Torn Robes, Shaved Heads, and Prostration

Wednesday afternoon, August 6, 2008 [HOT AS BLAZES!]
Back to Mason's book, "The Gospel According to Job," at least for a perspective or two-
This is what Mason has to say about worship (p. 15): "Think of Mary at the foot of the cross: was it a sweet and mystical experience for her to stand there and watch her son die? No doubt years later, looking back on that day, she had more tender feelings. But at the time, surely, it was hellish. And so it will be for us whenever we make direct contact in our daily lives with the central object of mystery in Christian worship, the cross. It is marvelous to meditate on the cross and to be flooded with peace and joy. But that is the Holy Spirit showing us the effects of the cross; it is not the cross itself. It is wonderful to be filled with mystical rapture at the thought of Calvary. But more wonderful still, because more worshipful, is the moment when the rough wood touches our flesh and the nail bites. Real worship has less to do with offering sacrifices than with being a sacrifice ourselves. 'Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,' urges Paul, 'for this is your spiritual worship' (Romans 12:1)."
Sometimes, I wonder just how far we can stray from the truth. On the one hand, most Protestants sincerely believe that worship is directly connected to emotions. On the one hand is the group who believes that the higher the emotions run, the more worshipful is the "worship". On the other hand, is the group who believes that emotions are contraindicated in true worship; consequently, the more stoic the service, the more worshipful the "worship". And, yes, there are those who fit somewhere in between these two extremes. But what is the truth about worship?
Well, in my not-so-humble opinion, genuine worship does, indeed, stir the believer's emotions, but stirred emotions are not the evidence of genuine worship. The evidence of genuine worship is found in what happens in the heart of God, not in what happens in us. You see, genuine worship is NOT about us; instead, it is about Him. It has nothing to do with whether we sing, dance, clap, shout, run around the building, cry, laugh, or sit quietly; instead, it has to do with whether He is singing, dancing, clapping, shouting, running around Heaven, crying, laughing, or sitting quietly.
This is what Mason said (p. 5): "Perhaps there is not better test of true faith than when worship tears its robe, shaves it head, and falls prostrate on the ground.
This is what Job said in what was probably the highest moment of worship in his life: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away: Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21)!
Maybe we would do better with much less of what we think is worship and a lot more of "torn robes, shaved heads, and prostration" before Him.