THE CHALLENGE OF WORSHIP
Genesis 22:1-19
Famous researcher, George Barna recently conducted a survey on worship in American churches. He had some very interesting things to say, so let me share just a couple of them with you. “Worship is a non-negotiable obligation and privilege of every Christian…We agree that when it comes to worship, God deserves it, the Bible commands it, and churches try to facilitate it," he stressed. "But we have a problem when it comes to worship. ... True worship is rare.” According to his results, he found that in American churches, thirty-two percent have never experienced God’s presence in worship, forty-four percent have not experienced his presence in the past year. And the younger the person, the less likely she or he has experienced that presence. Isn’t that astounding? Barna continues, “Only one third of church-going adults identify worshiping God as "the most important responsibility of a Christian.” And less than half of them defined worship as a "top priority" in their lives. “The focus needs to be on God, not us. We worship for God’s benefit,” he stressed. “The reason why we’re doing this is God commands it, God deserves it, it pleases him.” “Worship is as much an attitude as an activity," he added, "and the right heart allows intimacy with God.”
I suppose that if you were to ask every church that participated in Barna’s study about the importance of worship in their church, almost everyone would respond that worship is important. We ourselves during our study of the church talked about the importance of worship. We have been created for worship. According to what Paul wrote the Roman church, one of the chief sins of humanity is that as a whole, we have failed to worship God. Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
However, one reason I believe that so many fail to worship God is that they never accept the challenge of worship. True, genuine worship presents a challenge to everyone who would come before the present of God. The text that I have read today is one of the most difficult to understand in the entire Bible. I don’t necessarily mean understand in the sense of translating from Hebrew to English, but rather because the insinuations of this story can be un-settling. It presents a view of God that often makes us feel uncomfortable. How could God demand such a thing of Abraham? We generally think of this story in terms of testing and faith, Abraham’s faith was tested and proven when he offered Isaac his own son to the Lord. However, I believe that the one great reason that this story is revealed is so that we can know that God is serious about worship. Some of you are thinking, “Pastor, you’re not going to tell me that this story is all about worship, are you?” After all, we have no record of songs being sung, and surely Abraham wasn’t shouting or rejoicing as he went up Mt. Moriah. to offer his own son. However listen to Abraham’s description of what this was all about. Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. Abraham said, “We’re going to worship.” Did you know that this is the very first time that the word worship is used in the Bible? Obviously, men and women worshipped before this, Abraham had bowed down to God as God and two angels visited with him to tell him the news that Sodom was going to be destroyed. Noah had offered offerings before the Lord, and Cain and Abel also had offered offerings before the Lord. But here is the very first time that the word worship is used. There is something that Bible scholars call the “law of the first mention”. This “law” simply states that if you select an important biblical word, you will find that it’s first appearance in the scriptures sets the tone for all the richness of its meaning through out the rest of the Bible. In other words, the first mention gives us the clearest picture of the meaning of the word. We often think of worship as singing, or rejoicing before the Lord, but I want you to understand that worship is deeper than that. I have already told you, singing, praying, shouting, and rejoicing are all outward manifestations of worship, but you can do all of those things and never really worship, because you have not accepted the challenge of worship. Abraham had a heart of worship, even when it was heavy with sadness. Outward circumstances don’t dictate our worship, the worthiness of God is what demands our worship and God’s worthiness does not change. I want to share three aspects of the challenge of worship with you this morning that this text show us. May God help us to accept the challenge.
I. WORSHIP CHALLENGES US FIRST OF ALL, BECAUSE THERE IS A COMMITMENT THAT MUST BE MADE.
1. You might remember that I told you last week, that worship is encounter,
encounter with a Holy God and you can not encounter a Holy God and remain the same. The very presence of God demands that we respond.
2. The presence of God can come to comfort us, but He can also come to dis-comfort us as well.
Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
3. You have heard me say this and I’ll say it again this morning, going to church can be a very dangerous thing, for you will not remain the same. You will either be brought closer to God and be blessed or you will reject God and become all the more isolated. Worshipping God is serious business.
