Title: The All You Can Eat Buffet
Text: Genesis 18:1-3
Introduction
1. We love to eat out!
A. It makes it easier for Kay, because there is less mess and clean up.
B. It doesn’t require preparation.
C. Everyone can order what they want,
D. we don’t all have to have the same thing.
2. Of course, on the down side,
A. it is more expensive.
B. And you don’t really know the care they take in their food preparation.
C. I’ve gotten food poisoning on occasion in a restaurant;
D. but I can’t remember ever getting food poisoning from home-cooked meal.
3. One of our favorite places to eat at is an all-u-can-eat buffet.
A. On a buffet, not only does everyone get what they want to eat
B. But they can go back and eat as much as they want!
4. I can assure you that I am aware of the healthy eating habits.
A. I know about those things called “vegetables”.
i. Most weight loss diets will tell you that you can have as many green vegetables that you want to eat;
ii. because they are so healthy.
B. I am also aware that at most buffets,
i. they serve salads and vegetables.
ii. (At least that’s what I’ve been told)
C. But when I get to the buffet line,
i. I usually don’t get near the salad and vegetables.
ii. I head straight to the good stuff
iii. BBQ Ribs
iv. French fries
v. Corn pudding (isn’t that considered a vegetable?)
vi. Hamburgers
vii. Pizza, with lots of cheese, sausage, and pepperoni.
D. And if I do get near any vegetables,
i. they are usually breaded
ii. and deep-fried,
iii. and dipped in sauce.
iv. Don’t even get me started on the dessert bar!
E. I better stop before everyone runs out the door to their favorite restaurant!
5. Many people live their Christianity like a buffet line!
A. They pick a some of this
B. And a some of that.
C. just picking the stuff they want.
6. Someone called me recently and asked me about our worship style.
A. And how it compares with other denominations.
B. I answered his questions…
C. But after we hung up, I got the feeling he wouldn’t be coming to our church.
D. He didn’t want to know if the people were friendly.
E. He didn’t want to know if I preached Biblically based sermons.
F. He didn’t even care what we believed.
i. What our doctrine was.
G. I got the feeling he was looking for a church that was entertaining.
i. Where he could sit back and get blessed
ii. And leave without getting involved
H. He was going through the Christian buffet line
i. Taking a little of this
ii. Some of that
iii. And probably never really got to the vegetables.
a. the stuff that is so important to our bodies and our health.
7. Most people think worship is like a buffet line....
A. where you go and gorge yourself on things that satisfy your appetite...
i. your taste buds...
B. without ever realizing that they are missing the point of what worship really is.
8. This month, our focus is on worship...
A. what it is...
B. how we worship...
C. who we worship...
D. when we worship...
E. and where we worship...
9. That doesn’t mean that after November is over....
A. our focus on worship ends...
B. It is my hope that after this month is over...
C. we become true worshippers...
D. people who worship God every day...
E. in the right way...
F. and with the right attitude.
10. Read Text: Genesis 18:1-3
11. Worship appears throughout Scripture...
A. You can find it from the earliest pages of Scripture...
i. God was pleased by Abel’s worship...
ii. But Cain’s worship was displeasing to God...
a. And Cain grew jealous and killed his brother...
b. the first recorded death in Scripture.
iii. Scripture doesn’t tell us exactly why God accepted Abel’s sacrifice,
a. and rejected Cain’s.
iv. Much is made of the fact that Abel brought a blood sacrifice...
a. and Cain brought a sacrifice that didn’t require blood to be spilled.
v. And that may be...
a. but in my mind...it all goes to our attitude...
vi. Hebrews 11:4 says, "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.
vii. Jewish tradition says that Abel brought the best of his flock for sacrifice...
viii. while Cain brought a few scrawney ears of corn...
a. keeping the best for himself. (Barclay’s Study Bible)
B. We find worship when Moses came into the presence of God in the burning bush.
C. Worship is very prevalent in the Psalms...which we will be studying in Sunday Evenings.
D. We find worship in the Old Testament practice of bringing animal and grain sacrifices to God.
E. We find worship in the life of Christ.
12. Hebrews 6:12 says, "Be like those who through faith and patience will receive what God has promised"
A. It then goes on to talk about Abraham, the Father of our Faith.
B. I’d like us to look at one incident from Abraham’s life as an example for us as it relates to worship.
C. I’d like to put 4 items on the buffet of worship...
i. and no...you can’t just go and pick what you want...
a. gorging on 1 or 2 things...
b. while leaving the other parts out.
ii. you need to partake of all 4 in order to have a healthy worship
Body
1. The First Item on the buffet is recognizing the Presence of the Lord.
A. Abraham was sitting outside the front flap of his tent...
i. trying to cool down,
ii. in the heat of the day...
iii. after eating his lunch.
iv. Mamre was known for being an area with large oak trees.
v. Many people in that part of the world still enjoy an afternoon siesta during the hottest part of the day.
B. Our text tells us that "The LORD appeared to Abraham"
C. What a minute!
i. Do you mean to tell me that Abraham saw the Lord...
a. and it wasn’t even the Sabbath?
ii. He wasn’t even in the Temple?
D. Do you mean to tell me that you can come into the presence of the Lord,
i. and not even be in church?
E. That’s exactly what I mean!!
F. One thing we need to learn about worship...
i. we need to be sensitive to the Lord’s presence in our lives...
a. every day...
b. whether we are sitting on the front porch after lunch,
c. or washing dishes,
d. at work
e. driving down the road.
G. When the Lord appears to us...
i. wherever we are...
ii. wheneven it happens...
iii. we need to be like Abraham and recognize it.
2. The second item on the buffet, when the Lord shows up, we need to run to meet Him.
A. Abraham certainly enjoyed sitting in front of his tent.
i. it was nice sitting in the shade,
ii. listening to the wind through the trees,
iii. enjoying the pleasant breeze,
iv. relishing the delicious lunch that Sarah had just made for him.
v. I’m sure he helped with the dishes...
vi. and then retired to the front of the tent for a rest.
B. And when the Lord showed up...
i. He didn’t say,
a. "Sarah, tell Him to come back later...so I can finish my nap"
ii. He didn’t watch the Lord approaching and wait for Him to get there.
C. Our Scripture says, "he ran from his tent to meet them"
D. When the Lord shows up...
i. we need to get out of our comfort zone...
ii. we need to get up and get going...
E. On Friday, I was driving through Belleview and found myself behind a school bus.
i. It was picking up some high school students.
ii. I noticed as I waited behind that bus...
a. the bus had been there for awhile already...
b. and yet there were students from half a block away...
c. walking as if they had all the time in the world.
d. and the bus driver...
e. and all of us car drivers....
f. were kept waiting.
iii. Now, I realize the bus isn’t like the Lord...but I thought they could have picked up the pace a little.
F. When the Lord shows up...
i. and we recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit...
ii. we need to run to meet Him!
G. When I used to go on overnight business trips and I would be gone for several days...
i. when I finally got home...
ii. my kids would be waiting for me....
iii. I can assure you that they didn’t just walk non-chalantly over to me...
iv. they didn’t wait until I got in the house...
v. They ran as fast as their little legs could carry them ...
vi. and threw themselves into my arms!
H. That’s a perfect example of how we need the meet the Lord!!!
3. The Third item on the buffet, we need to worship the Lord with humility.
A. Our text indicates that Abraham "bowed low to the ground"
i. The words in the Old Testament Hebrew and NT Greek that are translated "worship"...
a. the original meaning encompassed...
a. bowing,
b. falling to the ground...
c. actually placing your head on the ground....
d. kissing the hand...
e. and complete commitment to obedience.
ii. Abraham’s attitude and posture was a part of his worship.
B. In today’s modern worship....
i. we are lucky to get people to bow their heads...
ii. sometimes they may go a step further and actually kneel at the altar...
iii. but that’s a push.
C. Zephaniah 2:3 says, "Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility"
D. Humility is simply putting ourselves in the proper relationship to the Almighty.
E. John said, "He must increase, but I must decrease. "He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all" John 3:30-31 (NKJV)
F. Part of worship is recognizing Who God is....
i. but we also must recognize who we are by comparison.
G. Too often, we have the attitude of "what did I get out of that Church service"?
i. But the real question is...
ii. "what did GOD get out of that church service"?
H. Was He
i. exalted,?
ii. lifted up,?
iii. elevated,?
iv. raised up,?
v. glorified,?
vi. honored?
4. The Fourth item on the buffet, we need to responded to God by acknowledging that we are His servant.
A. Abraham was a man accustomed to having servants to do his bidding.
i. If the camels needed fed, he asked one of his servants...
ii. and if his servant was a good servant...
iii. he simply did fed the camels...
iv. he wouldn’t say...
a. let me finish watching "Days of our Lives"
b. No, you do it this time.
c. He wouldn’t run off to hide behind one of the Oak Trees.
B. Part of our worship is to recognize that
i. we are God’s servant.
ii. In Romans 1:1, Paul calls himself, "a servant of Christ Jesus"
C. Being servant means that we exist to serve someone else.
i. we are not here to "get ahead" in life...
ii. I saw a bumper sticker that says, "The one who dies with the most toys wins".
iii. If it were accurate, it should read, "The one who spends in life in worshipping God wins"
Conclusion
1. I love a buffet.
A. This morning, we have a big, beautiful, buffet table before us.
i. Its tempting to head staight to the junk food and fill up on that....
2. But if we truly want to worship God...
A. We need to fill our plate with 4 things...
i. We need to recognize God, whenever and wherever He come to us...
a. It might be that He is speaking to you this morning...
b. or on your way home...
c. when it happens, recognize God’s Presence.
ii. We need to run to meet Him.
a. Too many people are content to sit back and let God come to them...
b. If my wife is outside working in the front yard and she had our dog Barney outside...
c. If Barney sees me coming out of the office...
a. he runs as fast as he can up to me and lays at my feet.
d. So should it be in our worship.
iii. We need to put some humility on our plate.
a. bowing low in recognition of Who God is.
iv. We need to acknowledge our servanthood to God.
a. God has quite an enterprise going...
b. He is trying to reach the entire world with His love...
c. but He wants your help...
d. and He wants my help.
e. If we are His servant...
f. we will do what He wants.
I was inspired for this sermon by an article written by Joseph Garlington in the June 1997 issue of New Man Magazine, pp 50-52.
