Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Josh Meyer

The Heart of Worship

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by Josh Meyer

I was recently asked to define worship in exactly six words. After a bit of thought, I offered the following answer, “Seeing God accurately and responding appropriately.” Anytime we get an accurate glimpse of who God is and are moved to respond, that’s worship. My friend, music director, and worship theologian Helen Eastburn puts it this way, “Worship is drawing near to God as God draws near to us.”

Another definition, offered by my former seminary professor, suggests that “the inner essence of worship is to know God truly and then respond by valuing God, treasuring God, prizing God, enjoying God, being satisfied with God above all earthly things. And then that deep, restful, joyful satisfaction in God overflows in demonstrable acts of praise from the lips and demonstrable acts of love in serving others for the sake of Christ.”   

I love how this definition emphasizes that: 

  • Worship begins with God  
  • Worship leads to deep, restful, joyful satisfaction in God  
  • Worship leads to praise from our lips  
  • Worship leads to acts of love in serving others  

Particularly in a consumeristic culture that trains us to evaluate experiences based on their enjoyment or benefit to us, I’ve found it helpful to be reminded that worship is not primarily about us. 

  • Exalting God is not about what we get out of it; it’s about choosing to praise and trust God regardless of our circumstances because we have faith that God is good. 
  • Worship is about giving God glory, not seeking to receive something for ourselves. We’ve already received – which is why we worship. Worship is a response. We’ve received the good news of Jesus Christ, the suffering, sacrificial love of a Father who sends the Son, and who sends the Spirit, so that we might be saved…in this life and in the age to come.
  • Worship is always, ultimately about God. 

A few years ago, I read a short post by pastor reflecting on the nature of worship.   

For the last three years I have had the immense privilege of serving in Honolulu. Yes, that Honolulu, in Hawaii. The one where the sun shines most every day, the temperature is always perfect, and the ocean is just a short walk away. What’s ironic about this is that I was born and raised in Anchorage. Yes, that Anchorage, in Alaska. While 7-year-olds here in Honolulu were learning the importance of sun safety and SPF, I was learning (the hard way) why not to lick the school flagpole in the middle of winter. Sometimes I feel like my life is one big contrast.  

Perhaps that is why I love the picture of worship in Leviticus 9:23-24. “When the people saw it (the Glory of God), they shouted for joy and fell facedown.” The people of Israel saw the glory of God and their appropriate response was to shout with joy AND fall facedown to the ground. It seems like the ultimate dichotomy, exuberance and contriteness, celebration and reverence.  

What an amazing visualization of this response to who God is, the worshipper bowing face to the ground but alight with a radiant smile! This paradox is our appropriate response to God. It’s not one or the other. It’s not even a balance between the two. It is both sides in all their fullness, together becoming our answer to the question of how we will respond to a glimpse of who God is.  

May we do that together as a people of faith across Mosaic Conference.  

May we see God accurately and respond appropriately.  

May we draw near to God as God draws near to us. 

May we bow in reverence and celebrate with joy.  

Josh Meyer

Josh Meyer is a Leadership Minister for Mosaic Conference.

To Shoot or to Sing 

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by Josh Meyer

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever… 
8 Let [us] give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for humankind, 
9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. 

Psalm 107:1, 8-9, NIV

The word הֹד֣ו (hō-ḏū) in the Hebrew Bible is fascinating. It means “to give thanks,” but it also means “to shoot.” We read in the Psalms: “I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High” (Ps. 7:17).  But the same word, הֹד֣ו, is also used in Jeremiah 50:14: “Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows…”   

To shoot or to sing…   

Both meanings of הֹד֣ו come from the same root word for “hand.” You can use your hands to draw a bow, or you can use your hands to lift in gratitude.   

Built into this one Hebrew word is the tension we all feel in life. Sometimes it’s easy to give thanks: life is going well, circumstances are manageable, we feel God’s blessings. Other times it’s much more difficult: we are tempted instead to “shoot” arrows – arrows of anger, cynicism, sarcasm, bitterness, judgement.      

