Some of us have seen the poster with two pictures. On the right is a man in rags sitting on the sidewalk with a cup in his hand. On the left is another man in rags sitting on the sidewalk with a cup in his hand. The caption reads, "One failed to prepare; the other prepared to fail." The outcome was the same.
When we don’t prepare to succeed, we are preparing to fail. In worship as in life, preparation makes the difference between success and failure.
Over the last three weeks, we’ve looked at certain ingredients to prepare us for success in true worship of God. We used the word, P.R.E.P.A.R.E., as an acrostic to hang the seven ingredients from the Biblical recipe for true worship. The P stands for "pursue peace with believers." The R stands for "repent of sin and selfishness." The E stands for "expect God to fulfill His promises even in the negatives of life," and the second P stands for "progress toward integrity at all times." The A stands for "affirm God’s character, work and relationship with us." The second R stands for "rejoice in what we affirm about God."
We finish this mini-series today by looking at the seventh ingredient in the Biblical recipe for true worship found in the songs of ascents in the book of Psalm. Again, this collection of psalms were sang in preparation for worship of God, and all we are doing is identifying and applying the themes of these songs to our own preparation for worship of God.
Ingredient number seven to help us prepare for true worship is listed in Psalms 122 and 134. The last E in PREPARE is "encourage other believers to worship God." We do this by promoting a biblical worship environment and biblical worship involvement.
A biblical worship environment is identified in Psalms 122:1- 9, which read, "I rejoiced with those who said to me, ’Let us go to the house of the LORD.’ Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together. That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to praise the name of the LORD according to the statute given to Israel. There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ’May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’ For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, ’Peace be within you.’ For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity."
The psalmist points to the joy of worshipping God in the designated place, in Jerusalem. Furthermore, the believers have a real concern for this place, that God’s truth and judgment be present. Also, the worshipper should take part in seeing that the place of worship would have peace, security and prosperity (or well-being). Promoting biblical truth, peace, security and prosperity in our church creates a biblical worship environment.
Today, we place little importance in the worship location or building because with the Apostle Paul, we recognize that the believer, not the building, is the temple of God’s Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, when we gather in corporate worship, we gather in an environment that either encourages or discourages true worship.
How do we encourage other believers to truly worship God? We make sure the truth of God dominates the place of worship. In answer to a Samaritan woman about the question of worship, Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.... Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24)."
We encourage true worship of God by providing the truth of God to worshippers. The songs sung, the sermons preached and the sharing offered all need to align with God’s truth found in His Word, the Bible. One of my nightmares is that someone gets up during Christian share time and says something unbiblical, like "God told me to leave my wife and move in with my secretary." We’ll still love you, but believe me, we will correct all lies in order to ensure a biblical worship environment.
Two years ago, I went to a Buddhist Temple in Mill Valley, as a part of my seminary class assignment. The teacher in the Buddhist worship was expounding from the movie, "American Beauty." The thrust of his message was to find oneself through following our heart’s leading. That’s American relativism and not even true Buddhism, which seeks to deny rather than follow one’s own desires.
In God’s house of worship, we do not have the freedom to teach cultural or Hollywood values. God’s truth from His word must dominate the place of worship. When you hear or are asked to sing a song that conflicts with Biblical truth, you have the responsibility to tell Connie. When you hear something in the sermon, whether preached by a guest speaker or by your pastor, that conflicts with Biblical truth, you have the responsibility to tell your pastor. We aren’t perfect, but we have the same purpose. Only biblical truth promotes a biblical worship environment.
Other ways for promoting a biblical worship environment include creating an atmosphere of peace, security and prosperity. If you love God’s place of corporate worship, you will be concerned with these three items. Pray for and promote peace, security and prosperity of our church.
In the area of peace, do your part to speak truth with gentleness and love. Remove any gossip and careless words. Handle difference directly with the brother or sister who may have wronged you rather than going to others with your complaint. If you are unable to resolve the problem, call on the Elders. If the Elders are unable to resolve the problem, we will bring it before Council and eventually to the whole congregation. This instruction comes from our Lord Jesus in Matthew 18.
