The Heart of Worship
Notes
Transcript
When it comes to the greatest names in church history, without a doubt, the name John Wesley stands out above the rest.
And why?
Not simply because he was one of the great evangelists of all time,
Nor because he was one of the great writers of Christian Hymnody, writing over 6,500 hymns, which include great songs of worship we still sing today in this very church, like:
“O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing”
or “And Can it Be”
But, because John Wesley lived a life of RADICAL, sacrificial, Christ-Centered worship,
which led him to give all he could for the sake the gospel.
Living in 18th century England, John Wesley was born into a wealthy where his father was a famous author, poet, and political commentator,
which enabled his family to enjoy nearly all of the luxurious the world has to offer
He was able to spend time traveling the world,
He was educated at the finest schools and universities, which included Oxford University
He enjoyed the finest dining the world had to offer,
and being a part of England’s upper class he was regularly invited to dinner parties with the richest of the rich!
When it came to clothes and fashion, John was a G Q man, before Gentlemen’s Quarterly was even around!
Which means he was quite the dapper dresser!
He was a man of culture, who had access to all the finest works of literature, attending England’s greatest plays, operas, and other major cultural events.
And though John knew EXACTLY what wealth and luxury tasted like,
He eventually came to gladly give it all away for a wealth that is infinitely greater, as he became one of the greatest evangelists and preachers of all time,
who labored tirelessly to bring the gospel message of salvation to all who would hear.
When it came to money, in John Wesley’s first year of ministry, he made a measly 30 pounds - which wasn’t very much at all.
And yet, he found he could live on 28 pounds, and so what did do?
he gave away extra two pounds.
But then in his second year of ministry, his income doubled to to 60 pounds -
and so what did he do?
He gave away 32 pounds and continued to live off the same income!
Again, in his third year his income went up to 90 pounds, which then led him to give away 62 pounds.
And this continued to go on throughout the years, until eventually he went on to make as much as 1,400 pound a year!
Which in today’s currency would have made him a millionaire!
But what did he do with all that money?
He gave it away, and continued to live off his lowly income
In fact, Wesley once said that he seldom had more than 100 pounds in his possession at any given moment, as he gave away as fast as it came in!
Eventually, the English Tax Commissioners got suspicious that he wasn’t paying more in taxes, and so they investigated him to see if he had been buying silver with his money
And in response, he wrote them saying:
“I have two silver spoons at London and two at Bristol. This is all the plate I have at present, and I shall not buy any more while so many round me want bread.”
When he died in 1791 at the age of 87 the only money mentioned in his will was the coins to be found in his pockets and dresser, since most of the 30,000 pounds he had earned had been given away as he continued to live off the same 28 pounds he had determined to live off of.
Later in his life, Wesley had this to say about this about his finances when he wrote:
"What should rise is not the Christian’s standard of living, but his standard of giving.”
And why?
Was it because he was trying to earn God’s favor through pietistic, sacrificial living?
What I mean is, did he did this out of reluctance of fear of God?
No.
He did this out of his great love for God and His desire to serve Him above all else, because he saw Christ being ABOVE all else in worth!
He did this, you could say, out of a heart of worship.
Which is the same heart of worship we see in another woman’s giving in Matthew chapter 26.
Which shows us 3 things about a heart of worship
Which are:
A heart of worship sees Christ’s:
Majesty
Mission
Mercy
Three weeks ago, we began looking at Jesus’s Passion Week, which is His last week before facing the agonies of cross.
And in the first few verses of Matthew 26, we saw how Jesus informed His disciples that He was going be delivered t be crucified
And why?
Because Jesus is the ultimate passover lamb!
For He is Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!
And though the religious leaders plotted together to arrest and kill Jesus,
their sinful plot was a part of God’s perfect plot to save humanity from their sins, through the blood of Christ!
And so after explaining this to us, Matthew begins in verse 6 with a flashback to a dinner that took place 6 days earlier in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper
Who evidently wasn’t a leper anymore, because Jesus had healed him.
