Into the Heart of Worship
Matthew 22:23-40
September 6, 2009
This morning we are going to do something a little different. Today’s worship consists of a theme: worshipping God: however, whenever, and wherever.
I’ve been studying the effects that God has upon the brain. Specifically, neuroscience is finding meditating especially meditating on God actually changes your brain. Now science has shown a strong correlation between spiritual beliefs and practices and the benefits upon our bodies: lower blood pressure, longer life, etc. One study at least has shown that people who attend church regularly live longer than those who do not. Is it a cause and effect? Well maybe people who live longer choose to attend church regularly. But recent studies in neuroscience lead me to believe that there actually may be a cause and effect instead of just a correlation.
Scriptures tell us to worship God with ALL of our heart and ALL of our mind. We would be mistaken to conclude that Jesus was talking about the brain when he was talking about the mind. We now know that within our brains lies the logic and emotional portions of our being. Our literal heart really is just a muscle that pumps blood.
But what I find interesting is that within our brains there are different areas. Some control logic and understanding. Others deal with emotional reactions. Others help us process what is real or at least what seems to be real. And our spiritual and religious practices stimulate different portions of the brain. For example, meditation stimulates the thalamus while decreasing activity in the prefrontal cortex. The result is that we get sense of rest and peace while God and God’s activities become even more real. So the more we mediate, the more real God becomes to us.
Some activities stimulate our logic functions and develop that portion of our brain. Other activities like repetition especially repetitive meditation can stimulate our anterior cingulate, which helps us become more compassionate and empathetic for others.
So this morning, we are going to try to stimulate different portions of the brain. We are going to have communion. Tactile worship and meditation definitely engage our senses in a way that make God more real. We are going to sing about worshipping in the best times and worst times with a song called “Blessed Be Your Name.” No matter what comes our way like Job we can still praise him
We are going to worship God with an ancient hymn. In fact it is the oldest hymn that we have the music for. It is a song how all of creation worships God so therefore we should too. It is called All Creatures of Our God and King. We are going to remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High.”
We are also going to do some repetitive singing, which we don’t really do. Here we can embrace worship in the moment. It is where we focus on a word or a few words stimulating our brains differently in a form of meditative worship. It allows us to look past the logic of the prefrontal cortex to embrace the heart or affective feelings of being in God’s presence.
Some of you might not like this. It might seem awkward. Worshipping in the fashion sometimes takes practice just like meditation and contemplation. The point is worship the Lord with ALL of our mind and ALL of heart and ALL of our being. So I ask you during these times to let go, open our heart, and allow God’s Spirit to fully join with yours. Close your eyes. Raise your hands. But above worship the Lord with everything you have.
With this in mind, I want to teach you a real easy chorus that we will use in a little bit. The words are: “Let it rain. Let it rain. Open the floodgates of heaven. Let it rain.” It comes from Malachi where we are challenged to bring in the whole tithe to God’s sanctuary. It means give God your full worship and hold nothing back and see if God doesn’t throw open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessing and glory upon His people. It goes like this…
Part II
One of the toughest things to do is to worship the Lord with everything you have and everything you are all the time. In fact, it probably is impossible for us on this side of eternity even with Christ. Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Notice that they run hand in hand. Joy. Prayer. Giving Thanks. In all situations give thanks. In every circumstance be full of joy. In the good and bad times, pray. This is God’s will. In the desert places and when it hurts to give God your offerings, bless God’s name. Worship God. But sometimes it is so hard.
I want to read a passage of Scripture in Matthew 22.
That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"
Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " ’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Now the first thing that I want you to notice is the Jesus refused to be baited into trivia and the debates that might detract him from God’s purpose. The Sadducees didn’t believe in a bodily resurrection. That is why they were “sad you see.” They were trying to get Jesus to determine which side that he was on. Jesus doesn’t really care for taking sides because he is on God’s side.
