A Monday Through Friday Kind Of Worship

We’re going to talk this morning about worship. And we’re going to do this for two reasons. The first reason is that if you look at our website or our literature, our brochure, our sign, even the business cards that the staff and I have, you see four words. What are those words? Worship, grow, love, serve. Obviously, we believe the worship of God is central to everything we do as a church. It’s the reason we exist and the reason we gather on Sunday morning.

So that’s the first reason - worship, grow, love, serve. But there’s another reason we’re going to talk about worship and that is, worship is not just something you do here from 10:30am to 11:30am and then go home and wait a week to come back and do it again.

The title of the sermon is a Monday Through Friday Kind Of Worship. The title is another way of saying: the worship of God is something you do not just here on Sundays but out there every day. All of your life and my life is to be caught up in the worship of God. How? In my work, in my marriage, in my parenting, in my grand parenting, in my recreation, all of that is to be caught up in the worship of God. And it’s my hope that the sermon today will help you catch a glimpse — may God give you a vision — of what this could look like.

So, Bibles out — you’re only going to need your Bibles for about five minutes. We’re going to do something we don’t do often — we’re going to look into the word of God, notice three things there, and then we’re going to put it down and see how to apply it.

1Corinthians 10:31-33 teaches us three truths about worship. They are on your screen.

[SLIDE: 3 TRUTHS ABOUT WORSHIP]

Three Truths About Worship

Every area of your life can be transformed into an act of worship that brings glory to God (v. 31)

Living for the glory of God means we live for the benefit of others (v. 32)

The greatest benefit that you can invest in in someone else is their salvation (v. 33)

The first is that every area of your life can be transformed into an act of worship. We see that in verse 31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

The apostle Paul has been talking about a problem the Corinthians were having. They were surrounded by idol worship. You think our world is full of this? Theirs was too. For example, if you sit down to a big steak dinner, you might find out that your steak — before it was on your plate — was used in the worship of a pagan god.

And obviously, some Christians had a problem with this. “We’re not gonna eat meat that was sacrificed to idols.” But other Christians said, “No, no, it’s ok, we’re not participating in the worship of idols; we’re just eating the meat. Some said, “Yeah, it’s fine”, others said, “Don’t you dare eat that.”

Paul wades into this issue with them in this letter because it’s causing problems for the church. The guys who don’t eat the meat are judging the ones who do. The ones who do eat the meat are saying the ones who don’t are weak and they worry too much and all that. Paul says, enough with the arguing. It’s not about whether you eat or whether you don’t. It’s about glorifying God — does my choice to eat or not to eat glorify God or does it not? And so he says, to wrap up that whole discussion, “So, whether you eat or drink” — but then he broadens it out to include literally everything — “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

We understand what the glory of God means. We look at creation and see its beauty. And we understand that as beautiful as it is, it can’t even begin to compare with the glory and beauty of the Creator. The glory of God is basically the radiance of God. You think of the sun. There’s the sun itself — the big flaming mass way out in space. But then there are the rays of the sun, the brightness of the sun, might even say the glory of the sun. The glory of God is the manifested, blinding, brilliant beauty and radiance of God.

But how do we give glory to God? How can we give Him something He already has that we don’t ourselves have? “We do all things for ‘God’s glory’ when the excellence of God’s attributes is made to shine forth by our actions so that men may see it.”

What does it mean to do glorify God? It means to honor him. It means to live my life in a way that points to him. Does this choice I’m making right now tell others that I think God is awesome and that living for Him is my highest priority? Or does it communicate that yeah, I say God is important in my life but I’m not really showing it with my actions?

Living for the glory of God, however, means that we live for the benefit of others. Verse 32: “Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God.” In other words, don’t unnecessarily offend people. Some of us need to hear this. No matter their background — ethnic, racial, religious — your conduct and your words should not be the reason why someone doesn’t come back to church, or doesn’t receive Christ Savior. No one should be able to say about you, “I would become a Christian you’re a Christian and I don’t want to be like you.”

Those are the first two. What is the second truth about worship in vv. 31-33? The greatest benefit that you can invest in in someone else is their salvation. Verse 33: “Just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.”

Every area of your life can be transformed into an act of worship that brings glory to God. Living for the glory of God means we live for the benefit of others. The greatest benefit that you can invest in in someone else is their salvation, and if they are saved already, then their spiritual growth.

Alright, teaching done. Close your Bible app and put down phone, or close your Bibles, and let’s look at a Monday through Friday kind of worship.

[SLIDE: #1: YOUR MARRIAGE IS…]

#1: Your marriage is worship

In our country and in the western world in general, we have a self-centered view of relationships. We are trained to think that marriage is all about my personal fulfillment and that if I am not highly fulfilled in my marriage then I may have married the wrong person.

