Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 1/24/16
• Music Video: What I Love About Sundays (Craig Morgan)
I’ve never been much of a country music fan, but that song really speaks to me. Craig Morgan, the singer, describes the kind of Sundays that I long for and look forward to throughout the week. This might sound revolutionary or just plain bizarre to some people, but the truth is—Sundays are meant to be the best day of your week!
Last week I asked each of my kids the question—what do you love about Sundays? Sarai (age 8) said, “I love seeing my friends and Mrs. Cris’s Sunday School class. I like pretty much everything.” Abby (age 6) said, “I love standing with you during communion.” Yeshua (age 10) said, “I love being with my friends. Also, your sermons. They’re not boring like most old preachers because you tell jokes.” While each of them touched on different elements the one thing each of their answers had in common was church.
They love Sundays because they love church. I hope the same is true for you, but I know that’s not true for everyone.
Many of us grew up in situations where Sunday was boring. Or Sunday was a rat race. Some of us grew up in homes where Sunday was just another day. Others grew up in homes where Sunday was a disappointment, because it was supposed to be a family day, or a day off, but nothing ever happened because the family never did anything together. Or the wrong thing happened, like you had to do yard work with dad or chores with mom all day. Others of us grew up in homes where Sunday was full of conflict because church was mandatory but no one was ever ready to leave on time, so the whole family competed for the bathroom, bumped into each other scrambling for breakfast in the kitchen, wolfed down our food, bolted for the door, and argued with each other all the way to church—where you suddenly start acting like saints as soon as you hit the parking lot. Then again, why do we even go to church?
You go to school to get an education so you can make a living. You go to work to make money so you can pay the bills. You go to the gym for exercise and better health. You go to the mall to shop for clothes and the grocery store to buy food. You go to the lake to fish, the ball game to cheer, and golf course for fun.
But church? Why go to there? Why get up early on one of your few off-days? Why go through the hassle of dressing up and the getting the kids ready? Why go to the trouble of finding a parking space near the front and pew space near the back? Why go to church?
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering about that little question, you’re not alone. Surveys tell us that as many as 80% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, yet only 20% of Americans attend church regularly. I guess some people look at going to church as a bother—an unnecessary burden to be avoided whenever possible—a perfectly good hour wasted in order to keep a wife or a preacher or a parent off their backs. Others see it as sort of like punching a spiritual clock or earning brownie points with their Maker.
But to someone who understands church and what it’s really all about, going to church can be the most spiritually fulfilling, inspiring thing you do all week. If Sundays aren’t the best day of your week, you’re doing it wrong.
If there is a Bible in your pew or on your smartphone, I want to invite you to open it up to Psalm 122. In this this Psalm David writes about a time when somebody invited him to attend church with them. I want you to see how David responds.
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1 NLT)
Another translation puts it this way:
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1 NIV)
Does that sound like a guy who was turned off by church? Who’d rather roll over and hit the snooze button? David got excited when he was invited to church. He was glad! He rejoiced! He can’t wait to get there. Why? Why was David fired up about the thing that so many people try to avoid today? What does he know that we don’t know about church?
As we walk through the rest of this psalm, David lays out three reasons why he was glad to go to the house of Lord—first is the praise of God, second is the people of God, and third is the peace of God. When these three elements are present in our churches today, Sunday will become the best day of your week.
Today, I just want to focus on the first of these three elements and then we’ll focus on the other two over the next couple of weeks. In verse four David gives us the first reason to love Sundays. He writes: “That is where the tribes go up—the tribes of the Lord—to praise the name of the Lord” (Psalm 122:4 NIV).
Put another way: I love Sundays because I love to praise God!
Sundays give us the opportunity to gather together and worship our Creator. But the word worship conjures up many thoughts in many minds, not all of which are accurate. When you think of worship, what do you think of?
Outdated hymn poorly sung? Dramatic prayers laced with thees and thous? Irrelevant sermons painfully delivered? Near empty auditoriums and meaningless rituals?
In their surveys on the subject of worship, the Barna Research Group has found that the term "worship" means many things to many people. There is no single definition of the word that is common to more than one out of five adults in this country. Of the most likely definitions held by people:
• 19% related worship to expressions of praise or thanks to God
• 17% defined worship as praying to God
• 17% think it means attending church services
• 12% relate it to having a personal relationship with God
• 10% believe it to mean a particular attitude toward God
• 9% think of it as a way of living that reflects one's spiritual commitment
As I read through this list, I actually think worship is all of these things. Literally, the Hebrew word translated worship (shachah) means “to bow down.” It reminds me of a story about Neil Marten, a member of the British Parliament, who was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Lord Chancellor Hailsham, wearing all the regalia of his office. Hailsham recognized Neil Marten among the group and cried, "Neil!" Suddenly, the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees!
In many ways that’s what worship is—bowing in reverence before a majestic and mighty God. But worship is also a celebration. In another Psalm of David the Bible describes worship like this:
Praise the Lord, you angels;
praise the Lord’s glory and power.
Praise the Lord for the glory of his name;
worship the Lord because he is holy. (Psalm 29:1-2 NCV)
The essence of worship is simply this: giving God the praise he deserves. To worship is to applaud the greatness of God! And in the context of Scripture worship is both an attitude and an action. It begins as an attitude of mingled awe and reverence in our hearts toward God and then explodes into action through prayer, praise and the proclamation of God’s goodness and grace.
Christian worship is often thought of as the musical portion of a church service—people singing songs to God, heads back, eyes closed, and hands raised in the air as they sing. While true worship is much more than just singing, music is a powerful tool for praising God and drawing closer to him. Music affects our emotions and the lyrics can swell our hearts, causing us to become lost in the experience. Genuine worship happens when we sing praises to God, whether in church or alone in our cars or in the shower.
