You Will See Greater Things

Planning Worship

Focus texts: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20), John 1:43-51 

I love a good definition. When I first learned about dictionaries in elementary school, I fell in love with the idea that there are so many words and, within those words, so many nuances of meaning that shift and flow with how you put the words together into sentences, paragraphs, sermons, books. Similar words put in a different order can be excoriating or comforting, grief-filled or joyful. When I moved into graduate work, my fascination with words became both an asset and a liability, especially when I took a class in an area of philosophy that requires exacting—and sometimes unyielding and narrow—definitions of terms. That semester, many of us had margin notes scribbled on our papers: “Define your terms!” And while this was tedious and sometimes frustrating work, I read today’s Old Testament and Gospel texts and find myself wanting to write in the margins, “Define your terms!” To be clear, that’s not so much for the writers of the text, but for myself. When I read “greater things than these,” what do I think “greater” means? When I read about Samuel learning to respond to God’s voice and Jesus calling the disciples, my mind immediately goes to themes like discernment, listening and responding to God’s voice, doing God’s will. But what do I mean by those? What definitions do I automatically apply to these terms, and are those definitions faithful?

Now, I want to stop here and acknowledge that this level of attention to language can feel overwhelming and burdensome. I am in no way suggesting that we need to define, curate, and craft every single word we use in worship with a high level of intensity. The reality is that we just can’t! Plus, there’s that old saying, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” If we nitpick and analyze every word we use in worship, we lose the authenticity and sincerity that make worship good. At the same time, as worship planners, it helps to stop with texts like these and ask, “What do we want our congregants to take away about the meaning of [fill in the blank]?” Do we want them to hear “you will see greater things than these” and think that “greater” means acts of power and accumulation of wealth, or acts of connection and experiences of community building where earth and heaven meet? Do we want our congregants to exercise discernment with fear that they might misunderstand God and mess their lives up completely, or to understand discernment as an ongoing, lifelong process of seeking God who is faithful to guide us through life’s ups and downs? Do we want the gathered body to feel less-than because they have never heard God’s voice audibly, or do we want to expand our understanding of how we listen and pay attention to God’s guidance?

The words we choose for worship in our prayers, hymns, and sermons can either reinforce harmful understandings of these sensitive topics or open congregants to new ways of understanding their spiritual experiences now and in the future. So, take a few minutes this week, assess the themes you will highlight in worship, and consider how the words we hear, speak, and sing together can turn our community toward the voice of God, who is always calling, always guiding, and always accompanying us on our journey of faith.

Author bio: Dr. Lisa Hancock, Director of Worship Arts Ministries, holds a Master of Sacred Music and Master of Theological Studies from Perkins School of Theology and a PhD in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University, where she researched and wrote on the doctrine of Christ, disability, and atonement. Lisa is also the co-lead of Growing in Grace: Accessible Worship for All God’s Children.