Raise your hand if you’ve been married for more than five years. Ten years. Twenty years. Thirty years. Forty years. Fifty years.

Do me a favor. Go back to your 25 year old self, or whatever age you were when you first got married. Think of your maturity level then. How many of you would say that when you first got married, you thought the purpose of marriage was mainly to make you happy? You may not have believed at the time that you saw marriage that way then. But now with the benefit of more maturity and greater wisdom, you would say, “Yes, I was very selfish when I first got married.”

Now, those of you who have been married 20 years or longer, raise your hands again. How many of you would say that you’ve learned that you get more joy out of your marriage when you focus not on your happiness but your spouse’s happiness?

Starting several decades ago, that was the push — marry someone who will make you happy. Well, guess what? Over that same time period, divorce rates have skyrocketed. And this is where we as Christians ought to look at those high divorce rates and say, “Well, of course more people are getting divorced, because that’s not what marriage is for.”

Oh, there is great joy and fulfillment in marriage — don’t get me wrong. I am extremely happy in my marriage to Shannon and I hope she is as well! But part of that is because in the last 18 years God has taught us something. It took us a long time to learn. Marriage is for happiness, but I find my greatest happiness in my marriage to Shannon when I focus on Shannon’s happiness rather than my own.

[SLIDE: EPH 5:25]

Ephesians 5:25 ESV

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Isn’t that what the Bible says husbands are to do? The Bible says men, love your wives with a self-forgetful love. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loves the church and gave himself up for her...” (Eph 5:25 ESV).

Husbands, find your happiness in marriage by focusing on your wife’s happiness instead of your own. Wives, you’re not off the hook here. The same applies to you. Find your happiness in marriage by focusing on your husband’s happiness instead of your own.

[SLIDE: EPH 5:22]

Ephesians 5:22 ESV

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Eph 5:22 ESV). Don’t let your husband take advantage of you or run over you. That’s not what submission means. But submission does mean that you don’t try to run over him.

God has wired us, ladies and gentlemen, to desire happiness. It’s not wrong to want happiness. The problem is how we achieve it. We think happiness is dependent on me taking care of myself, putting my needs first.

There is no quicker way to get praise in our culture than to proclaim, “This year, I am focusing on me!” But we’ve gotten it backwards. We don’t find happiness by searching for our own happiness. If you try to do that, you will be searching constantly for happiness and never find it.

We get happiness when we live for the benefit, the advantage, the joy and the happiness of others, not ourselves. Your marriage glorifies God, honors God, and is an act of worship, when you live for the happiness of your spouse.

And didn’t we see this in our text? “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do...” (1Cor. 10:31-33a ESV).

All of your life and my life is to be caught up in the worship of God. Our marriages are to be caught up in the worship of God.

But it’s not just marriage. Your parenting is worship.

#2: Your parenting is worship

“So, whether you eat or drink” — or whether you parent or grandparent — “do all to the glory of God.”

How do you parent and grandparent for the glory of God?

The Bible says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and nurture of the Lord” (Eph 5:4 ESV).

Moms and dads, God has called you to be parents. He has given you children. And here’s the most important thing: He has invested you with a measure of His own authority. What an incredible privilege! God has invested you with a measure of His own authority. What a privilege!

We know that privilege comes with responsibility. As Christian parents, you have the privilege and the responsibility to represent the Lord in your homes. You’ll teach your kids about the Lord, but when they’re very young, you’ll be the Lord. I don’t mean that how it sounds. I mean you are the way your kids will perceive God. What you’re like is what they’ll think He’s like.

fIt’s a lot of pressure. Give that pressure to God. He will take your mistakes and work them into His plan for you and your children.

“So, whether you eat or drink” — or whether you parent or grandparent — “do all to the glory of God.”

Let me say something to the grandparents. God is pleased with you. Your grand parenting is a ministry to God. Some of you grandparents — your grandkids are older. They’re becoming teenagers, maybe they’re in college. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your ministry to them is over. It’s just different than it was five or ten years ago.

You can still have an impact on your kids and grandkids even if they’re older. You can still

Parent in a way that represents who God is. Endeavor to love and discipline your kids in a way that reflects His love and discipline. Do it to the best of your ability, even if your ability is way less than it should be. You just be faithful, and trust God to make up for your weaknesses.

All of your life and my life is to be caught up in the worship of God. Our marriages are to be caught up in the worship of God. Our parenting and grand parenting is to be caught up in the worship of God.

[SLIDE: #4: YOUR WORK IS…]

#4: Your work is worship

“So, whether you eat or drink” — and we might add, or whatever you do for work— “do all to the glory of God.”

