OPEN: A man walked into a gift shop that sold religious items. Near the cash register he saw a display of caps with “WWJD” printed on all of them. He was puzzled over what the letters could mean, but couldn’t figure it out, so he asked the clerk.
The clerk replied that the letters stood for “What Would Jesus Do”, and was meant to inspire people to not make rash decisions, but rather to imagine what Jesus would do in the same situation.
The man thought a moment and then replied, “Well, I’m pretty sure Jesus wouldn’t pay $17.95 for one of these caps.”
Whoever came up with that clever term (WWJD) created an easy way for us Christians to examine our lives and our every day decisions.
I want to rent a certain movie or buy a specific magazine – What would Jesus do?
There’s someone at work that I have a hard time dealing with. – What would Jesus do?
My child is difficult to handle and is frequently disobedient – What would Jesus do?
Now, just because I ask that question (WWJD)
– that doesn’t mean that I’m always going to make the right decisions
– OR even that I’ll always be able to determine precisely what He would have done
But once I’ve asked that question - WWJD? - I’ve committed myself to changing my priorities. I committed myself to building my life around the question of what does Jesus think is important?
I. For example, WWJD in worship?
ILLUS: This sermon was inspirted by a lesson from the Boy Scout “God and Country” study book. One of the boys of our church asked me to mentor him in his effort to attain that badge. And I was so impressed with the topics in that study book that I formed this sermon series around the topics he and I studied together.
One of the lessons in the Scout study book asked was entitled: Learning How Jesus Worshipped God. And I have to admit… I’d never thought about that before. How would Jesus worship in our churches?
Almost from the very beginning of Jesus’ recorded life, we find that worship was very important to Jesus.
When Jesus was 12 years old, His parents “misplaced” Him. They had gone to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, and on their way home they discovered, he was missing. They hurried back to Jerusalem and “after three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” Luke 2:46
“When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:48-49
From the very beginning, Jesus considered all other commitments to be secondary to His relationship to the Father. Jesus never missed being in worship.
Look with me at Luke 4:16 “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, (and what?) AS WAS HIS CUSTOM....”
Did you catch that? Jesus never missed church!!! It was His CUSTOM to be in the synagogue every Sabbath. Why? Why would Jesus never miss church? He was God - after all – you’d think He could have skipped out a couple of times!
Well, Jesus never skipped worship because – as He told Mary – He had to be in His Father’s house. Being in church was important to Jesus and so He set us an example for us to follow.
ILLUS: One of the preachers I meet with on Wednesdays told of the firestorm he created in his congregation when he wrote an article taking parents to task for letting their kids take jobs that required them to work on Sunday mornings throughout the summer.
Some of the parents complained that this was only way their kids could raise money for college.
He responded: “What you’re telling me is that you’re going to teach your children that there’s something more important than being with Jesus on Sunday mornings. Then when your child goes away to college and has loses their faith… you’re going to ask ‘WHAT HAPPENED?’”
Being in Church was important to Jesus - more important than any other earthly activity.
ILLUS: When Jesus was at the home of Mary & Martha, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet while He taught
Luke 10:40-42 tells us “Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’
‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”
Being in Church was important to Jesus - therefore it should be important to us.
ILLUS: In my files I have this clever comment someone had made: “The great task of the church is to get sinners into Heaven and saints out of bed.”
Now that is funny… but it isn’t really true. True Saints are those who love Jesus. And no lover of Jesus will ever deliberately allow themselves to be absent from the Lord’s Table on Sundays. If you love Jesus, then you will make every effort to be “in church” – because that’s what He would have done.
II. But now… WWJD IN worship?
ILLUS: Back in 2000, The Washington Post carried a story about a man who had spent 9 years walking through 13 countries and 47 states wearing a white robe and walking barefoot (when he wasn’t hitch-hiking). The local paper called him the “Man Who Looks Like Jesus”. And that was what he intended. He wanted people to think of Jesus when they saw him. As a result, local churches had their pews filled with people they hadn’t seen in 20 years. And when this man visited the hospital, a couple of doctors reported that their patients healed more rapidly after he came to see them.
This man took this question of WWJD seriously! He dressed like Jesus and acted like Jesus in LITERAL ways.
So… is that what we should do? Should we “dress” like Jesus did when he went to the synagogue? Well (pause…) the Bible doesn’t tell us a lot about how Jesus dressed when he went to worship, so that must not be all that important to God. BUT the Scriptures do it tell us a lot about what Jesus DID when He got there.
1st - He taught
When Jesus was being challenged by the High Priest Jesus answered him, "I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing.” (John 18:20)
2nd – He healed people
Mark 3:1-5 tells us that:
“Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.
Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, ‘Stand up in front of everyone.’
Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.”
(pause…) Well that’s a bummer.
