An Argument for Worship
Text: Exodus 3:7-12
Introduction: What is worship? Have you ever tried to define the word? It’s really not as easy as one might think.
• Some equate worship with music. In fact, when a worship leader, during a service, says, "Let’s just take some time now to worship," it really means, "Get ready! It’s time to sing."
• For others, worship is an emotional experience. Worship is the intensely personal feeling we enjoy when we enter into the presence of God (see Isaiah 6:1-4). In fact, (in the minds of many people) if we haven’t experienced it at this level, we haven’t worshipped.
• Stil,l there are believers who would seek to equate worship with an attitude of reverence. The Random House Dictionary defines worship as "the reverent honor given to a deity." This reminds me of the story of a young visitor at the Alps who was making his first climb. The visitor was accompanied by two stalwart guides. It was a steep, hazardous ascent. But he felt secure with one guide ahead and one following behind. For hours they climbed. And now, breathless, they reached for those rocks, protruding through the snow above them- the summit. The guide ahead wished to let the stranger have the first glorious view of heaven and earth, and moved aside to let him go first. Forgetting the gales that would blow across those summit rocks, the young man leapt to his feet. But the chief guide dragged him down. "On your knees, sir!" he shouted. "You are never safe here except on your knees’"
Certainly, however we choose to define the word, it should include these elements. Here’s how some Christian writers define it. Worship is...
• "the activity of glorifying God in His presence with our voices and hearts" (Wayne Grudem, New Testament Scholar).
• "the total adoring response of man to the One Eternal God, self-revealed in time" (Evelyn Underhill, author).
• "the submission of all of our nature to God"(William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1942-44).
• "the believer’s response of all that he is- mind, emotions, will and body- to what God is and says and does" (Warren Wiersbe, Pastor and author).
Theme: As you can see, it is a difficult task to come up with a definition for worship. The challenge is to make it broad enough to encompass the many thoughts related to it, yet narrow enough that the word itself doesn’t become meaningless. While it may be difficult to precisely define "worship," there is one thing that all Christians agree on. The people of God that are called to worship God. Notice, in the text that was read this morning, that God was leading His people out of captivity so that they might worship Him. Of course, this begs the question, "why worship? Why not call out His people for service or evangelism? What is there about worship that is so central to our relationship with God that nothing else makes sense apart from it?"
I. Worship is our purpose. God brought His people out of Egypt that He might bring them in, into His presence, to stand before His face! Israel was a nation formed for worship, to praise together the name of the Most High (see Psalm 47:1-2). When we trace the history of the Jews we learn that they were only somewhat faithful to this calling. Often, rather than worshiping God in a unified, holy assembly, they turned aside to serving idols. Therefore, God scattered the people in exile (Consider the apostle Stephen’s summary of the Israelites in Acts 7:41-43). Still, God promised that His purpose for His people would be fulfilled. Some day He would assemble a group of people from every nation to worship Him before the throne (See Haggai 2:7). That’s why the Great Commission is for us to make disciples of all nations (See Matthew 28:19). In fact, we know that it will be fulfilled because there will be people from every tribe, nation and language in heaven (see Revelation 7:9-10).
Application: Have you ever considered that the primary motivation for taking the Gospel to the ends of the world is so that the worship of God might increase? If we’re not as enthusiastic as we should be for evangelism, perhaps it’s because we’re not worshipping God as we ought.
II. Worship is our pattern. When God called the nation of Israel out of Egypt, it was not for a one-time worship event. God established festivals in which the whole nation would gather before Him three times a year. These included the Feast of Unleavened Bread celebrated in the spring, the Feast of Harvest celebrated in the summer, and the Feast of Ingathering celebrated in the fall (see Exodus 23:14-17). These festivals were to be a "celebration to God." Matthew Henry explains what was meant by this. "[Israel was]to present themselves before God, looking towards the place where God’s honor dwelt, and to pay their homage to him as their great Lord, from and under whom they held all their enjoyments." These were worship services!
The practice of the early church was no different. They met, as we do, on the first day of the week to worship God together (see Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2).
