Journey of Worship

Archive for the ‘Ponderings’ Category

The thought occurred to me the other day as I was reading in Matthew 15, how often are we like the Pharisees as Jesus applied the words of Isaiah the prophet to them?

The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.”

Isaiah 29:13 NIV

• Following a form, but not the function.
• Concerned with looks, but not substance.
• Adhering to the letter, but not the spirit, of the commands of God.
• Casting something in a “spiritual” light that really is in opposition to the revealed truth of God because we’ve convinced ourselves “God told me so.”

The Pharisees lived this way every day. Matthew 15:1-7 paints a clear picture for us.

Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”

Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you.

Matthew 15:1-6a NLT

We often chastise the Pharisees for not getting it or having the wrong focus, but how often do we find ourselves standing right next to them?

May each day be a day we worship, not according to traditions or forms, but with pure and transformed hearts that draw close to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ in accordance with the revealed truth of God.

“Worship demands purity. Over and over we have seen that the prerequisite to the privilege of entering God’s presence is the recognition of personal sinfulness and a willingness to abandon that sinfulness. A consuming desire to be pure and clean is the normal result of being with God. The closer we draw to God, the more overwhelmed we become with our sinfulness…

If the corporate worship in the church leaves people unchanged, the church is not really worshiping. If what goes on in the church service does not spur the saints to greater obedience, call it what you will, it isn’t worship. Worship always results in a transformation, and the church is edified by it.”

- John MacArthur, Jr.

Do you agree or disagree? How is participation in corporate worship transforming you? How is your church body being enlightened and uplifted (both together and individually) by the worship that you do corporately?

One of the things that has been on the front burner lately for me and for our church is helping people to understand that worship is more than a Sunday morning in church thing.

I had the opportunity to teach this morning in a Sunday School class we are doing during the summer to equip people to be mentors. The topic was a lifestyle of worship. It was a little intimidating to approach this topic because it is so vast and complex, yet at the same time I realized there is a unique simplicity to it when we grasp it.

Anyway, the class went really well. The challenge was keeping in the time frame and yet handling the subject well. There was a lot of stuff that I didn’t necessarily end up including.

One thing that I came across was a series of article by Dwayne Moore who wrote the study Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study on Worship. He has posted three articles on his blog. They have some great content and insights.

If you are looking to gain a greater understanding of what it means to have a lifestyle of worship (which is a necessary discipline for the growing Christ-follower), then I encourage you to check out what he wrote. Let me know what you think.

Three Directions of Lifestyle Worship, Part 1

Three Directions of Lifestyle Worship, Part 2

Three Directions of Lifestyle Worship, Part 3

I have one of the best jobs in the world, getting to do what I enjoy for the Kingdom of God. But, I also have one of the hardest jobs in the world. There are seasons where it seems that we watch so many people make choices that dishonor God, their families and others even though they have heard the truth. There are seasons where there is great discouragement and many questions. There are times when I wonder whether any of it makes a difference.

Each time I find myself in one of those times, there is a verse that I am repeatedly drawn to. It is a voice that speaks volumes about the God I serve and His character. It is a verse that can bring a huge amount of encouragement when it is heard with ears that want to hear.

Zephaniah 3:17 is that verse. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (emphasis added)

Thank about that for a minute (or more). The great God of the universe who created all that we see, who is not constrained by time or space, who is not burdened and held captive by the things that stress and worry us. The Lord Almighty who is incomparable,  everlasting, all-powerful, the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow is with us. Always.

He takes delight in us and quiets our worries and questions with His great love. He, the holy and righteous and perfect God, rejoices over us with singing, not because we get it right all the time but because He loves and treasures us just that much.

Wow.

One of the things that’s not clearly spelled out step by step in the Bible is how to worship. For us in North America, that’s tough because we like to have processes and procedures clearly spelled out. If we do this, then this will happen.

As a result, we’ve created some definitions and mythos about worship that may not entirely capture the fullness of what it is. We read the desire of God that we express our love, devotion, gratitude, thanksgiving, and appreciation through worship to Him alone, but we don’t always grasp the expansive nature of that.

Despite not giving us a step-by-step list of how exactly to worship, the Bible does give us a ton of insight into the actions and attitudes of acceptable worship offered to the Creator of the Universe and Redeemer of our lives.

I came across this over at ExperiencingWorship.com. It’s a thorough review of the different Hebrew and Greek words used in the writing the Old and New Testaments as it relates to worship, praise, and so forth.

If you’ve never thought about that, check it out. It’s incredibly enlightening. If you are familiar with some of this, take a moment to reconsider how these things are played out in your life.

