1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
6Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
When was the last time you did something for the first time for Jesus’ sake? It is too easy for our Christianity to become routine, vanilla, and canned. We serve an infinite God and yet our Christianity can become so familiar.
What is true of our Christianity is equally true of our worship of God. It is easy to assume that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to worship is what God prefers. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is honored when we recognize that He loves diversity and has created many ways to be worshipped. God’s Word includes a long list of ways to magnify God’s name: standing silently, shouting loudly, bowing humbly, singing joyfully, and dancing victoriously.
Gary Thomas, a friend of Rick Warren, noticed that many Christians were stuck in a worship rut. He raised the question, “Since God has intentionally made us all different, why should everyone be expected to love (worship) God the same way?”(1) Gary has discovered that for 2,000 years Christians have used many different paths to enjoy intimacy with God. In his book Sacred Pathways, Gary identifies nine ways that people draw near to God:
· Naturalists love God best when they are outdoors.
· Sensates love God best when all their senses are engaged.
· Traditionalists love God best when they are able to stick close to ritual, symbols, and familiarity.
· Ascetics love God best in solitude and simplicity.
· Activists love God best when they are battling injustice and evil.
· Caregivers love God best through caring for those who hurt.
· Enthusiasts love God best by experiencing celebration.
· Contemplatives love God best through adoration and meditation.
· Intellectuals love God best when their mind is fully engaged.
Did you find your favorite approach to loving God? Have you figured it out yet? It is not about style. So what is it about? It is about, how much of you does God have when you worship? This is critical because God is looking beyond our style to the attitude of our heart. We shouldn’t be surprised at the constant struggle we have with superficial concerns in worship because the Bible reminds us, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)
If you can worship God in authenticity and genuineness, then you have discovered the kind of worship God loves. Your favorite worship experience may include A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, Heart of Worship, or the remake of the Beetles, Let It Be. If the worship style you enjoy contributes to you being yourself in a setting where it’s tempting to be “man-pleasing,” then God is pleased.
Misconceptions About Worship
There are several misconceptions that draw us away from the real heart of worship. These include:
· Worship always includes music.
· Worship that pleases God has a unique style.
· Worship’s purpose is to make me feel good.
Few purposes of the church create more tension in a local body than worship. Churches are struggling to avoid the landmines associated with the Worship Wars. This happens because churches often have an erroneous perception of what God-pleasing worship really looks like. Before we can build we have to blast away the misconceptions about worship in the church.
The reason many get caught up in the issue of style in worship is they fail to see God’s purposes for worship. Style is a self-centered issue, and it assumes that the worship experience is complete when the last verse is sung. The worship experience is only the beginning of a deeper journey that takes us into the very presence of God so we can be changed.
So what are the purposes for worship? Our Biblical text singles out four, but this short list only scratches the surface of God’s purposes for worship.
Worship That Pleases God
1. Worship that pleases God invokes authenticity. (vs. 1)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his
robe filled the temple.
Worship that pleases God starts with authenticity. One of the hardest attitudes to hold fast to is being real. Few things in our world will help us with this. From identity theft to extreme makeovers, we often wonder who and what is real.
God has a way of making our world of the cover up, cough up reality. Nothing does this better than death. When the king of terror strikes all that is fake fades away. American history is filled with cases where Americans have flocked to sanctuaries of worship when crisis hit. September 11, 2001 and the World Trade Center bombings caused more people to go to church than any event since the death of President John F. Kennedy. It was 1963 and the pews of America’s churches were filled with tear stained mourners as they sat shocked, listening to messages of hope and healing. Pastors struggled to make sense of a shocking assassination that happened in the streets of Dallas just a few days before. A President had died.
