Worship is a Verb
Romans 12:1
Rev. Brian Bill
9/9/07
www.pontiacbible.org
There are a lot of hot topics to choose from today. Last week we focused on “Lessons from a Lockdown” as a result of what happened at PTHS and this week Dwight Township High School was evacuated because of a bomb scare. A day later there was a serious school bus accident in our county. These incidents all involved students and parents who attend PBC. The threat of violence and tragedy is very real in small-town America. Immigration, Iraq, the environment and the upcoming election are hot topics in our culture today. And with the anniversary of 9/11 in just two days, our country will once again be on high alert.
In the church today, there may be no topic hotter than worship. Some churches break out into worship wars while others try to avoid the topic altogether. I want to propose to you that our worship of God is of supreme importance because worship matters to the Almighty. We know from John 4:23 that the Father is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. If that’s the kind of people He is looking for, then that’s who we better be, right?
My aim in this series is to not only help us understand what worship is all about but for us to be all about worship. If in the process I stir you up a little bit, that’s fine. If we’re all stretched a bit, that’s great. If I make you mad, I think I can handle it…though that remains to be seen. It is my prayer however; that we don’t allow what is so important to God to divide God’s people. If that were to happen, Satan would have the victory.
Let’s just put it out on the table and admit that we all have some pretty strong preferences when it comes to how we praise God. We’re going to talk more about this next week in a message called, “The Place of Music in Worship” and in two weeks our topic will be “The Real Worship Wars.” I am so impressed with how this church has always responded to biblical teaching and so I’m going to ask you to listen attentively, to study the Scriptures yourself, and then to ultimately ask yourself this question: Am I worshipping God with all that I have in response to all that He is?
--> Skit. [Transition from Jessica by taking piece of wood from her hand]
This skit reminds me of what Abraham said to his servants in Genesis 22:5 as he and his son Isaac made their way to the mountain where he was asked to make the ultimate sacrifice. This is the first mention of the word “worship” in the Bible: “We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Right from the very beginning, worship is connected with obedience to God and the offering of a life to Him.
Our text for today is just one verse. Let me make two preliminary comments. First, it is very popular and well-known. Because of that you may be tempted to say, “I know that verse” and just check out. Second, while this verse is popular it is extremely profound. Because of that I want us to look at it phrase-by-phrase. Romans 12:1: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.” I see five ways to worship from this verse.
1. Allow your behaviors to flow from your beliefs. Whenever you see the word “therefore” in the Bible you should always ask what it’s there for. When we come to chapter 12 of Romans, Paul is making a shift from doctrine to duty, from creed to conduct, from principles to practice, from the indicative to the imperative and from beliefs to behavior. We spent many months roaming through the first eight chapters of Romans. While the study was good we must not simply embrace it. As one pastor put it, “the truth we believe must at some point embrace us.” Have you heard people say that it doesn’t really matter what you believe? It does matter because what we believe ultimately determines how we behave.
Paul follows a similar pattern in the books of Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians when he establishes doctrine in the first part of the letter and then moves to application in the second half. Theology is never meant to be cold and lifeless. It must always have a practical application. It’s as if he’s saying, “Based on everything that I’ve just said, this is what you now need to put into practice.” Incidentally, the first two letters of “doctrine” form the word “do.”
The immediate context is the wonderfully deep doxology found at the end of Romans 11 (Have someone read from congregation): “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond finding 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! Amen.” It’s as if Paul just breaks into an outburst of adoration for God’s inscrutable wisdom. After spending so much time discussing doctrine, he’s overcome by the depth of God’s glory. It’s in this context that we read Romans 12:1. Actually, this is an awkward place for a chapter division because we should move right from the indescribability of the Almighty to God’s expectations of us.
2. Answer God’s urgent appeal. Based on all that God has done, Paul says, “I urge you, brothers…” This means “to call to one’s side” in order to persuade someone to do something. I like how the Amplified Bible renders this: “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you…” Even though Paul could have used a command here, he instead makes an appeal from love, not law. He does a similar thing in Ephesians 4:1: “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
Notice that he refers to them as “brothers,” indicating his affection for them as members of God’s family. This is a term of warmth that literally means from “one womb.” He’s begging brothers and sisters, not unbelievers, to do something that has not yet been done – it’s a decision that disciples need to make. And yet, it seems as if Paul is leaving it up to each of us individually.
3. Be motivated by God’s mercy. Paul makes this plea “in view of God’s mercy.” The original word used here for “mercy” is actually plural and refers to God’s multitude of mercies. Listen to 2 Corinthians 1:3 in the King James Version: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.”
