Praise and Mission

A God to praise

In Australia we love to chop down the tall poppy. When someone does well instead of giving them praise, our natural reaction is to make sure they don’t get a big head about it. We seem to hate the idea of people being too proud - its just not dignified, and as giving some praise seems to lift their ego, we just try to avoid it altogether.

For this reason, I think many Australians struggle with this idea that God wants us to praise him. Who is this egotistical being?

To add to the confusion, we have Jesus, the second person of the Trinity who values humility and servantship. How are we to integrate a God who values humility, but also wants us to praise him?

The problem with this sort of thinking is that we are lowering God to our own failed state. You see, the reason pride is a problem for us is because we do not rely on our own strength. Pride prevents us from seeing that there is something greater than us, and without it we could not do what we do.

But with God, he is above everything. In fact, he created everything.

In fact, I’ll go one further - God created us and all other things for his glory.

The Bible frequently says as much. The prophets often talk about people who were created for God’s glory. Paul refers to as us being “for the praise of the glory of His grace” ().

And so, if we see that the whole reason we are here is because God created us for his glory, then this should completely change the picture around. God wanting our praise is not some egotism gone mad, but rather the most natural thing that we could possibly do.

Praise and Mission

This morning, I’m going to look at this theme of praising God, but I want to do it from the perspective of understanding mission. In many ways, we see the two things as quite separate tasks within the church, but I’m going to argue this morning that there is actually a very close alignment between the two ideas.

Before I do, I want to share a short quote that I heard during the week.

It was: “mission exists because worship doesn’t”

Let me just repeat that: “mission exists because worship doesn’t”

It’s actually a quote from John Piper, but I actually found it in another book that had quoted him.

I find it quite a striking quote. It is not a connection you would readily make. However the point of the quote is that the reason we need mission, is because people throughout the world are not doing what they are designed to do - that is worship. Because they don’t worship, we need mission.

What is worship

But before I continue and explore this further, I want to be clear in what I’m talking about when I use the words ‘praise’ and ‘worship’.

Unfortunately, within the church, we have given a quite narrow meaning of these words. I suspect for most, if not all of you, the first thing you think of when I say praise and worship, is the songs we sing. And certainly, singing is a way that we can show our worship of God.

Interestingly I’ve heard some people give even a more narrow definition. I heard someone once describe praise as being the upbeat songs, and worship being the slower, more reflective songs.

But worship is so much more broad than that. Essentially, worship is all the different ways in which we can show our reverence and adoration to God.

So, while singing is certainly one way in which we show adoration to God, it is far from being the only way.

We can worship God through our words. We can worship God through our actions. When we give to other or give to the church, we are showing worship.

In a private setting, you can worship God through your meditations and your prayers. In a more public setting we can worship God when we come together and allow God’s name to be honoured.

There are countless ways in which we can worship, because anything you do that can bring honour and glory to God, is worship.

The connection

But let’s come back and explore the connection between worship and mission before I move to our passage for this morning.

To make this connection I want to draw out one particular aspect of worship. And that is, that in the act of worship we getting a glimpse of true kingdom living. As true worship happens, we are seeing the kingdom of God right now.

You know sometimes we think of the kingdom of God as something we just have to wait for after we die. Well, in it’s truest form, that might be true - that is, the kingdom of God will be most fully known when Jesus returns. But the reality is, the bible tells us the kingdom of God has already started. And when we worship we can start to see it.

Now if that is true - that is, that in the act of worship we can start to get a glimpse of God’s kingdom, then I don’t think it is too hard to make the next jump and suggest that this glimpse of God’s kingdom can also be an invitation for others to come into the kingdom.

What I am trying to suggest is that as we do true worship, we are also engaging in mission.

The bible hints at such a link at numerous points throughout scripture. There’s one little picture given by Paul in . The broader context of this chapter is Paul arguing for orderly worship, and in this context he speaks about the use of tongues and other spiritual gifts. But from verse 24 he talks about what the service can look like when people get their worship right.

Let me just read these verses to you:

1 cor 14:24-25

1 Corinthians 14:24–25 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

But if an unbeliever or an enquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!’

Now in some regards, maybe that seems really far fetched, but I think Paul gets what happens when things are done right. And now, don’t hear me wrong. Remember, where not just talking about songs here. Rather I’m talking about a genuine connection with God. When people see this, they can get a glimpse of God.

Now with this connection between praise and mission, I now want to turn to .

Now in this Psalm we see one of the clearest pictures in the Old Testament of a call for God’s glory to be shared with the other nations. In fact in verse 2 it even says to proclaim his salvation.

Now from a New Testament perspective, that makes a lot of sense, but this is the Old Testament. This is still the time when it’s meant to be all about the nation of Israel as God’s chosen people.

The context

Now regarding the context, we can’t know for sure what the occasion was when it was first written. After all, this Psalm doesn’t come with a superscription that we get in many of the other Psalms.

However, that being said, we do know that this Psalm is quoted in full in . And so we can look at the context in which it was quoted.

What we don’t know is whether the Psalm was written for the occasion that we will see in and then later inserted in the book of Psalms, or whether the author of Chronicles just felt that an existing Psalm suited his situation. Either way, I think it is worth looking at this context.

In this context we are seeing the Ark of the Covenant being returned to Israel.

Now this Ark was essentially a box that contained many important artefacts, including a tablet from the Ten Commandments. It came to symbolise the presence of God.

Unfortunately, at one stage it became thought of almost as a lucky charm, and so shortly before the annoint their first king, the Philistines capture it.

But when it caused to much havoc in various Philistine cities, they sent it back to the Israelites.

