A Call To Worship

A Call To Worship Psalm 100 Thanksgiving is this week and will be celebrated by millions of people. All across the nation, people will hear the Macy’s Day Parade in the background while they slave over a hot stove. Millions of people will do what seems to be an endless amount of dishes, eat way too much, before finally trying to catch some of the football game before catching some sleep. You know, we’re so accustomed to the traditional holiday of Thanksgiving, that it becomes very easy to forget that our celebration of Thanksgiving doesn’t reach other countries. This was seen in a funny way a few years ago when an eager young schoolteacher sent her 4th-grade class home with the assignment to explore how Thanksgiving is celebrated in other countries! That assignment left a classroom full of the children’s parents fairly confused. But the teacher had the right idea. There’s no reason to limit our thanksgiving to one day and in only one part of the world. But isn’t it funny how it seems we’re so much happier on holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas? Now sure, for many people it’s a day off work, but I don’t think that’s the real reason for the joy we feel during the holidays. I believe the biggest reason people are happier on the holidays is that our minds are consumed with what’s going on. We don’t leave any room for worry. Our daily struggle ended yesterday, along with worry. And the cares of this world are not invited in. Remember back a few months ago when we looked at Romans 12 together? In Romans 12:1-2, we learned that our true and proper worship begins with a transformed mind. And that’s what I believe happens on the holidays, such as Thanksgiving. Aware of it or not, holiday celebrations have a way of transforming our minds. But as soon as the holiday is over, our minds default back to their old way of thinking. During the holidays our hearts grow bigger. Love, generosity, and gratitude become more prevalent. And just the fact that people’s minds and actions are capable of transformation during holidays shows that change is possible. The hard part is keeping those festive feelings alive during the other 364 days of the year. Throughout the year, people place far too much emphasis on themselves. They become so self-reliant that they shut off the outside world while maintaining the attitude that the world owes them something. But for the Christian, those who find their hope in Christ, understand that the world doesn’t owe them anything. But in fact, we owe Christ everything! And once you know how much you mean to God, your whole outlook changes. And that’s the message of Psalm 100. It’s God reminding us of who He is and our relationship with Him. Just how the holidays have a way of enlarging one’s heart, personally knowing God also enlarges our hearts. A.A. Milne, author of Winnie The Pooh, once said, “Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.” Your heart can hold a lifetime worth of gratitude when it’s coupled with God’s heart. And when your heart is connected with God’s, you’ll live a daily life of worship. I entitled today’s sermon “A Call To Worship” because that’s what Psalm 100 is instructing all of us to do. It doesn’t matter what type of day we’re having, good or bad; we’re to live a life pleasing to God in light of who God is and what He has done for you. And to be able to do this, Psalm 100 reminds us of 4 actions that should define every Christian. These 4 actions are: Shout, Serve, Know, and Enter. Notice how they’re all action verbs and all within our ability. The first action verb is Shout. I want you to notice how verse 1 is both in the present and future tense. It’s in the present tense because every confessing Christian should “Shout for joy” for all that the LORD has done. Think of all you have to be thankful for in Christ. Pause for a second and think of how the very God of Creation, the all-powerful, all-knowing God did everything necessary for you to not only know Him, but enter into a personal relationship with your LORD! It’s because of what God has done and will do that also places verse 1 in the future tense. The day will come, says Philippians 2:10-11, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” With this attitude of joy and praise, the gratefulness within our hearts will naturally spill out into our lives. God’s not our Phone-a-Friend when we don’t know the answer, and thankfully He doesn’t act like those recorded customer service helplines when something doesn’t do as it should. God wants you to live each day with Him. And living each day for God and with God brings us to our second action verb, to Serve, or as verse 2 says, to Worship. Worshiping the LORD is not just done on Sunday’s, but should be the very desire of your life. We worship Christ by “shouting for joy,” but also through our daily lives. To serve God is to give what you have, your time, talents, gifts, and service, all with a joyful heart! The Christian’s life is one of continual service, but how can we serve God? I mean, God is Almighty. He’s all-powerful and all-knowing. And Psalm 24:1 tells us that God owns everything. So how can we serve our Almighty God? Let me give you an example from my own childhood. When I was very young, my grandpa used to push-mow