The King is dead; his name was Uzziah. He came to the throne as a teenager. Next to King David he was the most endearing and loved King of Israel. But he wasn’t without his faults. His nation prospered greatly, but a deep economic divide separated the rich from the poor. Politically the nation was schizophrenic and couldn’t decide if they wanted to be aligned with the Assyrians or the Egyptians. Idolatry filled the land, and Israel’s own leaders were too busy to notice the disintegration of the religious landscape. To make matters worse, the people of Israel had given up all hope that the Messiah would ever come and deliver them.
God couldn’t take it any longer. The people were living as if it was business as usual. How do you bring a people back to reality? You let them experience a national catastrophe. And it happened. In 740 BC, the leader of their nation died of leprosy when God struck him down because of pride. When Uzziah died, this afforded Isaiah a platform to redirect the hearts of a wayward people back to God. How was this done? By declaring a prophecy of a coming King. God sets the stage for the greatest word from Heaven concerning a future hope in the birth of a Savior.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 14:14)
Isaiah’s preparation for this announcement was bathed in a setting of worship. Worship is not an escape from our problems. It is an aid to help us deal with our problems. If you want God to bless your worship experience, you have to bring all your concerns, troubles, and sin with you.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer.” (Psalm 86:6-7)
Like the nation, Isaiah’s heart was broken over the death of his king and close friend. What did he do to comfort his heavy heart? He made his way to the house of worship with authenticity. God is not as concerned about your spirituality in worship as he is with your genuineness.
2. Worship that pleases God invites a fresh encounter. (vs. 2-4)
2Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” 4At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
The great danger in Christianity is routine and familiarity. When something becomes very familiar it is easy to slip into “auto-pilot,” or “cruise control.” The people of Isaiah’s day needed a fresh encounter. They had lost their focus. The nation had become impressed with the super powers that lay just beyond their borders. This was a nation that did not know the power of Almighty God. The miracles of Elijah were a distant memory.
People want to serve the God with the greatest power. People are attracted to power. Take young people for example. They are often heavily involved in Satanism, Oji Boards, and Dungeon and Dragons. Then look at their parents. They get caught up in Spiritism, New Age, and other occult practices. But it’s hollow, nothing but smoke and mirrors. There is only one God with power; his name is El Shaddai: “I am your all-powerful God.” God is letting us know that we can have His very nature.
We know that God is powerful, and we know that mankind is weak. But do you know God wants to give His power and strength to your powerless lives? Worship that pleases God also releases fresh encounters with the Almighty’s power. I need His power.
(34) Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies. (35) You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God. (Psalm 68)
Remember the story of Goliath, that Olympic-sized impossibility that haunted and taunted the people of God? The result was fear running amuck in God’s people. In the end it was a young shepherd boy who stepped to the head of the class, and using a sling and a stone as chalk marked the lesson of the day on the chalkboard of Goliath’s forehead - “Things that are impossible with men are possible with God.” When can I have God’s power? I’m glad you asked. This is not an exhaustive list, but I want to suggest some occasions for having His power.
When Can I Have God’s Power?
1. You Can Have God’s Power When You Are Weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope (wait) in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31)
2. You Can Have God’s Power When You Are Afflicted.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians12:8-9)
3. You Can Have God’s Power When You Are Afraid.
“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring today.” (Exodus 14:13)
“Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.” (Deuteronomy 3:22)
“Do not be afraid of them: I have given them into your hand.” (Joshua 10:8)
4. You Can Have God’s Power When You Praise.
“As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated”. (2 Chronicles 20:22)
Don’t take God’s power for granted. It is God’s power that generates life, scares the devil, causes miracles, transforms circumstances, imparts joy, breaks bondages, overcomes adversity, heals hurts, cleanses our minds, and guarantees a future with God for eternity.
