Through my journey with
redemptive gifts over the past 9 years, I have discovered many valuable
treasures and insights, one of them is that God intended all the gifts to flow
in a beautiful synergy, uniting much like an orchestra. Each musician plays their own instrument, but
in tune, in harmony with each of the other instruments to produce the most
beautiful symphony.
Yet in that togetherness there is
a place for individuality. Long before
the orchestra can play together, there are many hours of practising alone until
you can play your own tune with excellence.
The culmination of many hours of practice is the honour of the solo performance,
yet the orchestra does not disappear in that moment – they either wait silently
or softly play in the background and enjoy the solo performance of their fellow
orchestra member, rejoicing with the musician in the beauty of the moment.
Such is the image I have of
worship in the body of Christ. Worship
is meant to be an orchestra ascribing glory and honour to the most High God,
and it will and should include the solo performance.
I think the African cultures
demonstrate this so beautifully when, in their traditional dancing, they dance
in a circle and every tribe member gets a chance to dance a solo performance in
the middle of the circle – lots of fun and everyone enjoys it, yet every
individual’s performance is unique and different. So – I invite you, to come and stand in a
circle or play in the orchestra and savour an exhorter’s solo performance of
extravagant worship in God’s Kingdom:
In the beginning God created the
heavens and all that is in it, the galaxies, the planets, the suns, moons and
stars. He placed them in the skies to
represent day and night.
In the day the sun brings heat
and light and life to all that grows and lives on earth. Just like Christ brings us life and warmth
for spirit, soul and body. He enlightens
our eyes so we can see the beauty and splendour of His creation in all the
shades of colour possible. We feast on
the Garden of Eden, we can see, smell, taste the goodness of life in Him in the
garden.
He made the planets and the
stars, the galaxies and placed them in the night skies to forever shine, bling,
display, to move, spin and orbit around in joy.
They never cease to move and dance around, never tiring, always joyful
with a twinkle and a fire in the eyes.
Created to represent the thousands and thousands of generations of
worshippers (Gen 15:5) who bring honour and praise to the King of Kings, they invite
us to worship with sound and movement and display. These three elements are ever so important in
exhorter worship, and so powerful in the hand of the Holy Spirit, yet so
misunderstood and perverted by an enemy who fears extravagant worship of the
sovereign God.
Yet, the heavens invite
us to join in the declaration of His glory (Ps 19) night after night… day after
day… Singing and dancing in honour of our covenant keeping God (Gen 15:5), they
invite us to move and shout out and display the glory of the King forever and
ever. They invite us to join in the celebration
of Him with thousands of generations before us and those who will come after
us, never to envision a moment without celebrating in His honour.
The heavens declare the glory of
God, the firmament shows off His handiwork and they continuously celebrate all
of it – the fullness thereof. They utter
speech day after day revealing knowledge night after night (Ps19). Their voices are heard in every tongue by
every tribe and nation, having heard and seen the Glory of God and their
celebration of Him. Their sound goes out
to all the earth, their words to the end of the worlds. They carry the message of Christ deep in
their very being, deep calling out to ever so much deeper, the depth, height
and width of the universe too small to contain the hugeness of their God.
In the midst of the heavens He
has set a tabernacle for the sun (Ps 19) just like He has set a tabernacle for Himself,
the Bridegroom, in the midst of His people, His bride, to provide a picture, an
illustration of heaven (Hebrews 9). He who
is the light built a place of worship in the desert, a tabernacle, so He could
fill it with a celebration of His Glory through movement, sound and display (Ex
36-40). He chose Moses to build it in
the exhorter key of music. He stirred up
the hearts of the artists and artisans to build with precision and decorate it
with prophetic purpose and splendour. He instituted the priestly service (Leviticus
8) and filled it once again with purposeful sound, movement and display. In the movement of the sin, wave and other
offerings, He was honoured and praised, for the Law of the Lord is perfect, it
converts the soul. The testimony of Him
is without doubt sure, right and pure.
