One day last summer...
-->A group of teenagers and sponsors in a worship celebration at youth camp were jumping up and down as they sang. The music was loud, it was upbeat, it was enthusiastic. Streamers were waving, even confetti was released as the crowd jumped in time with the beat and sang praises to the Lord.
-->Across town at the very same moment a group of senior adults were meeting together in their regular Wednesday evening prayer meeting at their church. The room was totally quiet. The group was meditating, considering how God had been so good to them. When they did speak they voiced prayers for friends and loved ones who didn’t have a personal relationship with the Lord. Then they prayed for others they knew who had medical conditions that would require the attention of doctors and even hospital stays for some.
-->Earlier that same afternoon in that same town a group of daycare teachers led a group of 4-year olds on a nature walk. They went into a nearby field and the boys and girls looked closely at the beauty and variety of the flowers God created. They saw and chased some butterflies and realized that God made each one of them special. Their eyes were also opened to the realization that God had created each boy and girl special too...and beautiful in his or her own unique way.
-->On that same day in that same town a businessman knelt down in a hospital chapel and wept as he thanked God for sparing his wife, bringing her through a serious surgical procedure. He wept as he realized how good God had been to him, but also how he had neglected God. He wept at how he had allowed his job and his career to take too much of his time and had monopolized his thoughts to the point that he had not spent needed time with his wife and children. As he knelt in that room, he repented of his sin, and recommitted himself to serving the Lord, to being a better husband and father.
-->And across town that same evening a single mom knelt down and smiled as she watched her two young children sleeping soundly. She thanked God for the marvelous gift He had given her in them. Yes, she missed her husband who had died in an automobile accident three months ago, but she sensed a peace inside because she knew God would take care of her and her kids.
>The situations were very different from one another.
-->The types of expressions also were different.
>But they had one thing in common...
-->In each case the person “connected” with God...they experienced genuine worship.**
In the Old Testament...
--The Bible tells us that Enoch walked with God, enjoying such a close fellowship with the Lord that he never died...he just left this world and entered the other one as a natural experience.
--Isaiah, seeing the Lord in a vision, fell on his face and cried out for forgiveness.
--David danced before the Lord, celebrating and rejoicing.
--The children of Israel fasted and gathered for a solemn assembly, waiting to hear God’s instructions for them before they entered into the Promised Land.
--Jonah worshiped God from the belly of a fish.
--Solomon assembled choirs and trumpeters and people to parade in a grand praise celebration at the dedication of the new temple in Jerusalem.
--The exiles who returned with Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, when they heard Ezra stand a read from the scroll of the Law, stood as one, honoring the reading of the words of the Lord.
--Daniel earned the nickname “camel knees” because he prayed so often to the Lord, even though a decree had been issued by Darius, a Persian king, that no one should pray to Jehovah. He ended up in a lion’s den as a result, but God spared him.
--Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo, Daniel’s friends, likewise chose not to obey a decree of Nebuchadnezzar to bow down before an idol / image Nebuchadnezzar erected. They ended up in a fiery furnace as a result, but again God spared them.
--Jeremiah wept as he preached God’s message of judgment.
--Elijah called down fire from heaven, bringing glory to the Lord on Mount Carmel.
In the New Testament...
--The apostles gathered in an upper room, and saw flames of fire suspended in the air above their heads, and they heard themselves speak in languages they didn’t know.
--Stephen glorified God in public, even as the stones began to slam into his body and begin to take his life away.
--Paul and Silas, bruised and bleeding from a beating and persecution for proclaiming Jesus, sang hymns late in the evening in their prison cell, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
--The disciples returned from their travels, rejoicing that demons were subject to them.
--A man who had been lame from birth, after being healed by Jesus, went into the temple area in Jerusalem leaping and shouting for joy, rejoicing over the fact that Jesus had healed him.
--At the same temple a widow woman, with no fanfare and seeking to avoid any attention from others, quietly placed her last two coins into the temple offering.
--The apostle Paul poured out his heart and insight into spiritual matters in letters he wrote to churches while he was in prison.
