The Perfect Worship Experience
The Perfect Storm: A “confluence” (bringing together) of three elements that together created an exceptionally strong storm. If any one element had been displaced in time or space the result would have been far less powerful
• but because just the right things were in the mix and with just the right timing, the situation ballooned.
• The phrase the perfect storm is also associated with the 1991 Halloween Nor’easter, a particular meteorological event of October 1991 wherein a powerful weather system had gathered force, ravaging the Atlantic Ocean over the course of several days and causing the deaths of several Massachusetts-based fisherman and billions of dollars of damage. In that case, the merging of two low-pressure areas (areas associated with storms), a large flow of warm air from the south, cold air from the north, and moisture feeding into the storm from the warm ocean current (the Gulf stream) all conflated with exceptionally strong northwesterly winds (cold air), and strong Northeasterly winds (warm air that moved up from the south spinning counter clockwise in typical low pressure behavior) to create an exceptionally strong storm across a very large area.
Our focus today: The Perfect Worship Experience:
My hesitancy: Talking about worship as an “experience” might reinforce the prevalent and selfish idea that worship is all about me. What I get out of it. Things should be designed so that I am pleased. But the focus is all wrong. Worship is focused on God. Period.
Why I will still talk about an experience: Maybe it is my weakness: I just can’t shake my contemporary American church heritage that really, truly, wants to “get something out of worship.” Maybe it is because worship, though God centered and God inspired, does include the human element: you and me. And it should stir, inspire, and spring forth from us TOWARD the Lord, and as such, can be described as an experience.
Big Idea: I get the most out of worship when I bring together 3 distinct elements to form an exceptionally strong—or perfect—worship experience.
Read: Psalm 26:6-8, 12
Ps 26:6 I wash my hands in innocence,and go about your altar, O LORD, Ps 26:7 proclaiming aloud your praise
and telling of all your wonderful deeds.Ps 26:8 I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your glory dwells.
Ps 26:12 My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.
Transition: The first element does look inward, as we examine our part in
1. Private Preparation
. . . for unhindered Worship
v. 6
Ps 26:6 I wash my hands in innocence,and go about your altar, O LORD,
Making Yourself Ready and Acceptable to worship
“wash my hands:” in the VERY LEAST, a ceremonial cleansing, but of course, in this Psalm, he undoubtedly means it goes deeper
• David has already laid out how he strives to walk in God’s ways, how his mind and heart are devoted to God.
• He precedes our verses today, with a statement on how he won’t participate in the habits and schemes of the wicked
o A man (Ron Wiley) who won’t be commissioner of a Fantasy Football league because of all it entails.
• The ceremonial cleansing of the priests followed what God wanted them to do
o Taught us the principle that God is Unique, Special, Holy. It reinforced that we are not perfect, holy on our own, to not take God and his grandness for commonplace.
“Go about your altar:”
• Where sacrifices were made.
o Preparations had to be made:
Find the animal without blemish
Take something from yours and give it to the Lord
Take something that cost you
o Consider what the offering/sacrifice represented:
Sin: holding on to the head while it was sacrificed—powerful reminder of the price of our sin
Peace offerings: Remembering all the good things God has done
Not only were you doing what God required, but think of how empty, or even hostile, worship would become if they didn’t take the time to engage their hearts and minds when they came to the temple.
• Didn’t just show up with nothing.
• And you couldn’t show up with SOMETHING if it meant nothing
o To obey is better than sacrifice:
o Jesus focused on coming to worship with the right motivation
Not doing it for others (blowing trumpets to be seen and acknowledged)
Instead, highlighting a poor woman who gave 2 “mites” for an offering
What kinds of will help US be ready and acceptable: to prepare for worship?:
• Walk before the Lord all week long, putting into practice the disciplines we have been talking about the last couple of weeks
Dan Kimball, in “Emerging Worship” contrasted what church ISN’T, with what church IS:
Isn’t Is
The weekend meeting where a sermon is delievered and some songs are sung Groups of disiples meeting in homes and other smaller settings throughout the week who may also gather in a larger meeting to wrship together on Sunday
Christians who go to a weekend meeting to get their religious goods and services The worshipers of a local body on a mission together
Christians who go to “church” on weekends to get their inspiration and feeding for the week The people of God who are passionately dependent upon God in worship and prayer all week long
Christians who ask “What does this church have to offer me?” Disciples of Jesus who ask: “how can I contribute and serve this local body in its mission
A place where Christian go to have the pastors to “spiritual things for them A community where the pastors and leaders equip the people for the mission and to serve one another
A place to bring your children and teenagers for their spiritual lessons while you receive your sermona dn sing a few songs A community where leaders help train you to teach your children the ways of God and incorporate children and youth in to the community so they aren’t isolated.
The big point about this contrasting “Is/Isn’t” is to show that there is much more that goes on to making us a worshipping people than just showing up on Sunday. We are to live our lives EACH day in service--worship of the king, and preparing ourselves to be people who have a well to draw from than just showing up cold on Sunday, expecting something to happen.
Preparation is important for the worshipper. It is not something we just turn ON
So that he could praise . .. .Professor Edward Tesh, a very mild, gentle, but devoted student and professor of God’s word at Lincoln says preparation—making ourselves holy and ready, “wash our hands in innocence is purposive: only one with clean hands could successfully resound in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.
Lift holy hands in prayery . . .
• Watch our Relationships
Not just who influences us, but HOW we relate, to “God’s family” and outsiders
Matthew: therefore, if you are at the altar . . .. go. Take care of this matter that hinders . . .