the grass. And guess who was right behind him? Me. I had a little toy mower, and I would follow my grandpa pushing my mower as he pushed his. I followed what my grandpa was doing, and that’s the attitude God wants from us. To follow and work with Him. To have a heart for service and be willing to help in any way. There’s a song in our Hymnals called “All Who Love and Serve Your City,” and the first two verses help illustrate what working for the LORD is all about. It says, “All who love and serve your city, all who bear its daily stress, all who cry for peace and justice, all who curse and all who bless: In your day of loss and sorrow, in your day of helpless strife, honor, peace, and love retreating, seek the Lord, who is your life.” Those verses really hit home of what it’s like to go out into the world. The world can be stressful, and in our efforts of proclaiming God’s peace and justice, sometimes we become so discouraged that we end up cursing more than blessing. This song also says that days of loss and sorrow will come, but throughout all that, we’re to seek the LORD because He is both the Author and Giver of life. So allow me to give you a piece of lasting advice. Although it’s nothing new, it’s something necessary. If you want to live a more stress-free life, then “seek the LORD, who is your life.” All of this brings us to our third action verb, to Know. To know God is not optional, but required of the Christian life. It’s not just knowing the Bible or memorizing verses. To know God is to know God in the person of Jesus Christ. It’s to have a personal relationship. To know Christ, as one author put it, is to understand that, “We are Christ’s by creation, by purchase, by toils and tears, by the gift of the Father. The Good Shepherd owns us, though we do not always acknowledge His ownership, or repay His pains and wounds on our behalf.” To know this enables us to joyfully serve through the worship of our lives as we shout Christ’s Name. Our fourth action verb is Enter. Verse 4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” Now I want you to think of the OT. The gates and courts in this verse refers to the temple where Israel worshiped. To enter His gates and courts was to enter God’s presence. The temple had a very detailed structure with rules and degrees of separation based upon the kind of person you were. For example, one place, called the Most Holy Place, was separated by a think curtain. Only the High Priest could pass beyond that curtain, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement because it was the earthly dwelling place of God. Do you realize how much more access you have to God today? Instead of God’s presence in the Tabernacle, because Christ broke down the barriers and tore the curtain, God the Holy Spirit now Tabernacles within every believer! Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great praise over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.” “The full assurance that faith brings.” What assurance does faith bring? Look at this picture. I love this picture and what it represents. You know, sometimes images have a way of being remembered more. This picture shows our thankfulness for those who have gone before us, and also for when our time comes. God has done everything, just for you. And all those who walk through that final gate, we’ll “Shout for joy,” because Christ’s “love endures forever.” Psalm 100 sets the record straight on a lot of things. Verse 3 makes it clear that the LORD is God. There is NO other. Verse 3 also says, “It’s God who made us, and we are His.” It doesn’t matter how much earthly power or prominence one may get; they still only got here because of God. We cannot make ourselves, and since God made us, God owns us. And what’s even more, those who accept Jesus as Savior, we’re purchased by Christ. Verse 5 ends with a promise, “For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” If you want to know your worth, just look to Jesus, and read Psalm 100. Because of what Christ has accomplished on Calvary, every bit of Psalm 100 is a present reality and an eternal promise found in Christ. Your salvation is secure because the LORD’s “love endures forever, and his faithfulness continues through all generations.” So if you name the Name of Christ, don’t be thankful once a year. Don’t let your thankfulness be limited to Sunday service. But let Psalm 100 be the song of your heart. Most of you I’m sure have heard of the Lectionary calendar. Today is called the “Christ the King Sunday.” It’s a day where we declare our ultimate allegiance not to an earthly nation, not to an ideal or a dream, but to a person. Our faith in its most basic form is about a relationship with the person Jesus, whom we call Christ, or the Messiah. It’s Christ who reigns over us, and it’s in Him that we find our identity. When you bow to Christ, you’ll stand taller and stronger than at any other time, and your allegiance to Christ will stand the test of time because Christ is eternal. This week, let Psalm 100 lead you into a joyous celebration. Next Sunday is the start of Advent and begins the journey of the church following the life and witness of Christ. Let’s enter this joyous journey together, and as we prepare hearts and minds, let your Call To Worship be heard. AMEN