If it’s important to Jesus, It’s IMPORTANT!

Many times our first instincts in a crisis are not the best reaction. For instance, let’s say you are standing carelessly close to a campfire and your pants catch on fire: What might your first reaction be? Running like a starving cheetah after a slow Big Mac? Maybe. But this reaction would not be characterized as the best course of action. Having the composure to remember “Stop, drop, and roll,” takes conditioning. We might even have to go through other catchphrases before we get to the right one. “Feed a cold starve a fever. Refrigerate after opening. No I think it is the “Stop-drop-and roll thing.”

One of the things that I find most fascinating about the life of Jesus is how he reacted in situations. The things that he did and said were often astonishing, and were rarely, if ever, the kind of responses that ANYONE else would have had. Jesus is completely unique in this way also. Take for instance the story of Satan’s temptation of Jesus.

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” (Luke 4: 5-8)

There are many ways Jesus could have responded in this situation. He could have reacted by telling Satan that he could not give him anything that he did not already have. He could have told Satan about the dim future that Satan is promised in the Book of Revelation. But in each of the temptations that Jesus faced, he responded with the use of scriptures. In this instance, He chose a command from Deuteronomy 6:13: Worship the Lord Your God and serve Him Only. To Jesus, the commandment to Worship the Lord your God, was important.

It is reported that Ronald Reagan respected the Oval Office in the White House so much that He made it a policy to never enter this room without a suit and tie on. Could he have worn cutoff shorts and a tank top? He was the president. He could have worn whatever he wanted in there. He outranked everyone else. But to Reagan, the presidency was serious. The Oval Office was a place of respect and dignity. How would you dress if Reagan invited you to join him in the Oval Office? Probably you would deduce that if the President of the United States dresses up to go in this room, I should maybe choose my very best outfit.

Philippians 2:9 says that God gave Jesus a name that is above every name. Jesus outranked everyone else, too. But he thought worshiping God to be of utmost importance. If worship is important to the Jesus Christ: the Son of God, the Messiah, God incarnate, IT IS IMPORTANT!!

God is looking for worshipers

If  you picked up a Bible and started reading it from the beginning, it would not take you long to get to what I think are two of the most heartbreaking verses of the entire Bible. The verses I am talking about are found in the third chapter of the bible. The first two chapters are filled with how God created the heavens and earth.  All of the amazement and optimism that we find in reading about creation set us up for a big disappointment or “fall” in chapter 3 of Genesis. In chapter 3 we are told of the first sin and the fall of man. Because of this one sin, every person to be born throughout history would inherit sin and a sinful nature. Not very happy stuff. In fact this chapter has been the source of much mourning throughout man’s history.

Yet the most heartbreaking verses in chapter 3 of Genesis, in my estimation are these, Toward the evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees.  The Lord God called to Adam, “Where are You?” (Genesis 3:8-9)Yes, the account of sin and its consequences entering into the world is unspeakably sad, but to me the fact that God came to fellowship with Adam, even after Adam’s sin, is heartbreaking. God new about the sin, he new where Adam and his wife were hiding, yet he sought them. Even before they sought reconciliation with God, He looked for them. It grieves me to think that my sin separated me from fellowship with God, and that loss of fellowship grieved God. God desires the fellowship with me. This kind of love is hard for us to conceive of. In spite of how undeserving we are, God values fellowship with us. In fact that is why he paid such a high price to be reconciled with us.

The Bible says that God is still looking for us. Yet a time is coming and has now come whe the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24) God is looking for worshipers, for people who value him more than anything else that the world has to offer.  If God seeks worshipers on a day other than Sunday, are we easy to find, or are we hiding behind bushes like Adam and Eve.

One forgotten icon of our country is Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam was once one of the most recognizable figures in our country. His motto was “I want you.” When people were reminded that their country wanted them, personally, to fight for freedom and the American way, they responded. How much more should we respond to the fact that God is searching for worshipers. He is looking for me and you. Let us not be difficult to find.

Worship is a lifestyle not an event.

 It is easy for us to hear terms such as worship service or worship center, and mistakenly think that worship is some kind of scheduled event that we should regularly attend. This view of worship does not match up well with the biblical view of worship.

Romans 12:1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual (or reasonable) act of worship.

I love this verse of scripture. There are several striking things about this verse. For one, it is amazing to me that offering our bodies as living sacrifices is not said to be anything extraordinary. What seems at first to be a response of a super-saint is described as being a reasonable response to God’s mercy. In other words when we see what God has done in loving us, even though we do not deserve His love, our lives become a living expression of worship.

Oswald Chambers said, “Stand true to God and he will bring out His truth in a way that will make your life an expression of worship.

Wow, Our lives are an expression of worship. Worship is not something that we go to or attend. It is the reasonable response of offering our lives to God because of His mercy.

Psalm 113:3 instructs us to praise the Lord from East to West, from Dusk to Dawn. In The Purpose Driven Life, rick Warren tells us Worship is not a part of your life; it is your life.

I think that corporate worship services are vital to us. I think that Christians will be part of corporate worship throughout eternity. For corporate worship services to be meaningful, they should be an overflow and expression of our natural daily worshipful lives.

We should worship God together

A few nights ago, I was watching the countdown for the New Year with my children. This was the first year that they were allowed to stay up to ring in the New Year. Almost every network that carries a New Year’s Eve countdown, has correspondents in Times Square in New York City.  More than a million people flood this area each New Year’s eve to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.  One of the main reasons for the growth of this particular tradition is because it is more fun to celebrate with others. In other words the reason why so many people come to Times Square on New Year’s eve  is that so many people will be there. The crowd is drawn by the crowd. Humans love to celebrate together.

 This is the reason that sports franchises put together a parade to honor championship teams, and the reason why conquering armies, and astronauts returning from space, get the same treatment. This human desire to celebrate together applies to our worship, also. God instructs us to worship Him together, “Sing Praise to the Lord, Sing to the Lord a new song, sing His praises in the assembly of the faithful.” (Psalm 149:1)

 John Piper said, “If the Deepest and Highest joys could be had in private, the songs of Heaven would be described as a solo here and a solo there instead of  million member choirs. So we should worship together, not just in private.

Someone might say that “they can can worship God by themselves better than they can corporately.” We can, and should, worship God continually. This means when we are alone AND when we are with others. It would be a mistake to have a disinterest for corporate worship because of a preference for personal worshipful moments with God. If these private and personal moments are genuine encounters with God, then they would lead to an eagerness to worship with others. What God says in His word is never different from how leads us in personal experiences. This is how we know we are experiencing God-moments; they reflect what God says in His word. He commands us to worship together. Every moment that we worship God should lead to an excitement to worship Him with others. After all, we will be worshipping God together in Heaven for a long time.