THE LORD WE WORSHIP Mark 3:1-6
Jesus has shown in this Gospel before this chapter His Lordship of Demons, Disease, Despair, and Sin. The miracle we read about today declares Jesus Lord of Worship. Today’s Message will help define Worship! We’ll keep this simple. We’ll observe from our text what Worship is Not meant to be. We want to examine what Worship Is. We will look at How to Worship.
I. What Worship is Not meant to be.
Worship is Not Just belief in God. To the Jew of time Jesus was on earth, Worship was belief in God. They were so caught up in their worship, that they literally missed God the Son. Worship does not mean certain a Day, a certain Place, a certain time, or a certain Duty. Worship is not being in a certain place. Nor is it at a certain time or day. Nor is it a certain duty. Worship is anytime when our heart is right, at any place, and whenever the heart is willing to do what God wishes. Worship is Not for God’s Benefit. It is something He knows will benefit us for He is God and is not in need of anything. When he created man He made him to want to worship as a quality of life. We live a better life if we worship. We read in the Bible that the Sabbath was important. Keeping it holy was one of the Ten Commandments. But we might ask why was the Sabbath established? MK 2:27 “Then he added, "The day of worship was made for people, not people for the day of worship.” Jewish tradition had so multiplied the requirements and restrictions for keeping the Sabbath that the burden had become intolerable. Jesus cut through these traditions and emphasized the God-given purpose of the Sabbath was a day intended for man. It was his for spiritual, mental and physical restoration. EX.16:23 He said to them, "This is what the Lord said: Tomorrow is a day of worship, a holy day of worship dedicated to the Lord.”
The first occurrence of the word itself, though the principle of the seventh day as a day of rest and holiness is set forth in the account of creation. Two fold reasons for the Sabbath were So man would rest and second to be reminded that God is the Lord. Exodus 23:12 "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that you may be refreshed. EZ 20:20 “And keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the Lord your God.’” Worship was not meant to be a day of rules but to show that we will take time to worship God, be refreshed and place our trust in Him as Lord of our lives.
II. What Worship Is meant to be. We need to live by Goodness not Ground Rules. JN 7:23 “why are you angry with me because I made a man entirely well on the day of worship?” LK 6:9 “Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you—what is the right thing to do on a day of worship: to do good or evil, to give a person his health or to destroy it?" It is our Attitude not Action that makes a difference in worship. Your attitude is more important than your actions. Many people will attend worship services today but they will not be worshiping. Why? Their attitude is not in the right place. They will deceive themselves into believing they worshipped, but they didn’t. They will pretend to keep a Sabbath by Sunday church going, and then stuff the day with all other activities that are far from worship. To worship takes Faith and Obedience, Trust and Obey. A person who does not take time in church to worship is saying I do not need God and He does not deserve my time. I have many other things that are of much more importance. We see the only person mentioned in our text that did any worshipping besides Jesus was the man that was healed. "Stretch out your Hand." And he did! Why did you come to church today?
III. How to Worship in the way that pleases God.
Come to God on His Terms. Those that sought to find fault with Jesus in our text wanted a Jesus that came to them on their terms. IS 57:15 “The High and Lofty One lives forever, and his name is holy. I live in a high and holy place. But I am with those who are crushed and humble. I will renew the spirit of those who are humble and the courage of those who are crushed. JAM 4:10 “When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.” Conditioning of the Heart is Worship and not the state of the Heart. Allowing God to Condition your heart is more important than the form of the heart. You can come with a bad heart, just don’t leave with one. We need to come Giving. Worship is not getting but giving. Jesus shows us the perfect example of worship; He came to that synagogue that day ready to give, not get.
At another time The devil came to Jesus and led him to a high place on the temple and said “If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “`He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ Here the Devil was trying to get Jesus distracted from His true worship of God.
When the devil had tempted Jesus at first He was alone but in this time he lead him to a place where there were many people who had gathered and could see him do what the devil asked. The devil is very Deceptive in working on people. Now instead of being alone Jesus was before many people and in the city that He would later in His life be killed. Now He was given the chance to change the mind of the religious people of great influence at that time. The devil fires many flaming darts at us and we must use the shield of faith. What are some of the darts we need to be aware of so that we might not be hurt?
