Matthew 5:23-24 New International Version (NIV)
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
Today we will focus on the word worship.
We have been created in order to worship God.
The only way we can be happy is when we learn to worship God the right way.
The Psalmist said in 95:6 "Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."
The word "worship" here means to bow down, to depress, to prostrate oneself before the Almighty God.
It means we have recognized that God is a Superior Being and we give full reverence to Him.
Worship therefore means we honor and glorify Him.
The Psalmist wants us to worship God by kneeling before our Maker.
True worship therefore means fully dedicating our whole being to God.
It involves the seven key areas of our lives:
The Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, Intellectual, Financial, Relational and Vocational aspects of our lives.
Worship is not withholding anything to Him.
Worship is giving all to Him.
It is a progressive commitment of unveiling ourselves to God.
It takes time to grow from one level to another.
But that is the path we need to take if we want to grow in our worship to God.
To give you a brief background of how this happens, let me start with our life before we found Christ.
Before we came to know Christ as Savior, we do not know how to worship God.
In fact, we have no knowledge of what true worship is all about.
Our minds and hearts are self-centered - it is all about me.
It is all about our desires.
It is all about our needs.
It is all about our dreams and aspirations.
In fact, we worship ourselves.
Our minds are darkened with understanding.
Our hearts are emotionally disturbed with a lot of things.
We had difficulty coming to God in worship.
We don't like it.
It is not in our vocabulary.
But something happened when Christ came into our hearts.
This changed drastically our attitude towards God.
Our sins are forgiven.
Our hearts are cleansed.
The Holy Spirit came to reside and take control.
And slowly, as time passed by, we have a growing revelation for the need to worship God the right way.
We are being transformed into Christ-centered individuals.
We begin to enjoy our worship.
We begin to grow in our worship.
The seven key areas of our lives are beginning to be involved in worship.
This is part of our spiritual growth.
In our verses for today, we will look at what worship is all about from the point of view of Jesus.
He connects worship with three of the seven key areas of our lives.
The Financial, the Intellectual and the Relational aspects.
He said that as we begin to worship God, we must present our offerings before the altar - that is the financial aspect.
While we are at the altar and giving our offerings, there are several things that God will remind us - that is the Intellectual aspect.
He will remind us of the people that we come in contact with - that is the Relational aspect.
He will remind us of how we feel about them and how we treat them.
He will teach us what we need to do and how we should offer our gifts to God.
These verses are full of practical insights into the right ways of worship.
My prayer is that we will all learn the value of right worship before God.
OUTLINE OF THE VERSE:
WORSHIP WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE
Worship involves giving your offering - FINANCIAL COMMITMENT
Worship involves listening from God - INTELLECTUAL COMMITMENT
Worship involves reconciliation with your fellow Christians - RELATIONAL COMMITMENT
Worship involves having a clear conscience
I. WORSHIP INVOLVES GIVING OUR OFFERINGS: THE RELATIONAL COMMITMENT
Matthew 5:23 "23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar..."
In other translations, the word "offering" means to bring to or lead to.
The idea is to bring a present or a thing to someone out of respect.
The word "gift" on the other hand is from the Gr "Doron" which means a present in expression of giving honor to God.
It also means the money cast into the treasury for the purposes of the temple and the support of the poor.
And so, as the people worship the Lord, they would bring their free-will offerings which was used for the needs of the temple treasury.
And as they do that, God looks at them and He is pleased with their worship.
Worship therefore involves our giving.
Worship involves or finances.
Worship involves the things that we love most - our financial commitment to God.
And so, as we worship God with the things that you love most, you are telling God that you love Him or more than these.
And when you love Him more than these, there is joy and contentment.
And because of that, our hearts are attuned with God's heart.
Then, we begin to focus our hearts on the true riches of heaven.
Our worship grows, develops, and matures further.
So, let us talk about worship and finances.
True worship involves the right attitude with the finances that God has given us.
We recognize that God created everything.
We recognize that God owns everything.
We recognize that God gives us the ability to produce wealth.
We work hard to earn our wages.
We do not abuse or misuse money.
We do not waste money.
We do not steal money.
We save money faithfully.
