5
Practices of a Fruitful Congregation
Passionate
Worship
Exodus
8:1; Psalm 84:1-2; Luke 10:27
10-07-12
There
is this crazy thing that happens to people when they get excited about a
certain event. Some people go as far as
dressing from head to toe, in things seen and unseen, ready for the big
day. Others cannot wait for the day to
arrive and try to hurry it along by gathering together to with friends
beforehand. Of course you may have
guessed what I am talking about already but let me give you a few more
clues. Some people will brave any
weather outside to participate in this event, some go as far as painting
themselves and acting like four years old when things don’t go their way. Of course I am talking about Football
fans. As we step into the middle of this
year’s NFL season I am reminded how crazy people get about sports. Just look at this poor guy…[slide]
No
I understand crazy fans. I was one of
those silly students on the floor of Cameron Indoor Stadium. For us graduate students we had to camp out
for a whole weekend to be eligible for the lottery to then hopefully win season
tickets to Duke Basketball. I have been
to one Duke/UNC game in Cameron and even though we lost that game, it was one
of my favorite memories. Plus I made it
into Sports Illustrated that year too!
Cameron Crazies will do about anything to make sure their team wins. There is a Divinity School student that
became famous and known as Speedo Guy.
He is now ministering a church but look up Speedo Guy on YouTube and
watch his story. But whether it is
football, basketball, soccer, tennis, baseball, badminton, golf, or hockey
[wait never mind they aren't playing] we, as humans, will worship a certain
team and we will really get into it.
What
is worship? Why are we here? What is the point of coming here every Sunday?
Some people may say that we are here because the Bible says to be here. Well
the Bible does say that we need to worship God but it does not say we can only
worship God or that we HAVE to worship God on Sunday mornings. But that is
culturally where we arrive at worship. Some have a distinct vision of what
worship is. Some people think of
contemporary when they hear the word worship. They think hands in the air,
saying Amen, clapping along to songs and singing God’s praise. When others
think of worship they might think of sitting in the pew and sitting quietly in
order to reflect, be rejuvenated and filled. Others see this as an opportunity
to see family and friends, to catch up and enjoy the fellowship of the people
closest to them.
Let’s
walk through what the Bible says about worship.
In Exodus we learn that worship was one of the main reasons that the
Hebrew people wanted to be free. Exodus
8:1 says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him:
This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so that they can worship
me.” In the Psalms it says, “How lovely
is your dwelling place, Lord of heavenly forces! My very
being longs, even yearns, for the Lord’s courtyards. My heart and my body will rejoice out loud to
the living God!” This says that we earn
to worship God because it is what we are designed as humans to do. As followers of Christ we are commanded to do
it. Jesus reminds us of the Old
Testament command that “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love
your neighbor as yourself.” Not only is
it in our DNA as humans but it is also who we are to be as Christians. It is not a choice and it is a choice, thank
you for choosing to be here this morning.
Here
is the complete title of Marva Dawn’s book which talks about worship; A Royal
Waste of Time, the Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World.
In this book Dawn is attempting to argue how we can easily slip away from the
true nature of worship. True worship is a royal waste of time in her opinion.
She explains this by saying that by engaging in worship we don’t accomplish
anything useful in our society’s terms. Many people don’t come to church
because they don’t feel like they get anything out of it. They don’t see it as
productive or purposeful.
But
this is not the reason worship is a waste of time. Worship is a waste of time
because nothing we do in this service today or any other time changes God. No
matter if I preach the best sermon ever, or the choir sings an extremely moving
anthem, or if we have someone share a powerful testimony, or if we actually all
sing a hymn together, we won’t change God and we cannot change the love God has
for us. Dawn says, “It is totally irrelevant, not efficient, not powerful, not
spectacular, not productive, sometimes not even satisfying to us.” (p.17) Yet
that is because, what is the point of worship?
The
point of worship is not us. We are not the point of worship. You, the
congregation, and me, the preacher, are not the reason for worship. God, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the point, the reason, the purpose of worship.
The Lord and Savior we love and the one who loves us is what it is all about.
The songs we sing, the prayers we pray, the offerings we give, everything we do
points to God and brings him glory. Worship is a response to God. It is a
response that offers praise, thanksgiving, discussion, inner struggle, pain,
release, joy, excitement, love, prayer, confession, adoration…and I can go on
and on. But no matter what you do or do not do here in this place each Sunday
still does not change how God feels about you. You are wasting your time if you
think God is doing a role call every week and if you have enough checks by your
name you are going to get into heaven. Attendance does not equal worship. True
worship is immersing ourselves in the glory, presence, and splendor of God. It
is coming together as the Body of Christ each week in order to be true
community.
