Worship

What is worship? One of our “family values” at York Alliance is “a lifestyle of worship.” Worship is not limited to singing, praying, declaring, creating, dancing, or any specific activity, but it is the way that we live our everyday lives. Of course, our lives are certainly to be punctuated with the activities above as a specific offering to God, but worship must never be limited to those things alone.

Simply: Worship is connecting all of God to all of our life.

On Monday morning well before dawn, the Nissan Patrol was loaded up with luggage and our growing team, which was now up to eight with the news that Pastor Simone would be making the 16-18 hour trek back to Libreville with us. We squeezed in (which is not ideal for a 16 hour drive, but hey, what can you do…) and took off, praying for smooth passage through the controls in EG and at the border. Worship in the form of dependence on and supplication to a sovereign God.

At the first several controls we were waved through, and each time, there was much rejoicing among our ragtag group of eight. The early morning discussion was a mix of English, French, Spanish, and some “Fang” lessons, not one of which was understood by everyone in the car. Regardless of the language, there were at least a few who were totally in the dark. We chugged along, making great time, until what turned out to be the final control before the border, about 40 kilometers from Mongomo, where we would cross. The control guard took passports, made some comments in Spanish about how the Gabonese were bad people, and we knew that we could have some problems. We pulled off to the side to wait.

And wait we did. In about 10 minutes, Pastor Guy Roget, the lone Gabonese citizen, was called for. The rest of us waited. They talked; at times with much animation. We waited; at times with much animation. And waited. And waited. We watched some pigs eat road kill. We said hello to children walking to school. We talked and laughed and even sang “happy birthday” to Tia a few times. And we waited.

After an hour just about to the minute, Pastors Simone and Guy Roget walked back to the vehicle, documents in hand. “Adios—gratis!” said Pastor Simone. Goodbye…it was free! We quickly loaded them up, pulled away, and headed toward the border. Amazingly, while the border took some time, it was much quicker than anticipated and easier than we could have hoped. As we passed through the final stage, Gabonese customs, with no issues at all, the car visibly responded to the goodness and grace of God. There was much joking, laughter, and relief, even if no one fully understood everything that everyone else was saying. Worship in the form of lives lived in thankfulness.

Of course, while the controls were no longer a problem (the l’Hopital Bongolo car magnet did its magic at each and every control stop in Gabon), there was still an 8-10 hour drive in a Nissan Patrol with eight people. Our brief bathroom stops were cherished by all as an opportunity to stretch legs and move freely, but then we quickly reloaded and continued. I should clarify a “bathroom stop”: apart from a pastor’s house in Oyem that we stopped at so that Tia could use an actual toilet, when I say bathroom stop I’m meaning some bushes on the side of the road. You know what they say: when in Rome…

The drive wore on. Incredibly, however, there was no bickering or short tempers, and very little complaining, even with a now eleven year old and fourteen year old in the car. There was laughter, prayer, more Fang lessons, and long periods of silence. We moved from seat to seat at each stop so that legs could be cramped into different positions and different bones and muscles could take their turn being sore and cramping up. When we reached “cities” we gassed the Nissan, bought more water and snacks, and rejoiced at the opportunity to stand upright. And we laughed… a lot. Worship in the form of relationships in the body of Christ.

The sunset was gorgeous to our left as we made the final turn north toward Libreville. (Yes, if you’re looking at a map, we had to go south to go north. Africa is a classic example of “you can’t get there from here…”) As the darkness descended, our talking quieted down a bit. Now almost 14 hours into the drive, we were ready to arrive, and driving Gabonese roads after dark can be a frustrating and car-damaging experience.

In the silence, Dan pulled out his harmonica and began to play. Thankfully, he’s good at it, or the harmonious relationships in the car could have been put to the test! He began to play some old hymns, and we started to sing. Spanish first, the English, then Fang, and finally French was layered on top. We sang “How Great Thou Art” loudly in four different languages. We rotated verses on “Holy, Holy, Holy.” We taught one another simple songs in our native languages. We sang a simple African song in a dozen different tribal languages. When there were a few moments of silence, another one would start a different song in their own language, and the rest would hum along. Pastor Simone supplied the rich harmonies and Pastor Guy Roget the bass line, making every song, regardless of language, sound like a traditional African tune. After each song, when the final line was repeated at full volume and then faded out as best we could with our voices, soft “Amens” were spoken. And after a moment or two of reflection on what had been sung, the next song would begin.

Worship as intercession early in the morning gave way to worship as thanksgiving around noon, which gave way to worship as community throughout the day. Out of the community, the songs of the church emerged. They weren’t forced. They weren’t programmed. They weren’t performed. They were embodied by people in love with and dependent on a loving, merciful, and all-powerful God.

That is worship.