7/15/01

Authentic Worship

Intro.

                We are taking a look at our practice of worship as individuals and as a corporate body.  I want us to survey the psalms for some fundamental laws of worship.  That collection of sacred worship poetry can instruct us in worship as perhaps nothing else. We can see some of the fundamentals of David’s worship.

The beginning of the secret to a life of authentic worshipful is, simply stated, that worship is a life.

I.                   David’s kind of worship is a life.

“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” Psalm 89:15

                Problem: We pay lip-service to worship and fail to recognize that God has created us, it is His original design, that we worship Him continuously.  If we don’t walk in the light of His presence, we don’t learn to acclaim God.

                Harold Best

                “Worship is not a special event or any sequence of them.  Worship is fundamental to humankind itself, so much so, that we must assume that it goes on all the time, all around us, inside of us, and, in as paradoxical way, in spite of us.  So before we talk about the specificities of worship, we must first of all understand that there is no one in this world who is not, at this moment, at worship in one way or another; consciously or unconsciously, formally or informally, passively or passionately.  For in a most comprehensive way, we are always giving our lives over to something or someone that we consider to be worth the most.” (Harold Best, Authentic Worship, p.4)

Ill.  The guy that takes the family to the lake most week-ends and not to church is still worshiping, but, it is something other than God.  At the same time, you may be here and the reason is for the social connection not to give something to God in worship. You, too, are worshiping, but it is something other than God. It is a lesser than God.

Ill. In the book, “The Mystery of Golf”, the author wrestles with his observation by asking the question, “What makes golf the best game in the world?”   He misquotes Jesus, “You cannot serve golf and mammon.”  He knows that Jesus never said that.  His point is that you cannot do well at golf and be distracted by other things.  There comes a level in any sport or any large endeavor where you start to hear quasi-religious overtones.

                If you are going to be the best in sales you have to want it more than anything…

…and, you have misplaced your worship in the process.

 “Worship is that which binds a man.  Every man is bound somewhere, somehow, to a throne, to a government, to an authority, to something that is supreme, to something to which he offers sacrifice, and burns incense, and bends the knee.”

                                        -G. Campbell Morgan

Romans 12: 1,2

Paul begs us to present ourselves as living sacrifices.  In so doing, we enter into that  paradoxical condition where sacrificing ourselves is the only way of remaining alive.  If we don’t lay our lives down we lose them.

These hands, as a craftsman or carpenter, given over to God, are a “litourgos”, a liturgy.  It is a  spiritual service of worship.   The word was “a secular term signifying an agreement to perform and complete some kind of ordinary service: tile setting, carpentry, and the like.” 

If you use your body to… raise children, and it is done having given your body to Christ for service, it is the reasonable thing to do and it is authentic worship.

In what sense is this “reasonable service” a sacrifice?

David Livingstone, the renowned and noble missionary to Africa, wrote in his journal,

People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of the great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own reward of healthful  activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter?

… Away with such a word, such a view, and such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. …Of this we ought not talk when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father’s throne on high to give Himself for us. (Livingstone’s Private Journal: 1851–53, ed.. I. Schapera [London: Chatto & Windus, 1960], pp. 108, 132)

II.                David’s kind of worship is uncompromising.

“One thing I have asked from the LORD,

that I shall seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD,

And to meditate in His temple.”

                                                                                                Psalm 27:4 NIV

No wonder that the Scriptures call David “a man after God’s own heart” (I Sam. 13: 14)

Most of us are not seeking one thing.  We are seeking 1000 things, and in the process, the one thing we must seek escapes us.  That is the loss of materialism.  Purity of heart is to will one thing. - Kierkegaard

                Ill. Jesus prioritized Mary’s worship over Martha’s busy preparation schedule, saying, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Lk. 10:41,42)

                “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Mt. 22:37)  This is not just for David, it is for us.  We can’t excuse ourselves by saying that David had a gift of worship or something.

                ill. Dave Sims brought a devotional at the elders meeting yesterday.  He quoted from a book by John Ortberg.  In the book, he pointed out that the FDA has certain standards for purity of the food that will be allowed to be sold in America.

·Apple butter: if the mold count is 12% or more, if it averages 4 rodent hairs per 100 grams or more, if it averages 5 or more whole insects (not counting mites, aphids, or scale insects) per 100 grams, the FDA will pull it from the shelves. Otherwise…

·Coffee beans: “Bible Church fuel”  - They will withdraw coffee beans if an average of 10% or more are insect-infested or if there is one live insect in each of 2 or more immediate containers.  ( One live cockroach in a bag of coffee is okay.  More than that is a problem.)

·Mushrooms: Mushrooms can’t be sold if there is an average of 20 or more maggots of any size per 15 grams of dried mushrooms.

We are glad that the FDA has minimum standards, but frankly, we want pure food.  That is important to us.  We understand the importance of purity in some areas of our life. 