The
truth is, what you put into worship is what you get out. There is this idea
among most American church goers that a worship service is like everything else
in the USA. They approach a worship service from a consumer perspective. They
interact with a worship service like they interact with the X Factor, American
Idol or the Voice. I don’t know if you do this or not but as I am watching reality
talent shows I am always critiquing that performance. I am thinking to myself,
“Well that was horrible, he will be going home this week.” Or, “I really liked
that song, she interacted with the audience well, and really connected with the
lyrics. She did a great job.” Many people come to worship and they look at it
the same way. “That service was horrible because that last hymn was too slow,
the kids were too loud, the preacher said there were three points to his sermon
and I heard seventeen. That service wasn't good for me.” Sometimes people
around the lunch table will say, “That was a great service. The preacher’s
sermon struck a cord with me, the choir did a good anthem, and my prayer
request was lifted up, I was fed and I am filled.” There are times I am at home
at 11:15 am thinking, “Man I tanked that sermon, I messed up that children’s
moment, that illustration worked just like I hoped or man it was nice to hear
the special music today.” The truth is they are all the wrong perspectives
because worship is not about entertainment Remember the point of worship is not
about us, it has nothing to do with what we get out of it. It is about what we have offered God.
What
you get out of worship is not the point; it is what you are putting in. In
Paul’s letter to the Colossians he is reminding them of the right attitude to
have. He says, “So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life
with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't
shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of
you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the
action is. See things from his perspective.” How many times do we participate
in worship with our eyes to the ground, shuffling through the service, and
trapped within the foot of space around us? Instead, we are told to be active
participants in worship. We should look up and “be alert to what is going on
around Christ.” We have to make sure we are present for the whole hour we are
here.
A
Sunday School teacher asked her children a question as they made their way to
the sanctuary, “And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?” One bright
little girl replied, “Because people are sleeping.” To be present means you
have to work. It takes work to put yourself out there to be open to God. That
means you have to stop thinking about the time because God may not be limited
to an hour and it has been proved that the Holy Spirit can work past noon. That
means that talking to your neighbor about where you will be going to lunch or
to your spouse about the list of chores that need to be done during a hymn is
not making yourself present. Being present is not sitting there counting the
number of window panes, or ceiling tiles. Being
present is not sitting up here and worried about the number of people who are
here, if I am making sense, or if people are listening. Being in worship means
putting yourself completely IN the moment. If you walk in with the right
attitude, in the right frame of mind, you can be open to see what is going on
around Christ.
I
have heard many people say this statement about a church’s worship. “I just don’t feel fed.” Then I heard another preacher explain
something I thought was vitally important for me to remember. He said that ministers/preachers/worship
leaders are merely the chefs. We work
hard to prepare the feast. We use our
talents and gifts to create something that should be delicious to God. But we don’t feed people, people feed
themselves. There are many people who
approach worship with the attitude that they are toddlers and the worship
leaders have a spoon and they are saying, “here comes the airplane, open up the
hanger, swooooshhhh!” But the truth is
it is the congregation’s job, the individual’s job to feed themselves. Will you get something out of every aspect of
worship? Probably not. Could you get something out one piece of
it? Yes, if you put yourself into the
moment and opened yourself to God’s Holy Spirit who is at work in this place
today and every time we gather together.
Paul
gives the early Christian church some advice on how to live and worship more
holy. He says, “Let the peace of Christ
keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going
off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of
Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your
lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing
your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions,
whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father
every step of the way.”
When
we are here, worshiping together, we need to “let the Word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house.”
We need to make room for the Spirit to work and to make ourselves open to be
touched by the God. I was reading an article one day about how the author
wished church was more like a musical. In a musical an event happens and
people, EVERYONE, breaks out into song and dance. The author thought that
should happen more in worship. The preacher should be so into his sermon that a
song erupts from his mouth. The congregation should be so in tune to the Holy
Spirit that they break out into a choreographed dance. What would worship feel
like if that happened? What would worship be like if it was just like Grease or
Glee? What if we approached worship like
we do a football game, basketball game, or baseball game? What would it be like if we came with that
much excitement, passion, and anticipation?
Today
is World Communion Sunday. It is the
Sunday that the world comes to God’s table and we rejoice as Body of Christ
together. It is very humbling to think
about those of us here taking communion along with those across the pond in
England, or on the bases of our military in the Middle East, or in the largest
United Methodist Church which is in Korea, or in the small hut where a
congregation of 20 gathers in Kenya, or in the Philippines, or in South
America. Everywhere, in all
denominations we are supposed to be coming together to the Lord’s table and
getting a taste of the heavenly banquet.
Today as you approach the table I want you to be in the moment, 100%
present in it. Come with your hands
reaching out and ready to accept the gift that is given today. We have a God who is passionate about his
love for us and as we gather in this place each week we should give thanks,
sing praise, and offer up our worship in an equal passionate way. I want to end with another quote by Marva
Dawn because I think it reminds us once again why we are here. She says, “No place in the Bible, no place,
does it ever say worship the Lord to attract the unbeliever. It always says
worship the Lord because he is worthy, or because God is holy, or worship
because God deserves it, or worship because this is what God did for us. So God is the subject and the object of our
worship.”
And
all God’s people said…Amen.
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