It sure was neat to have a float in the Thresherman’s Parade again this year. I wasn’t in the crowd because I was handing out PBC brochures but many of you were there watching everything go by. Imagine if you will, that God has a parade and He’s putting it on for you and for me. As we sit and watch, a “parade of mercies” goes by not just for a few minutes, but for hours and days and years and decades and centuries and stretches into eternity. Close your eyes right now and just thank God for the mercy he has put on display in your life.
Pastor Mark Batterson says that the prerequisite to worship is mercy: “And the prerequisite to mercy is doing something wrong. So if you’ve done something wrong you qualify for mercy. And if you qualify for mercy you qualify for worship…don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God.”
God is not merciful just once but again and again. He is consistently and constantly full of mercy. John Calvin once said that we will never worship with a sincere heart or serve God with unbridled zeal until we properly understand how much we are indebted to God’s mercy. God has demonstrated so much mercy to us that we can’t help but respond by fully surrendering our lives to Him. In Isaac Watt’s amazing hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” we read these words: “Love so amazing, so divine; demands my soul, my life, my all.”
Many of us get this wrong. We think we have to sacrifice or perform to get God’s mercy. We have it backwards. God gives a multitude of mercies apart from anything we do – this should cause us to surrender everything we are and sacrifice everything we have. One pastor hit this right on when he said: “Indeed, the extent to which we do not offer ourselves to God reflects the extent to which we do not understand the depth and significance of God’s mercy.” Most of us know that we’ve been forgiven, but many of us overestimate our goodness while underestimating the amount of mercy we have received. I love the words of Jesus in Luke 7:47: “But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
It’s interesting that Paul doesn’t say, “In light of God’s grace” but instead focuses on mercy. Why is that? God’s grace is demonstrated when we get what we don’t deserve, whereas His mercy is what keeps us from getting what we do deserve. Micah 7:18: “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” Lamentations 3:22: “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not” (NKJV). John Piper argues that we will never praise Jesus until we prize Him. His mercies have been multiplied to us; let’s praise Him for this.
Louie Giglio offers this helpful definition: “Worship is our response to what we value most.” If we value God’s mercy we’ll be motivated to give Him our very lives. He then writes: “So how do you know where and what you worship? It’s easy. You simply follow the trail of your time, your affection, your energy, your money and your loyalty. At the end of the trail you’ll find a throne; and whatever, or whomever, is on that throne is what’s of highest value to you. On that throne is what you worship” (“The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life,” page 13).
4. Offer your body on God’s altar. We are urged, in view of the many mercies of God “to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.” This word “offer” is a technical term that was used to describe the bringing and presenting of an animal for sacrifice on an altar. It means “to present once and for all” by placing oneself at the disposal of another and has the idea of relinquishing one’s grip. In the Old Testament a live animal was brought to the priest and the owner would lay hands on the beast to symbolically say, “This animal takes my place.” The animal was then killed and the blood was sprinkled upon the altar.
This idea of a “living sacrifice” must have been a novel idea to the Jews of that day because they were used to offering dead sacrifices. Once a sacrifice is offered to God, you can’t take it back. When we are called to present our “bodies” to the Lord, we are exhorted to offer our total being to Him, not just bits and pieces. 1 Corinthians 6:20: “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” God does not just want to be a “part” of our lives; He wants us to be completely committed to Him. Romans 6:13 tells us to offer every part of our bodies to Him as instruments of righteousness. God isn’t interested in beasts today; He’s looking for bodies of believers who will be sold out to Him.
You’ve no doubt heard the story of the pig and the chicken walking down the road together when they come upon a sign advertising a breakfast to benefit the poor. The chicken said to the pig: “We should donate to that worthy cause. How about if I give an egg and you provide the ham?” To which the pig replied, “Not so fast. For you that would be a contribution, but for me it would be a total commitment.” Too many of us have made some contributions but we resist total commitment.
Paul continues by saying that our life offering is to be “holy and pleasing to God.” Sacrifices were to be without blemish or defect. In like manner, we are to offer to God our best. When we give our best to Him, it will be pleasing, or agreeable to Him. Leviticus 1:9: “…And the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.” God is delighted when His people are fully devoted to Him. Having said that, as we’ve learned in Romans, we are already pleasing to God since Jesus died in our place. We have been declared righteous and holy because the holiness of the Son has been credited to our account.
Brothers and sisters, the question is not, “Did I like the music today and did the service please me?” The real question is this: “Is my worship, both here and outside this room, pleasing to God?” Our purpose is always to please God, not to please ourselves.
The Amplified Bible adds color with this paraphrase: “…Make a decisive dedication of your bodies…” This dedication should be both a duty and a delight because worship is a verb. Adoration must lead to action. This is something that some of us have yet to do so I want to give you that opportunity in a few minutes.
