I used to help plan the worship services for our Synod Assemblies. One pastor complained to me that he came to the assembly to do the synod’s business, not worship. He thought we could get through the business a lot faster if we didn’t waste time with worship services.

That remark brought back an unhappy memory of my home church. We had the longest, most contentious congregational meetings imaginable. One year someone proposed that we cancel worship services on annual meeting Sunday so there would be more time for the meeting.

It’s nothing new. Mozart’s church music was criticized because it had too many notes taking too long to sing. A pastor I knew forty years ago received an anonymous note warning that if services kept running over 60 minutes, they’d quit the church. Let’s not waste time worshiping.

Author Marva Dawn wrote a book on worship titled A Royal “Waste” of Time. She believes that whole purpose of worship is to “waste” time in the splendor of God’s presence. Worship isn’t about entertaining us or making us feel good. It isn’t even a tool for getting more people to attend our church. Celebrating the wonder of God is an end in itself. When we worship, we participate “in the kingdom of God into which we have been born and borne by our baptism” (p. 14).

Worship isn’t us centered at all; it’s God centered. When we keep that in mind, it never becomes a waste of time. It is a joy and privilege to worship the Almighty.

Read Psalm 95:1-7 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne