The Priority of Worship
Luke 10: 38-42
This sermon is the first in a series that we will be studying over the next few weeks on the topic of Worship. It is my prayer that by the end of this series we will better understand the importance of worship as well as what God desires from our worship.
Someone said “If God were small enough for us to understand, He would not be big enough to Worship.---Author Unknown
Some go to church to take a walk. Some go to church to laugh and talk. Some go to church to meet a friend. Some go to church, their time to spend. Some go to church to meet a lover.
Some go to church, a fault to cover. Some go to church for speculation. Some go to church for observation. Some go to church to doze and nod. The wise go there to worship God.—Author Unknown
I. SERVICE WITHOUT WORSHIP WILL CAUSE US TO LOSE FOCUS. VS 40
A. Service will become a burdensome weight.
1) This word “Cumbered” means “to be driven about mentally, to be distracted; to be over-occupied, too busy, about a thing”
2) Matt 11:28-30 The yoke was a familiar item to the Jew. It was made of wood and placed around the neck of oxen. Jesus says his yoke is easy or well fitted and is light, easy to carry.
3) The law was a heavy yoke. And in the same way, when we serve without worshipping, the yoke becomes heavy and hard to bare.
B. Without worship our attitude will not be right.
1) Martha was a kind and loving person from indication of Scripture. But here she had lost her focus.
2) I believe that Church division is a result of a lack of worship. If we are not worshipping, we will say and do things that we would not normally do.
C. Jesus said “Martha, you are careful and troubled by many things.”
1) The word careful has two meanings here. It means “to be worried and also to be seeking one’s own interest.”
2) Martha thought Jesus would say “Mary get in that kitchen and help her.”
II. WORSHIP IS NEEDFUL. VS. 42
A. It is the important or needed thing.
1) It is needed so that our relationship is right with Christ.
2) It is needed to make the yoke light.
3) It is needed to prepare us for service.
B. ILL. Not long ago, the world watched as three gray whales, icebound off Point Barrow, Alaska, floated battered and bloody, gasping for breath at a hole in the ice. Their only hope: somehow to be transported five miles past the ice pack to open sea. Rescuers began cutting a string of breathing holes about twenty yards apart in the six-inch-thick ice.
For eight days they coaxed the whales from one hole to the next, mile after mile. Along the way, one of the trio vanished and was presumed dead. But finally, with the help of Russian icebreakers, the whales Putu and Siku swam to freedom.
In a way, worship is a string of breathing holes the Lord provides his people. Battered and bruised in a world frozen over with greed, selfishness, and hatred, we rise for air in church, a place to breathe again, to be loved and encouraged, until that day when the Lord forever shatters the ice cap.
Craig Brian Larson, Arlington Heights, Illinois. Leadership,
III. WORSHIP IS POURING OURSELVES OUT BEFORE GOD. LUKE 12:1-7
A. Worship is sparing no expense or commitment to honoring Christ.
1) We tend to offer only what is convenient in our worship. That is not worship.
2) This ointment was very valuable. Three hundred pence was the equivalent of a years wages for a rural worker.
B. The use of her hair was a sign of total dedication.
1) Some have supposed that this was done because no towel was provided by the host.
2) The washing of feet was a job normally done by the lowest servant for his master.
C. When we commit everything to God some will criticize. 4-6
1) Judas said “Lord, that is a waste, we should have sold it and given it to the poor.”
2) Notice the insightful information given in Scripture. His true motive was to steal some or all of this money.
Concl: No matter how good it sounds, any work of God that is put before worship is out of place.
Will you totally surrender to Christ in an act of worship today.
