of a single worshipper at the feet of Jesus. This was not a ‘religious person.’ Far from it, it was “a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town.” In other words, she was the town prostitute and everyone knew it. While Jesus reclined at a religious leader’s table eating dinner, this sinner came up behind at his feet weeping profusely. Using her tears to wet Jesus’ feet, she then took her long, beautiful hair (the object of her glory and dignity in her culture) and washed them clean. Next, she kissed his feet tenderly and took the alabaster jar of perfume she brought (worth more than a year’s wages – $28,000 in today’s terms) and poured all of it on his feet, rubbing it in carefully to anoint them. The aroma of her perfume filled the whole room.
What an amazing picture of extravagant love openly displayed before others. Of course, not everyone could appreciate such worship. Some, like the Pharisee, were put off by the woman’s reputation and ‘over the top’ self humiliation. It was undignified! In the other Gospel accounts, one of Jesus’ disciples was bothered by what appeared to him to be a waste of money, time, and effort. Jesus stopped all those who looked down their noses at her by asking, “Who loved more?”
As forgiven and redeemed sinners, we should appreciate more than anyone extravagant worship and displays of lavish love for our Lord and Savior. He has forgiven us for so much. He has given us so much. Yet, if you are like me, we have grown uncomfortable around others who openly display their adoration of God in song, dance, and shouts of joy. Early 20th century Pentecostals were especially known for their extreme acts of worship. They did not earn the name “holy rollers” for nothing! However, a tame “Jericho march” would throw many worshippers into a tail spin today.
What Michal saw as “undignified” and “humiliated” was for King David a celebration of his love of God. Both David and the sinful woman worshipped and displayed their extravagant love publicly, not in private. Does the world around us know how much we love the Lord? Is public thanks and love to God expressed from our lips daily and on every occasion we get to give it? Or, are we afraid that we will appear “undignified” and be “humiliated” because we appear so radically in love with the God who forgave us and blessed us with his salvation?
If worship is the love language of the worshipper, do others know that we are in love with our Redeemer, the Lover of our soul, and the ‘fairest of ten thousand?’ It might be time to let the secret out and let others know.
©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)
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