John 4:23-24
Listen Link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
This is has been a difficult assignment. I found it very difficult to write anything meaningful about worship. It is as difficult as trying to define love. This is because it really is a matter of the heart. It is as difficult as trying to describe what it’s like to fall in love to someone who has not had that experience. Nothing I say can really give you a clear idea of what it is really like to fall in love or to worship God, until it happens to you. But when it happens, you will know it is what it is.
I can describe worship activities in the same way that I can describe courtship activities. In courtship, you might take her out to dinner, bring her flowers, say nice things about how much she means to you. You can say and do all kinds of things that make it look like you are really in love. But you might just be going through the motions to get something else.
This is a harsh example, but in the sex trafficking business, one of the ways that they get their victims is by using a charming man who knows just what to say to make the girl think he really loves her. He takes his time to build her trust. But he is just doing what works to lead her into the trap.
Similarly in worship, some people will go through the motions religiously. They show up on Sundays, they sing the hymns, the make an offering. It looks like they are worshipping God. But they may only be doing what they think they have to do in order to get what they want from God. There are a lot of religious looking people who don’t really love and worship God. They just want his blessings, or his stuff. Most religions of the world treat God like that. It is the natural inclination of the human heart to want its own way and if there is a God who must be appeased or dealt with, that complicates life, but still, a guy will do what guy’s gotta do to get what he wants.
What I am saying is that every man made religion is really all about trying to get God to do what you want God to do. That might look like worship, but it’s actually manipulation and it’s pretty easy to be blind to that reality. That’s the story of the older brother in Jesus’ parable about the prodigal son. Why was he so mad that his father was so forgiving? Because he saw his younger brother getting the stuff that he wanted for himself, and he didn’t have it yet, or thought he didn’t, even though he was being the good son who obediently stayed home and did all the right things. It was the picture of the Pharisees and it pointed at the real motivation for why they did all the religious stuff they did that looked like worship.
So to repeat, religion is really all about trying to get God to do what you want God to do. The contrast is that true worship is all about getting my evilly inclined heart to submit to God and do what he wants me to do, trusting that he knows what’s best for me. The gospel truth is that there is really only one way for that to happen. Jesus does it for us and in us when we believe in him for salvation, grace, mercy and forgiveness and everything that goes with it. We believe in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, submit to his will and the Holy Spirit comes in and makes it all possible.
Jesus told the woman at the well that worship is not about which church you got to, or any geographical location like a temple or a mountain, or a lake. He said that “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The reference to the Spirit points to the relational connection, God wants us to worship him as person to person, like walk with him and talk with him. You can’t really worship God if you don’t have a personal relationship with him through faith in Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit. The truth element points to the fact that there are many false gods, many false religions, many ways that satan uses to keep us from getting to the truth about God, our sin problem, God’s solution in Jesus Christ and his great love for us that redeems us and gives us a great new life.
Once we believe the Truth, then we receive the Spirit, and by this we are enabled to worship God. Now worship means love him for who he really and truly is, with much thanksgiving for all that he has done for you that spills over into a life of joyful submission to him who is your Lord, as in ruler, master, in charge of your life. That is to fully submit to him in Spirit or, The Spirit, and in truth. The amazing thing is that we humans tend to only think in terms of earthly blessings like money, power, fame or freedom and we will religiously worship whatever we think might get us what we want. That is the definition of idolatry.
But what God in Christ actually offers us through faith in Jesus is far more than anyone could ever ask or imagine; eternal life in a perfect world with no more tears no more sorrows and plenty of opportunities in the remainder of life on earth to be a positive influence in the lives of other needy people here. Once we realize what Jesus is giving us we will simply react with awe and wonder and gratitude, sort of like this man in Anchorage, Alaska. The Chugach Covenant Church (CCC) gave the man who delivered pizza during the worship service the largest tip he had ever received — by far.
First, the Pastor had heard that the man had fallen on tough times, and the church wanted to help. “We had the opportunity to bless somebody who had no idea.” When the pizza delivery man arrived at the church, he was greeted with a standing ovation. That is something that doesn’t happen to delivery people. Then the pastor explained, “We don’t have a lot of really wealthy people. What we have is really generous people, People who recognize they’ve been given a lot and they want to give back some. While I was hoping for $1,000, our congregation put together $1,900.00 to give to you.” The man said that the money would certainly help him, but even more important was knowing that people cared. “Grateful for his biggest tip ever,” the man said, “I’m just going to be glowing the rest of the day, the rest of the week.” 1
You all really know that glow of gratitude that we feel upon receipt of a great unexpected blessing. But that’s not worship. That’s gratitude. That’s just the beginning of worship. The guy didn’t do anything to get that prize and he can’t claim he did. It’s a free gift of grace, just like salvation is for all of us. He will be glowing with joy for a while. But if one expression of his gratitude is that he joyfully attends that church, becomes a disciple and joyfully learns how to forgive as he was forgiven, be joyfully merciful to others in the way he received mercy and joyfully pass the blessings along in pay it forward mode. That’s worship.
That glow that he felt that starts it all off? We should be able to feel that when we realize how much God loves us. Many people who have been plucked out of the mire by God’s mercy and grace do feel that glow of gratitude, more so than many who were raised in church. But really the only difference between them is whether or not they realize that they didn’t really do anything to deserve the blessings that they do have. A lot of church going people mistakenly believe that they actually DO deserve the blessing they have. They are the ones who may actually miss the greater blessing of salvation, like the older son in the parable of the prodigal son.
Kathy and I got a little insight into this problem when we went to visit Christopher. I guess we were sort of hoping that when we arrived at the hospital we might get some kind of special treatment. I mean, we were doing a 2,400 mile round trip in one day, not to mention the expense, to see our son and demonstrate our love for him. But nobody noticed that or cared about it. We were just treated as if we were locals. There was no pat on the back, no expression of appreciation for how much trouble we went to to show how much we cared. No, nothing but this: “Have a seat over there and wait until 11:00 am and we'll see you then.” And over there was just a bare bench right by the front door in a clinical lobby. It was more like an office building than a hospital, but not as nicely decorated as modern facilities.
It was kind of like that when Jesus came to earth. Here is God, coming to earth, taking on the form of a human, and he was just treated with a yawn and a "so what," attitude. We still do that today. What compelled Him was His love. But, just like Chris didn't get it and the staff at the hospital weren't impressed, that's how Jesus is treated, even today! So many just go on with their lives, their addictions, blaming others instead of seeing how they could change things and missing how Jesus could help. Kathy said, “I've always said that I've learned more about God through being a parent than anything else I've ever done in my life. Yesterday was another lesson. Greg had said all along that we were going to New York to demonstrate the incarnation. I get it better now.”
What does that have to do with worship? Only that if we could truly appreciate who Jesus is, and how much he loves us, we would be glowing with gratitude for that gift for the rest of our eternal lives and we would be filled with the Spirit and filled with a joyful eagerness, even ambition, to serve the Lord by caring about the other people in this darkened world. The joy in our hearts every day for the privilege of being included in Christ ought to keep us glowing way more enthusiastically than any lottery winner, even the pizza delivery man who didn’t even buy a ticket! And how cool would it be to for us to be so generous like that church that we get to personally watch people react and give glory to God because of ways that we bless them?
All the saints in heaven will be happy to spend the rest of eternity in joyful worship of the one true God, Savior of the world, glorious in majesty, worthy of worship. And we saints will have a special contribution to make to the heavenly worship. The angels are already singing as they worship God in heaven. But the redeemed will sing a new song, a song that can only be sung by the redeemed, because we know what it is to be redeemed. The angels will rejoice when they hear this new song in heaven, just as they are already rejoicing every day and every time a sinner believes in Jesus and is welcomed into the Holy family by the Spirit of adoption that makes us sons and daughters of God.
We can rejoice now! And we should as we worship God in Spirit and in truth!
1Adapted from a Covenant Newswire story: http://covenantcompanion.com/2015/10/19/church-surprises-pizza-delivery-man-with-enormous-tip/
Listen Link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
This is has been a difficult assignment. I found it very difficult to write anything meaningful about worship. It is as difficult as trying to define love. This is because it really is a matter of the heart. It is as difficult as trying to describe what it’s like to fall in love to someone who has not had that experience. Nothing I say can really give you a clear idea of what it is really like to fall in love or to worship God, until it happens to you. But when it happens, you will know it is what it is.
I can describe worship activities in the same way that I can describe courtship activities. In courtship, you might take her out to dinner, bring her flowers, say nice things about how much she means to you. You can say and do all kinds of things that make it look like you are really in love. But you might just be going through the motions to get something else.
This is a harsh example, but in the sex trafficking business, one of the ways that they get their victims is by using a charming man who knows just what to say to make the girl think he really loves her. He takes his time to build her trust. But he is just doing what works to lead her into the trap.
Similarly in worship, some people will go through the motions religiously. They show up on Sundays, they sing the hymns, the make an offering. It looks like they are worshipping God. But they may only be doing what they think they have to do in order to get what they want from God. There are a lot of religious looking people who don’t really love and worship God. They just want his blessings, or his stuff. Most religions of the world treat God like that. It is the natural inclination of the human heart to want its own way and if there is a God who must be appeased or dealt with, that complicates life, but still, a guy will do what guy’s gotta do to get what he wants.
What I am saying is that every man made religion is really all about trying to get God to do what you want God to do. That might look like worship, but it’s actually manipulation and it’s pretty easy to be blind to that reality. That’s the story of the older brother in Jesus’ parable about the prodigal son. Why was he so mad that his father was so forgiving? Because he saw his younger brother getting the stuff that he wanted for himself, and he didn’t have it yet, or thought he didn’t, even though he was being the good son who obediently stayed home and did all the right things. It was the picture of the Pharisees and it pointed at the real motivation for why they did all the religious stuff they did that looked like worship.
So to repeat, religion is really all about trying to get God to do what you want God to do. The contrast is that true worship is all about getting my evilly inclined heart to submit to God and do what he wants me to do, trusting that he knows what’s best for me. The gospel truth is that there is really only one way for that to happen. Jesus does it for us and in us when we believe in him for salvation, grace, mercy and forgiveness and everything that goes with it. We believe in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, submit to his will and the Holy Spirit comes in and makes it all possible.
Jesus told the woman at the well that worship is not about which church you got to, or any geographical location like a temple or a mountain, or a lake. He said that “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The reference to the Spirit points to the relational connection, God wants us to worship him as person to person, like walk with him and talk with him. You can’t really worship God if you don’t have a personal relationship with him through faith in Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit. The truth element points to the fact that there are many false gods, many false religions, many ways that satan uses to keep us from getting to the truth about God, our sin problem, God’s solution in Jesus Christ and his great love for us that redeems us and gives us a great new life.
Once we believe the Truth, then we receive the Spirit, and by this we are enabled to worship God. Now worship means love him for who he really and truly is, with much thanksgiving for all that he has done for you that spills over into a life of joyful submission to him who is your Lord, as in ruler, master, in charge of your life. That is to fully submit to him in Spirit or, The Spirit, and in truth. The amazing thing is that we humans tend to only think in terms of earthly blessings like money, power, fame or freedom and we will religiously worship whatever we think might get us what we want. That is the definition of idolatry.
But what God in Christ actually offers us through faith in Jesus is far more than anyone could ever ask or imagine; eternal life in a perfect world with no more tears no more sorrows and plenty of opportunities in the remainder of life on earth to be a positive influence in the lives of other needy people here. Once we realize what Jesus is giving us we will simply react with awe and wonder and gratitude, sort of like this man in Anchorage, Alaska. The Chugach Covenant Church (CCC) gave the man who delivered pizza during the worship service the largest tip he had ever received — by far.
