“Divine Moments”
Lev. 23:1-3 & Ps. 95:1-11
I was nervous as a cat in a circle of dogs. It was the first time that I was inviting people to come forward following a sermon for a laying on of hands and a blessing of the Spirit. What if no one came forward and I stood there all alone? What if someone did come forward and I laid on hands and the person experienced nothing? But I extended the invitation – and people came – and they were changed and strengthened. The congregation was moved. It was beyond my wildest dreams – it was truly a divine moment, filled with the presence and blessing of God.
GOD GRACIOUSLY PROVIDES HIS PEOPLE WITH DIVINE MOMENTS. He graces certain moments and events with His presence and blessing. Many of you have experienced such moments. Let’s consider some EXAMPLES OF DIVINE MOMENTS found in the Bible. In Leviticus a man, on behalf of his family, brings his lamb to the Temple. He gives the lamb to the Priest. With great ceremony the Priest slaughters the lamb and the blood pours out beneath the altar. The Lamb is placed upon the altar and burned – the smoke, along with the incense of the Temple, rises upward as a pleasing aroma to God. In that moment sin is forgiven; it is a divine moment.
In 2 Chronicles Solomon leads Israel in the dedication of the new Temple. There‘s a grand procession, with no expenses spared. He then prays for God to meet with His people in the Temple. At the conclusion of his prayer, fire comes down from heaven and consumes the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord fills the Temple – even the priests cannot enter. People fall on their faces and worship God; it’s a divine moment.
Isaiah prophesied during a difficult time for Israel. The great King Uzziah had died. Isaiah humbles himself in worship before Almighty God. Suddenly he sees the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted. There are angelic beings calling to each other: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The whole place shakes and smoke fills the temple. Isaiah confesses his sin and the sins of the Israelites; his mouth is anointed by one of the angels who tells him sins are forgiven. At that moment, a divine moment, Isaiah accepts the call to be a prophet for Almighty God.
The Gospels record that about eight days after Peter made his confession by identifying Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God Jesus takes Peter, James and John – His special triumvirate of friends – up a mountain to pray. As they are doing so Jesus’ appearance is transformed, and Moses and Elijah appear, in glorious splendor, to talk with Jesus. This divine moment is so great that Peter does not want to leave. But a cloud envelopes them while God speaks, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” It can’t be much more divine than this.
Some years after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, His beloved disciple John was banished to a remote island because of His enduring testimony to Jesus. There, on the island, he worships – and while worshipping, is lifted up by the Spirit of God, and see the saints around the altar; he experiences the victory and majesty of the Lord Jesus, and learns what is still to come in the world. It’s a divine moment unlike any before or since.
These were rare experiences – all different and unique. To EXPLAIN such divine moments we look at the posture of each person involved – they were doing nothing out of the ordinary; they were doing what their routine and discipline led them to do. Yet they had never before had such an experience. So it must be that God determines when to bestow such moments. Divine moments occur NOT BY OUR ACTIONS BUT BY GOD’S HAND. We do not flip a switch and experience a divine moment.
Yet there was one common element in the situations; the persons were involved in worship at the time of their divine moment. WE CANNOT CAUSE DIVINE MOMENTS; WE CAN ONLY PUT OURSELVES IN POSITION TO EXPERIENCE THEM. It’s just like the sun - we cannot cause it to shine – God does that; but we can stand outdoors so that when the sun does shine, we experience its warmth.
So how do we put ourselves in a position to experience divine moments? We diligently prepare our hearts for worship. Being in worship is a must – but just being in worship is not enough. How we come to worship is what matters to God. It is NOT OUR PRESENCE BUT OUR PREPARATION THAT MATTERS. It’s a matter of the heart. Leviticus 23:1-3 mandated that we worship regularly, each week. But that alone is not enough. That’s why we read from Leviticus 9 - there God gives Moses instructions on how to sacrifice “so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.” Divine moments often flow because of the worship of a prepared heart. That’s why Jesus so frequently chastised the religious leaders of His day – they went through the motions but their hearts were not right. How we prepare our hearts is of primary importance in positioning ourselves to experience divine moments. IT DOES NOT GUARANTEE DIVINE MOMENTS, BUT IT INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD. Back to the sunshine; we cannot experience the warmth of the sun unless we stand outdoors, but standing outdoors does not cause the sun to shine. So we cannot experience divine moments unless we worship; but worship does not cause divine moments.
So what does PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP look like? There are three things I want to place before you this morning. First, COME READY TO PRAISE GOD. Listen to Eph. 1:11-12 - “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined...in order that we...might be for the praise of his glory.” The reason for our creation, our birth, our existence is clear: praising God is part of our nature – it is our destiny. WE ARE PREDESTINED TO PRAISE GOD. And this high destiny is not just a figment of Paul’s imagination. Trace Scripture. Ps. 100:1 - “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.” The word for shout means to cry out with joy! Ps. 102:18 - “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord.” Is. 43:21 - “the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” Ps. 95: “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song…Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”
Remember the reaction of Mary to the news that she would bear the Christ child? It was a song and prayer of praise. When the shepherds saw the Christ child they returned to the fields praising God. The early church spent great amounts of time together praising God. The Gospel of Luke ends with this account: “When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the Temple, praising God.” And Revelation shows us those grand pictures of heaven; for example, in Rev. 4:11 - “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Every time the Bible declares the excellencies of God, it calls for praise.
