On April 21st of last years the Associated Press reported:
Another round and amen! Beer was on tap and a mechanical bull inspired the sermon as a new church held its inaugural service in a western Ohio bar. The Country Rock Church drew about 100 people to Sunday night’s meeting at the Pub Lounge in Sidney, 35 miles north of Dayton. The barroom church is an offshoot of Sidney United First Methodist Church, whose head pastor says he’s been looking for creative ways to reach people in unconventional places. The church’s Web site for its new branch advertises “Top regional bands, pizza, wings, rowdy fun & a short message.” The Rev. Chris Heckaman says people really seemed to enjoy themselves so he expects the Country Rock Church will meet weekly. Heckaman’s sermon compared staying on the bar’s mechanical bull to learning how to get along in life.
David Tscherne sermonnews.com
Is this what worship has come to in the United States? Must churches now go to these lengths to attract customers? I have finally figured out why worship is boring and unappealing to so many in our culture: expectation.
If you view worship as a religious duty that you perform to maintain some kind of standing as a good Christian, you have a faulty expectation and you will be bored. I have a pastor friend who, this week, shared with me how he’d taught his people that not attending worship is a sin. Although I think it’s true to some extend, that perspective is just a partial picture. If you view worship as a way to avoid sin, you have a faulty expectation and you will be bored. If you arrive with idea of being entertained or, to put it in Christianese, “get something out of it” you have a faulty expectation and you will be bored.
What’s the point of worship? What should we expect? I’m glad you asked. Back when I was a young preacher I was naïve enough to ask questions like this: “How do you know when you’ve really worshipped?” I once put that question to several colleagues and none of them could give me a coherent answer. The best they could do was, “Well, you just know.” I now have an answer for that question. How do you know when you’ve worshipped? You walked away a little bit more like Jesus.
At its heart worship is an encounter with the Lord that leads to a response. It’s coming face to face with the living God and leaving a changed person. If you’re not being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ you’re not worshipping.
But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2
Ultimately our character will be purified and perfected. We will be righteous just like Jesus. Worship is an opportunity to get the process going in this life. Worship, when it’s done right, let’s us see the Lord and gives the potential of character change when we come away from His presence.
When Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesian believers he knew that they were geographically situated to impact much of the Roman Empire with the Good News of Jesus. He knew that to have influence they’d need to be people who thought, spoke, and behaved a lot like Jesus. In order to be like Jesus they’d need to be transformed people. For that to happen they’d need to meet Him face to face. This requires worship. Genuine worship informs the mind about God, inundates the heart with the Spirit, and initiates the body into Christ-likeness.
We can see the genius of Paul’s letter in the way he begins. Rather than launch into a strategic vision for the church or lay out practical rules for living the Christian life, he first leads them into worship. Verses 3 through 14 are something on the order of a song of praise or, better yet, a doxology honoring the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In modern lingo, Paul was “riffing” his praise unto the triune God. He begins with worship to lead his listeners into life change.
This is why we should gather together whenever we’re able with other Christians. This is why we should seek moments every day to connect with God. We can worship and walk away a little bit more like Jesus. Before that can happen must change our expectations. Even when we intentionally approach times of worship, we need to do so consciously seeking the conditions for catalytic worship. We must make sure we’re looking for the right things in it.
Conditions for Catalytic Worship
Let me say this again: Genuine worship informs the mind about God, inundates the heart with the Spirit, and initiates the body into Christ-likeness. We begin with the mind or intellection or reason. When we seek to worship here in the church building together or at home with our families or in private we must begin with this condition:
Appreciate God’s character and conduct
Think about it from a human perspective. If you had the opportunity to meet the president you would likely treat him with respect. Even if you disagreed with his politics and policies you’d be respectful because of his position. You would not yuck it up with him like an old friend nor would you sneer and spit at him like an enemy. You’d consider who he is and what he is. At the very least, you’d understand that he’s surrounded by Secret Service personnel who could take you out in a second and send you away for life.
The whole point of Ephesians 1:3-14 is to get believers to appreciate God’s character and conduct. Three times in this doxology, Paul repeats the phrase, “to the praise of His glory.” His intention in describing God’s character and conduct is to that we will praise God’s glory. What does that mean? In the Old Testament the word literally means “heaviness,” the weightiness of God. Think about it this way: physically whose footsteps make more of an impression, a weighty person or a light person? It’s the weighty person. It’s better that people say there’s a weightiness to your life than that you’re a light-weight. God’s glory is His reputation based on His character and conduct. It’s how people respond to who He is and what He’s done.
