Worship

"God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and Truth." 

- John 4:24

"Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for He is gracious,
and a song of praise is fitting."
- Psalm 147:1

It was Sunday morning and the congregation of a small village United Methodist church was gathering for Sunday school and worship. Dewey was in their midst and in his usual jovial, spirited form. He always had a tale to tell and a laugh to share. It was time for the Sunday school assembly, and Mrs. Ritter's piano music ushered them in.

They opened with prayer and then an old favorite hymn. As usual, Dewey sang with great vigor and feeling. His singing was always loud, spirited and with gusto. He knew all the words to all the hymns, so he could sing unencumbered. There was only one problem. He could not carry a tune in a number three washtub. The old folks used to tell stories about the days before central heat and air, when the windows would be open in warmer weather. The village dogs would join in the chorus-howling when Dewey sang.

After the assembly, we would go to the Sunday school classes. There were two adult classes-the young adult class and the older adult class. Dewey went to the young adult class because he said he didn't want to go into the class with "all those old folks." Dewey was in his late 70s.

After Sunday school there was worship, of course. Once again Dewey sang to the Lord with exuberance. The church was only 75 feet from a railroad track. A train came through once while we were singing a hymn, and the only voice I could hear was Dewey's, but the train sounded better. I often wondered why someone didn't ask him to hush, but nobody ever did.

I remember being back at that church a few Sundays after Dewey died, and I missed his singing. There seemed to be  so little spirit in the worship. The praise seemed so weak and everybody there seemed to be older. Then I knew. It is not the tune that is the most important. It is a heart for God filled with the Holy Spirit bursting forth in a song of Praise!

--by Rev. Wayne Webster, Brookhaven Dist. Super., MS Annual Conference (Psalm 111:9)

God Is Still In Control!

Miss Lladale Carey
Web Content Producer
www.umcgiving.org
lcarey@umcom.org