And it is in this dinner that we find a beautiful act of worship by a woman with some perfume, that has been told all throughout the ages, just as Jesus said it would.
But before we get to that, we need to deal with a potential problem with this passage,
and the problem is, in all four gospel accounts we find a story of a woman anointing Jesus with very expensive perfume.
BUT, the accounts don’t fully match each other!
For example, Matthew’s account says that this happened in Bethany at Simon the Leper’s house,
But John’s account makes it sound like it happened at the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha’s.
AND, the account in Luke is almost entirely different, taking place a good or so before Jesus’s Passion Week.
And the reason we are discussing this, is because if you talk to Skeptics of Christianity, they are gonna point this out, and tell you you don’t how to read, because this is a clear and obvious contradiction in the Bible!
So are they right?
Is it a contradiction?
Should we pack things up and head on home?
Nope
And here’s why.
First off, Luke’s account does have some similarities with the other gospels:
We have a man named Simon
We have a woman pouring her perfume on Jesus,
And we have people grumpy about what happened.
But in Luke’s account it’s Simon the Pharisee
And in Matthew and Mark’s it’s Simon the Leper.
And yes, they both share the name SIMON - but why on earth would we assume it’s the same person, especially with one being a pharisee and the other a ex-leper!
Simon was a pretty common name back then!
Second off, why assume that the event Luke is describing is the same as what Matthew, Mark, and John are describing?
Sure, there’s some similarities with there being a woman and perfume,
But why insist something like this couldn’t have happened twice by two different women?
That’s called an UNFOUNDED ASSUMPTION
Third, yes, John’s gospel doesn’t mention Simon the Leper’s house at all,
and says it this happened 6 days before the passover - where Matthew 26 starts with us being two days away from the passover.
But again, this isn’t a blatant contradiction on either account, because John just says they came to Bethany where Lazerus was from, and they had a dinner there.
What prevents that from being Simon the Lepers house?
And in regards to number of days difference, Matthew and Mark are doing what’s called a flashback.
It starts with Jesus talking to His disciples 2 days before the passover, and mentions the religious leader’s plot to kill him, and then goes back to tell of an event that happened 6 days earlier.
So my question to the skeptic who says this contradiction is why are flashbacks not allowed?
Books and movies do this all of the time today
And it’s not a big deal!
It’s not a blatant contradiction AT ALL!
And just incase you’re thinking: “Who cares? Why are we spending time on this?”
and the answer is, because it matters!
And it matters because our faith is not a blind faith!
We don’t believe in Christianity DESPITE the evidences,
We believe in Christianity BECAUSE OF THE EVIDENCES!
And the evidence is ABUNDANTLY clear that JESUS CHRIST, lived and died, and ROSE ON THE 3rd DAY!
And the eyewitness account we have of this ARE absolutely TRUSTWORTHY!
And if we don’t deal with the skeptics arguments against the trustworthiness of the gospel records,
We are going to see people dismiss the gospel record’s claims,
Which means they will dismiss Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!
Does that make sense?
Alright, so Matthew, Mark, and I believe John, are talking about the same event, where a woman - being Mary - the sister of Martha and Lazarus - came and anointed Jesus for burial, with a VERY expensive alabaster flask of ointment, or perfume.
And she did this as a great act of love and worship.
When Matthew says in verse 7 that it was a very expensive flask of ointment, he wasn’t exaggerating,
As this flask was worth about a year’s worth of wages!
And without hesitation, she pops it open and pours all of it out on Jesus’s head.
See, back then, people didn’t having nice showers in their home, and so they couldn’t bathe on a regular basis.
and so what they did was they often used perfume to mask people’s smell at dinner parties like the Jesus and His disciples were at.
AND - this is fascinating - women at that time would have an alabaster flask like this that they kept for their wedding day!
Remember - no showers - so perfume was quite the handy thing!
And yet, this young woman gladly pours out one of her most prized possessions upon Jesus, because HE WAS HER MOST PRIZED POSSESSION!