4. Abraham had lived much of his life waiting on the birth of this son. This son was different for he was the son of promise. The Lord had promised him in Genesis 12 that God would make of Abraham a “great nation” and all the nations of the earth would be blessed by Abraham. God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 17 and told him that he would have a child. Abraham said that God, there’s a problem with this, I’m close to 100 years old and Sarah is 90. Our child bearing days are past. As a matter of fact, Sarah even laughed when she heard the news. Abraham forgot for a moment that God is God. He is worthy to be worshipped. In Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
5. For a long time Abraham had waited and against impossible odds Abraham had believed God. Now God has asked him to offer this “child of promise” back as a sacrifice of worship to God. If there was anything that Abraham had that was
dear to him, it had to be Isaac. If God had said, “Abraham, offer to Me every one of your flocks,” I believe Abraham would have done it without question. If God had said, “Abraham, give Me all of your money,” Abraham would have done so immediately. However, God asks for the dearest thing that Abraham has, his own son.
6. Abraham is prepared to give the most precious thing that he has back to God.
Like any father, I believe Abraham would have given himself to spare Isaac. Here’s what I want you to understand about worship, it must be an all or nothing commitment to God. He will be satisfied with nothing less. True worship is true sacrifice that requires our complete dedication before the Lord.
7. When you come into this place, and you feel the presence of God, before you can truly worship Him, you must completely dedicate yourself to Him. This is why God will never be satisfied with half way worship nor half hearted worship.
8. We read in 2 Samuel chapter 6, of David when the ark of the covenant was finally moved into Jerusalem. David worshipped God. The scripture tells us in 2 Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might; David worshipped God with all of his being for he was totally sold out to God. No wonder he was able to say several times in the psalms, “Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me.” David had accepted the challenge of worship and was completely committed to God. That’s what a true worshipper is.
9. When D.L. Moody was visiting England he heard Henry Varley say, "the world has yet to see what God will do with a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to the Holy Spirit." Moody would later comment, "He said ’a man." He did not say a ’great man’ nor ’a learned man’ nor a ’rich man’ but simply ’a man.’ I am a man, and it lies within the man himself whether he will or will not make that entire and full consecration. I will try my utmost to be that man." The story of Moody however doesn’t end with his death. In the nineteenth century, there was a man named C.T. Studd. C.T. Studd, to England, was the Michael Jordan of his day. In England, there are two basic sports, soccer and cricket. Studd was considered to be one of the greatest cricket players in the world. He was a very famous man in England. However, D. L. Moody had returned to England to preach a series of revivals and Studd happened to attend one, and God spoke to his heart and he gave his life totally to Christ. For a while he used his athletic ability to speak to others about Christ, but later on, he felt called to the far east as a missionary. During the time he was a missionary in China, he received word that he had inherited a fortune. He promptly gave every penny of it away to other missionary endeavors. Before he had left for China, he himself spoke at several meetings. At one of them was a young preacher named F. B. Meyers. Meyers said he saw for the first time in his life a man utterly and unreservedly committed to Jesus Christ. God spoke to his heart and he saw that there was things in his life that he was still holding on to. Meyers then surrendered everything he was, everything he had and everything he might be, to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God begin to use him as never before and his sermons and writings are still touching people today. It all started with one man who said, “I’ll be totally committed to God, I’ll be a true worshipper of the Lord for He is worthy of that kind of worship.”
II. WORSHIP CHALLENGES US FOR THERE IS A COST THAT MUST BE PAID.
1. Commitment will always lead to cost. What you are committed to will cost you. Worship will challenge us to pay the cost, regardless of whatever it is.
2. It is impossible to have commitment without having cost. Marriage is a good example of this. So many people today want the benefits of marriage without being willing to pay the cost of commitment. Young people rationalize and think to themselves that they are just trying it out, so if it doesn’t work out, they can leave at any time. Let me ask you, is that the kind of relationship you want with someone who professes to love you? Husbands, let me ask you a question, would you want a wife that was faithful to you 85% of the time, or how about 95% of the time? Wives, would you want a husband that is faithful 98% of the time? Those are good odds. Oddmakers in Vegas would love 8 out of 10 odds. They would tell you that you should bet on a game like that, that’s good odds. Wait a minute you say, relationships are not games, there more to it than that. You would be absolutely right. There is a cost in worship.
3. I mentioned this earlier, but in 2nd Samuel chapter 6, David desired to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. We are told in verse 3, that they set the ark upon a new cart. This was how the Philistines had brought the ark back to Israel after they had captured it. The Philistines did not know any better, but David should have. Numbers 7:9 tells us that the sons of Kohath, one of the three divisions of the Levites could only carry the ark upon their shoulders by the staves that were inserted into the ark. David was tying to do something for God by using the world’s standards. Let that be a lesson to the church today. He wanted to take the easy way.
