Broken Worship
Broken Worship (Special Thanks to Rev. Ronna Swartz)
1 Corinthians chapter 15
Rev. Ronna Swartz was leading worship for a leadership team at an upcoming retreat. Holy Communion is an important part of the retreat and Ronna wanted to do her part to make the service meaningful. Several people on the team experienced particularly difficult situations so Rev. Swartz wanted to offer God’s hope amid their hardship.
Ronna picked up the cup holding grape juice, symbolizing the atoning blood of Christ and served each person on the team. After setting the cup back on the table, she turned to face the group and brushed her hand against the cup just enough to knock it to the floor where it shattered, splattering juice everywhere. “This is a preacher’s nightmare!” said Ronna. Team members were stunned, and worship was forgotten.
Despite our best efforts, worship is still an all too human response to God’s impact on our lives. Musicians make mistakes. Preachers babble on and on. Babies cry at inopportune times. We could stay at home and watch a better performance online. Why commit to worship at a local church? What difference does it make? For the answer as the late Paul Harvey would say, we turn to the rest of the story.
Team members were stunned. For several seconds, nobody moved. Then everyone sprang into action. One person cleaned the floor while another collected the broken cup pieces, and the embarrassing moment was forgotten — or was it?
Worshiping God was never meant to be about polished entertainment but rather to enable you to respond to God’s desire to be in an intimate relationship. At anytime, God can reach out and touch someone during a quiet time of prayer, through a song or message. Even flawed worship enables God to teach a life-changing lesson. Sometimes, things don’t work out as planned. Sometimes God has a better idea.
Rather than forget Rev. Swartz’s embarrassing moment, the leadership group decided to honor the memory of how everyone pulled together to help their minister and friend. On the table beside the new cup were the broken pieces of the old. A group that once struggled now gloried in their newfound confidence of knowing God loved them and would see them through any struggle, any tragedy.
One member of the group collected the broken pieces of the old cup and had them made into jewelry. One broken piece was given to each member as a reminder of what God can do with the broken pieces of our lives. Rev. Swartz said, “I am wearing that chalice fragment today. I learned that our brokenness turned out to be the glue, which spiritually bonded us together just as the brokenness of Christ on a cross enables us to feel loved, forgiven, and whole?” Sometimes, in worship as in life, things don’t always work out as planned. Sometimes God makes them better!
Prayer Challenge: How can you strengthen your worship time with God?