3. Worship that pleases God involves life change. (vs 5-7)
5“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 6Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar 7With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Worship that pleases God changes the way we think, act, and live. When we change in our relationship to God, it’s called repentance. It was the most common sermon delivered by New Testament preachers. The deepest work done by the Holy Spirit always has to do with repentance, and repentance always leads to life change. No message was taught more often than the need for people to repent:
Ø John The Baptist: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.” Matthew 3:2
Ø Jesus: “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent’”…Matthew 4:17
Ø The 70: “They went out and preached that people should repent.” Mark 6:12
Ø Peter: “Repent and be baptized every one of you…” Acts 2:38
Ø Paul: “I preached that they should repent…” Acts 26:20b
Ø The Apostle John: “Repent!” Revelation 2-3
As Isaiah was worshipping God he suddenly saw himself for who he really was - sinful. We don’t know what his sin was, but it had something do to with his speech. Perhaps he was bad mouthing Jeremiah. May he was shrinking back from going and declaring God’s Word like Jonah. (A good review of “Jonah” by Veggie Tales may have shaken him free from his complacency.) We’re not sure. Whatever it was, God called it sin. It needed a supernatural cleansing that only Heaven could bring. If you worship God and leave the experience without recognizing your sin, you will continue to recycle the same sinful life week.
Worship that pleases God brings us into direct contact with God’s holiness, thus revealing our sinfulness. If you don’t add worship and prayer to your fasting, all you are doing is dieting or going without food. So it is in worship, if you don’t add confession and repentance, all you’re doing is singing.
Stay with worship until you experience the benefit of verse 7, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” When God reveals your sinfulness, the journey back to wholeness involves 4 steps:
Ø Repentance: to change the way we think. God wants us to realize that repentance includes confession of the heart and change of the mind. The Bible says, “As a man thinks so is he.” You’re not what you think you are; what you think, you are.
Ø Renounce: to speak out loud. Isaiah declared out loud, “Woe is me!” We need to hear ourselves declare our sinfulness out loud. This will keep us from minimizing, blaming, or redefining our sin. There is power in the spoken word; John spoke of it in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Ø Reclaim: to take back. Most people fail to include these next two steps in their journey back to right standing with God. The purpose of reclaiming is to take back that which the devil has stolen. If you have lied, take back God’s purpose for your speech, which is to bless and worship. If you have stolen, then you have to take back the purpose for which God has designed your hands, that is to lift up holy hands and to love through physical touch.
Joshua was instructed to go into the Promised Land and take back the land that the enemy (Hittites, Jebusites, Canaanites, and Termites) had in their possession.
“I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses”. (Joshua 1:3)
Ø Re-consecration: to make holy. Once you have recovered what the enemy has stolen, you need to re-consecrate it to God. Why? Because it has become desecrated while under Satan’s jurisdiction. When David brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem he failed to properly dedicate it to God. If he had, he would have realized that it needed to be returned on the poles of the priests of Levites, not on a new cart. The result was the loss of life and a delayed release of God’s blessing. Repentance includes each of these steps if you want to have a thorough and a lasting work of God in your life. Worship exposes your need to come clean before God.
4. Worship that pleases God inspires new direction. (vs 8)
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Someone has said, “Enter to worship, depart to serve.” Worship that pleases God takes us beyond our small-minded thinking into God’s plan for lost humanity. Worship leads to evangelism. God always calls his worshippers to reach out to a lost and dying world. Worship will help you see the world as God does – lost, needy, separated from God, without Christ. Worship results in the realization that there is a nation of people in need of the work of grace.
So what is the best type of worship? For some it is country music, and Charlie Daniel’s band fits the bill. For others it is Handle’s Messiah, and Christmas is not complete without a trip to the local symphony. And who has not been moved by John Newton’s, Amazing Grace? It has been sung in more settings than any other hymn. The Newsboys are climbing the charts with remakes of current worship songs. Then there is Southern Gospel, contemporary worship, and hymns right out of the hymnal.
So what is the best style or type of music? It is the one that allows you to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; the one that allows you to be totally engaged as a person, and uses your cultural identity and unique personality. It is worship that brings change through repentance. It is the type of worship that you enjoy! The kind that leaves you changed to do God’s will.
End Notes
(1) Rick Warren. Purpose Drive Life. Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002, pg. 102-103.