In the area of security, do your part to ensure a safe environment for fellow worshippers. If you see a health hazard, whether in the facilities or in the way we handle food, or if you see a safety hazard, whether a stranger in our nursery or a broken chair, you need to address the matters. If you are not handy, get someone who is.
We had a crack in the ceiling over the nursery room last week, and things that fell through were a health hazard. Since I wasn’t a handy man, I emailed Eugene Friday afternoon. Eugene came Friday night to make the necessary repair to promote a biblical worship environment.
In the area of prosperity, do your part to ensure the well-being of our church for advancing the worship of God. Anything worth doing, the upkeep of our worship environment or the outreach into the community, is going to cost time, talents and money. Ensuring biblical worship environment is the responsibility of every believer and is essential to preparing for true worship of God.
FIRST, we encourage other believers to worship God by promoting a biblical worship environment, which includes biblical truth, peace, security and prosperity of our church. SECOND, we encourage other believers to worship God by promoting biblical worship involvement.
We see this listed in Psalm 134:1-3, "Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion."
When the Psalmist writes, "you servants of the LORD," he is describing the priest or the Levites who work in the temple, who minister, lift up hands and praise the Lord. If that’s the case, and it is, you might be wondering why I would bother teaching the whole congregation this passage. Why not just learning it myself and teach it to Connie and the worship team at most?
Well, we need to understand that the application is not only relevant to the pastor and the worship leader. According to 1 Peter 2:4-5, every believer is a priest, "As you come to him [Jesus Christ], the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
All who have come to Jesus Christ, the great high Priest, as described in the book of Hebrews, also become priests, who have permission to personally come before God for confession and worship. Revelation 1:5-6, speaking of those who are cleansed by the blood of Christ "To him [Jesus Christ] who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen."
Therefore, what the Psalmist says about priests applies to all believers! We are to serve in the church, not just to come and sit. We are to lift up hands and pray, not just listen to prayers. We are to praise God, not just sing well. We are called to serve, pray and praise. These are the biblical worship involvement of believers.
Let’s begin with where we are. Rather than evaluating my grammar and delivery of the message, you are to let the truth of God evaluate your heart and life. You are to apply the instructions from the Bible to your life and to the encouragement of believers. Every message prepares you to serve, pray and praise better than you did before listening to the message.
This morning, you have been given truth about your involvement to promote biblical worship environment. Serve the church to promote truth, peace, security and prosperity of our worship of God. The book of Malachi tells us how God hates our lip service that has no substance or sacrifice. We risk effort and spend money for our own pleasures, but we give our leftover effort and money to promoting the worship of God. What kind of priests of God are we?
Biblical worship involvement not only includes service but also prayer. The Apostle Paul commands in 1 Thessalonians that we pray continually. You are a priest of God. Throughout the week, as different people come to mind, pray for them to grow in the character of Christ. Pray for their health. Pray for their family relationships. Pray for peace in our relationships with one another. You are God’s priest in your family, workplace and community.
When you arrive to church early, pray like this, "God, use the songs and the pastor’s message to draw me closer to You," or "God, protect those who are still driving to church," or "God, wake up those who owe You the worship you deserve," or "God, thank you for the commitment of the elderly who overcame pain and poor health to come to worship You," or "God, break my pride so I can ask ’so-and-so’ to forgive me for what I said last week." Priests have the privilege of prayer; we need to use it to prepare for true worship.
Biblical worship involvement not only includes service, prayer but also praise. Priests are commanded to praise God. Praise God for His truth that transforms our lives into the likeness of Christ. Praise God for his help throughout the week. Praise God for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. I praise God for His mercy upon my Mom. She received Christ last Sunday. Not only can I check off her name from the list of the Ten Most Wanted, but I also rejoice that she will be in heaven with God when she dies.
Priests of God have much for which to praise God. We ought to have so much substantial praises shared during the Christian share time that we complain about not enough time to share them all. That has not been the case, because we’ve not prepared to succeed in true worship of God.
This week, I was asked what I would like written on my tombstone. I would be quite content with these words, "He encouraged others to worship God." But before that could be true, I have to promote a biblical worship environment and promote biblical worship involvement.
