Our Bible is a big book and there are lots of statements in
it that need to be distilled in order to find out what we’re supposed to be
doing as the church. However, two
statements by Jesus summarize it all:
the Great Commandment (Matthew
Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…Love your
neighbor as yourself. All the Law and
the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
One day, Jesus was asked to identify the most important command. He responded by saying, “Here is the entire Old Testament in a nutshell. I’m going to give you the Cliff Notes summary of God’s Word. All the Law and all the Prophets can be condensed into two tasks: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Later, in some of his last words to his disciples, Jesus gave the Great Commission to them and assigned them three more tasks: Go make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything he had taught.
These two teachings by Jesus are core to everything we should be about. Rick Warren came up with a great slogan: “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will grow a Great Church.”
So, we have these five things that Jesus says we’re supposed to be about:
1.
Love the Lord with all your heart.
2.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
3.
Go and make disciples.
4.
Baptize them.
5.
Teach them to obey.
These five purposes of the church can be further distilled
into five key words:
1.
Worship
2.
Service
3.
Evangelism
4.
Fellowship
5.
Discipleship
For now, we’re going to briefly zero in on worship.
Worship is loving the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength! How do we love God? By worshiping him! It doesn’t matter if we’re by ourselves, with a small group, or with 100,000 people. When we express our love to God, we’re worshiping.
The Bible says, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” (Matthew 4:10). Notice that worship comes before service. Worshiping God is the church’s first purpose.
Let’s look at some things worship is not:
- Worship
is not exclusively singing! We can worship Him without singing.
- Worship
does not require a crowd. It often does, but it can also be done alone.
- Worship
is not restricted to a special place.
- Worship
does not require a great deal of knowledge.
- Worship
is affected by tradition but not limited by tradition.
The Book of Ecclesiastes says: “God has set eternity in men’s hearts.” Augustine is frequently quoted as having said: “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and we are restless until we rest in Thee.” Deep within us all there is a cry for God. We need to respond to that craving within us and turn it toward God.
How do we respond? Interestingly, the OT biblical word for worship has as its root, “to bow down, or become low”. Psalm 95:6 illustrates this: O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” The NT word is similar – its root means to kiss the ground. Now does that mean that in order to worship we have to kneel down and kiss the ground? Of course not! These are pictures that communicate a basic principle; that principle includes reverence, respect, regard, submission.
So, our response is not so much an action as an attitude. By worshiping, we acknowledge the enormity of God. We recognize His authority over us. We submit to His plans and to His sovereignty.
Let’s be honest here. Because
you attend worship doesn’t mean that you worshipped! Putting your body in the seat at your
church is NOT an indicator of worship! I suspect that MANY people attend
worship regularly, but never worship!
Churches in our day make it easier and easier to attend worship without actually engaging! People sit in theater seating with the lights down low. The ‘performers’ are on the ‘stage’. We are in the dark! We enjoy the ‘show’ and leave when it’s over!
I attended a multi-site church in my area two years ago out of curiosity. The worship service was typical of what I had expected:
o
Parking was convenient.
o
I was greeted twice on the way in.
o
The seat was so comfortable – we were not
crowded.
o
When the program began, the lights were dimmed
significantly.
o
The music was great!
o The sermon began with humor and was interesting.
When the service ended, I
stayed at my seat to observe the crowd. Everyone exited the building and went
directly to their cars! I saw absolutely no engaging with one another and
concluded that these people did not know one another. BUT THEY ALL ATTENDED
WORSHIP!
Jesus said, “the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way.” (John 4:23). So, when we worship God it is a spiritual activity; our spirit engages with His Holy Spirit. We are truthful with Him. We are transparent before Him. We confess to Him. We are renewed by Him.
Worship has the power to change us. In Luke 9, we read concerning Jesus that “as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed.” If worship did something for Jesus, shouldn’t we expect that it will also do something for us? According to Chuck Swindol, “Worship changes my horizons, eclipses my fears, changes my perspective, refreshes my spirit, and enhances my work.”
Now let’s review the simple things we’ve learned:
1.
God has made us in such a way that we need to worship!
2.
Worship involves an attitude of reverence for God.
3.
God desires (indeed, is looking for) genuine
worshipers.
4.
Worship changes us!
According to Max Lucado,
“God invites us to see his face so he
can change ours. He uses our uncovered
faces to display his glory. The
transformation isn’t easy. The sculptor
of
How?
Through worship.
We’d expect something more complicated,
more demanding. A forty-day fast or the
memorization of Leviticus perhaps.
No. God’s plan is simpler. He changes our faces through worship.” [from Just Like Jesus - Lucado, “Grace
for the Moment”, p.206]
Now there’s a distinct problem with preaching or teaching about worship. You could easily get the impression that this is something that you should be doing. You could even become determined that as you leave, you’re going to be a better worshiper. You might decide that you’re going to attend church more faithfully. You might think of buying more Christian music to listen to. You might pick up your Bible and read it more often. All of these things are good things – however, these responses would be inappropriate.
This teaching about worship is not so that you can add another “should” to your life. Honestly! It’s not even to remind you that you “ought” to be worshiping. No! Let’s get this straight before we move on: we’re talking about a God who desires to have a RELATIONSHIP with you!
God doesn’t want
you to worship because His Word says that you should.
God doesn’t want you to worship Him because you’re afraid of Him.
God doesn’t want you to worship Him for what you can get out of it.
God doesn’t want you to worship Him out of a sense of obligation!
No! God wants you to live a life of worship because you love Him and desire to please and serve Him!
William H. Willimon has
written: “We do not worship God in order to become better people. Christians worship God simply because we
are God’s beloved ones.”