It makes the simple wise, it causes the heart to rejoice and it
enlightens the eyes (Ps 19), removing the blindness of the soul heeding His
warning, and in keeping His commandments there is great reward.
In the movement and display of
the High priest’s garment the bells sounded, the gemstones glittered. The colours weaved and flowed together in
perfect harmony as they were woven into luxurious, embroidered, texture-rich
fabrics. The movement of the fire of the lampstand, the
beauty of its intricate patterns set in gold, the aroma of the specially
crafted oil for the lamp that was to display its light night and day. The glorious intimate presence of the
Bridegroom in the fire and the cloud hovering on the throne of grace and mercy,
displaying His intimate, soft, graceful yet overwhelmingly powerful
presence. Wonder-creating, Awe-inspiring
sights and sounds and continuous movement.
Feast after feast He was
celebrated with the sound and movement and display of worship, drawing the
sinner into an experience of redemption, obedient and reverential fear and Awe
of an Almighty God. Awe for the beauty
and splendour of the Bridegroom, for His Holiness, Righteousness and Justness. When looking into the skies we have Awe for
the sheer size, the hugeness of the eternity of eternities displayed in the
ever-moving galaxies and knowing that it is a fraction of the greatness of our
God. The endlessness of the universe a
demonstration of the endlessness of our God.
Even when days are dark and the
chariots of the enemy gathers in their multitudes, Yahweh Shabuoth comes with
sound, movement and display and in His might He makes the sun and moon and
stars stand still (Joshua 10). In a
moment all of the earth, and everything that is in it, together with the entire
universe is holding its breath in a moment of silence and breath-taking Awe of
the display of the sovereign might and all-powerfulness of our God. With the sound of His mighty thunder and the fierce
movement of the hail and the display of His lightning He overcomes the enemy
and renders them powerless and it would not be the first nor the last
time. In Judges 4, 5 as His people face
the formidable enemy of the Canaanites with their 900 chariots, He once
again thunders His mighty sound from
heaven and releases the display of lightning into the heavens declaring the end
to His enemy, rendering the weapons of warfare of the Canaanite null and void, stripping
the soldiers of their weapons, displaying their vulnerability. He empowers the believer with His Spirit to
overcome the enemy stuck on the muddy river banks, and celebrate profoundly
afterwards as Deborah and Barak – the only judges to celebrate the victory -
join together in an Awe-filled celebration of the victory handed to them. In Judges 5:20 there are these amazing few
words that states: “They fought from the heavens, the stars from their courses
fought against Sisera!” I really do not
have an idea what that means in practice, but what I do know, is that a
formidable enemy with formidable weapons was made null and void when God
sounded, moved and displayed His might and glory in and through the heavens and
the stars! What an awesome God!
Therefore, ascribe unto the Lord beauty
and glory and strength. Give Him the
glory as is due to His Name. Worship the Lord in the beauty (display) of His
Holiness (Ps 29). His voice is over the
waters, His glory thunders. His Voice (sound) is powerful and full of
majesty. His Voice makes the cedars
break and makes them skip like a calf (movement). It divides the flames of fire and shakes the
wilderness. His Voice makes the deer
give birth, strips the forests bare and in His temple all cries ‘Glory’. He sits enthroned on the flood, He is King
forever. He gives strength to His people
and He blesses His people with peace.
Oh Lord, come move my heart into
meditation of your glory and holiness and righteousness and justice. Let the sounds, words of my mouth and
meditations be acceptable in your sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer (Ps
19). Fill my heart with Awe of you
forever and ever.
And so the solo performance comes
to an end – for now, however the celebration of my God will never end. Eternity
will be too short to worship through every piece of scripture, every revelation
of His character. Celebrating with
sound, movement and display has a whole new meaning in my spiritual walk. Sound to me represents Father God. It is His Voice that speaks. Display to me represents Jesus Christ our
Messiah. He became flesh and came to live among us
(John 1), displaying every aspect of God to us in human form. Movement to me represents the Holy
Spirit. In Him we move and live and have
our being (Acts 17:28). Selah!
Much Love to all
Gerda Venter
Free2Celebrate
