Spotlight on Worship Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
In his book, My Heart’s DesireDr. David Jeremiah shares the following allegory,
THE CASTLE, IT WAS SAID, was among the most elegant in the world. Its turrets dominated the medieval sky, and the bright banners of the kingdom could be seen for miles. The throne room was embellished by gifts from many lands, and the walls were trimmed in pure gold. Everything sparkled and shone—everything but the gloomy face of the king.
The old monarch truly loved his people, from miners to merchants to mothers. He enjoyed their humble ways and ready humor, and he longed to hear the tales of their daily adventures, however humble and homespun they may have been. But few of the common folk were ever seen near the palace. For one thing, they were busy with their daily chores; for another, the gleaming citadel made them painfully aware of their lowly peasantry. Royal things made them uncomfortable.
So the good citizens looked only rarely to the gleaming towers, and they ignored the trumpets that heralded the comings and goings of the king. In time, they built their cottages and estates at increasing distances from the castle. They ignored the king’s eager invitations to come and visit, even to enjoy his hospitality at the royal table. The people loved their king, but they preferred to do so from a distance.
The king grew lonely and despondent. He felt like a loving parent whose children venture into the world, never to return. He preferred to be more a guardian to be loved than a monarch to be feared. And so he came to realize that if the people wouldn’t come to him, he must go to them.
The king instructed his courtiers to stay behind, and he walked alone to the town square. Naturally enough, the merchants and children recognized him immediately, and a hush fell over them. As they watched nervously, the king stooped down and began to play a game with two of the children. Soon there was a crowd of children all around him, and the men and women began to draw nearer too.
As the hours passed, the people found themselves coming to feel more comfortable with their king than ever before. In the past, he had been something like a distant rumor; now he was in the very midst of them, laughing and telling wonderful stories. They could touch his magnificent bejeweled crown. They see the twinkle in his eye. All the people marveled at his wisdom, and many shared their problems with him; he always had solutions. Most of all, a great love grew between them—a love for his kindness, a love for his kinship, a love for his kingliness. When the sun finally set, a lively crowd surrounded the king. Someone said, “Your Majesty, remain among us. We never wish to leave your presence, for we never knew how kind and joyful and wise you were.”
And the king smiled as he replied, “You need never leave, for this is our kingdom together. From the most ancient of traditions, I must make my home yonder, in a palace of splendor. But I will leave you with a special gift.” And with that, the king produced, from the crimson folds of his robe, a small flute. He placed it gently in the hands of a young girl. “When you return to your homes,” he said to the crowd, “you will each find waiting for you a flute, a harp, or some musical instrument with your own name engraved upon it. Whenever any one of you plays the simple melody I will teach you, I will hear and I will come. This is the Praise Song of the King, and it will bring me to you wherever you may be. Even if only one of you longs for my company, that one has the privilege of playing my melody and calling my name. Your king’s greatest desire, as I hope you will never forget, is your companionship.”
And at that moment, the little girl’s curiosity got the better of her. She gently puffed her breath into the flute, and the sound that emerged stopped all conversation. It was the most exquisite music any of them had ever heard, and it opened whole worlds of wonder to their astonished imaginations. As they soon understood, the king’s very heart and soul were wrapped within that melody. It was as if great clouds drifted suddenly from their eyes, and the people could clearly see their king for the first time. All they had shared before was merely child’s play—now, from the flute of a child, came something both joyful and serious. The melody told who their king was, and therefore it told them who they were.
When the king finally left, each citizen hurried home to discover his or her musical instrument. That village, as you might expect, was changed forever. In golden boxes the people kept and cherished their instruments. They played them every day, and somehow the king had time for each of them. They came to understand that he was really much more than a king. And as they played the ancient song, the instruments became more their own, more a part of them. The melody, they found, never became tiring or predictable, as other melodies do. It was ever deeper, ever more mysterious and wonderful, ever filled with new surprises.
Alone, one could play a beautiful song of the king in his or her own personal way. Together, the people could play their instruments and produce a symphony such as no human ear had ever heard. Either alone or together, they lived for the music, because somehow, through the world’s deepest wonder, the king lived within the music. So the music lived on within them and filled their days. Some say that the wonderful melody still drifts on the wind. Have you listened—can you hear it?
Perhaps you figured out the meaning of Dr. Jeremiah’s little story. Our wonderful King, our awesome God, has come to us. Restricted by our feeble human flesh, by our finite minds, by our sin riddled souls- we did not, could not, would not go to Him. And so He came to us through the incarnation of Jesus. Like we put on a bathrobe, God put on humble human flesh and lived among us. As one of the first Christian worship songs expresses, found in
Philippians 2:6-11 (NIV),
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
That brings us to our first point this morning,
SERMON POINTS
1. Jesus invites us to grow deeper in our relationship with Him through the act of worship.
Intimacy, this my friends is one of the final results of worship. However, let us go back to the beginning, to the starting place where worship is birthed.
Take a look at Isaiah 6:1-3
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Friends, this is a rare glimpse into the King of the Universe’s throne room. What does the prophet Isaiah see. He sees glory and the adjectives available to describe what He experiences utterly fails him. Lofty… exalted… holy… the whole earth full of His glory- not just a little glory, not a cup of it, not a bucket of it, not a room full of it- no! There is no human form of measurement that could accurately measure God’s glory- it overflows and THE WHOLE EARTH is full of it!
Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory, glory…(turn and point first to the right, then the left, then the ceiling, then the floor, then all around- even spin in circles if you feel like it) all around, everywhere, in everything, above everything, under everything it is all God’s- His hands created it, His glory is in it, His awesome power, His wonderous beautify, His spectacular grace- ah but like Isaiah, the available adjectives to describe God and His glory completely and totally fall short.
So, how does Isaiah respond to His experience of God’s glory? Take a look at verse 5 (NIV),
Isaiah 6:5
Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
“Woe to me” he says, “I am ruined.” That my friends, is what the holy, pure, and glorious presence of God does to a human being. We don’t just look at it like a kid on a roller coaster and yell “yippy, this is incredible.” Instead, our sin riddled soul goes “Uh o- (long pause) oh no. (pause) I am ruined. (pause) I am un done.”
That is our second point this morning,
2. The natural human response to the glory of God is conviction.
But here the story takes an incredible twist.
In verse 6, God sends one of His angels with a burning coal taken from the brazier by the alter and Isaiah says in verse 7,
Isaiah 6:7
He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
“He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.’”
Radical grace. That my friends is radical grace.
Pastor and speaker Louie Gigglio explains,
“Glory always necessitates grace. To be able to see God we have to have the grace of God. To be able to be in the presence of God, we have to be touched by the grace of God.”
Isiah, stunned and amazed but utterly convicted by God’s glory is incapacitated before God. He is waiting for the judgement blow to fall. A blow he knows he deserves. But God doesn’t just show Isiah mercy – he shows him grace. You see mercy is not giving us what we deserve- as sinners we deserve punishment, we deserve death, - “woe is me- I am ruined.” But praise be to God I did not get that because His mercy abounds.
But grace goes further than mercy. Grace gives us what we DO NOT deserve- In this case, God acts on Isaiah’s behalf. He does not kill him, instead He redeems him, He removes his guilt.
Gigglio continues,
“The message is the message of Jesus Christ, the son of God. This coal has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for. Now, go preach to the people. Prepare the way. The King is coming. A savior is coming. Messiah is on the way. Celebrate Christmas, hear His teaching, then watch Him die. Jesus is the burning ember from the throne of heaven, who comes to earth to touch our lives and change our lives. The message over this house today is this- in Christ your guilt is gone, and your sin is atoned for… you are free. Radical grace always explodes in extravagant worship… Isiah experiences the worship that is happening in the presence of God. Glory is the message of the angels. And grace is the work of God in Isiah. So his immediate response of worship is to give his entire life to the purposes of God on the earth…”
That is our third point this morning,
3. Our natural, wonderful, joyful response to radical grace is worship.
Friends, I hope you are listening because these truths we are talking about this morning can transform your life. There is a glorious God and life is all about Him. He loves you, and therefore, He has moved heaven and earth to re-connect with you through the grace that is in Jesus Christ.
I hope you are listening because what Gigglio goes on to say is powerful,
“When that grace touches your lips and explodes into your heart- there is a natural, wonderful, joyful response and it is called worship. And it comes in many forms. It comes in a song, it comes in a shout, it comes on our knees, it comes in our giving, it comes in our yes, it comes in our obedience, it comes in our desire to be apart of God’s plan, it comes in many different forms, worship does, but it is always a response. So you never start with worship- you always start with God. We never begin with worship- we always begin with God. We can’t go on in worship until the grace of God touches our lips, because what kind of song are we going to bring to God with unclean lips? We can’t bring a song of worship until He touches our lips, cleanses our lips, changes our heart, gives us brand new breath. Then we can say, ‘Oh I have new lips, and a new heart, and new breath and where did I get those- from a God who is glorious but also full of radical grace. Therefore, with my new lips, and my new heart, and my new breath I am going to give praise to the God of heaven!”
If you haven’t yet accepted God’s gift of radical grace- then today is the day. Now is the time. New lips, new heart, new breath are all yours. They are a free gift from the King. And when you have experienced that radical grace, that overwhelming glory, then join me in responding with praise.
Do you remember our opening story? There is a final truth expressed in it and it is a much deeper and an utterly startling concept.
4. God makes His home in our worship.
Dr. Jeremiah explains,
“Wrap your mind thoroughly around this idea: God makes His home in our worship. The implications of that are so incredible that I tremble to write about them. God has given us an instrument for knowing Him, an instrument every bit as wonderful as that special flute. He has given us worship.”
Take a look at what King David declares in Psalm 22:3 (NIV),
Psalm 22:3
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
“Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.”
The Hebrew word enthroned that David uses here means to “inhabit, to remain, to settle.” Picture a pioneer family build a homestead as they, like so many others, settle the western frontier. God plows the fertile soil of our soul through our praise and He builds His house out of our worship. Our adoration is God’s comfy chair. He comes and He sits and He dwells with us.
Let me conclude with one final quote from Dr. Jeremiah,
“As you meet with God in the light of morning, as your thoughts turn to Him in the adrenaline rush of the day, as you move into the silent sanctuary on the Lord’s Day—know that He takes His place upon the throne whenever you give Him your praise. Your bowed head, your humbled heart, and your attentive spirit open the door to heaven.”
Let us pray.