To shoot or to sing… 

Tradition tells us that the psalm 107 was written by David after being wrongfully accused of conspiracy against King Saul, which would surely result in David’s death. He pleads to God: “…save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.” (7:1). It was a dark and potentially deadly situation for David. He had every right to spare no arrows.  

Yet, in the final verse he chooses to lift his hands in song. “I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.” In reflecting on this psalm, Charles Spurgeon writes: “What a blessing would it be if we could turn even the most disastrous event into a theme for song, and so turn the tables upon our great enemy.” 

And that’s just it, isn’t it? Giving thanks is actually the more effective “weapon.” It’s easier to reach for an arrow than a song, but it always misses the mark. The bow never satisfies.   

But we turn the tables when we choose to give thanks to Jesus, the One who on the cross took every arrow humanity could shoot, then rose from the dead to begin the restoration of all things – from death to life; from darkness to light; from shooting to singing… 

This week, may you turn the tables by giving thanks.   

May you choose singing over shooting, giving thanks over slinging arrows.   

May you put down your bow and lift up your hands.     

Josh Meyer

Josh Meyer is a Leadership Minister for Mosaic Conference.

Inspiring Books on Spiritual Reading and Commitment 

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“What an astonishing thing a book is,” writes Carl Sagan, who captures my love and appreciation for books quite well. “It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”   

Here are two of the magic-working, shackle-breaking, people-binding books that I’ve been reading lately: 

Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading  

I recently read this as part of the Mosaic Institute class I’m teaching called “Formed By Scripture.” In this rich and beautifully written book, Peterson argues that the way we read the Bible is as important as that we read it. Do we read the Bible for information about God and salvation, for principles and “truths” that we can use to live better? Or do we read it in order to listen to God and respond in prayer and obedience?   

In typical Peterson-style, Eat This Book is written with warmth and wisdom, offering readers greatly needed, down-to-earth counsel on reading the Scriptures on their own terms, as God’s revelation. He discusses the nature of language, the practice of lectio divina, the role of translations, and how to engage in the formative, life-changing art of spiritual reading.   

This book is the fruit of decades of reading, pondering, conversing about, praying over, and living the biblical story. If you are going to read a book about how to read “The Book,” it’s hard to do better than this one. 

David Brooks’s The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life  

Every so often you meet people who radiate joy, who seem to know why they were put on this earth, who glow with a kind of inner light. Life, for these people, has often followed what we might think of as a two-mountain shape.   

They get out of school, start a career, and begin climbing the mountain they thought they were meant to climb. Their goals on this first mountain are the ones our culture endorses: to be a success, to make your mark, to experience personal happiness. But when they get to the top of that mountain, something happens. They look around and find the view…unsatisfying. They realize, “This wasn’t my mountain after all.” There’s a different, better mountain out there for them to pursue. And so, they embark on a new journey.   

On the second mountain, life moves from self-centered to other-centered. They want the things that are truly worth wanting, not the things other people tell them to want. They embrace a life of interdependence, not independence. They surrender to a life of commitment, this time to the things with lasting value.   

In The Second Mountain, Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: (1) to a spouse and family, (2) to a vocation, (3) to a faith, and (4) to a community. He argues that our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments.  

I resonated with the book’s central premise and found its discussion on the four commitments that make a meaningful life to be thought-provoking and reflection-generating. This is a book worth pondering.  

Reflections From the Holy Land 

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“How was the trip, Josh?  What were some of your major take-aways from Israel?” 

I’ve struggled to answer this question since returning home from a recent learning tour with about 35 folks from Franconia (PA) Mennonite Church.  We traveled together not merely as tourists, but rather as seekers of God on a spiritual pilgrimage.

Unpacking and processing the lessons from our journey will take a lifetime, but one key takeaway was a reminder of all the ways the Gospel is good news especially for “outsiders.”  At nearly every site we visited, I was confronted with this core biblical truth:  The Good News is more inclusive1 than we might think.