Unfortunately, the Israelites didn’t know how to handle it properly, so for the entire reign of the first king of Israel (that is, Saul), and into the reign of King David, the ark stayed on the outskirts of town.

But then eventually, under the guidance of King David, the ark is returned.

Now this is recorded for us both in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, and so we learn that David is dancing before the Lord with all his might, so much so, that he earns the ire of his wife who thinks he is just being vulgar.

But David doesn’t care much for the criticism, with him being quoted as saying “I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes”.

Although it might seem crass in one regard (at least it did to his wife), what David is doing is genuine worship. He is expressing his delight in God in the best way he knows how.

The content

And so it is in this context that we now see being quoted (incidentally, part of is also quoted).

A new song

The first verse of the Psalm talks about singing a new song. You could say however that it isn’t really a new song. After all, the essence of the song is the same that Israel has been singing for a long time. That is, a song of salvation. Of God redeeming his people for his name sake.

It’s the essence of the song that Moses and Miriam sang after they crossed the red sea. They would have sung a similar song each time God delivered them from the hands of their enemy during the period of the judges.

But while it might not really be a new song for them, it is a new song for the nations.

It’s the same for us as Christians. The message we preach is nothing new. The message of salvation is the same one that Jesus preached some 2000 years ago.

But to the ears of the unsaved, it is most certainly new. To those that are heaped with guilt and shame, it is the most refreshing thing they can hear.

Day after day

The second verse then talks about proclaiming his salvation day after day.

What God has done is not something you just mention once and then forget about it. It is something you talk about every single day.

You do that because it is everything to us.

Worship is not a once off thing. It needs to be a constant in our lives.

All people

But it is in the third verse that it is made explicit that the view is that this message is to go to all people of all nations.

Even in this Old Testament context, this global view is in picture.

Now let me just pause here, because global mission from an Old Testament perspective just doesn’t seem to make sense.

So let’s just flesh this out a little...

Firstly it should be noted that global mission is certainly not the focus in the Old Testament. Rather the Old Testament is far more focussed on setting up the kingdom of Israel.

But what I want to argue is that this setting up of the kingdom of Israel always had the bigger picture in mind. That is clear when we see the opening promise made to Abraham - that is, that he is to be a blessing to all nations.

So in this regard, while global mission is not the primary focus in the Old Testament, it is always lurking there in the background.

But that being said, there is even more to this picture. Because even in Old Testament times, God was working things in such a way that the other nations were getting a glimpse of the grander kingdom that was to come.

You see, because of Israel’s very prominent geographical location, many people from other nations passed through. There is evidence that as people did, they took notice of what was happening. Perhaps the most notable example is the Queen of Sheba that came for a visit during the reign of King Solomon.

And in addition, towards the latter parts of the Old Testament, we see a real scattering of God’s people throughout the known world. There is actually evidence that in the synagogues that they set up, great crowds came wanting to know more about the God of the Jews. Many want on to become what are sometimes referred to as God-fearers. In fact, if you look at , when the gospel is about to spread to the Gentiles, it first goes to some who is referred to as fearing God.

The point that I want to make is that even in these Old Testament times, there is evidence that God’s good news was spreading beyond the national people of Israel.

Now I recognise that a lot of this evidence I’m pointing to is in the latter parts of the Old Testament, but as I come back to the context of which is much earlier in the piece, we see here evidence of praise that is intended for far more than just the nation of Israel.

Now quite possibly the effectiveness of them praising at this time in spreading to the nation might have been limited, but this Psalm shows what the intention is.

And it’s not surprising given the context. The context speaks of the ark coming home after a supernatural powers shown over another nation. The God of Israel was not a local deity, but the God of gods - and for this reason, all the nations need to hear.

Application

And so what do we make of all of this for us right now?

Well, the point I’m trying to make is that worshiping God can also be seen as missional.

Now remember, I said earlier that worship is far more than singing. I said earlier that whenever we act in a way that brings glory to God, we are showing him worship.

So in this way, those ways we act in bringing God glory, are further ways in which we call share the good news.

Because when we treat God with the honour he deserves, people will start to see something that begins to reflect God’s kingdom. And this is a beautiful thing.

Bringing shame

The opposite of worship is bringing shame. And unfortunately there are many examples of people within the church, including leaders, that have brought shame to God’s name.

You probably don’t need me to list this because unfortunately they are obvious, but I’m talking the likes of abuse, conflict, and other sinful behaviour.

It is becoming more and more evident what happens - and that is that people are turned away from God.

The little thing

But this is not how we are to act.

We shouldn’t act this way, because it is not how God created us - he created us to worship him.

Imagine if, instead of complaining about all the little annoying things in our lives, and just being generally negative people, instead we started to notice the small blessings and actually highlighting them, just how much that could change things in the minds of others.

Now I’m guessing that probably over half my Facebook friends are Christians. Yet it so often seems to be filled with negativity. What I love however, is when you get the occasional post from someone who just wants to highlight the good in God’s creation.

Now, I’m not suggesting that this should be the sum total of our mission. But this is just one way in which our praise can be missional.

Conclusion

The wonderful thing is, that we actually have so much to praise God about. There is beauty everywhere. There are small mercies throughout our lives. There are miracles, both big and small. And there are loving relationships.

We just need to open our eyes and declare the praise of God.

As we do, we will start to do exactly what wants from us. To sing a new song to all the earth!

This has always been God’s intention, from the day he first created us for his glory.

My prayer is that we never shy away from praising God boldly, but that through our praise, others might get a glimpse of the wonder of who our God is.

Let’s pray...