How many times do we do that? Is it something we should focus on?
PREPARATION
• Laying out clothes the night before, etc, so you aren’t so rushed and irritated and sin on the way to church. Angie read things along this line in women’s books.
• Filling your mind and heart with things of God
o Put on Worship music throughout the week and Sunday morning
I did at workout yesterday
o Be talking with your children during the week, reading from the Bible
He wants to make sure he is in the right place to worship the Lord.
Song: give us clean hands, give us pure hearts, let us not lift our soul to another . . . God let us be a generation that seeks, seeks your face oh God of Jacob.
Transition: The second element looks upward, as we focus our attention and affections on a
2. Divine Destination
. . . for God inspired Worship
and go about your altar, O LORD, Ps 26:7 proclaiming aloud your praiseand telling of all your wonderful deeds.Ps 26:8 I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your glory dwells.
Ps 26:12 My feet stand on level ground;
in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.
Everything is God oriented:
I was really drawn to this verse, 8. I love your house:
8 The psalmist’s concern with integrity, acts of devotion, and words of praise flows out of a heart filled with love for the Lord and for God’s house. It is motivated by a zeal for the Lord. A.A. Anderson (1:217) rightly observes that the OT is reluctant in expressing love to God in a direct way. The psalmist says that he loves the Lord by declaring his love for the house of the Lord.
We know where his heart was at. Like my son Dylan:
Dylan makes it plain when he likes something: I like-a Tom’s Truck, Daddy! I like-a Daddy’s red car (8 times before we make it 1 ½ blocks outta the ‘hood.) I like-a juice/this food/church. I don’t like the Y. “That’s fun, daddy, that’s fun!”
Love your House:
But "the house" consists of more than brick and mortar: the Holy One of Israel lives in the midst of his people. He made his "glory" to dwell among his people (Exod 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:11).
“The remembrance of God’s glory had associations of his "wonderful deeds" (v.7) on behalf of his people. The glory of the Lord had protected and guided the people of God in the past. The psalmist thus finds comfort in his reflections on God’s presence and glory. He is transported out of his misery to a new height, being filled with joy and love for his God.
In God’s house was where the Psalmist thought of God, and it represented God’s dwellibng and acting among his people
Sometimes we equate the temple with the church building, but it is not so
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (NIV).God is indeed present among men and women!
Jesus would build a new temple among his people (Eph 2:19–22; Rev 21:3).
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
We have God’s presence right here among us!
God is in US (or can be) which makes our weekly living and “preparation” all the more important
What significance is there for us?
God’s presence in our lives mean we have daily opportunity to encounter and experience him:
WORD
DAILY DETAILS
PRAYER
DIRECTION
STRENGTH
Transition: the third element looks outward, as we openly profess God’s praises in
3. Public Proclamation
. . . for God-honoring, faith-enhancing Worship
Ps 26:7 proclaiming aloud your praise
and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.
I Don’t Want to Go to Church Today
I Don’t Want to Go to Church Today
Early one Sunday morning, a wife went in to wake up her husband.
"Wake up, honey. It’s time to go to church!"
"I don’t want to go," complained the husband.
"Give me two reasons why you don’t want to go."
"Well, none of the members listen when I talk, and the elders are mean to me! You give me two reasons why I should go to church."
"Well, for one, it is the right thing to do. And for another, you’re the PREACHER!"
God has been at work and we need to share it! We should WANT to share it!
Early Christian worship:
Word of God service, influenced by synagogue worship: scripture reading, both OT and NT, preaching, prayers, dominated by praise and thanks concluded the service as all of the worshippers said “Amen.” (Gaddy xx)
Luther tried to reemphasize the “priesthood of all believers” who were to offer of sacrifice of praise and confess belief openly.
M. Robert Mullholland, Jr., Invitation to a Journey:
“When we don’t feel like worshiping, the community should carry us along in its worship. When we can’t seem to pray, community prayer should enfold us. When the Scripture seems to closed to us, the community should keep on reading, affirming and incarnating it around us.”
Conclusion
It is common today, because we focus on a “me-centered” experience, vs. a God inspired experience, that we often look to external means for satisfying worship.
Worship wars over method:
Churches split
People pour in much of the church’s efforts into the hour or two of public worship (and thereby create the expectation that THIS is the key moment for us)
“Nearby Church” (Memorial) has three distinct worship services that are separated by style.
I acknowledge that method does help us “worship” or “get in the mood” for worship, because we tend to gravitate toward that which we know, and feel comfortable with, and have grown to appreciate.
There are certain styles I like (although I am pretty flexible in method, always have been) and seem to evoke my expression of praise and worship to the Lord, better than others.
And it does us well to pay attention to that to some degree.
My contention is that has more to do with our weakness and need for comfort and familiarity, than it does with a “true worship” being tied to a particular method.
When we have these three elements present:
1. Private Preparation
2. Divine Destination
3. Public Proclamation
We will form an exceptionally strong—or perfect—worship experience.
If we leave any one of those out, we will weaken the effect of our worship
1. Private Preparation
Worship will be meaningless, hindered, unacceptable, weak, and a façade. Our worship will mean nothing/little to us or to God
2. Divine Destination
Worship will become idolatrous and self-centered as our focus will be taken off of our true prize: God, and instead be put on ourselves, others, or things: idolatry.
3. Public Proclamation
Worship will remain private, robbing God of honor, and forgoing a chance to encourage and enhance the faith of the assembly