That’s why David again writes: “Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:8-10 NLT).
Of course, music is just one of many ways to praise God. We praise God when we pray to him earnestly. We praise God when we give to him hilariously and serve him with integrity. We praise God when we partake of communion humbly or listen to his Word eagerly. In fact, the Bible says: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:16 NIV).
Anything and everything you do can become an act of worship when it’s done to the glory and praise of God. As Martin Luther once put it, “A dairy maid can milk cows to the glory of God.” If our desire is to please the heart of God, it is worship, no matter where the location or how many are involved.
I’ve said more times than I can count that worship is far more than what goes on in a steepled building for one hour on Sunday mornings, but I also love what President Theodore Roosevelt once said: “Yes, I know all the excuses. I know that one can worship the Creator and dedicate oneself to good living in a grove of trees, or by a running brook, or in one's own house, just as well as in church. But I also know as a matter of cold fact the average man does not thus worship… if he strays away from church.”
Here’s right. You can worship at home, in the car, or at the office, but if Sunday isn’t a day of worship, the rest of the week probably won’t be either. Life is busy and hectic and we’re so easily distracted. All of life should be worship, but usually it’s not. Sundays gives us one hour a week of focused worship and attention on Jesus Christ.
I’ve always liked David invitation to worship: “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (Psalm 34:3 ESV).
Do you know what it means to magnify something? When I was a kid, my dad did something romantic for my mom. He bought my mom a colossal crimson-colored telescope for her birthday. But included with the telescope was a star. Certain observatories around the world allow the general public the novelty of unofficially naming stars. Registering the star came with a certificate and a star chart identifying the location of your star. I remember taking the telescope out on the back porch and taking turns peering through it. My dad steadied it as I climbed up on a small stool to peer through the little lens. That telescope magnified that distant star. In other words, it made the star bigger to me and I gazed in awe at its radiance and beauty as it twinkled against a velvety sky. The same thing happens when we magnify, or worship, God. He becomes bigger in our eyes and in our hearts as we stand in awe of his indescribable beauty, his wonder, his majesty, his grace and his love. That’s worship!
Regrettably, not everyone has that experience at church. As Vance Havner put it: “Too many church services start at eleven o’clock sharp and end at twelve o’clock dull.”
Early this week, I read of an expressive woman who visited a liturgical church one Sunday. As the pastor preached, the woman became so caught up in the message that she shouted, “Praise the Lord!” Then the lady in the pew behind her leaned forward and whispered, “We don’t do that here.”
Some of the greatest demonstrations of worship in our world are found not in churches but at concerts, sports arenas, or film premieres, where people shower adoration on their favorite athletes and celebrities. Nothing is held back; there are screams of delight and all-consuming passion. Sadly, church worship can be far less enthusiastic when we approach it as merely a religious obligation.
God never intended worship to be dull or dreary—just the opposite! That’s why the Bible says, “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs” (Psalms 100:2 NIV). The great theologian and thinker, C. S. Lewis writes in Reflections on the Psalms, “In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.” If you let yourself be truly immersed in worship, no matter what style of music or the size of the crowd, you will feel God’s presence in this place, and it will stay with you. In fact, it will change you.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once made an insightful observation. He said, “It behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.” Biblically speaking, Emerson had it right. We worship God because He is worthy to be worshipped. There doesn’t need to be any other reason. He is God and so far beyond what we can wrap our minds around—no beginning, no end, holy in every way, completely just, faithful beyond all reason, the definition of love. Because He is God, because He created us, because He has loved us… we worship Him. But something remarkable takes place when we worship God; we are changed.
We become like what we worship. Take a look at zealous baseball fans. While they might not begin to physically resemble the athletes on the field, they carry the same heart and spirit. Stand a fan side by side with a member of the team at the end of a tough loss and try to tell the difference between who is more devastated. Much the same, we capture the heart and spirit of God in worship.
In the Old Testament, Moses went up onto Mount Sinai to commune with and worship God. And he was changed by it. When he came down the mountain his face literally glowed from over exposure to God’s glory! And the people were afraid so he had to wear a veil over his face until the glowing subsided.
The Bible says that the same thing happens to us when we worship in the presence of God: “As all of us reflect the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18 GWT).
The promise is that when we worship God in spirit and truth, he will come and commune with us. Just being in the presence of God changes us. God responds to your worship by making your heart more like his. We need that, don’t we!?
We come to worship so broken and bent out of shape—so full of sin, or shame, or stress. When you’ve seen the face of the Father, your face will shine a little brighter. When you’ve stood in the presence of God, your step will be a little lighter. And eventually God will give you a new heart—a heart just like his.
Conclusion:
The Swiss Theologian Karl Barth summed it up this way: “Christian worship is the most momentous, the most urgent, the most glorious action that can take place in human life.” So why do I love Sundays and why should you? I love Sundays because I love to praise God! I love church because, as David put it, “That is where the people go… to praise the name of the Lord!” But this is just the first reason that David was glad to go to house of the Lord. Next Sunday we’ll look into the second reason he gives us.
Invitation:
In the meantime, I realize that I’m “preaching to the choir” as they say. Most of you are here today because you too love to praise God. So I want to offer a special invitation today. Later this afternoon we’ll post this message on YouTube then share it on the Grove’s Facebook page. I want to encourage you to then share it on your own page or share it with a specific friend. We all know people who have fallen away from the church or maybe just fallen out of the habit of getting up and going to church. We want to encourage those friends and family, and remind them that Sunday was meant to be the best day of their week! For now, let’s stand and praise the name of the Lord together!