--And, of course, our greatest example is the Lord Himself: Jesus preached in synagogues but also in open fields, from a boat and from private gatherings in rooms with His disciples, He healed the blind and raised the dead; He took His disciples up on a mountain for a mountain top experience of revelation at His transformation, but He also went alone up on a mountain to pray / connect with His father. He cried out of His heart in Gethsemane, and again from the cross. Then He encouraged Mary and the other women who came to the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, and later that night He encouraged all of His disciples gathered together in an upper room. Then He repeated it the following Sunday on an occasion that now included Thomas, and continued to encourage His followers until He was taken up into heaven some forty days later.
What did these Biblical incidents have in common?
-->They represent very different types of expressions and experiences, but once again, in each case the persons involved “connected” with God the Father.
>They worshiped.
>Today’s Scripture text is a key passage for understanding what worship really involves.
I invite you to turn once again to John, chapter four.
--Gordon Dahl has rightly noticed: ”Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, work at their play, and play at their worship.”
--That’s not how it’s supposed to be.
>Worship is the first of five purposes God has prescribed for His church.
-->In the weeks to come we’ll examine the other four: evangelism, discipleship, missions, and fellowship.
---->Each of the purposes is important, but before we can witness we must first worship.
---->If we don’t understand worship, if we don’t first connect with God, we have no real power to accomplish what we learn as disciples we’re to do.
---->If we’re not worshiping, it’s highly unlikely that we will be involved in missions.
---->And if we’re not connecting with God we’re not going to be in a right fellowship with one another either.
Remembering the setting, Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well in Samaria, let’s read verses 23 and 24 again of John, chapter four:
---”But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is Sprit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
-->Notice the capital “S” when the verse refers to God? The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit.
-->Notice the lower case “s” when the verse refers to us? Our spirit is a human spirit, God-given, but human.
<>The fundamental truth Jesus is explaining here is this: GENUINE WORSHIP HAPPENS WHEN WE JOIN OUR “LITTLE-S” SPIRITS WITH GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT.
----In other words, Worship is about CONNECTING with God, joining our spirits with the Spirit of God.
--Notice too the other important characteristic of genuine worship Jesus explains here:
--<>Genuine worship is not one-sided, but balanced.
------We’re to worship Him in spirit AND in truth.
------Not either/or, worshiping in spirit OR in truth, but BOTH AND.
--<>Worship is not about where we are...
------Not about whether we get together on “this mountain” the woman at the well referred to (Mt. Gerazim in Samaria) or on “that mountain” over there.
------Not about whether we’re in a worship center or a school cafeteria.
------Instead, Worship occurs inside our hearts.
--<>Worship is not an event.
------Just because you’re in attendance doesn’t mean you’re going to worship.
------Worship doesn’t happen by osmosis...just getting close by others who are worshiping.
------Worship is a choice...and a choice each person must make for himself/herself.
--<>Worship is not about merely singing...or merely preaching.
------I often hear folks describing the church where they attend by saying something like, “Well, I really enjoy our worship there. The preaching’s okay too, but I really enjoy the worship.” Or, others will say, “Well, the worship isn’t as good as I’d like it, but I really enjoy the preaching.”
------No! They are BOTH worship!
------Worship is not about what we sing, how well we sing it, how it’s accompanied, or what book it’s from.
--<>Worship is not about entertainment.
------There’s nothing wrong with applause or quality being emphasized in how we present truths.
------There’s nothing wrong with using state of the art technological advances to help present truths.
------But worship can and should occur with or without music or PowerPoint, or streaming video, or lighting, or lasers, or choreography, or i-pods, or...some other thing as such.
--<>Worship is not about hymns vs. choruses, raising hands or not raising hands.
------In fact, if we engage in a verbal shout-down with someone else over these elements of worship, it’s obvious that we’re not people who have recently worshiped at all...It’s obvious we aren’t truly “connecting” with God.
--<>Worship is not about whether it’s private or public.
------Worship privately, intimately, quiet times alone with God, absolutely.