4. Uzzah and Ahio, meaning strength and fraternal love, accompanied the ark as it was placed on the new cart. The Bible says that as they went along, the oxen stumbled and the ark shook, so Uzzah reached out with his hand to steady the ark and God smote him and killed him. God was not pleased with the easy way. Worship is the same way, we try to cram our way of doing things on a cart of our making and attempt to make progress with God and we wonder why God will not bless.
5. One Christian author said of this incidence that Uzzah died because he tried to stabilize what God had shaken. I believe that God is trying to shake the church world out of our complacency and we spend too much effort to stabilize what God is wanting to shake.
6. When God killed Uzzah, David had to consider what was happening. He no doubt studied the law of Moses and saw the proper way to move the ark. There could be no short cut of what God wanted or desired. Remember that the ark was made of gopher wood and overlaid with pure gold, inside and outside. On top of the ark were the images of two cherubim, made of solid gold. Gold is one of the heaviest metals we have. It was no easy task to move the ark, so the easy thing to do was put it on a cart.
7. Listen, to be a worshipper of God is going to cost you. Too often today, we want a God that will not inconvenience us. After David saw the way that God wanted things done, he this time decided to follow God’s plan. The ark was carried on the shoulders of the Levites as was prescribed by the law of Moses.
2 Samuel 6:13 And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
8. From the way this reads in Hebrew, it appears that they would travel six paces and then offer up a sacrifice of oxen, they would then travel another six paces and offer up a sacrifice, and this went on until they reached Jerusalem. You have heard me say this before but remember that to Israel, the ark represented the presence of God. To be in His presence requires sacrifice. It will cost you something. We can have all the strength (Uzzah) and love (Ahio) in the world but we must be willing to do it God’s way. It is estimated that they must have traveled ten miles from where the ark was at until they reached Jerusalem, all this time holding up the ark and offering sacrifice, talk about blood and sweat, they found out that to be in God’s presence often requires blood and sweat.
9. Abraham could have had the servants to bind Isaac and carry him, along with the wood and the fire to the top of Mt. Moriah, but this was a cost that he himself had to pay. We can not worship God the easy way. Too often we want to be spectators at church but worship will cost you. You must be willing to make the sacrifice.
10. In 2nd Samuel 24, we find that the death angel is ready to strike Jerusalem for David’s sin. The prophet of God goes to David and tells him to “rear up an altar” on the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. David goes to Araunah and offered to buy it and Araunah says, not so, but I’ll give you the land and even the oxen to go with it. Most of us would have said, “alright” but not David. Listen to the word of God.
2 Samuel 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
David refused to worship God without cost. I believe he learned his lesson from Uzzah and Ahio.
11. Let me share just a couple more things about this story. Araunah’s land was located on Mt. Moriah. Where Abraham went to offer his son, to pay the cost of worship, is where David later purchased to offer his worship. Let me share something else with you. Mt. Moriah is also known by another name in scripture, one we know as Mt. Zion, the Temple Mount, the new worship center in the Old Testament. Some scholars also feel that when Babylon tore down Solomon’s temple and later when Ezra and the remnant of the Jews rebuilt the Temple, that this area was not included in the new Temple, but was just outside the walls, in a place that we now call Calvary where the ultimate cost was paid in order that we could worship God. Worship always involves a cost that must be paid.
III. WORSHIP CHALLENGES US FOR THERE IS A CONCESSION THAT MUST BE BRAVED.
1. The one thing that stands out about Abraham here is that whenever he is called, his answer is still the same. When God first called to him, his answer was “Here I am”, when Isaac spoke to him going up the mountain, he replied, “Here I am” and finally with his hand upraised and the knife about to plunge down, the angel calls to him and he replies, “Here I am”. Abraham is completely conceded his rights to the Lord. This act of worship was totally conceded to the Lord.
2. The only way that Abraham could do that was simply by faith. God appeared to be illogical, and God appeared to be inconsistent, but Abraham believed God. He was able to concede all of this to the Lord.
Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried (challenged), offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Hebrews 11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
3. God appeared to be totally inconsistence with all that Abraham knew about God, but he knew it was God, his act of worship was given in faith. He came to worship and leave the details of how God would be faithful in His promises up to God. He would let nothing stand in the way of his worship of God.
4. How many times do we fail the challenge of worship because we will not concede our troubles to the Lord? We allow them to distract us from our true focus, which should be on God.
5. To truly worship, we must concede our lives, our problems, our troubles, totally to God. We will not be able to worship if we try to hold on to them ourselves. We will be challenged to concede.