5. Live a lifestyle of “service worship.” We’re so accustomed to equating worship with what happens in this room on Sunday mornings. We call this our “worship service” when this phrase is never even used in the Bible. In fact, nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to “go to worship.” Actually, for many of us we equate “worship” with the singing we do together for 20 minutes each week. Let me visually demonstrate how inadequate this understanding of worship is by using this wall. Since there are 168 hours in a week, I’m going to put one line here and then I’m going to walk along the wall and put another line here to show how long a week is. Now, this yellow post-it note represents one hour in that week. Do you think that’s all God wants from us? Or to carve it another way, there are 10,080 minutes in a week. Does God just want 75 of those, or just the 20 minutes or so that we sing? 20 minutes is just 2/10th of 1% of our week. Or for the math-challenged like me, that’s just 2 out of every 1,000 minutes.
If we just have 75 minutes together on Sundays, we should make it the best it can be, right? We’ve been working on some adjustments to make sure that what we’re doing during this time is the most God-honoring that it can be. I’ll talk more about that next week. But what can each of us do to get ourselves ready for this short period of time that we have for corporate praise and adoration? I listened to part of a message this week by James MacDonald, pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago (www.walkintheword.com). He shared four principles that I found to be very helpful.
* Prepare yourself. Get yourself ready Saturday night. Confess any sins. Read your Bible before you arrive. Come with a holy expectation.
* Be punctual. I know this is not easy but there are places around the world where the doors are locked if you are not on time.
* Work on your posture. Don’t slump down and settle in for a long-winter’s nap. Don’t write notes to each other and don’t check out if you don’t like a song or the sermon. We are not customers or consumers, we are participants. God is the audience.
* Ignite some passion. Come ready to fully participate, knowing that God is seeking worshippers who have their hearts and their heads engaged.
Friends, we can’t just be spectators here. Someone described a football game as twenty-two men on the field badly in need of rest being watched by seventy-two thousand spectators badly in need of exercise. Christianity is not a spectator sport and worship is never meant to be something we just watch, applauding when we like it or booing in our hearts when we don’t.
I turn to Giglio again: “Most of my life, I thought that you went to church to worship. But now I see that the better approach is to go worshipping to church” (page 115). While our time together on Sundays is extremely important, I want to suggest that God is less concerned with how this service goes and more concerned with how our service of worship goes outside these walls. This then is our “spiritual act of worship.” The phrase “spiritual act of worship” or “service of worship” was familiar to those who understood the Old Testament sacrificial system. The word “service” refers to any ministry that priests and Levites did. Check this out. As believer-priests, when we offer our bodies we are involved in the sacred service of worship.
We actually get our word “liturgy” from this passage. Harold Best, who teaches at Wheaton College, points out that this word was originally a secular term signifying work to be done or a service to be performed by a carpenter or other tradesperson. We must therefore be at “work” worshipping while we walk with Christ in our homes, in our jobs and wherever else.
Worship Service or Service Worship?
Worship is not just what we do here on Sunday mornings. True worship is the presenting of our bodies as living sacrifices to Him and living holy and pleasing lives, every day of the week. We gather together to worship God on Sundays and then scatter the rest of the week to worship Him wherever He has placed us. We could call this “everywhere worship” or worship as a way of life. Let me say it this way: We were not designed to operate on a weekly worship cycle but rather to run on a 24/7 worship lifestyle.
Instead of just thinking “worship service” I’d like us to change the order of these words to “service worship.” Since God’s desire is to make us into the image of His Servant-Son it makes sense for us to serve like He served. Pick up the towel. Look for needs. Serve in secret. Give without anyone knowing what you’re doing.
I won’t take the time to point this out but I do want to give you an assignment to read the rest of Romans 12 this week because after the challenge to not be conformed but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds in verse 2, the rest of the chapter defines worship as service – both to believers and to unbelievers. I want to also point out that these commands are best lived out in a small group context and then in a ministry that is a match for who God has made you to be. Once again we see the PBC Pathway – we move from Sundays to small groups to serving – that’s our spiritual act of worship.
In the Old Testament, believers made a sacrifice that was slaughtered; in the New Testament, believers are to become the sacrifice that is allowed to live. I like how J.B. Phillips paraphrases Romans 12:1: “With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give Him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him.”
God’s Altar Call
We want to close today with what I’m calling “God’s Altar Call.” That’s really what Romans 12:1 is all about. It’s a personal time for us to present our bodies as sacrifices to God. This verse literally says, “You, all of you, present yourselves to God.” This is what God wants from everyone. The Message reads this way: “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.”
God doesn’t want us to lie on the altar as a dead sacrifice but rather to live out our lives selflessly for Him as living sacrifices. He’s urging us right now to first surrender and then worship through serving.
As we sing the song “Lord I Give You My Heart” I want to invite you to the altar for a time of dedication and surrender. When you come, take a piece of wood to remind you that your life is no longer your own and that it is your desire to honor Christ. Give him your heart and give Him your body and allow Him to have His way in you.