------But we should also heed the New Testament instruction of Hebrews 10:25 and be people who are ”not forsaking the assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.”
------And we should understand and be of the same mind of David when he wrote in the Old Testament, ”I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’”
--<>And it’s definitely not about style.
----Jesus’ words to the woman at the well in John 4 was referring specifically to a difference in style of worship.
---->The Samaritans, hated by the Jews and considered half-breeds by them, worshipped on Mt. Gerazim.
------Their worship celebrations were known for their exuberance, their enthusiasm. They were loud, they were rambunctious. There was lots of “spirit” in their expressions.
------However, there was almost no truth being presented.
------The Samaritans didn’t even accept anything as Scripture except the first five books of the Bible, the Law.
---->The Jews, on the other hands, worshiped in the temple in Jerusalem.
------Their focus was on truth, the Law.
------They studied it, read it, focused on it, wrote commentaries about it, even added to it, and insisted on obeying the commandments they perceived to be God’s principles.
------There was very little, if any, enthusiasm or excitement. They certainly were NOT rambunctious or spontaneous. Their gatherings had as much excitement as attending the latest dental seminar on how to extract a molar in the proper way.
--<>What Jesus was explaining, is that genuine worship is to be focused on truth, absolutely, but to let it touch our hearts and move to expressing those truths in spirited, enthusiastic, and joyful expressions.
----Again, it’s NOT either-or, but BOTH AND.
--Unfortunately, the condition Jesus was describing back then is still true today:
--->There are churches who are great in their enthusiasm, their excitement.
-----They sing praises, they rejoice, they get excited and enthusiastic about worshiping the Lord.
-----However, what “truth” they are taught is as shallow and thin as the paper your sermon notes are printed on.
--->Then there are churches who pride themselves on being churches “of the book.”
-----They study the Bible in small groups, large groups, special conferences and seminars.
-----They memorize the Bible from cover to cover...and that’s fine.
-----However, their worship gatherings are B-O-R-I-N-G!
-----They are what I call Churches of the Frigid-Aire.
-----They are groups the late Christian humorist, Grady Nutt, used to refer to when he said, ”Sometimes when I speak in churches, where there should be so much joy, I take a look at the people there, and have to stop and tell them, ‘Brothers and sisters, if you love the Lord, then notify your face!’”
Desert Springs, we need to worship the Lord in spirit AND in truth.
<>Today I want us to examine the Three Biblical Characteristics of Genuine Worship:
1) Genuine worship is God-focused and reverent.
--John 4:23 -- ”...the true worshipers shall worship the Father...”
--The most fundamental of all questions is NOT how we are to worship, or what style are we to employ, or when are we to worship, but WHO are we to worship.
--<>Worship is God-focused.
---->Sadly, God is grieved because that’s not the focus of a lot of churches.
------I’m reminded of the little boy on Sunday evening, saying his evening prayers before bedtime. He knelt next to his bed, bowed his head, and said, “Dear God, we had good time at church today. ... I wish you could have been there.”
------We’re blessed to have a great puppet team and great drama team here...and they work hard, memorizing lines, preparing for presentations...and it shows.
------But in major productions and major auditoriums there is a “prompter’s box” where someone with a script is unseen by the crowd but is there to “prompt” actors who might need a hint as to the next line, to cue them in or off the stage at the proper time, etc.
------Ben Merold has rightly observed: ”In most churches, we have the preacher performing, with God as the prompter, and the people as the audience. In truth, worship should be the people performing, with the preacher as the prompter, and God is the audience.”
--You see, no matter how many people are in this room, the audience size is always the same -- worship is presented to an audience of ONE -- God.
--<>Worship is God-focused.
-----If you came to worship today so you might receive something from God, get something from God, you came for the wrong reason.
--<>Worship isn’t about what we can GET from God, a blessing, a warm fuzzy feeling, a shot in the arm, etc.
--<>The focus of genuine worship is to be about what we GIVE TO God...how can WE bless HIM?
