How was worship today? Really?

Scripture passage that caught my attention today: Acts 13:2-3 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Observation: A prompting from the Holy Spirit came to them while they were worshiping (and fasting).

Application: “How was worship today?” is a question that I am sometimes asked by a relative at family gatherings. For some reason it always catches me a touch off-guard and I usually mutter something to the affect of “oh, it was good” and then go on to indicate whether the attendance was up or down and then we move on to another topic. I’ve never said something to the affect of:

“well today while we were worshipping it came to mind that we should send—let’s say, Jim and Sally—off to another part of our city to begin leading neighborhood Bible studies. And so we gathered around them in prayer, led them by a procession of cars to that part of town and dropped them off with joy and blessing.”

How was worship today, really? How do we approach it as leaders? How do we approach it as participants? Is there space in our worship, indeed in our hearts, for a prompting from the Holy Spirit?

In some traditions there is a point at the conclusion of formal worship where the leader says, “Our worship has ended, let the service begin” and the people respond, “thanks be to God!”

Or our bishop, when complimented on a sermon by a parishioner sometimes replies, “we’ll see.”

Maybe that’s the response that I should give my relative the next time I am asked, “Who was worship today?” We’ll see…

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your promptings from wherever they come. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Job 9-10 and Acts 13-14)