Go here to read the article. This is one you’ll probably want to print, save, bookmark, share, whatever.

How are you worshipping?

I came across this quote on the internet:

Sometimes we put up walls, not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to knock them down.

As I thought about that, I was reminded of some good friends in my college days that helped to knock down the walls I had. I didn’t necessarily ask for it, but they knew it was important. It wasn’t always pleasant, but I knew they cared enough to keep at it even when I didn’t make it easy. Did they all stay down, probably not.

Think about the walls in your life. Is there someone who is chipping away at them?

Who is someone in your life that might need to know someone cares?

Image from galja99 via www.sxc.hu

The folks over at The Work of the People, a website that makes visual media for mission and worship, have a blog. Recently they posted a few thoughts on what makes worship successful.

When we talk about whether or not a worship service is “successful,” are we talking about the time we spent with God our Father, or are we talking about indicators and measurements?

Check it out and leave a comment about what you think.

Why do we worship?

The obvious answer is that it’s what we do in church. But it’s much more than that. It’s what we were made to do, and worship is much more that a Sunday morning gathering (but more on that another time.)

At the core, we worship because of Christ. Worship means to give worship to someone or something. We give worth to Christ because or and as a response to God’s love extended to us long before we knew of God. The fact is that when we really understand (and believe) how much God loves us even though we don’t deserve it, our world should be rocked.

The thing is that it’s hard to understand and comprehend how God could love us so. We perhaps don’t think God could love us that much, or we don’t really believe we are worth being loved. We choose to live in a way that minimizes the power and impact of God’s love, and act like we have to earn God’s love.

Richard Foster in The Celebration of Discipline says this:

Worship is our response to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father. Its central reality is found ‘in Spirit and in Truth.’ It is kindled within us only when then the Spirit of God touches our human Spirit. Forms and rituals do not produce worship, nor does the formal disuse of forms and rituals. We can use all the right techniques and methods, we can have the best possible liturgy (a form and arrangement of public worship laid down by a church or religion) but we have not worshipped the Lord until Spirit touches Spirit. Singing, praying, praising, all may lead to worship, but worship is more than any of them. Our spirit must be ignited by divine fire.

We worship as a response to the amazing reality of God’s love. On the one hand, it is something we must choose to do, but on the other hand it is something that is truly beyond us. As with most things in the Christian life, worship is somewhat of a paradox.

The next time you gather to worship with others or spend time giving worth to God on your own, think about why you are doing it. It is becuase it’s “what we do” or is it a deep, mystical (can I use that word?), whole-hearted response to the indescribable love of the vast, unchanging Creator of the universe who loved us first. And because of that love, we are made right before God and invited into full membership in the family of God.

Why do you worship?

Ephesians 1:11-14 (NIV):

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of his glory.

Came across this passage last week. When you stop to think about what it says, it’s pretty significant. As we live on this world and walk in this life, we need to remember what God has done for us, who we are in Christ, and why that is.

As we place our hope in Christ, it is for God’s glory. As we trust in the forgiveness and completeness of Christ, it is for His glory. As we allow our life to be fully conformed and in the hands of God, it is for His glory. Life isn’t about us, yet God allows us to be a part of the inheritance to come beacause He loves us so much.

And no matter what the future holds, our future is secure and is not in jeopardy. Just as you make a deposit on a house or a custom order or a car to secure it, our future place in God’s Kingdom is secure by God’s Son – Jesus Christ. And it’s still for His glory.

So rest secure because we are God’s and live for His glory.

It’s one of those concepts we toss around in relation to worship: the idea of a sacrifice of praise and worship being a sacrifice. But do we really believe that worship involves sacrifice? Do we comprehend what that means? Do we believe it’s true, and if so, do we act and live like it?

I found an article over at ExperiencingWorship.com by a guy named Russell Henderson. I don’t know anything about him, but he wrote a great article about this concept drawing on a story from the life of David as he sought to purchase the threshing floor from Oman in order to offer a sacrifice to make amends for a huge sin David committed.

Some of the things that stood out to me:

• We know from scripture that worship is sacrifice, but many times we want to curt-tail on someone else’s sacrifice. In other words, we want someone else to do all the work to get to God, and we want to share in the benefits of their labor.
• We are called to worship just as much (or more) in the bad times as we do in the good times.
• True worship will take us to a place where God will respond.
• Take a look at what you are offering to God. Is it someone else’s offering, or is it something that comes from your heart in repentance and surrender?
• As worshippers we must understand that God wants genuine sacrifice.

It’s an awesome article. I encourage you to go and read all of it here.

Does your worship involve genuine sacrifice? What does that look like in your life?