We know that the Bible calls us to a life of uncompromised  purity in our worshiping  lives.  But, we think that sounds quaint, Victorian, prudish, lifeless.  We think if a person really were like that they would be less than human. Actually we become fully human.  More uncompromisingly human than we had ever been.  We would be the human that God created us to be.  Fully alive.  Abundantly alive.

John 4:21-24

Jesus speaks to a Samaritan woman.  She had some life-style issues (5 husbands and a live in).  Jesus used her longing to talk to her about “spiritual thirst” and living water that really satisfies.  She had been looking for love in all the wrong places.  Maybe this guy will fill my needs (only to be disappointed).  So number 6 she does not even marry.

She tried to steer the conversation away from her life to “worship talk”.  She had a political question about the location, place, time and tradition of worship.   In one powerful statement, Jesus brings the entire worship – history of time, place and  tradition under a new law:  that of worship in spirit and truth.  This is what the Father seeks.

look first at:

· Samaritan worship

                Jesus acknowledged that they were worshipping, but they just didn't know what they were worshipping.  The Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch;  therefore their knowledge was limited.  They had enough to know some of the truths about God, but not enough to have the full salvation revelation.

                They were worshipping but didn't know the fullness of what they were worshipping.

                Samaritan worship was enthusiastic worship but without proper info.

                They were aggressive, enthusiastic, excited, faithful, but they didn't have the right content.

                i.e. they worshipped in spirit but not in truth.

 ·Jewish Worship

The Jews accepted all 39 books of the O.T.  They had the whole revelation of salvation. 

                They had the truth but lacked the spirit.

                They were cold, legalistic and hypocritical.

                They went through the motions, but their hearts weren't in it.

So...

                Jews had truth without spirit

                Samaritans had spirit without truth

barren, lifeless orthodoxy vs. enthusiastic heresy

accurate data/no heart vs. no data/all heart

One without the other causes an imbalance

Jesus announced a third way, a new, living way

·Authentic Worship

Two elements characterize authentic Worship:  worship in spirit and truth.

                - worship in "spirit"  - spirit refers to the human spirit

We are to worship from the inside out.

spirit - that part of a man that is able to perceive, reflect, feel, desire, etc.

ill.) you don't know my feelings, desires, perceptions  -that's where worship comes from.  It is intimate.

It's not a matter of being in the right place, with the right words, right formalities, right mood, right music, etc.

What matters is what's on the inside.

III.             David’s kind of worship witnesses.

I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to Thee among the nations.

-Psalm 57:9

And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;

Many will see and fear, And will trust in the LORD.

                                                                                -Psalm 40:3         

If it is true that every person is created to live a life of worship.  As Blaise Pascal said, “There is in the heart of every man a God-shaped vacuum and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” 

Then, when we live worshiping lives, uncompromising in the way we use these bodies, our lives will sing a new song.  And the world will want to listen to the music. There is a song in the heart, now add the music (violins, brass and percussion).   The world will want to sing along.  To borrow from the old Coke commercial, “We can teach the world to sing.”

Joseph Carroll wrote, “How to Worship Jesus Christ”  (He is quoted in “Worship Evangelism” by Sally Morgenthaler –p.40)

“This is a day when we have become very clever at developing techniques, a day when we are apt to be urging people to witness; and what usually happens? They witness for a while, and then they stop.  Then they are exhorted to witness again, so they go a little further, then stop again.  But why do they stop?  Have you ever noticed in the Pauline epistles that Paul never urges Christians to witness nor has he anything to say about foreign missions?  Nothing!  How interesting! If you have to constantly be telling people to witness, something is wrong with them.  If you always have to be pumping up people to get them interested in foreign missions, something is wrong with the people.  What is Paul always doing?  He is consistently bringing you to Christ and leaving you with Christ.  When Christ is central in the heart of the man, what does the man want to do?  He wants to tell others about Jesus, and he will do so effectively.  Let Jesus Christ be central in the heart of a man, and he is going to be burdened and troubled because millions have never heard of Christ.  It is going to disturb him and bring him into action.  What he needs is not more exhortation; he needs Christ.”

Although evangelism is one of the central tasks of the church, it is authentic worship that drives it.

This principle can be seen over and over in Scripture.

·Isaiah’s consecration as an evangelist came in the context of a profound encounter with God.(Isaiah 6:1-8)

·Jesus issued the great commission on the heels of his disciples’ adoration.  (Matt. 28: 17)

·The Apostle Paul was singled out by the Holy Spirit and commissioned as an evangelist during a time of corporate worship and fasting (Acts 13: 1-3)

·The conversion of 3,000 souls began as the most stirring worship event in history:  Pentecost (Acts 2: 11)

IV.       David’s kind of worship was first priority.

“God is the first priority of the church.  Not people.  Not ministry.  Not growth.   Not success.  God and God alone occupies the place of ultimate and absolute priority in the church.”                  -Bruce Leafblad (Worship Evangelism p. 42)

It is about being passionate in your pursuit of Him.

Convicted this week…

                We worship,

·Not because it will grow a strong church.

·Not because it will make or keep people happy.

·Not because it will work well for church growth.

But, because God deserves it (period).