I love the opportunity to worship in an international
church. We were privileged yesterday to
worship at Basel Christian Fellowship in Switzerland. People from various nations and backgrounds
gathered around Christ as Lord. Meeting in the chapel of a retirement home,
they come together to worship. While
their native tongues are often something other than English, the service is in
English and thus becomes the lingua franca for worship.
Yet even English has its differences. Very early in the worship the pastor called
us to be upstanding for the first hymn.
For one brief moment I thought he was calling us to high ethical
standards. But the context told me he
was asking us to stand up. That brief
moment caused me to shut off my auto pilot and engage in the service as it
unfolded. It is the reason I often will
read passages in translations other than the one I use primarily. It forces me to slow down and stop reading
over the top of the story or ideas being communicated.
Being told to join together in upstanding forced me to think
about what I was doing in worship. Oh,
that this same intentionality would be my weekly experience in my own
culture. How many times have I gotten
deep into the worship service before I realize I am there to worship. My mind has taken several excursions by
then. When I get back to the U.S. I hope
to have an “upstanding” moment every week in which I am quickly called to check
back in to worship and turn off the cruise control.
Whether it’s a call to be upstanding or simply a call to
worship, my desire is to engage in worship from its beginning and stay engaged
to its conclusion. May we all be
upstanding every time we join with other believers to honor God through our
worship.