Image by B A Bowen Photography via Flickr
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Psalm 95: 1 - 7
This and three previous texts are meant to illustrate, as far as CTE is concerned, 'The Unity of God's People'. I find these texts rather unconvincing. I don't find nationhood theologically helpful and the last two, whilst moving onto more helpful ground, don't really lead me anywhere meaningful.
This last text in the sequence presumably invites us to see Christians worshipping the same God together. The (Jewish) community for whom this was written will have found this helpful, they were a real, not metaphorical, nation.
When I read this in the context of unity, it reminds me of our divisions. This is one kind of worship for one kind of people. It is not my worship or any other Christian's. The ways in which we worship tend to divide us. From disagreement about what constitutes a good hymn (or song) through to the politics surrounding the eucharist, worship divides.
The frog croaks, the bird sings. We don't believe their prayers are devalued because we like the noise of one but not of the other. We worship according to our dispositions. Genuine worship is accepted by God, whatever it is. The problem is where we find we cannot enter whole-heartedly into another's worship. But is it so difficult to find at least a little common ground?
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