Application: Worship is the normal and routine expression of believers who are developing a deeper, more personal relationship with the living God. What does this say for those who do not attend worship? I’ll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions. Permit me, however, to share with you how absurd some of their excuses sound when applied to a completely different interest...shopping.
"Why I Don’t Go Shopping: (1) Whenever I do, people ask for money; (2) I shopped all day and only three people said anything to me; (3) The air conditioning is set too low; (4) Often I have to be there for hours; (5) Hey, You don’t have to go shopping to be a consumer; (6) My parents forced me to go when I was little; (7) Sorry, I have to take my kid to church."
III. Worship is our privilege. It is almost incomprehensible to me that we have the opportunity to enter into the very presence of the Holy God of the Universe as we worship Him. Not everyone has such access to the throne! This privilege is granted to believers only; those who, through the blood of Christ, have seen the wall that separated us from God destroyed (see Ephesians 2:14-18). This means that we enjoy a unique relationship with God where...(1) We are in Him (see 1 John 5:20); (2) He is in us (see John 14:23); (3) He seeks our worship (see John 4:23). Those who do not possess this kind of relationship with God do not have this kind of access to Him (see Psalm 5:4).
Illustration: When President Lincoln was elected to the White House there were many people who wanted to get time with him to talk about their special causes. It was not uncommon to find long lines of men and women hoping to get just a few short minutes with the man in the Oval Office. One day, as the people were waiting patiently for the chance to talk with the President for even a few moments, a young boy came into the waiting room, pushed through the crowd, passed through the security and into President Lincoln’s office. One of the hopefuls, who had been waiting in line for hourss was outraged and said to no one in particular, "what gives that young man the right to visit the President while we wait?" A fellow standing beside the man looked at him as if he had just asked the dumbest question of all time and said, "that’s Todd Lincoln, the President’s son! He doesn’t need an invitation."
The Bible tells us that those who receive Christ are children of God (see John 1:12) and that our Heavenly Father’s door is always open. What a great privilege we have to, bask in His glory!
IV. Worship is our proof. What we worship determines what we value. It influences us to the point that our pursuits are generally oriented toward the thing(s) we worship. For example, when I was a little boy, I wanted to be a professional baseball player. But not just any professional baseball player. I wanted to be a Pittsburgh Pirate because I grew up about 25 miles northwest of the city. My dad bought me a Pirate hat that I wore all the time. When I was drafted onto my little league team, I was overjoyed to learn that I was going to play on the Cranberry Pirates. I collected baseball cards like a lot of little kids in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The only ones that meant something to me were those players from my favorite team. I even listened to the radio with my father when their games were broadcasted and could name the starting lineup. I even tried to catch the ball the way Roberto Clemente did and hit the way Willie Stargell did. If you spent any amount of time with me back then, it would not have taken you very long to realize that I loved the Pittsburgh Pirates. Application: There is a principle taught in the Scriptures that is fundamental to many areas of life. It is found in Matthew 7:15-20. It says that the fruit that a person produces reveals much about the kind of person he or she is. Let’s look at it together (read Matthew 7:15-20). Christians reveal much about their own spiritual identity when they worship God. As we give Him first place in our lives, we are professing our allegiance to Him above anything or anyone else. We are declaring that we love Him first and foremost and that we want to please Him above all others.
Conclusion: You can tell a lot about a person by what he or she worships. James Michener, writing in his book, "The Source," tells the story of a man named Urbaal, who was a farmer living about 2200 B.C. He worshiped two gods, one a god of death, the other a goddess of fertility. One day, the temple priests tell Urbaal to bring his young son to the temple for sacrifice, if he wants good crops. Urbaal obeys, and on the appointed day drags his wife and boy to the scene of the boy’s “religious execution” by fire to the god of death. After the sacrifice of Urbaal’s boy (and several boys), the priests announce that one of the fathers will spend next week in the temple, with a new temple prostitute. Urbaal’s wife is stunned as she notices a desire written more intensely across his face than she had seen before, and she is overwhelmed to see him eagerly lunge forward when his name is called. The ceremony over, she walks out of the temple with her head swimming, concluding that “if he worshipped different gods, he would have been a different man.” When we worship the God of the Scriptures, He makes us different.
