In my circle of Reformed folk, we like to talk about our “world and life view,” or a way of looking at life through the lens of faith—a faith that believes that the Holy Spirit is at work in this world, claiming it for Christ and building God’s kingdom on earth. As Abraham Kuyper famously said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’” (From Kuyper’s inaugural address at the dedication of the Free University, in Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader, ed. James D. Bratt (Eerdmans, 1998), 461).
This is a faith that sings, “Every inch of this universe belongs to you, O Christ. For through you and for you it was made. Your creation endures by the order of your hand. So you must have in all things the first place” (Matthew Westerholm, “The First Place,” © 1999 Matthew Westerholm, Lift Up Your Hearts #15). Yet so often our professed faith and our lived faith don’t align. Instead of seeing our daily life as an expression of our faith and as part of the larger mission of building God’s kingdom on earth, we relegate our faith to an hour of corporate worship, a small group or Bible study, and maybe a few moments of daily prayer or personal devotions. But that’s not the way it’s supposed to be—nor does it need to be.
One way to help our congregants understand that all of life is under the lordship of Christ and should be lived for his glory is to teach and show how our corporate worship should affect the rest of our living—and that our daily lives should affect our corporate worship. As Ron Man says, “Worship as a church and worship as a lifestyle are in a mutually enriching relationship” (“Living Worship,” p. 3).
“Every inch of this universe belongs to you, O Christ. For through you and for you it was made.
Your creation endures by the order of your hand. So you must have in all things the first place.”
—Matthew Westerholm
That relationship between corporate worship and all of life is what we’ll be exploring in the next few issues of Reformed Worship. This certainly isn’t the first time we have addressed this topic, but now we will be doing so in a more focused way. In this issue we are paying particular attention to the relationship between corporate worship and our daily vocations, as seen in the worship series “Work and Worship” (p. 7), a reflection on “Daily Worship and Vocation” (p. 15), and “Songs for Work and Worship” (p. 19). Future issues of Reformed Worship will explore the connection between worship and mission. As always, we encourage you to submit your own resources related to these topics or related to the liturgical seasons. To learn more, visit reformedworship.org/how-submit-article.
As we think about the connection between our worship, our work, and our faith, I can think of few people who have exemplified it as well as Laura Meyering. Laura recently retired after ten years as the subscription manager for Reformed Worship. She may not have written for the journal, but her servant’s heart and wisdom have profoundly affected our ministry, and we are grateful for her. To fill the gap that Laura leaves, and as part of the ongoing transition of Reformed Worship to our new home within the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, I invite you to join me in warmly welcoming members of CICW’s central office to the Reformed Worship team. With their help our rhythm of work and worship continues.