What kind of person is God? What’s His character according to Paul here in Ephesians? We see that He’s generous. He’s blessed us with every spiritual blessing possible. He’s lavished us with forgiveness as well as wisdom and understanding. He’s given us the most expensive gift possible, His Son. When we believed in Jesus, He gave us His Holy Spirit whose presence, as good as it is, is only a foretaste of the rich inheritance to come.
“Haddon Robinson says it best, ‘With Him the calf is always the fatted calf; the robe is always the best robe; the joy is always unspeakable; and the peace passes understanding. There is no grudging in God’s goodness. He does not measure His goodness by drops like a druggist filling a prescription. It comes upon in floods. If only we recognize the lavish abundance of His gifts, what a difference it would make in our lives!’
Lisa Degrenia at sermoncentral.com
Paul also tells us that God is gracious. He gives people the good that they do not deserve. He takes away the punishment that they do deserve.
We see His generosity and grace of His character in His conduct. What has He done? With regard to our salvation …everything. Maybe you think that you choose Jesus Christ and came to faith all on your own. You’re wrong. According to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians God choose you before the creation of the cosmos. That was way before you were even a twinkle in your parents’ eye. Before you’d done anything good or evil. He predestined you to be adopted into His family. How did He do this? He made the decision according to His own council and by His own good pleasure. In other words, God thought it our and it pleased Him to pick and predestine you. He achieved it through the blood of Jesus Christ because there was nothing, absolutely nothing about you that merited His choice.
Your becoming a part of God’s family by faith in Jesus Christ is just one small piece of God bringing the entire universe back into its original harmony under the leadership of Christ. When you trusted in Jesus Christ for your forgiveness and new life, God sealed you with His Holy Spirit signifying that you belong to Him forever more. In simple terms this means you were chosen, redeemed, and your salvation secured totally by the will and work of God Almighty through Jesus Christ. If you are a person of faith in Jesus Christ you belong completely to God and it was His idea and His effort. Why? That just the way He is. God is good, gracious, and generous.
Even though your salvation is the based on the character and conduct of God, this does not mean you’re a puppet on a string. Your choices matter. Your choice to worship matters too.
In his book, Good Morning Merry Sunshine, Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene chronicles his daughter’s first year of life. When little Amanda began crawling he records:
"This is something I’m having trouble getting used to. I will be in bed reading a book or watching TV. And I will look down at the foot of the bed and there will be Amanda’s head staring back at me. Apparently I’ve become one of the objects that fascinate her... It’s so strange. After months of having to go to her, now she is choosing to come to me. I don’t know quite how to react. All I can figure is that she likes the idea of coming in and looking at me. She doesn’t expect anything in return. I’ll return her gaze and in a few minutes she’ll decide she wants to be back in the living room and off she’ll crawl again."
Did you catch the line where he said, "After months of having to go to her, now she is choosing to come to me?" Likewise, God made the first move - He came to you. Now He wants you to come to Him. And for the same reason Bob and his daughter came together - to enjoy being each other’s presence. This is what worship is.
Brian Mavis at sermonnews.com
Once you’ve appreciated God’s character and conduct by looking upward at Him, there’s only one natural response. You look downward at yourself. In the light of God’s majesty, you’ll see yourself as a spiritual slug. This focus on self leads to next condition of catalytic worship.
Admit your error and inability
Paul is silent about the sin of the Ephesians at this point. He let’s the light of God’s glory expose their sinful errors an inability to save themselves. That’s how you can tell whether or not you’ve really entered into worship. You become keenly aware of your willful missteps before God. You know that you cannot save yourself. If you started living right from this moment forward, you’d still have all those past sins to deal with. John Bunyan described the person trying to be good enough for God like a woman sweeping her house with the doors closed and no trash cans. As much as she tries she cannot get rid of the filth. All she can do is try to hide it or shift it around. Were it not for the perfect life of Jesus Christ and the cost of His blood, you’d be doomed. Then you realize what God has done for you through Christ and you are filled with relief, peace, and a profound sense of humility.