-----We sing it often, and rightly so... ”I love You, Lord, and I life my voice to worship You. O my soul, rejoice. Take joy, my King, in what You hear. May it be a sweet, sweet sound in YOUR ear.”
-----Again, the right attitude is expressed in the Matt Redmon song, ”I’m coming back to the heart of worship, ‘cause it’s all about YOU. It’s all about You, Jesus. I’m sorry, Lord, for the things we’ve made it, ‘cause it’s all about You. It’s all about You, Jesus.”
--We’re going to learn four new words today, from three different languages.
--->The first of those words is the Hebrew word, "shaha."
-------It means to fear, or to hold in awe.
-------It’s a picture of the children of Israel standing before Mount Sinai, shaking in their boots, fearful, afraid to approach the mountain of God, the presence of God. The see the lightning, hear the thunder, and they’re so afraid they send Moses up in their place while they stay put, fearing the awesome power of God.
-------It speaks of His majesty, His glory, His power, and the awareness that He is indeed an awesome God.
-------It recognizes that He is the God of wonders beyond our galaxy, that He is holy, holy, so “other” from any other being.
-------It is a real awareness that He is the Creator and the Lord of the entire universe.
--->Its equivalent word in Greek is the word "proskuneo."
-------It literally means “to bend the knee.”
-------The idea is that of reverence, of submission, of surrender.
--<>There simply is no such thing as "irreverent worship."
-------That’s like saying you’re part of world champion NFL football team, you’re a member of the Arizona Cardinals. World champion and Arizona Cardinals are mutually exclusive terms.
-------Likewise, worship and irreverent are mutually exclusive terms.
--<>We’re not ready to worship until we recognize God’s majesty, His grandeur, and give Him our full attention.
--<>God-focused worship is evidenced by the yielding of our spirit to the Holy Spirit of God...recognizing Him as Master and Lord.
------Psalm 95:6-7 says it this way: ”Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”
------We sang it earlier this morning: "Come, now is the time to worship.... One day every tongue will confess He is God, one day every knee will bow. Still, the greatest treasure awaits for those who gladly choose Him now."
2) Genuine worship is God-honoring and celebrative.
--Psalm 95:1 -- ”O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.”
--Psalm 100:4 -- ”Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.”
--Psalm 107:2 -- ”Let the redeemed of the Lord SAY so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary.”
--->The Anglo-Saxon word for worship is "worth-schippe."
------It connotes a matter of declaring / ascribing worth.
------It declares that His worthiness is to be praised.
--<>Genuine worship openly acknowledges and proclaims God’s praise and His worthy-ness.
--<>Worship is directed to God, and we engage in worship because of Who He IS.
--<>Worship, then, includes shouting to the Lord, and declaring His matchless praise.
------In 1992 when the Dallas Cowboys were preparing to face the San Francisco 49ers in San Francisco, the Cowboys organization held a pep-rally at Texas Stadium. The audience cheered wildly for each player as he was introduced. Fans carried banners, painted their faces and proudly wore blue and white outfits. They shouted and screamed until they were hoarse. Not one fan walked away saying, ”Man, that event was a dud. It did nothing for me. I didn’t get anything out of it at all.” You see, the event was considered by all to be a success, not because the performance was great (they didn’t play any football at all!), not because the player’s speeches were inspiring (come on, these are football players, not public speakers). No, it was a success because everyone understood why they were there. The purpose was not to please the fans, but to honor the team. The people walked away saying, ”That was great! I hope the team understands how much we appreciate them and support them!”
-------When we understand the purpose of worship, we’re more likely to walk away saying, ”That was great! I hope God knows how much we appreciate Him!”
--<>Yes! Genuine worship is celebrative!
------The Bible tells us to praise Him with ALL the instruments, including the loud sounding cymbals and trumpets.
------We’re instructed to praise Him with strings, percussion, brass, woodwinds, and with shouts of joy!
------At a conference at a Presbyterian church in Omaha some years back, people were given helium balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Since they were Presbyterians, they didn’t feel free to say, ”Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!” So, all through the service balloons randomly and spontaneously ascended. However, when it was over, over 1/3 of the balloons were unreleased.