We visited Bethlehem and went to the Shepherds’ Field, where angels announced that the birth of Jesus would be “good news of great joy for all people.”  It was not just for a select few; not just for insiders; not just for those who believe all the right things.

We visited Capernaum, standing on the very shore’s edge where Jesus called his first disciples. The Bible describes them as “unschooled and ordinary.”  Later he calls tax collectors and zealots — traitors and terrorists — to be his followers.  These are the people he calls to follow him?  Yes, because the Good News is more inclusive than we might think.

We visited Magdala and were brought to tears as we considered the courage, sacrifice, and faith of Jesus’ female disciples – righteous women of God who played such a crucial role in Christ’s ministry: followers, students, disciples, patrons, evangelists. 

We stood in the Upper Room, where Jesus got down on his hands and knees and washed the feet of those who would betray him. I find this nearly incomprehensible.  Yet that is what he did. 

We visited the place where Jesus was crucified, touching with our hands the rock in which his cross was set, and we remembered how as he was being put to death, he prayed for his crucifiers: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”

And then we went to the empty tomb, where Jesus defeated death and sin and shame, so that everything can be reconciled to God through him.  All things.  All people.  No exceptions.  The Good News is more inclusive than we might think.

We climbed to the top of Mount Arbel, where Jesus met the disciples after the resurrection and gave them the Great Commission.  From that vantage point, atop the mountain overlooking the towns and villages and horizon, one gets a vivid sense of what’s in mind when he says, “Go and make disciples of all nations”: that is, as far as the eye can see.

The list goes on. If I took anything away from our trip to the Holy Land, from my study of Scripture, from following Jesus throughout my life, it’s this.  The Good News of the Gospel is more inclusive than we might think.

And as followers of Christ, our invitation – our mission — is to receive, embody, and extend this Good News to our community and to the world.

May it be so … and may it begin with you.

1 I’m using the word “inclusive” here in its most basic sense: expansive, all-encompassing, comprehensive in scope.

Prayer as Surrender

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by Josh Meyer 

Franconia Mennonite Church recently engaged in a month-long series on prayer. We spent four weeks considering the purpose, posture, power, and practice of prayer. It was a rich and meaningful time, marked by biblical teaching and practical application. I was reminded once again that prayer is much more than bringing to God my list of wants, desires, and needs. It is a radical act of worship that reminds me who I am, who God is, and what life is all about.   

In short, prayer is surrender. 

Prayer is a radical act of worship that reminds me who I am, who God is, and what life is all about.   

[1] Prayer is surrender to the reality that there is someone more ultimate than you.

It’s natural for each of us to shrink our field of hopes, dreams, and daily concerns down to the small turf of our personal wants, needs, and feelings. Prayer is surrender to the worldview of the first four words of the Bible, “In the beginning, God…,” and as such, it reminds us of our rightful place. 

[2] Prayer is surrender to the reality that you need help. 

Prayer means humbly confessing that we are not autonomous, self-sufficient beings. We were not designed to live independent, detached lives. Prayer reminds us that we cannot be what we were made to be or do what we have been called to do without the personal, gracious, and continuous intervention of the One who made us. 

[3] Prayer is surrender to the reality that there is wisdom greater than yours. 

Prayer confronts us with the fact that we are not as smart as we tend to think we are. There is so much we don’t know or understand. Prayer reminds us that life is not found in our limited understanding, but in surrendering our lives to the care of the One whose understanding spans from before origin to beyond destiny and includes everything in between. 

[4] Prayer is surrender of your right to live as you choose. 

Prayer is bowing our knee to the reality that there is a limit to our personal freedom. This chafes against the rugged individualism of our culture. Yet Scripture reminds us that while “it is for freedom that Christ has set [us] free,” we are not to use our freedom primarily to indulge our own desires; instead, we’re called to use our freedom to serve others in love (Gal 5:1, 13-14). Prayer reminds us to consider not only our own interests, but also the interests of others (Phil 2:4). 