A pastor told a story once about a friend he had in India. This Indian friend of this pastor was a surgeon in Mungeli, India. In the operating room, a large frame on the wall contained a message. Just three words: “Thou, God, Seest Me”. [G. Curtis Jones, p375]

On my desk I have a small wooden block that just has four words on it: “Thou art with me.”

“Thou art with me.” Those four words form a double-edged sword. They’re comforting. And they’re sobering. On the one hand, the Lord is with me — He loves and accepts me. He doesn’t draw back from being with me. Comfort.

On the other hand, sobering. the Lord is with me. The Lord who is called Holy, Holy, Holy. The Lord who is the consuming fire. The Lord who cannot even look at evil. He is the one who is with me.

He stands beside you as you work. The work that He gave you to do, He stands with you to accomplish through you. “Whatever you do,” the Bible says, “work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Col 3:23-24 NIV).

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. If you do that, your work will be an act of worship. I don’t care if you are cleaning toilets for a living or whether you in senior administration leadership at your company. Whatever you do. If the work in itself isn’t sinful, and if your motives are right, and you’re not trying to make yourself look good or make someone else look bad, your work — no matter what it is — is an act of worship.

All of your life and my life is to be caught up in the worship of God. Our marriages are to be caught up in the worship of God. Our parenting and grand parenting is to be caught up in the worship of God. Our work is to be caught up in the worship of God. All of life is and can be worship.

In Manhattan, there’s a building that looks very much like a temple. The architecture communicates transcendence. The front doors are tremendous. You walk in and the place is so big that you suddenly feel small. I’m not describing a temple, however, or a church, or any kind of place of worship. I’m talking about the Apple store in Manhattan.

In Manhattan, the Apple store feels more like a place of worship than a retail store. Inside the store, huge screens on the wall show beautiful graphics of planets and solar systems. On the second level, you meet the Apple geniuses. These employees of Apple are priest-like figures who impart knowledge and expertise about your phone.

Why is the Apple store like this? This is what the newspaper article I read about this said: “Apple seems to understand that the people who visit their store are looking for answers to questions deeper than how they should make calls or connect to the Internet.” [Quoted in Wax, This Is Our Time, p95]

In other words, Apple understands life is about worship. They wouldn’t call it that, obviously. It’s something they’re exploiting as a marketing strategy. But it works because they’re right. People are looking for more than just a phone. The genius of Apple is that they have made phones that promise us knowledge and power and connection that is greater than ourselves.

But the promise can’t deliver, obviously, because a life centered on a phone cannot satisfy us. A life centered on God can.

How is Sunday different from Monday through Friday?

Now, I understand that if I say worship is a Monday through Friday kind of thing, what is the purpose of what we do in here?

Sunday worship is intended to build you up so that you are motivated and energized to live a life of worship Monday through Friday. Sunday worship is intended to fill you up so that you are motivated and energized to live a life of worship Monday through Friday. Sunday worship is intended to strengthen you so that you are motivated and energized to live a life of worship Monday through Friday.

But here’s the thing - it’s not automatic. The thing about worship on Sunday morning is that if you aren’t doing Monday through Friday then you’re going to come in here and find your experience of church to be disappointing.

The problem is you. But you’re not going to know that it’s you, right? So like we all do, you’re going to search for other factors and other people to blame your bad experience on. You’ll become bitter and resentful. Because you’ve missed the point. Church is not about your preferences. Church is not about your satisfaction or happiness. If you feel entitled to have things at church go your way, you have missed the point and you will be miserable.

You’ll be like the guy who walked up to his pastor one day after church and said, “Preacher, I didn’t like a single one of the hymns we sung this morning.” The pastor just smiled and patted him on the back and said, “That’s okay - we weren’t singing them for you.” [Morgan p472]

Conclusion and call for response

All of your life and my life is to be caught up in the worship of God. Our marriages are to be caught up in the worship of God. Our parenting and grand parenting is to be caught up in the worship of God.

So let me close by asking you some questions.

First, do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Being saved is not just believing things about Jesus. Being saved is committing yourself to Him, trusting Him to save you from your sin and intending to live for Him. It’s futile to talk about worshiping God if you don’t already know God because if you don’t know God, you don’t have a relationship with God.

Our sin separates us from God. Our sin will send us to hell if nothing changes. God has made a way for us to be right with Him without having to be perfect. Jesus was crucified bearing my sin and my guilt and yours. Faith in Jesus is reaching out your hand to Him and saying, “I’m yours; save me.” Faith in Jesus is being able to say, “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to the cross I cling.”

But then, if you are saved and have a relationship with God, do you live every day for the glory of God? Do you make your choices based upon what will honor God rather than what will dishonor God? Is your work and your marriage and your parenting and your grand parenting caught up in the worship of God? Or have you gotten sidetracked in those things by living for lesser things?