------You see, God wants us to let our balloons go!
--<>Yes, worship is always to be reverent, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t to be joyful!
------We are to express joy, we’re to celebrate, while at the same time remembering WHY we are celebrating...we’re celebrating because our awesome God has allowed us to connect with Him.
------Yes, we’re to thank Him for what He’s done, but genuine worship celebrates His goodness as we praise His name for Who He is.
To summarize so far...
--<>Genuine worship focuses on God, His greatness and His majesty.
--<>Genuine worship looks to give to God, to bless God.
--<>And genuine worship proclaims His worthy, honors His name.
Let’s stand together and sing some more...sing of His greatness, and bless His name, to please God this morning in our singing.
------------------------------------------------
I know we’ve pleased God this morning. I know many of us have indeed connected with God. Now it’s time to focus on the last ingredient of genuine worship:
3) Genuine worship is God-pleasing and life-changing.
--Romans 12:1 -- ”I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable (pleasing) to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
--<>Genuine worship is our response to God...our response from having connected with Him.
--->Our final new word today is the Greek word, "latreo."
------It means “to serve, acts of service.”
------It is the word from which we get the English word, liturgy.
------It’s only when we understand the nature of worship, that we can understand and appreciate the phrase “worship service.”
------This is the word in Romans 12:1, when it says that to be pleasing to God (remember our theme for the year? -- “Pursuing God’s pleasure.”) we are to present our whole selves to Him as our “spiritual (or reasoned-out, deliberate act of) SERVICE of worship.
------At the top of our bulletin’s listing of the “order” of worship (I must confess that every time I hear that phrase I want to say, “Please give me one order of worship, please,...and hold the fries with that”) it talks about the purpose of the prelude or pre-service music... to provide us a time of preparing our hearts for worship. But then at the bottom of the page when it describes the “postlude” or exit-music, it states that we’re “departing to SERVE.”
------You see, a worship SERVICE is meant in the sense that everything included...whether it’s singing, or reading Scripture, or praying, or greeting one another, or singing to kids as they parade of Kids’ Time, or preaching, of giving of our tithes and offerings, or watching videos, or taking sermon notes, or even setting up and taking down equipment...is a voluntary, reasoned, chosen act of “connecting” with God.
--<>Genuine worship “hits the streets.”
------Genuine worship, in other words, shows up in our lives of Monday mornings, not just Sunday mornings.
------We sing a song around here, part of which says, "Let everything I say and do be founded on my faith in You. I lift up holy hands and sing, Let the praises ring!"
------The key line in that song is “let everything I say and do be founded on my faith in You.”
--<>You see, worship is shown in a changed life. It is shown in what we say, what we do...not just as we’re together, but when you go to school tomorrow, or work, or drive in traffic, or deal with your children.
------These are deliberate acts of SERVICE. These are deliberate expressions of genuine worship.
------A few weeks ago we noted that the priest and the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan had just come from Jerusalem. They had just come from a worship service that they had either led in or assisted in, and yet their worship was not genuine because they passed right by someone in obvious need. The man had been robbed and beaten up and was left “half dead” by the side of the road. If they had truly connected with God earlier that day they would have stopped and ministered to that man. They would have done what Jesus would do, having connected their spirits with the Holy Spirit of God.
-------Instead, they had engaged in a ritual, but not genuine worship.
-------Their worship never “hit the streets.”
-------Their lives did not demonstrate a change brought about by having connected with God.
--The same is true today...
----If you leave here today no different than when you arrived, you haven’t really connected with God.
--->In closing, we refer to yet another song we sing around here, expressing this idea of worship being “played out” in our lives of obedience in response to having connected with God.
------The words say it this way, ”Jesus, draw me close; closer, Lord, to You. Let the world around me fade away. Jesus, draw me close; closer, Lord, to You. For I desire to worship and obey.”
God’s Spirit has permeated this place today.
Did you connect with Him?
If so, now is the time to respond to His leading, and do what He is leading you to do.