[5] Prayer is surrender of your hopes to God’s grace. 

Prayer is remembering that there is no hope in life and death that does not result from the grace of God. In prayer, we give up our hope in the self and place our hope in Christ.   

May you experience the Presence of Christ in a particularly deep and meaningful way as you surrender yourself in prayer.   

Josh Meyer

Josh Meyer is a Conference Leadership Minister and the pastor of Discipling and Preaching at Franconia Mennonite Church.

A Pilgrimage to Biblical Greece

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In March, I co-led a group from my church, Franconia (PA) Mennonite Church, on a learning tour to Greece.  It was an incredibly meaningful experience, traveling with sisters and brothers in Christ on a spiritual pilgrimage to one of the world’s richest regions of biblical history.   

Why did we go? 

From the outset, the goals for this trip were to (1) increase learning, (2) deepen discipleship, and (3) strengthen relationships.  We were privileged to travel with Dr. Derek Cooper as our guide.  Dr. Cooper is an expert in biblical history and the lands of the Bible.  He provided remarkable insight and helped our group “put the text in context” in truly profound ways.   

The group from Franconia (PA) Mennonite in Thessaloniki, Greece. Photo provided by Josh Meyer.

However, more than simply learning new and interesting information, we were also committed to this being a formational experience as well.  It wasn’t just about information; it was about encounter – encountering God deeply.  Through times of corporate worship, individual and group devotions, and regular opportunities for reflection, we were blessed with a deep spiritual experience.   

The 25 group members bonded relationally in ways that were life-giving and just plain fun.  There is a connection that’s established between those who travel together, particularly cross-culturally.  I’m grateful for the strengthened relationships that this trip produced. 

What did we do? 

We spent the first part of our journey in and around Athens: visiting the Acropolis, the ancient Agora, the Parthenon, the Herodian Theater, Mars Hill, Aristotle’s Lyceum, and Corinth, among other sites.  We then made our way north for the second half of the trip, visiting Delphi, the incredible cliff-side monasteries of Meteora, Berea, Thessaloniki, and Philippi.   

In addition to this formal itinerary, we also created space for unplanned activities: rooftop worship sessions, taking a speedboat to Aegina Island, renting four-wheelers, swimming in the Aegean Sea, running in the Olympic stadium, hiking Mount Parnassus, eating amazing Greek food, and enjoying gelato most every night. 

You can find a summary (with photos & brief commentary) of each day of the trip through the links at the bottom of this post. 

Josh Meyer in Corinth, Greece, on the exact spot where the Apostle Paul stood (Acts 18). Photo provided by Josh Meyer.

How did it impact me? 

There’s an ancient story about a rabbi with a young son who loved spending time in nature.  The boy spent hours upon hours playing in the woods and being in creation.  Finally, the rabbi asked his son why he insisted on spending so much time outside.  The boy said, “That’s where I connect with God.  I connect with God most deeply when I’m out there.”   

The rabbi replied, “Well son, you don’t need to go out there to connect with God.  God is the same out there as God is at home and in school and in the synagogue.  You don’t need to go somewhere else to experience God; you can experience God anywhere, everywhere.  God’s not different out there.” 

“Yes,” the boy replied, “…but I am.  I’m different when I’m out there.  Something changes within me that opens me up and allows me to experience God in different and deeper ways when I’m in that physical space.” 

For me, that captures why an experience like traveling to Biblical Greece was so meaningful and led to such deep discipleship.  Being “out there” – in the actual physical spaces where the Apostle Paul lived, worked, served, and proclaimed the Good News of Jesus – helped open me up to connecting with God in different and deeper ways.  For that, I am humbled and grateful.

Is there a better backdrop for a theological discussion? (Aegina Saronic Island, Greece) Photo provided by Josh Meyer.

Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ, Υιέ του Θεού, ελέησόν με τον αμαρτωλό.

A summary of each day of our trip with photos: 
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10

Rooftop worship one evening in Greece. Photo provided by Josh Meyer.

