Lifting Praise Together

"Lift up His name, with sound of singing; lift up His name in all the earth.  Lift up Your voice and give Him glory, for He is worthy to be praised."

Lyrics from "Holy, Holy" by Tim Hughes

I woke this morning to the lyrics of a song we sung as a congregation last Sunday in my mind.  It is lovely when God wakes us with a song in our hearts as we consider His goodness and faithfulness to us.  God enables us to praise and worship Him as we walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit, and this worship is manifested in many ways:  praying according to His will, personal choices, giving ourselves to Him and gathering as the Body of Christ.

When COVID restrictions ramped up last year and we were unable to meet in person, the sound team at our church worked to organise a live-stream of the sermon and recorded praise songs.  After churches were allowed to gather in person, we mused over whether it was wise to continue the live stream because it might serve as a poor substitute for meeting together with other believers.  A healthy Christian walk requires more than sound doctrine, for we cannot have true fellowship with God and one another should we remain isolated.  We decided to continue the live-stream because it was meeting a need for those who were unable to attend, and the rest we would leave it in the LORD's hands and the conscience of each one.

Recently I was thinking back on the church I attended in my youth and how people treated the time of worship as a sort of buffer before the sermon.  Because there were few in attendance the team would start a little later, and as people noticed the team starting later they would arrive later still.  Now I do not believe it is a sin to arrive late to church, but it is fitting to consider what your lifestyle says about your priorities.  There are things we are never late for:  your wedding, a job interview for our dream role, the HSC exam, when you are playing in the grand final, when you have tickets to your favourite live show, responding to a summons for court or an appointment.  The reality is none of these things are as important as the appointed hour to draw near to God in faith on a Sunday or whenever the Body of Christ gathers.  This gathering together is elevated far beyond any social duty, a spiritual discipline and exercise of grace.

Now these views may seem extreme, but there is no biblical support to overrule them.  Church attendance ought not to be used as a primary gauge for spiritual health.  Those who arrive early every week are not more righteous than one who sleeps in or must work and misses church entirely because both are born again by faith in Jesus.  Meeting together in obedience to God for fellowship with the saints is a great opportunity to serve, praise and glorify God together as one, to lift up His name with the sound of singing and open His word to hear what the almighty God says to us.  Those who miss church really miss out on the blessing of serving, ministering His truth to others and affording more opportunities for others to serve.  It is more blessed to give than to receive, yet how can one give unless one is there to receive it?  It is a blessing to receive from God all He supplies by His grace, for He is worthy to be praised.  Gathering in one accord is more important for a healthy Christian than for a deathly sick person to go to hospital.

As long as the church is comprised of human beings on this earth, some things will remain true:  people  will miss church, at times be late, and will avoid the front row like the plague.  But until our LORD Jesus gathers His church to Himself, let us continue to consider one another--those who have prepared lessons for the children, the worship team, those who greet, serve and pray.  Let us consider the lonely, the hurting and troubled souls among us as it is written in Hebrews 10:23-25:  "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."  We are a peculiar bunch to be sure, but we are Christ's, He is ours and we are one in Him.