I can’t teach like Jesus taught. In fact there isn’t a preacher on the face of the earth that could even hope to teach with the skill Jesus had.
And the last time I healed anybody was when I gave my son an antibiotic! So, I can’t even begin to think of healing people like Jesus healed people.
So – if I can’t teach like Jesus taught and I can’t heal like He healed - how could I possibly worship the way He did?
Well… as I was thinking about this, it occurred to me that even tho’ I couldn’t teach or heal as Jesus did – there were things about how Jesus behaved in worship that I could emulate.
1st – Jesus was active - not passive - in His worship.
He didn’t come to be entertained. People who come to be entertained spend their time evaluating other people who worship rather than actually worshipping themselves. They’ll criticize the preacher’s sermon or the skill of people in the sound booth. They’ll watch other people to see if they’re singing or not… or even how much others put in the offering plate. These people aren’t there to worship… they’ve come to be entertained. And if the entertainment isn’t up to their standards then they’ll complain that they’ve been shortchanged.
But Jesus didn’t come to be entertained. Jesus came to serve God… and He came to serve the people around Him.
2nd - Jesus used the talents He had to serve God and man
Now, granted. none of us have the abilities Jesus had. We can’t teach like He taught and we can’t heal like He healed. But God has given you and I talents that we CAN use in worship:
· Every time one of you has served communion or take up the offering –you’ve worshipped like Jesus did.
· Every time you’ve worked in the nursery or the Jr. Church, or you’ve taught in Sunday School - you’ve worshipped like Jesus did.
· Every time you’ve gotten up here and shared music (you’ve offered a special or you’ve lead the singing) –you’ve worshipped like Jesus did.
· Every time you’ve seen someone in church who’s suffered a tragedy or lost someone they’ve loved and you spent time praying with them and comforting them – you’ve worshipped like Jesus did.
· Every time you’ve seen someone sitting alone in worship and you’ve gone over to them and given them their name and welcomed them to church – you’ve worshipped like Jesus did.
Why? Because you used your talents to serve God… and to serve those around you.
That’s what the writer of Hebrews referred to when he wrote: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another— and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
III. Like I said, being “in church” was important to Jesus.
He never missed a Sabbath at the synagogue. And He was actively involved in worship when He was there.
And Jesus wants us to realize that – not only is church important to Him but He also wanted us to understand that when we honored Him by making this kind of worship a top priority in our lives He intended to reward us:
Jesus promised that “… where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20
When you come to church… your primary reason for being here
· should not be because you like me
· it shouldn’t be because you want to get together with your friends
· it shouldn’t be because you’ve got nothing else to do on Sunday mornings
You should be in church because that’s where Jesus will be.
THAT’S WHAT HE PROMISED – He promised to be here if you were.
ILLUS: I remember reading the story in Reader’s Digest of a woman who always made it to church every Sunday morning with her six children in tow, all a bit rumpled but nevertheless on time.
One woman was scarcely able to get my one child ready, and so she asked how her friend managed her brood so efficiently.
"Easy," she replied with a smile. "I dress them the night before."
You see, Jesus and His church were so important to that woman, she was willing to do whatever was necessary to get her family there… and to get them there on time.
CLOSE: Now there’s a reason why church is so important to Jesus…
The Church is the Body of Christ – we are part of Him
And the Church is the Bride of Christ – we are precious to Him and one day He will return to take His bride away to be with Him for ever.
Jesus died on the cross to create this church. Not the bricks and mortar building we worship in, but the body of believers that we are, the Bride of Christ that we were “purchased” to become.
And when you accepted His offer of salvation
When you believed on His name
When you repented of your sins
When you made Him the Lord and master of your life
When you allowed yourself to be buried in the waters of Christian baptism
When you accepted His offer of Salvation, you signed up to be part of His church.
And the strength of His church is it’s dedication to keeping Sunday a sacred of worship.
Even pagans understand this. Voltaire (an enemy of Christianity in the 18th century) predicted that within a hundred years of his day, Christianity would be nothing but a relic of the past. But he had to admit that in order for that to happen, the world would first have to get rid of Sunday worship.
He said: "There is no hope of destroying Christianity so long as the Christian Sabbath is kept... as a sacred day."
But, in order for Sunday to have that kind of importance to you… you first need to belong to Jesus. You can go to church all day long, but unless you belong to Jesus the church will actually do little for you. (Invitation given)
SERMONS IN THE “MEETING JESUS” SERIES
The Son Of God - Matthew 16:13-16:20
Knowing Who You’re Looking At - John 12:20-12:36
Whose In Charge Here? - Colossians 1:10-1:20
WWJD In Worship - Luke 4:14-4:21
How Jesus Ministered - Matthew 11:1-11:6
