Worship by the Book
Colossians 2
Cascades Fellowship CRC, JX MI
Jan. 16, 2005
Last week Pastor Bob began a series on worship. In that sermon he taught us that worship is only worship when it is God-centered. If we come to worship with anything else in mind – if we come to a service looking for what we can get out of it, we have come for the wrong reason. We must come with our hearts settled upon God and his will. To say after the service, “I didn’t get anything out of it,” is to admit we do not have a clue about the heart of worship.
Rach and I have a friend who is a source of grief for us. It is not that he has done anything to us – he is quite dear to us actually. Rather it is what he has done to himself, what he has chosen to believe. About ten years ago, this friend began absenting himself from church. He was getting into diving and started to buy into one of the more heinous lies to come out of the pits of hell. He would excuse his absence by saying that he worshipped God by getting out into nature and appreciating the beauty and glory of creation. He would go diving instead of gathering with God’s people in corporate worship.
Now, why do I say that the idea of getting out into nature and worshipping God by appreciating the beauty and glory of creation is a lie of the devil? Don’t we believe that the glory of God is revealed in nature? Quite frankly, as people who believe that the Scriptures are the only true rule of life and faith, we have to believe that the glory of God is revealed in nature. Psalm 19 tells us that “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” And there are numerous other Scriptures that point out God’s glory reflected in creation, Romans 1:18-25 for instance.
And if it is true, as Pastor Bob said last week, that all of life is worship – or at least should be – why can’t my friend justly say that he worships God as he marvels at the fishes and the crabs? Surely, even under the sea, when bone and sinew work harmoniously together to propel the human body through the water and the eye delights to the variety and wonder of creation, one worships God. In some innate, primordial way such physical effort reveals the glory of God’s workmanship, doesn’t it? Isn’t that worship?
It can be, but for my friend it was an idol. It became a snare that ripped him away from the protective embrace of the church. It led to a depleted spirit, because he was receiving no nourishment to feed his soul. Then, to a mulish stubbornness that refused all correction, that wallowed in self-deception believing all was well and communion with God could be done on ones own terms. Finally, it has led to a ship-wrecked life – a life that has accepted what he once believed unhealthy and wrong. He spiraled into a life of sin willingly, not even attempting to fight the downward pull.
How does that happen? How did this brother in Christ make such a mess of his life? To answer, let me return to something I just said. My friend began to believe that he could commune with God on his own terms. He began to trust how he felt, what he got out of something as a barometer for how his communion with God was going. The center point of his spiritual life began turn inward to self-fulfillment – in other words, what he wanted. In other words, he became selfish, spiritually narcissistic.
In the life of my friend we have a microcosm of the trouble with mankind in general. God reveals to us the way to live in his presence and we in turn try to negotiate the way we want God to live in our presence. We try to have a relationship with God on our terms. We ignore his holiness, his perfection, his exaltedness, his power and glory and try to approach God as if we do him a favor by believing he exists. My, how lucky it is for God that we come to church and sing songs of praise to him.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul addressed this bent in mankind. This fledgling church was beginning to show signs of trying to come to God on their own terms. He had taught them the Way – through Jesus Christ. He explained the necessity of the sacrifice and the inadequacy of our own efforts, but the urge to bend all things to serve the self is strong. Soon, the saints in the Colossian church began to combine their faith in Christ with the philosophies and beliefs they held as pagans.
How does Paul respond? Look with me at vv. 6-8 of our text this morning. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles this world rather than on Christ.”
After reminding the Colossians of the supremacy of Christ over all other belief systems and philosophies in the first chapter, and appealing to them not to listen to some of the carefully crafted arguments of those meaning to lead them astray, he calls them to remember what they first believed – what he taught them when he was among them. In other words, Paul is telling them “Stop trying to worship God on your own terms! You know the truth. Live with God as he has commanded you to live. Continue to grow in Christ as he was revealed to you.”
What Paul is pointing out for us here is that true worship is carried out according to God’s Word or is Scripturally guided. If we are going to have a relationship with our Creator and Lord, with our Savior and Redeemer, it must be on his terms.
Last week, Pastor Bob spoke about God-centered worship as a wagon wheel. God is the hub, the essential center of worship. For authentic worship, four spokes radiate out from the hub in support of the wheel of worship. If you were to diagram the wheel of worship, it would look something like this [show diagram].
So, what are God’s terms? What guidance do the Scriptures give us for worship? Perhaps to the frustration of some, there is no Scripture verse that says, “Thus saith the Lord, ‘You shall have the following elements in a service of worship. You shall have no more than these elements and no less. Any addition, substitution or deletion to or from this list will lead to false worship and the everlasting ire of the Lord your God.’” But there is clearly a Divine expectation revealed in the Scriptures. God tells us his terms.
