Public Worship – Part Two
Public Worship – Part Two
John 4:23
New International Version (NIV)
“The hour is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. ”
Number Four –
Worshiping is about participating in the supernatural life and activity of God.
Sometimes people will ask me if I believe that Jesus is really present in Holy Communion. For those of you who do not know what I mean, some Christians believe that communion is only a symbol of something Jesus did a long time ago. Other Christians, including me, believe that Jesus is present in communion in a real way. I believe this because I believe that Jesus is really present in worship. Yes, there is a sense in which Jesus is always with his people. Yet, the Psalms say that God inhabits the praise of his people. I take that to mean that God is somehow present in worship in a more significant way. I use that term because the Old Testament describes the presence of God’s glory with a word that means both important and heavy. God is present in a more robust and meaningful way when his people gather for worship. I cannot fully explain the difference, but Jesus is the one who calls our attention to the difference by saying, “Where two or three gather in my name, I will be with them.” He didn’t explain how it is that he would be more present. He only said that he would be present in a different and more significant way when the community of faith gathered in his name.
We also need acts of private worship in our lives, but private worship can never take the place of corporate worship. Our encounter with God is heightened and intensified by gathering with other believers.
Number Five –
Worship is an act that glorifies God
and sanctifies humanity.
Let me start by saying that God doesn’t need our worship. He desires it, but would not be incomplete without it. We, on the other hand, genuinely need to worship God. Something happens within us when we acknowledge that God is central to all of life and creation. We need worship because we need to express certain truths about God to God. There is no one like God. There is no one great like God. And, we need to acknowledge that – not for God’s sake, but our own sake.
When we glorify God, a deep work of transformation takes place within us. Worshiping God is, in part, about ordering our minds rightly. When we put things in their rightful places, each piece fits, and each piece becomes a part of a coherent whole.
Look at the change that comes over the Samaritan woman as she begins giving glory to Jesus. The very act of glorifying transforms her. Her life begins to shine with spiritual radiance as she honors her creator.
Number Six-
Worship is both a sacrifice and a bounden duty.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your and proper worship. Do not conform 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.” – Romans 12:1-2
People often ask me, what will it cost me to follow Jesus? The only truthful answer I can give is that it will cost you everything. God wants a complete sacrifice and offering. Nothing short of a full surrender will satisfy God or you. No one is more miserable than someone who has surrendered some. The Korean War is such a disturbing chapter in world history because it ended in a truce and not in peace or victory. Nothing was resolved.
Isaac Watts, in his hymn, When I Survey The Wondrous Cross, closes with these marvelous words, “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
Look one more time, at our story. When the woman first entered into conversation with Jesus, the focus was on the cultural and ethnic differences between Jews and Samaritans. This concern is the centerpiece of their conversation at first. To receive something better, she has to give up the argument with Jesus. A sacrifice is when we give up something precious in hopes of gaining something better. She does both.
Finally, there is a duty involved in the act of worship. I know that some of you may not like hearing that. Hopefully, duty is not the only factor motivating you to worship. Probably, on most Sundays, it is a love and passion for Jesus that gets you to church. But, on the days in which you are not feeling it, you still have to do it – just like you still have to be faithful to your spouse and responsible for your children, even when you don’t feel like it. You are still expected, even when you’re not feeling it. The good news is, the emotions will usually follow the actions.