We make money honestly.
We spend money wisely.
We give money generously.
We know that we cannot take our money in heaven when we die.
Worship involves the right use of our finances.
If you have the right attitude towards money, you will be able to worship well.
Your heart will be at ease, quiet and relaxed.
You will be calm, contended and happy.
You will be fulfilled and comfortable with what you have either little or more.
Because you are trusting God for your finances.
You will have a focused worship.
You will have God as the focal point of your worship.
You will have God as the center of worship.
Everything is all about God because everything comes from God.
But supposing you have the wrong attitude towards money, regardless of what you have, it will not be enough.
You will not be contended with your finances.
Your heart will always be restless, agitated and disturbed.
You will be nervous, restive and very uneasy.
You will always want for more.
You will be distracted in church.
You will always be in a hurry to end church.
You always want to work, work, work rather than worship, worship, worship.
This attitude will disturb your mind and heart in worshiping God.
That is why God wants us to connect our worship with our offerings.
When we give our tithes and offerings to God, it is as if we are saying, "Lord, I trust you for all my financial needs."
When we do not give the tithes and offerings, it is as if you are saying: "Lord, this is mine."
The way you look at your finances will affect your worship.
Worship is always connected to our giving.
The more we worship, the more we give.
The less we worship, the less we give.
And so, we must learn how to worship the Lord well.
I Corinthians 16:2 "On every Sunday, put aside something from what you have earned during the week, and use it for the offering. The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you to earn."
II. WORSHIP INVOLVES LISTENING TO GOD: THE INTELLECTUAL COMMITMENT
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you..."
The word "remember" is from the Gr "Mnaomai" which means to come into recollection of something important.
It also means, to keep in mind, to recall, to look back or to commemorate an event or a situation.
The idea here is that you have something that you have almost forgotten in your memory.
But as you are worshiping, the Holy Spirit was communicating to your thoughts or mind on the things you need to do.
And so, you keep your mind open to His leading and direction.
And that is what worship is all about.
It involves our intellect, our our minds, our thoughts, our brain and sub-consciousness.
You are mentally alert when you worship God.
You have all your senses working when you worship God.
You have your thoughts being patterned into God's thoughts as you worship God.
You have your wisdom being guided by God's wisdom as you listen to His voice.
You have your imagination being strengthened by God's ideas as you commit your thoughts to Him.
This is what worship is all about.
Worship involves listening and hearing God's voice.
It involves the mind.
The more you listen, the more you grow and enjoy God's presence.
Romans 12:2 (NIV) "2 Do not conform 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."
As we worship God, we are leaving behind the patterns of this world.
As we worship God, our minds are being transformed by God.
As we worship God, we will have the ability to perceive and understand spiritual things.
As we worship God, our reasoning is being molded towards spiritual truths.
We will then be able to perceive divine truths.
We will recognize goodness and hate evil.
We will have the power to consider and judge situations and events soberly.
We will be calm and impartial.
Worship involves all these things.
We grow spiritually as we worship God.
The call from God is more important than anything else.
You have to have your ears attentive to God's voice.
You have to have your minds clear of any other thoughts.
And as you worship God, He will remind you of the things you need to do in life.
Worship involves the intellect.
As we worship the Lord, our minds and our memories are being transformed by the Holy Spirit.
Do you know that sometimes, we have created false memories in our minds concerning God?
False memories about worship that have been ingrained and integrated in our minds.
These false memories were insinuated by our non-Christian friends while we were growing up.
These false memories were experienced in our own home as we interact with our non-Christian parents.
These false memories were inculcated when we were at school as we learned from our non-Christian teachers.
These are false memories about God that we thought are true.
We thought that God is just like our earthly father who is always absent and unloving.
But that is not true.
We thought that God is so far away.
But that is not true.
We thought that God is cruel.
But that is not true.
We though that God is hard to please.
But that is not true.
We thought that God hates us because of our sins.
But that is not true.
We thought that we had to earn our way to heaven by doing good.
But that is not true.
These false memories in our minds can affect the way we worship God.
But as we worship God, we attune our minds to God's ears.
Then, those false memories are demolished and destroyed.