Practices to Flourish in Ministry 

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Nearly two years into a stressful pandemic, it’s worth reflecting on our spiritual health. As part of my dissertation, I recently conducted a study on pastoral identity which revealed four key areas for pastoral flourishing. The study centered on Mennonite pastors and identified honesty, intimacy, community, and eternity as core elements of healthy faith leaders.

Pages from Josh Meyer’s journal which shows his daily scripture written out. Photo by Josh Meyer.

If you’re a pastor or ministry leader, take some time to evaluate how you’re fairing in each of these areas:

HONESTY. Pastors and leaders need places to share honestly about the joys, challenges, and frustrations of leading faith communities. The most content, fulfilled, healthy pastors in the study had such spaces. Do you? If so, it is more important than ever to lean into these connections. If not, it is more important than ever to find and cultivate them.

Personally, I’ve benefited from a formal Learning Community as well as informal gatherings with fellow pastors in backyards and around bonfires. These opportunities to connect and share have been invaluable.

INTIMACY. Pastors and leaders need regular rhythms that connect them with God. In a season where so many of our regular rhythms are disrupted, we may need to be extra intentional to cultivate our relationship with Christ.

Can you identify the rhythms that help you connect with the Divine? It may be helpful to articulate them out loud or on paper. For me, the practice of “scribing Scripture” has been a new and meaningful practice. Each day, I’ll hand-copy a passage of Scripture. This has slowed me down and helped me notice things in the text I’ve missed before.

COMMUNITY. Pastors and leaders need relationships outside of the church. While it is good and important to be deeply connected to our congregations, the healthiest faith leaders in the study were those who had a network of relationships beyond their ministry setting.

Do you have people around whom you can truly take off the “pastor mantle”? Doing so will increase your ministry effectiveness when you put it back on. Over the years, I’ve participated in indoor soccer leagues, played fantasy football, and gone on hiking trips with guys who aren’t part of my (or any) church setting. These external relationships help me more effectively connect with those in my immediate ministry context.

ETERNITY. Pastors and leaders need reminders that their calling serves a purpose beyond this life. If we evaluate ourselves solely on what we see in front of us, the task of ministry can feel heavy and at times even depressing. However, the pastors in the study who maintained an eternal perspective were far healthier and stayed in ministry much longer.

I need to regularly be reminded to step back and take the long view. Pastoral colleagues have been helpful for me in maintaining this broader mindset.

Josh Meyer practices “scribing scripture” each day with his Bible and journal. Photo by Josh Meyer.

There’s no clear blueprint that guarantees pastoral flourishing in any and every situation. But the research seems to suggest that developing our capacity for honesty, intimacy, community, and eternity will allow us to lead from the healthiest place possible. May it be so in your life – to the praise of God’s glory!

Being Civilized

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Editor’s Note: On June 12, 2021, Pastor Josh Meyer, Mosaic Leadership Minister, gave the commencement address to the 2021 graduating class of Dock Mennonite Academy (Lansdale, PA). In the address, Meyer shared three stories with the graduates. The stories offered challenges and wisdom on how to pursue a meaningful life. Here is a story from Meyer’s speech.

A student once asked famed cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead what Dr. Mead considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Dr. Mead to talk about fishhooks, clay pots, or grinding stones – some tangible tool that demonstrated advancement.

Instead, Dr. Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur that had been broken and then healed. She went on to explain that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. A broken leg means you can’t run from danger, get to the river for water, or hunt for food. In that state, you’re really just meat for prowling beasts. Quite simply, no animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.

Therefore, a broken femur which has healed is evidence that someone cared for the fallen despite no benefit to themself. Someone has bound up the wound, carried them to safety, and tended them through their recovery.

Dr. Mead finished her answer by saying this: “Helping someone else through difficulty; that is where civilization begins. We are at our best as humans when we serve others. So be civilized…serve.”

Pastor Josh Meyer gives the Commencement Address to the Dock Mennonite Academy Class of 2021. Photo by Dock Academy.