If your worship does not include admitting your error and inability you haven’t worshipped and you will not be transformed. One woman I know told of a time when she was leading worship at a church and she felt profoundly caught up in God’s presence. Strangely, she was involved in an extramarital affair at the same time. She said she’d never felt closer to God than at that moment. No matter what she was feeling, she wasn’t worshipping. If worship was what she was engaged in she would have dropped to her knees and publicly repented of her adultery. I’ve met charismatic Christians who claim to experience the Holy Spirit in powerful ways during their worship services on Sunday mornings. They go on and on about how thick the Spirit was in their service. His manifestations abounded. Yet, they leave the worship service and go right back to their addictions, their cruddy relationships with their spouses, and their materialistic pursuit of the American dream. I question who or what it is they’re really worshipping.
Genuine worship informs the mind about God, inundates the heart with the Spirit, and initiates the body into Christ-likeness. If you’ve appreciate God’s character and conduct and admitted your error and inability, you will throw yourself on the mercy of a gracious and generous God. That will lead you to the next condition of catalytic worship:
Answer with praise, dedication, and service
If your mind has been informed about God and your heart inundated with His Spirit, it’s going to gush out. Something’s going to happen. In a place of worship like this praise and thanksgiving is appropriate. I don’t know where we get the idea that silence is golden. I’ve read that the quiet, folded hands praise of many Christians is a hold over from Victorian England where everything was prim and proper and, especially, private. I get the feeling that the early church was a noisy place:
When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you. No more than two or three should speak in tongues. They must speak one at a time, and someone must interpret what they say. But if no one is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately. Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said. But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop. In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people. 1 Corinthians 14:26-33
Times have certainly changed haven’t they? Paul had to quiet them down a little. We’ve got to wake them up. The Corinthians were so bubbling over with praise that Paul had to impose some order. Today we know little but the order printed in the bulletin.
This morning I want to give you freedom. From here on out if you want to offer a word of thanksgiving or praise just raise your hand or stand and say, “Excuse me.” If you’ve got a word to speak and you believe it’s from God offer it up and we’ll evaluate it. If you want to raise your hands in praise or prayer, if you want to drop to your knees, if you want to shout “Amen” or “Hallelujah,” go for it. If you want to pour out tears to God, let her rip. However God is prompting your to do it, praise Him. But worship does not stop at the church door.
Part of genuine worship is dedication or consecration to the Lord. Verse 4 of chapter one tells us:
… He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love Ephesians … 1:4 (NKJ)
God’s purpose in choosing us for salvation is so that one day we will be able to dwell in His unveiled presence. This is a big deal because sinful human beings cannot see God and live. God is going to radically transform His chosen people so that they can fully know Him for all eternity. He’s going to make us holy because He is holy. He’s going to perfect us in love because He is perfect in love. When Paul said we’d be “without blame” the literal Greek meaning is “without blemish.” He used the word associated with sacrifices in the Old Testament. Priests who actively served in the temple had to be free of any physical defect or without blemish. Animals sacrificed in sin offering had to be without blemish, free from blindness, deformity, or disease. Things associated with God had to be without blemish or without blame as it’s used here.
What was true of the Old Testament sacrificial system took on greater significance with Jesus Christ. Every human being, spiritually speaking, is blemished. We are born sinners. We all come into this world “with blame” that excludes us from the presence of God. So what did God do about it? He sent His unblemished Son to trade His spotless record for our tarnished one. Those Old Testament sacrifices of unblemished bulls, goats, and lambs could never take away human sin. The ritual offering only covered over human sin until God could fully deal with it. He removed the stain of sin once and for all through the blameless blood of His Son whose sacrifice Peter described this way:
For you know that it was not with perishable things … that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:19
We will be made completely holy, completely loving, completely unblemished in God’s sight. But He calls His chosen ones to begin living it out now. Worship, if it’s genuine, leads us to dedicate our lives anew to the pursuit of holiness, love, and an unblemished life.
…Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life… Philippians 2:12-15
The very thing that God is working in us and He will complete on the day Jesus returns, we are supposed to model now. Worship reminds of Who we belong to, what we will be one day, and how our lives should look right now.
If we see God as He really is we’ll also understand that He serves. Jesus came to serve, not to be served. Hebrews tells us that He saved us to enable us to serve:
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[a] so that we may serve the living God! Hebrews 9:14
Tony Evans says, “If you limit worship to where you are, the minute you leave that place of worship you will leave your attitude of worship behind like a crumpled-up church bulletin.”
Mike Hamilton sermoncentral.com
How do you know when you’ve worshipped? You walked away a little bit more like Jesus. Genuine worship informs the mind about God, inundates the heart with the Spirit, and initiates the body into Christ-likeness.