First, the Pastor had heard that the man had fallen on tough times, and the church wanted to help. “We had the opportunity to bless somebody who had no idea.” When the pizza delivery man arrived at the church, he was greeted with a standing ovation. That is something that doesn’t happen to delivery people. Then the pastor explained, “We don’t have a lot of really wealthy people. What we have is really generous people, People who recognize they’ve been given a lot and they want to give back some. While I was hoping for $1,000, our congregation put together $1,900.00 to give to you.” The man said that the money would certainly help him, but even more important was knowing that people cared. “Grateful for his biggest tip ever,” the man said, “I’m just going to be glowing the rest of the day, the rest of the week.” 1
You all really know that glow of gratitude that we feel upon receipt of a great unexpected blessing. But that’s not worship. That’s gratitude. That’s just the beginning of worship. The guy didn’t do anything to get that prize and he can’t claim he did. It’s a free gift of grace, just like salvation is for all of us. He will be glowing with joy for a while. But if one expression of his gratitude is that he joyfully attends that church, becomes a disciple and joyfully learns how to forgive as he was forgiven, be joyfully merciful to others in the way he received mercy and joyfully pass the blessings along in pay it forward mode. That’s worship.
That glow that he felt that starts it all off? We should be able to feel that when we realize how much God loves us. Many people who have been plucked out of the mire by God’s mercy and grace do feel that glow of gratitude, more so than many who were raised in church. But really the only difference between them is whether or not they realize that they didn’t really do anything to deserve the blessings that they do have. A lot of church going people mistakenly believe that they actually DO deserve the blessing they have. They are the ones who may actually miss the greater blessing of salvation, like the older son in the parable of the prodigal son.
Kathy and I got a little insight into this problem when we went to visit Christopher. I guess we were sort of hoping that when we arrived at the hospital we might get some kind of special treatment. I mean, we were doing a 2,400 mile round trip in one day, not to mention the expense, to see our son and demonstrate our love for him. But nobody noticed that or cared about it. We were just treated as if we were locals. There was no pat on the back, no expression of appreciation for how much trouble we went to to show how much we cared. No, nothing but this: “Have a seat over there and wait until 11:00 am and we'll see you then.” And over there was just a bare bench right by the front door in a clinical lobby. It was more like an office building than a hospital, but not as nicely decorated as modern facilities.
It was kind of like that when Jesus came to earth. Here is God, coming to earth, taking on the form of a human, and he was just treated with a yawn and a "so what," attitude. We still do that today. What compelled Him was His love. But, just like Chris didn't get it and the staff at the hospital weren't impressed, that's how Jesus is treated, even today! So many just go on with their lives, their addictions, blaming others instead of seeing how they could change things and missing how Jesus could help. Kathy said, “I've always said that I've learned more about God through being a parent than anything else I've ever done in my life. Yesterday was another lesson. Greg had said all along that we were going to New York to demonstrate the incarnation. I get it better now.”
What does that have to do with worship? Only that if we could truly appreciate who Jesus is, and how much he loves us, we would be glowing with gratitude for that gift for the rest of our eternal lives and we would be filled with the Spirit and filled with a joyful eagerness, even ambition, to serve the Lord by caring about the other people in this darkened world. The joy in our hearts every day for the privilege of being included in Christ ought to keep us glowing way more enthusiastically than any lottery winner, even the pizza delivery man who didn’t even buy a ticket! And how cool would it be to for us to be so generous like that church that we get to personally watch people react and give glory to God because of ways that we bless them?
All the saints in heaven will be happy to spend the rest of eternity in joyful worship of the one true God, Savior of the world, glorious in majesty, worthy of worship. And we saints will have a special contribution to make to the heavenly worship. The angels are already singing as they worship God in heaven. But the redeemed will sing a new song, a song that can only be sung by the redeemed, because we know what it is to be redeemed. The angels will rejoice when they hear this new song in heaven, just as they are already rejoicing every day and every time a sinner believes in Jesus and is welcomed into the Holy family by the Spirit of adoption that makes us sons and daughters of God.
We can rejoice now! And we should as we worship God in Spirit and in truth!
1Adapted from a Covenant Newswire story: http://covenantcompanion.com/2015/10/19/church-surprises-pizza-delivery-man-with-enormous-tip/
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