The
Musings 19
Wednesday,
January 30
Read:
Isaiah 6:1-9
Marthoma Church
and Chris Tomlin. What is the relationship between Marthoma Church and Chris
Tomlin. There is unique relationship between Christ Tomlin and our Church. With
praise and worship now becoming an integral part of worship now in almost all
the Marthoma church's in this part of the continent, it is Chris Tomlin who has
who has now become very synonymous with our worship and the songs used for
worship. On any given Sunday, I believe there may be a number of choirs or
praise and worship team who would be singing this Christian songwriter and
artiste songs. Chris Tomlin is in the news again this new year. Last week he
created a record of sorts. His new music album "Burning Lights" is
now on the top of Billboard 200 and this is only the fourth time in history
that a Christian music album has entered the chart at No. 1 position. More than
72,000 units of Burning Lights have been sold last week itself and with the
huge success of this music album, Chris Tomlin is being acclaimed by top national
media like The New York Times, USA Today and Billboard among many others. Last year was also very memorable for Chris
Tomlin because he had received his first Grammy Award for the Best Christian or
Gospel Album "And If our God Is For Us..". With his new album Burning Lights becoming a
huge hit, Chris Tomlin is launching his nationwide Burning Lights Tour, beginning
next month. But many of the youngsters
do not know that some of the songs that they sing during worship, or youth
meetings are songs written by Chris Tomlin. Some of the famous Chris Tomlin
songs that we sing and some which I personally like are the following. 1. We fall down:. A meaningful song that teaches us
that all that we have is a gift of God and hence all we have received needs to
be laid down in his feet..2. Give
us Clean Hands:. This
is another wonderful song, which conveys the message of that only when God
transforms us, we become holy and pure. 3.
Unchanging [ Great is your Faithfulness]: The faithfulness of God is what
the song stresses and the words of the songs are the promises that God gives to
each one of us. 4. Your Grace is Enough:
This is also a beautiful song which emphasizes that it is God's grace that help
us to stand victoriously and live faithful Christian lives. 5. How Great is Our God: I think this is the best song. A
wonderful song that reminds us that God is always worth of praise for who He is
and for all wonderful work of His hands.
There are also other songs like Indescribable, Holy is the Lord, Better is One Day,
Wonderful Cross and Unfailing love to name some of the other songs that is huge
hit among the youngsters today. What is so amazing about Chris Tomlin and his
songs is that the words of the songs are very simple, but has very deep and
profound meaning in each of the lines of the song which creates a sense of awe,
hope and unknowingly pulls us into the mood of worship as we sing those songs.
One of the drawbacks that sometimes happens when we come to worship as
community of believers in the Marthoma church's is that sometimes the clergy who leads the
worship does not prepare the
congregation to an experience of worship. It is very common to find in
most of the parishes where, the achen just come out of the altar at the
appointed time and then he announces " We will begin our worship by
singing ..........". This is it. The congregation stands and just sings
the songs sometimes as casual, as the casual talk that they did with the person
sitting next to them in the pews before the beginning of the worship. It is in
such a context that song like holy is the Lord, or give us clean hand or how
great is our God slowly bring us to the awareness, that we are in the presence
of God and that worship is something that we should take seriously. Worship is
worship only when it in truth and in submission to the power of the Holy Spirit.
I think this is the change that we need to incorporate in our life; Our attitude and our perception of worship.
It is in Isaiah 6 that
we find some of the important concepts of what worship should be like. Here
from V: 1-9, Isaiah sees a vision of worship. According to the new covenant
that God made with his people, God's temple in heaven is the centre of worship
[ Revelation 11: 1, 19]. It is in this context and meaning that altar or
madhbaha in the Marthoma church's have significance. Here in the passage we
find that Isaiah encounters God and he hears his voice of calling and
commission. One of the first objective when we gather for worship is to consciously
come to a feeling or experience that " I need to encounter God through
worship". It is this objective that helps us to adore God just as the
seraphs were adoring God in heavenly places by saying, "Holy Holy Holy is
the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of glory" [ Iss 6: 3]. But when
we encounter God through worship what happens to us is that, God convicts us of
our sins. In the vision of Isaiah we find the prophet proclaiming that "
Woe to me, I am ruined, For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen
the King, the Lord Almighty" [ Iss 6: 5]. Conviction of who I am and the
changes and the transformation that is needed in our life is what happens when
we encounter God, as we adore Him for what He is. One of the changes that we
all need to do as we worship is the change and transformation that needs to
happen. For many of the believers worship is just another emotional experience,
an experience where you feel some emotional happiness as you sing some of
praise and worship songs. But Isaiah teaches us that if we are not convicted of
our sin through worship, and if change
and transformation does not take place in the life of the believer, then
worship loses its true meaning and significance. In the following verse we also
see that Isaiah is cleansed of his sin; when the seraph touches his mouth with
a tong of live coal stating "Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned
for" [Is 6: 7]. Once Isaiah has been forgiven of his sin, we find Isaiah
being commissioned by God to go to his people. I think along with ones
conviction of ones sin, what is needed through our corporate worship is also
the assurance of the forgiveness of ones sins and then going out into the world
as commissioned Christians to live as faithful Christians and also to lead a
life of witness in the areas that God set us in the week days. It is these
aspects that we need to incorporate as we come for worship rather than
converting our worship into just another ritual, or a monotonous recitation of
prayers of adoration, confession and commission. Until we are transformed and
are ready to be commissioned by God to be a witness in our daily life and
living, whatever be the forms of worship, liturgical or free worship, worship
degenerates to just another ritual or just some emotional experience for a
limited time and in a particular space. Let us move to a more true and comprehensive
understanding of worship even as we sing
songs of Chris Tomlin during worship.
