The Lesson of Worship from My Late Uncle

      

Gary Hall, as a teen or early 20s, showcasing 
his love for the accordion.  He would play the
instrument until his death,
forty some years later.

He wasn’t the outspoken kind.  He didn’t draw a crowd with a charismatic personality.  He wasn’t the evangelistic type. Generous at heart, but wasn’t known for doing outreach.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to know this uncle very well, while he was still alive.  But the few things I remember of him, he sure loved fishing, giving out of what was readily available in his pocket (usually, a piece of hard candy), easy to find him with a smile on his face, and he enjoyed music.     He came from a family where music was a common factor.  As far as I know, many if not all, were of the kind that were trained from at home and secondary school, rather than collegiately.  Some sang, others played guitar or piano.  Uncle Gary picked up the accordion.  And played it with as much exuberating emotion as one could muster.  Was he always on key?  Probably not.  Was it the background music that any of us expected to find for our family conversations?  Again, unlikely.  Nonetheless, he played, paying no mind to surrounding opinions.  He was in his world, and while he played, he did so with a sense of freedom.     I don’t know how one would measure the spiritual maturity of my Uncle Gary, but as a Christian…I wish I could have the same kind of freedom in worship as he had.  I know that whatever we do, we should do with excellence.  We shouldn’t do things “for God” with a poor effort and lack of care.  However, I have found myself in a space where as much as I desired to do things well, I still could tell I fell short.  No matter what I worked hard at, no matter how much training I accrued to hone in whatever skills I wanted to develop, if I failed in one area, then what was it for?     You know what’s funny?  In a worship service, the ones who seem the most free are either the ones who know they have the musical talent and skill to stay in tune, OR, it is the ones who have absolutely NO skill and ain’t worried about trying to prove something they know they aren’t.     I think somewhere we have forgotten the freedom of the latter worshipper.  Yes, we should do all things heartily as to the Lord and not to men (Colossians 3:23).  Whatever we do, we should do for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31, generalized application).  But what if we have become so obsessed with trying to do things so well that we have forgotten the joy of glorifying the God we worship?  We become critical, more than jubilant.  We desire perfection on display, rather than the journey of the process.  Pleasing the Lord then takes a form where it is dependent on how much we can do, more than the work He has already prepared for, and is developing in, us.     We can claim that what we do for God is worship…but if we are weighing the worth of our offerings by the perfection of our own abilities and standards of our peers, then is it really worship at all?  Are we doing a work really for God, or for others?  Whose glory are we actually fighting for?  Sometimes, we lose track, because we are more focused on how the view of our worship may look to the outsiders than feeling the pleasure of God’s delight in His creation, when we bow before Him.     I wish I could do whatever work for God with a sense of joy of who He is, more than how it could be a proof of how good I was to Him.  Whether it be a skill I have developed, or even in an area that is outside my comfort zone.  I remember when I picked up the guitar in college.  Over the course of a decade, the instrument collected dust now and again, because frankly, as much as it was a joy to play, it was not easy with a hand that is semi-paralyzed.  Playing songs always took four times as long, and even if I practiced, I eventually would resort to singing acapella.  Eventually, I gave the guitar away, knowing it was better to have someone else play it regularly than for me to hold onto something that I wished I was better at.  Then one day, I felt the Holy Spirit whisper, “You know why I wanted you to have the guitar (for that time)?  Because I wanted you to enjoy something without the pressure to prove anything.”     Like the out-of-key, loudest singer in a church congregation, the goal was always supposed to be about how I could declare the goodness of who God is, rejoice in the relationship I have with Him because of Jesus’ salvation, and glorify Him, no matter what the world’s opinion may be.   I wish I had the freedom my Uncle Gary had.  He would just whip out that accordion like it was no one’s business.  And maybe, it wasn’t.  He just played and played.  Sometimes with deep concentration, other times, with a smile.  But this instrument was played all through his life, as a form of joy on display.  If only we could worship Jesus with the same level of freedom. “Lord, I will offer myself freely, and everything I am I give to you.  I will worship and praise Your name, O Lord, for it is precious to me [I thank You God- You’re so good (MSG)].” - Psalm 54:6, The Passion Translation