Like John Wesley, Mary saw the value, worth, and majesty of Jesus, and what did it do the values of this world?
“It made”, as we often sing, “the things of this world grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace!”
THAT is the heart of worship.
It’s not cold, indifferent obedience
it’s not showing up on Sunday’s mumbling through the songs that we sing because it’s our religious ritual,
NO!
A heart of worship is a PSALM 100 heart that:
Makes a joyful noise to the LORD
That serves the LORD with gladness!
That comes into His presence with SINING!
AND WHY?
Because we know that the Lord He is GOD!
It is HE who made us!
WE ARE HIS PEOPLE!
WE ARE THE SHEEP OF HIS PASTURE!
And because of what WE KNOW - not what we FEEL, we enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise! Giving thanks to Him and we BLESS HIS NAME!
For the Lord is good!
And His steadfast love endures FOREVER
And His faithfulness to ALL GENERATIONS!
Which means, when we gather as GOD’s PEOPLE FOR WORSHIP, we should sing JOYFULLY AND LOUDLY just as PSALM 100 says we should!
Which also means that every week I should be hearing that the worship team WASN’T TURNED UP OUT LOUD ENOUGH because they couldn’t be heard over the voices of the congregation!
And yet, how many weeks do we show up for worship and either don’t sing much at all,
or we mumble through the songs quietly without joy.
And we do so because we worship in accordance to our FEELINGS instead of THE FACTS that KNOW!
And what we know is that the LORD, HE IS GOD!
HE MADE US!
WE ARE HIS PEOPLE!
THE SHEEP OF HIS PASTURE!
And what a reason that is to SHOUT PRAISES JOYFULLY TO HIS NAME WITH THANKSGIVING
FOR HE GOOD!
And HIS STEADFAST LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS ENDURES THROUGH ALL GENERATIONS!
Mary knew this.
Mary knew the truths of what we just sang together!
She knew that HE IS OUR GOD
She knew PSALM 145 and how GREAT HE IS!
And Psalm 113, that NO ONE IS LIKE OUR GOD
And as His creature, she worshiped her GOD AND KING!
Which why she anointed her King with the most valuable oil she had,
And she did this beautiful thing with joy out of a heart of worship
For she knew the mission of Her God and King, who came not in majesty, but in meekness, to suffer and die for her in her place!
Which leads us to our second point.
A heart of worship sees Christ’s:
Majesty
Mission
In verses 8 and 9, we see the disciples respond to Mary’s act of worship with disgust.
and look at the excuse they give for why.
9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”
Two quick thoughts on this:
Jesus is greater the poor
Jesus is the greatest need of the poor
Now, nobody can question what God says about how we are to love and care for the poor.
in fact, Jesus likely referring to just that, by parapharsing Deuteronomy 15:11, which says:
11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
And so yes, we care for the poor,
because after all, that’s what we are,
and yet Christ who was RICH became poor in order to make us RICH!
And so our concern and care for the poor
Whether that be the financially poor
The socially poor
Or the spiritually poor,
We are to love and care for them.
BUT
Not ABOVE JESUS!
And yet how many charities and churches tirelessly serve the poor, but give no or very little service to Jesus?
This is called the social gospel.
And yes, don’t get me wrong, soup kitchens are good,
Homeless shelters are helpful,
BUT NONE THIS will do the poor A LICK OF GOOD if we don’t serve them by pointing them their greatest NEED which is Jesus Christ!
And the reason for this is because the motive is not SELFLESS but SELFISH!
It feels good to help someone,
It makes us feel like a good person,
And who doesn’t like feeling like a good person?
This is why Hollywood does what they do for the poor.
But like Judas here, it’s not because of SELFLESS love and worship of God,
It’s because their hands are in the moneybag hoping to serve themselves.
Which is precisely what Judas was doing, who John tells us is the one who led this complaint,
And the reason was because his hand was in the money in which he regularly helped himself to.