Think about it. Whenever we get excited about something - at an athletic event, or a concert, or at good news - we raise our voice in happy exclamation. Or when we are in love with someone, we let it be known with enthusiasm. In fact, we cannot fully appreciate or enjoy the event without doing so. Just try, for example, watching your favorite team play a game, while you sit on yours hands with tape over your mouth - and see how much you enjoy it! We are created, likewise, to praise God in Christ! As the author of the letter to the Hebrews wrote: “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Realize that PRAISE IS NOT AN ATTEMPT TO RECEIVE FROM GOD BUT TO MINISTER TO GOD. It has the power to increase our feelings of admiration and gratitude. The Psalms - especially 100-150 - repeatedly call us to worship and praise! The primary purpose of worship is to “Bless the lord, o my soul.”
I like the affirmation of the Psalmist in Ps. 92:1 - “It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High”. Or 66:2 - “Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.” As John Wesley wrote: “Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing God more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.” Other Psalms call for timbrels, cymbals, and dancing. The Bible also describes worshipers as lifting holy hands and lying prostrate. Ps. 22:3 teaches that the Lord inhabits the praises of his people. Speaking of divine moments – when we praise God, He dwells with us! The place of worship then becomes holy ground. Come ready to praise.
Secondly, COME HAVING ALREADY PRAYED. Worship is not about us – it’s about God. It only makes sense, then, to PUT WORSHIP IN GOD’S HANDS. Prayer is really like the choke of a car - it simply opens up the passageway for more and greater conversation with God, and leads us into times of silence so we can listen to God. Praying causes us to look into God’s face. And there we see His sovereignty, His grace, His power, His majesty, His love, and His willingness to do far more than we could ever ask or think. That’s why Ephesians contains so much prayer language - as Paul wrote of the great plan of God by which we are saved - how God chose us, adopted us, blessed us, redeemed us, forgave us and lavished gifts upon us - he could not help but break into praise. The same thing happened when he wrote the church at Rome - he wrote extensively of God’s plan of salvation and finally, overwhelmed, burst out: “Oh, the depths and the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Prayer puts worship in God’s hands and leads us to the face of God, which leads us to greater praise!
But prayer also STRENGTHENS AND PREPARES THE LEADERS. As you pray for those of us who lead worship – from the planners, to the tech people, to the musicians, to the pastors, to the ushers and greeters – you lead us to the face of God and prompt His Spirit to fill and anoint us. It takes worship out of our hands and places it in God’s hands. And if worship is in God’s hands, blessings will abound and divine moments will occur. Divine moments are generated with your prayers. Come to worship having already prayed – for if what we do is not of the Spirit of God, nothing else matters; and if what we do is of the Spirit of God then nothing else matters.
Thirdly, COME WILLING TO OBEY. We come to worship not to judge but to be obedient. Let’s say the music is bad – if you’ve come prepared to praise, it doesn’t really matter; God receives the praise. Let’s say the sermon is poor – God has said that His Word never goes forth empty but always accomplishes the purpose He intends. So obey no matter how it’s preached. You might disagree with the preacher, but be sure to obey the truth he or she preaches. THE QUESTION MUST NEVER BE “DID WORSHIP PLEASE ME?” BUT “AM I READY TO OBEY?”Perhaps our prayer should be that of Gordon Aeschliman: “Don’t give us blessings - give us grace to be unquestionably obedient to your every command and desire. Don’t give us status - give us a place to serve. Don’t give us things for our use - use us. Don’t give us a mansion to live in - give us a springboard to take Christ’s love to the whole world. Don’t give us good jobs – put us to work. Don’t give us pleasure – give us perspective. Don’t give us satisfaction – teach us sacrifice. Don’t give us entertainment - enable us. Don’t give us good salaries - give us strength to do your will. Our great joy in life is in pleasing our Lord - and there is no other joy comparable.” Can you pray that prayer? Can you do as Paul bids: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Jesus Himself prayed, “Not my will but thine be done.”
But remember, obedience is not a drag; it is not boring; it does not chain us down buts sets us free and puts us in a position to experience blessing. As an old German hymn put it: ”God’s will for you is good In the pattern of life. Whatsoever each day may bring; sing him your song.” And as you do, don’t be surprised if you experience a rich blessing. THE PATH WE TRAVEL BY OBEDIENCE IS OFTEN THE PATH GOD TRAVELS TO BLESS US. As the Psalmist wrote: “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.” Come willing to obey.
Jan Weinert wrote: “The old man came into the service shortly after it started. He sat at the end of my row, with two vacant seats between us. A noticeable hearing aid was in his ear, and he held the bulletin up to within inches of his thick glasses to try to read it. As the service progressed I wondered why he had come. H probably couldn’t hear much, and he couldn’t see the hymnal well enough to sing the hymns. During the sermon, I tried to ignore his quiet, rhythmic breathing as he dozed. At the close of the service, the pastor suggested that we rise and hold hands with those next to us to symbolize the unity in Christ’s church...We then sang the familiar “Alleluia,” and I made no attempt to take the old man’s hand. He had not yet risen when we started to sing. With eyes closed I worshiped Jesus as we sang. Near the end of the first chorus, a smooth, frail hand slipped into mine. Glancing at him I saw that his eyes were on the large cross at the front of the church. As the second verse began, he joined in and shakily sang, ‘He’s my Savior, He’s my Savior.’ I then understood why he had come.” It was a divine moment graciously provided by God. I plead with you to put yourself in position by preparing your heart for worship. Then see what God releases from His hand.