One might be peer pressure. We all come across this as we are around people who challenge us. “If only you will do something great we will follow your way.” This is what the devil was asking Jesus to do. If you just jump off the temple roof here in front of all these people you win instant success in people wanting to follow you. As a kid we used to play a game of “I dare you.” Then the other one would say, “I double dare you.” It would be like the story carried on the news about nine year old boy who had been dared to walk out on the ice and jump up and down and then find out death a waited him in the icy waters. We are not to give into what the crowd wants. We are to please God in all that we do. Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Gal. 1:3, 4 “the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” Rom 6:13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. We are to worship the Lord our God only and not please people to take away their attention from God.
Another dart he throws our way is self-satisfaction. This as temptation to elevate our selves above others in our thinking we are more holy then them. When Satan tempted Jesus the third time he took Him to the temple and perched him on the top. This was perhaps 450 feet high from the ground. He told Him to jump off and win instant fame for the angels would catch him just before he hit the ground. In this act He would show how superior he was to all He had come to minister to. Ho are we doing at touching people’s lives? Jesus spent time with lepers, prostitutes, sick people, blind people, dead people and condemned criminals. Jesus’ word to us in this matter comes from MT 23:12 “Whoever honors himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be honored.” We are to worship the Lord our God only and we cannot do that by just pleasing ourselves.
Another dart he throws at us is to show off. He said to Jesus, “Since you are the Son of God,” you can do this great act and people will right now follow you. This is a temptation we find today to take things into our own hands without God’s blessing. It would be like saying “you can do whatever you want to.” You are child of God so go for it.” “Put God to the test.” “Show how well God can provide for you. “ “You have privileges. Use them” “If God is real, He will cause no harm to come to you.” It seems that Satan would turn “It is written” back on us. Don’t you believe that God can do anything? He misuses Scripture to make us do foolish things. That is why we need to be in the Word each day so we know it.
We cannot be the center of attention and help others worship the Lord God.
THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE TRASH BAG (BY ROY IRWIN) [EDITED]
It’s always the small things. During the annual running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race several years ago, the lead car began to overheat and was forced to make an unexpected pit stop. The crew frantically inspected every area of the car looking for the cause of the problem. With each passing second, the car fell further behind in the race. Unable to identify the problem, the crew sent the car back out onto the track. The car continued to overheat, with sensors indicating the temperatures were now reaching critical levels. The car was again forced to make a pit stop. Again the crew checked over the car. They inspected the car’s engine, hoses, belts and fluids. Quite by accident, one of the crewmembers looked into one of the air intakes and saw something unusual. He reached in and removed a small plastic trash bag. The bag had been pulled into the intake and had been blocking the airflow, preventing it from properly cooling the engine. The car went back onto the track but by now was so far behind it had no chance of winning the race. A plastic bag. It costs less than .01 cent. Yet it prevented this racecar from winning the hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money associated with this race. You could call it the ’World’s Most Expensive Trash Bag’. It’s always the small things. Throughout history we are reminded of this repeatedly. With Adam and Eve it was their decision to eat the fruit from the tree God had told them not to eat from that forced them out of paradise. With Esau it was a bowl of soup that he traded for his birthright. With Judas it was for 30 silver coins that he betrayed Jesus Christ. Fruit. A bowl of soup. 30 silver coins. A plastic bag. Small things, really. By themselves they are harmless, innocent, good and useful. Yet they are symbols of larger decisions that resulted in tragic consequences. It is a question that I am forced to ask myself all the time. What am I giving priority in my life? What is it that is standing between myself and a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it Pride? Time? Money? We are given a simple directive in Matthew 6:33: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well." It is my sincere desire to put Jesus Christ first in every area of my life. How about you? What is it that may be keeping you from experiencing a closer walk and deeper relationship with Jesus Christ? What are the things that you need to let go of, as you seek Him first?
"Dear Lord Jesus, There is nothing more worthy of our praise than you. Help us to put You first in every area of our lives every day. Amen." (Copyright 1998 Argyle Giraffe Productions. Are you willing to give yourself to the Lord today?