They were wanting him to trap himself in an argument of logistics. Whose wife? Jesus nailed it on the head. “Your problem is that you have missed what God is all about. You are thinking too much. God is about life. God’s kingdom is about abundant living.”
Life is a heart issue. That is the real issue for the follower of Jesus. Where is your heart? Where is your being? Logic is great. Learning is wonderful. But don’t forget about the rest of your being while you are focused on one small aspect of spirituality.
Then something interesting happens. The Sadducees get together with the Pharisees to see if they could trick Jesus. Now this was not normal because these two groups viewed the other group as being on the opposite and wrong side of Judaism. It would be like the Cleveland Browns and the Buffalo Bills getting together just to beat the Steelers (which might not happen even then).
And it is here that Jesus does the incredible. He adds to the Jewish Shema. This would be like someone adding to the Nicene Creed or the Apostle Creed. This would be like someone adding a couple of lines to the Lord’s Prayer. This would be like someone saying that the Constitution is outdated so let’s revise it. We not talking about an amendment but a change or at least an addition to the Constitution. Or maybe adding to the Declaration of Independence. “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, and also to become a dominating world military and economic power, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
That is what a lowly marginal Jewish carpenter did. He added to love the Lord with all your strength, etc. the idea of loving your neighbor as yourself. Now this Shema was something that the good righteous Jew would have said every time he left home and came back. He would have recited it in the morning and before bed. Before meals. But Jesus changed it. He added to it.
God wants all of our being to love Him and worship Him. We are to hold nothing back. But God has also given us a large variety of ways to do this. One of the foremost and important one for people throughout the ages has been meditating and contemplating. Even this can be done in hundreds of different ways. But most usually this involves what is often called being mindful. It means seeking to have your mind full of God. Emptying your thoughts and relaxation techniques are wonderful stress relievers. They stimulate and rest various portions of your brain. But thinking about God especially one quality or aspect of God or using a phrase to think about and focus on such as the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God. Have mercy on me a sinner.” Repeating these over and over and really mining them can raise our awareness of God in significant ways. It can increase our overall awareness of life. IT can increase our capacity for loving God and especially for others. Perhaps this is why Jesus wedded these two thoughts together.
Here is the thought for today. Have you limited your spiritual growth by either neglecting or discarding important Jesus practices? Have your spiritual growth been stunted? Is part of your mind underdeveloped? Has part of your brain not been stimulated like it should?
Several years ago, the leadership of a fairly large English church became tired of the ‘worship wars.’ They were tired of different people getting mad and getting upset when the worship leader didn’t embrace their particular way or mode of worship. Some wanted hymns. Some wanted both. Some wanted modern songs. So the leadership decided that they all needed to get their hearts right before God and learn that worship was more than just song style preferences. So they banned music from worship services for an entire month. Matt Redman, the worship leader, was charged with coming up with alternate ways of worship God that did not involve music.
As a result of that time and under conviction of the Holy Spirit, Matt wrote a song entitled, “The Heart of Worship.” You know it. You’ve sung it. But have you really heard the words? ‘When the music fades and all is stripped away” Take away the music, the voices, the instruments and what do you have? Matt says, “I simply come.”
The cry of the heart that longs to bring something that is of worth to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God is so awesome and magnificent. What could I possibly have to offer God and bless His heart?
So I bring God more than a song, which God never says has to be done. Instead, God seeks to strip away all of our posing, posturing, and pretending as God looks at the depths of our heart and being. It is there that we find worship. Worship in truth and spirit. Where we lay aside our wants, our expectations, our desires, and our pretenses and it worship becomes all about Jesus. Here we realize how often we make worship and we make church and we Christianity all about us instead of about God. It is our heart of worship.
I want to invite you to worship God even more. Lay aside anything that would hinder you. Leave it at the cross and worship with all of your being. Stop worrying about what someone else needs to do or what someone will think of you if you let go. Let the walls that surround you crumble before God. There is freedom to be found in Jesus. Breathe in the Spirit of God. Let this moment be all about Jesus. Every single breath be for Jesus.