These false ideas are annihilated and obliterated.
These false beliefs have been dismantled and pulverized.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
As we worship God, we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.
As we worship God, we have a realization of who He really is.
We are able to comprehend His great love for us.
We become aware of His presence.
We are able to recognize that He is always there beside us.
We get a full grasp of His will for us.
All these because worship always involves our intellect.
III. WORSHIP INVOLVES RECONCILIATION WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS: RELATIONAL COMMITMENT
Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV) "23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."
Reconciliation is important because conflicts happen in every relationship.
Why do conflicts happen?
One of the reasons is when your brother or sister has something against you.
Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV) "23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.""
In other translation, it says, "has a grudge against you."
James says that we should not have a grudge against each other.
James 5:9 (KJV) "Grudge not against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned.."
The word grudge means you have hard feelings toward your brother or sister.
There is a feeling of animosity, a feeling of bitterness or enmity, of grievance and ill will, of injustice and malice.
James said that if you have these kinds of feeling, you will be condemning yourself.
But most often, it is very difficult to avoid a feeling of ill will.
We are emotional creatures and these things can happen in any relationship.
It was just a small problem but because of our uncontrolled reaction, it became big.
And so, we had to learn with our grudges and ill feelings.
But the problem is we deal with this differently in every individual.
There are some who would react with full emotion involved.
Anger against anger. Bitterness against bitterness. Hatred against hatred.
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
"I will deal with you the same way you deal with me and even worse."
But that us not the right way to respond.
God wants us to turn the other cheek.
The verse says that while you are worshiping God, the Holy Spirit will put love into your heart.
He will teach you how to show compassion, empathy, grace and kindness.
He will teach you true Christian tenderness, sympathy and mercy.
He will soften your heart while you worship God.
That is what worship can do.
Worship can transform your character for the better.
And so, the Holy Spirit will remind you of someone you know that has these kinds of feelings or sentiments against you.
Because you are worshiping God and the glory of God shines upon you, then, you make the first move for reconciliation.
You need not wait for the other party to make the first move, you do it.
Because you have met God in worship.
The Scripture says, leave your offering in front of the altar.
The word "leave" means to send away, to depart, to let go, or to disregard.
The idea here is that you give up something in order to go to another place.
You go away leaving behind your offering so that you could continue in worship through reconciliation with your brother and sister.
Don't get me wrong.
That gift or offering you are leaving behind is important.
But reconciliation to a brother or sister is equally important.
Both are part of your worship experience.
Both are part of your spiritual growth.
The Bible says worship does not end at the altar.
Your worship expands and progresses outside the church as you show love to your brother or sister.
Worship therefore is a way of life.
It should not be compartmentalized as happening only on Sundays from 9:45-11:15 a.m.
You are always attuned to God in worship wherever you go this week.
For when you do that, you will grow mature in your worship.
When you do that, you will go home with a lighter load to carry.
Your heavy load has been left at the altar and you bring the Good news.
Worship involves a relational commitment to reconciliation.
The same thought is presented by the apostle Paul in I Timothy 2:8 (NIV) "Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing."
This verse tells tells us that prayer and reconciliation goes hand in hand.
When we pray to God, our hands should be relaxed.
Our emotions should be calm and cheerful.
We need to feel at ease as we worship, soften up and breathe easy.
We should make sure that there is no anger or bitterness lingering in our hearts.
We should worship God in a bright and buoyant attitude.
You are effervescent, enthusiastic and jolly.
You are pleasant, upbeat and sunny.
Your conscience is clear, cloudless and bright.
Because your worship involves your financial, intellectual and relational commitment.
CLOSING STORY:
The citizens of Feldkirch, Austria, didn't know what to do.
Napoleon's massive army was preparing to attack.
Soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town, which was situated on the Austrian border.
A council of citizens was hastily summoned to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white flag of surrender.
It happened to be Easter Sunday, and the people had gathered in the local church.
The pastor rose and said, "Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed.
As this is the day of our Lord's resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands.
We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us."
The council accepted his plan and the church bells rang.
The enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before the service ended, the enemy broke camp and left.
Worship is committing everything to Him.