So let me ask you
Does this attitude ever show up in the church?
“Are you serious? We are spending money as a church on THAT?”
“That’s such a waste of money that could be used for the poor!”
And yet, how often is that complaint self-righteously said, NOT because we actually care about the poor, but because our hands are in the moneybag, and we don’t like giving it away!
Don’t get me wrong, being wise with our spending as a church is a good thing!
But how often do we respond to the spending decisions of the church our a Judas-like heart which is simply loving MAMMON instead of God and others?
What is mammon?
It’s the love of wealth and the things of this world.
And yet, like Judas, our heart’s can easily twist our love of mammon as being a love of God and others, when it’s not!
It’s simply an excuse to keep our hands in the moneybag and serve ourselves,
Instead of serving God and others out of a sacrificial heart of worship.
Instead, like Mary, we should see EVERYTHING God has given us as a means to and ends
And that ends is WORSHIP!
For worship is the chief ends of man, for it is our greatest CALLING!
For we worship a God Who made it His mission to suffer and die for the sins of men
Even sinful men like you and I!
And yet, how easily we all respond like Judas and do not see the value and majesty of Christ,
Which leads us to reject His saving mission,
Which is rejection of His great mercy.
A heart of worship sees Christ’s:
Majesty
Mission
Mercy
Do know what I find remarkable about this passage?
All the male disciples here get this ABSOLUTELY WRONG!
And yet who gets it right?
The lowly, second-class woman
And before you get all worked up,
I’m not saying that because SHE IS A WOMAN
I’m saying that because of how women where viewed back then.
Which was as second-class citizens who had very little rights compared to men in that society
Not only were their testimonies not admissible in court, but they were seen as being inferior to men in almost every way!
And yet, what does Jesus say in verse 13 about the blessing He has in store for this woman because of her heart of worship?
13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
Did Mary deserve this?
Of course not!
Yes, what she did was good and beautiful,
But what did Mary actually deserve?
The same thing ALL sinners deserve,
Which is the eternal wrath of God.
And yet, because of the MERCY of God a sinner like her was given such a blessing!
Which is why we are talking about what she did to this very day!
But not Judas.
For as verses 14-16 tell us, Judas rejected Christ’s majesty and mission,
Which led to Judas not receiving the mercy of God.
And all for a measly 30 pieces of silver.
How sad,
How tragic!
Judas lived with Jesus for 3 years!
He heard His Divine teaching,
He saw His miraculous healings,
And yet, He traded INFINITE WORTH for a FINITE reward.
I can think of nothing more tragic.
To behold the King of Glory and to disgard Him.
To see the eternal riches of God which are offered freely and fully by His grace and mercy and cling to the rags of this world.
How foolish,
How sad,
Especially when it’s those who have spent so much time around Jesus.
Whether that be through church or a Christian family,
They have a religious heart, instead of worshiping heart, which gladly exchanges the majesty of Christ for Mammon.
So how about you?
What kind of heart do you have?
Do you have a heart that worships Christ or the creation?
Do love and long for the things of the world to come or the things of this world?
At the age of 87, nearing the end of his life, John Wesley was experiencing severe health problems and his health continued to decline,
And yet, he fervently continued to preach the gospel to all he could, as he would even ride on horseback to preach sermons to all he could.
And after spending his life’s savings on preaching the gospel of Christ, he eventually lay on his death bed, where his last recorded words were:
“The best of all is God with us!”
and after saying this, He passed out of this world into eternity where He stood face to face with the God of glory who had been with him all of His days.
So how about you?
Can you say the same?
That the best of all is IMMANUEL: God with us?
Have you beheld His majestic glory,
His Mission of MERCY to all sinners who can be made saints by the power of His grace?
I leave us this morning with the words of one of Wesley’s great hymns
"Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven,
To His Feet Thy Tribute Bring;
Ransomed, Healed, Restored, Forgiven,
Who Like Me His Praise Should Sing?
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise The Everlasting King.”
May we live our lives out of a heart of true worship!