And he to whom worshipping is a window, to open but also to shut, has not yet visited the house of his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn. -Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
There is something about the wayward coming sunshine of spring that inspires an attitude of worship. In this, of all seasons, I find that contemplation of God’s wonder comes unexpectedly and naturally. Whether I am planting the first seeds in the garden or wading in the trout stream for the first time or simply driving with the car window down, I am easily inclined to praise God, to approach some semblance of Paul’s lofty command to “pray without ceasing”(1 Thess. 5: 17). The worship of God comes easily in moments of sunshine and peace, the “windows” of our soul are easily thrown open. The truth of the matter is though that our worship of God is not supposed to be a transient practice, it is supposed to be the core of our existence; it is something we should do whether it comes easily or not.
I hope you come to church to worship God and to be together with a community of others who are doing likewise. Especially in winter times when the windows do not open easily or without cost, there is great value in being surrounded by the body of Christ. We are a community that worships God together but Sunday morning is not the only time we need to worship. It is my hope that all of us go out of the doors after worship refreshed, energized, inspired and ready to continue to worship the Lord at all times. Our ministry, our witness, our identity as Christians will be formed by how much or how little we worship the Lord. Worship, above all the other things the church does, is the central activity of our faith.
When we come to view worship as a discrete activity that begins at 11:00am and ends at Noon (well sometimes it ends at Noon), then we have put ourselves in the position of confining God to an all too narrow time slot in our lives. If we view worship as a window that we can open and shut at will we are missing the point. God is our Creator and our sustainer, “In Him we live and move and have our being,” (Acts 17: 28). Take this seriously people; you can have wealth, power, fame, all the things of the world but if the windows of your soul are shut to God you are not really living in a spiritual sense. The goal of life is to be as open to God as possible; in that openness you will experience joy. We are created to be open to God’s presence; it is sin and stubbornness that shuts the windows in the “house of our soul.” Our windows are intended to be “from dawn to dawn,” which means they are always open and always facing God ready to receive His light.
Don’t you feel it? When you open the windows of your physical house, don’t you feel the sunlight and the fresh air come in and allow everything around you to breathe? If fresh air revives the vitality of a home, how much more will keeping the windows of your soul open to God’s Holy Spirit (in both Greek and Hebrew the words for spirit and for breath and wind are the same). To shut the portals into which the breath and spirit of God can enter your life seems a self-destructive form of madness. To confine or limit our ability to worship God is like depriving us of the very air we need to breathe. Windows let in air and light, throw open the windows in the house of your soul and let God come in.
Grace and Peace, Rev. Mark
