Nov. 27, 2022

Living by Faith III — Worship (27 November 2022)

Introduction - In this series we have been looking at some of the dynamics of the Christian life involved with living by faith, as contrasted to living by sight.  Worship is an important part of what a person of faith does.  When we first get saved, we think mainly about what we need from God and how we can get it from Him.  This is because we usually seek God because we are driven by some kind of crisis. When the crisis is solved, we quickly go back to the status quo, pursuing mainly our own self interests again until the next crisis occurs.  Many Christians remain on this plateau, never progressing much beyond seeking help for each successive crisis.  A new stage of spiritual growth occurs when we discover the blessing and importance of giving something to God.  This desire to give something to God is what we call worship, in its simplest sense.  

Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect..  It is the way to worship God.  NLT

Maybe the most common misconception about worship is that it is mostly the act of singing.  Certainly, singing is something we do to express ourselves to God in certain settings, like a church meeting (Matthew 26:30), or a jail cell (Acts 16:25) but the concept is much larger than merely singing.  

For all of us, we understand life mostly by what we do with our bodies. We understand blessings mainly through what our bodies perceive as good things done to it. We give gifts to one another at Christmas.  These all have benefit to the body and by extension, our mind (soul).  For examples, new clothes keep us warm, a dinner gift card feeds us, a gift of money pays our heat bill, the words on the Christmas card make us happy for hours, etc.  We don’t give things to each other which would cause harm.  Our lives are lived out almost completely dedicated to our own needs and interests and the similar needs of the other people we know.  By contrast, we understand almost nothing about the spirit, either human or Holy.   We don’t understand that God has feelings.  He really does!  We think that because He is omnipotent and omniscient, He does not have needs.  Consequently, truly giving Him time and attention with our bodies and minds is one of the lowest priorities we have!  So, Paul counsels us to be transformed, to change our thinking, and to become the worshippers in Romans 12:1 by giving our bodies and minds to be consumed by His interests as opposed to ours, focusing on His needs, not ours.  

Here’s a concrete example of what one facet of worshipping God may involve:

Ephesians 5:25, 32-33 …love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her… 32This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.  32 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. NLT

Every one of us responds to love.  God gives it freely to us.  In fact, He is love.  If you listen, he is giving to His bride, the church (this includes you) a constant, one-dimensional message that is uplifting and positive.  It is well known that women need this speech in the form of affection.  Men need it in the form of admiration.  If the analogy Paul wrote about in this verse is true, the flow of love is not just from Christ to us, but from us to Him as well. Jesus, then, needs admiration from us!  This admiration involves, at the very least, compliments for His superior wisdom, knowledge, attitude of good will toward us, strength, power, and thanks for what He has already done.  

Conclusion - We must explore worship much deeper than today’s reintroduction to this familiar topic allows.  Next week, the differences between how men and women worship God, how obedience is involved, the place of the Old Testament examples of worship, the New Testament examples of it, the place of music, the church’s present practice of it and the goodness of God all need to be examined.  Here’s one small challenge: concerning the giving of thanks, next week we’ll look at one of the most God-pleasing ways you can do it.  Can you guess what it is?