Perhaps one of the best ways for us to get a grip on what God expects of us in worship is to look briefly at some Scriptures. Let’s begin with the text that Pastor Bob selected for last week, Romans 12:1-2.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer 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.
The word translated “worship” in the original language is latreia. Let’s try a little interactive sermon activity. When you think of worship, what comes to mind? Go ahead, someone just blurt out some answers. [pause] We usually think of praise songs, sometimes even prayer. At any rate, we think of what we do here on Sunday mornings as worship. And usually for us, the more our emotion is aroused, the more “worshipful” the experience. We depend on feeling to tell us whether we have worshipped or not.
But what the Word of God calls worship and what we call worship is two different things. The actual meaning of latreia – remember, that’s the word we translate as “worship” – is “to serve, or service rendered for hire.” In fact, the word has a nuance of sacrifice given in service. Quite frankly, in almost every instance where you find the word “worship” in the New Testament the implication is service.
Now there are several things to note here. The first is that although there are half a dozen other words translated as worship, none refer specifically to the gathering together of God’s people and singing hymns. In other words, the way we use the term worship today would be utterly foreign to the early church.
For them, worship encompassed all of life. The entire life of the believer was surrendered to God and lived out in service to him. In other words, when the Scriptures speak of worship it has in view a lifestyle, a worldview that recognizes the Lordship of Christ in every area of life – from the way we conduct business to the way we play; from sex to the way we raise our families; from our politics to our friendships. We are to image God in all our relationships, in all our activities, in all stages of life. We are to live lives that reflect God’s glory and bring him praise.
Dr. David Crump, Professor of New Testament at Calvin College, defines worship as “Self-consciously living as grateful, obedient beneficiaries of the grace of God through Jesus Christ.” Let’s break that down a little by looking at the key elements.
Self-consciousness – a willful choosing to align our life – our dreams, expectations, our gifts and talents, our resources and energy – first and foremost with God’s kingdom and mission.
Gratitude – an abiding thankfulness that provides motivation for a holy life and a willingness to allow our Christian faith to shape every moment of life.
Obedience – a continual submission of our desires, our wants, and our hopes to the command of God and to conduct our lives in accordance with the teaching of Jesus.
Beneficiaries – An awareness that we have done nothing which merits even our physical life, much less our spiritual life in Christ. We, from birth to death – even before we believed in Jesus Christ – are recipients of grace.
Now, you what is so fascinating about this definition of worship – about its key elements? The only part the self plays in this definition is the willful choosing to align our lives with God’s kingdom and mission. In other words, worship is not about us. Nor is it for us. It is our response to God for his grace.
In fact, once it becomes about us, it is no longer worship. It becomes wish-fulfillment, an attempt to get what we want at the expense of God’s glory and the church’s well-being. It may still be called worship, but once we start trying to do it on our terms, it becomes false worship – idolatry.
So if what we do on Sunday mornings isn’t worship, then what is it and why do we do it? Well, first of all, what we do on Sunday mornings is worship, so is what we do on Monday morning and Tuesday morning… and so on. All of life is worship, not just what we do on Sunday morning.
But what we do on Sunday morning is an essential element of our worship. Why? First and foremost, because we are commanded to. Hebrews 10:25 tells us to be careful to continue to meet together as God’s people. But there is another reason – one that is both implied and directly stated throughout the New Testament.
Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, commits the last chapters of that letter to the subject of corporate meetings of God’s people. In chapters 11-15, Paul explains that the purpose for the saints coming together is so that the Body of Christ may be built up and equipped to carry out the mission of the church – making disciples of all nations. Although the things that we associate with worship are mentioned, the primary focus of our corporate gatherings is body life, not to deepen one’s own experience of intimacy with God.
Again, please note, for body life to take place – the primary purpose for gathering as God’s people – it can’t be about us. We can’t meet and do this on our own terms, for what we can out of it. We have to do it on God’s terms – our hearts must be directed outward – toward God and toward our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must use our gifts, our talents and our resources to help encourage and build up others. True worship, in fact, is the realization of the great commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.” And how do we manifest that love in the assembly of God’s people? To love your neighbor as yourself. In becoming the servant of all, we worship God in the most profound way – his way.
When we gather according to the mandates of the Scriptures, wonderful things begin to take place. Our faith in Christ becomes deeply rooted, growing in grace and knowledge. Our relationship with our God is deepened, widened and our hearts are guarded by the affection we hold for our Savior. We engage in true worship and our lives are guarded against shipwreck.
People of God, the heart of worship is service. It is not about us. It is about living in obedience to our God. When we gather together as God’s people in obedience to his command, it is about edifying and encouraging the faith of our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is about offering ourselves as a living sacrifice. Such worship reveals the life of Christ in us and honors the Father, bringing glory to him. If you want to worship, really worship, then consider this question: How’s your serve?
