Worship

Jesus had many conversations with many different kinds of people. And we can learn much from a careful look at each of them. One conversation that He had was with an unnamed woman from Samaria, a conversation that started because Jesus was thirsty. As a part of that conversation Jesus said something that I’m pretty sure you’ve all heard before.

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4.23–24

Now, as with all of Jesus’ statements, there is so much going on here. Here’s just one item. The Father seeks worshipers. But not just any worshipers. He seeks a certain kind of worshipers, those who worship Him in spirit and truth. These Jesus calls ‘true worshipers’. Now, whatever else you might draw from Jesus’ words, this much is clear. Worship, the right kind of worship, is important to the Father. And that means that it is to be important to you.

This morning we’re going to take a look at worship. I don’t think that the Spirit guided me to this topic because there are large problems among us when it comes to worship. I rather think the Spirit wants me to talk to you about worship because we can always go deeper. There is more to understand and more to enjoy. And we work at going deeper so that we can do better at giving to the Father what He desires so much: true worship.

So, we start where we usually start - with a definition. What is worship? Here’s a basic definition that we can start with. Worship is a time when we meet with God so that we can have a conversation with Him.

Now, why do I define worship in this way? I do it because of what the Scripture says. Let’s start with something from a Psalm.

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving… Psalm 95.1,2

Did you hear it? ‘Let us come into his presence…’

Here’s another place where the same notion shows up.

​Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Psalm 100.2

Sunday worship is not that time when we get together with each other and maybe God will join us. No. He calls us into His presence so that we can be with Him as we worship Him.

That’s about the first part of my definition. Worship is a time when we meet with God.

Now, for the second part. What do we do when we meet with Him? I called it a conversation. What does that mean? Well, when we meet with God, He speaks to us. And then, we respond to Him with our own speaking. It’s, you know, like any other conversation.

In worship, God speaks, and He does that by His Word, the Scriptures. God still speaks. Now, it’s important that you are clear on what I am pushing back against. It’s the notion that the Bible is simply a book. Now, those thinking in this way will be clear to say that it’s an important book, an inspired book, a book filled with truth. But still, it’s just a book. And that means that we are to interact with it as a book. We read or hear something from the book and we think, ‘Hmm, that’s interesting’. It becomes an intellectual exercise: our minds interact with some words written down in a book, words that we need to figure out.

But when I say that the Bible is more than just a book, when I say that God still speaks by this book, it has a completely different feel.

So, who’s right? Me or them?

Well, consider something from Hebrews, that I’m sure many of you have heard before.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4.12

What does it mean that the word of God is ‘living and active’? One thing that it means is that it’s more than just a book. It does stuff, stuff like ‘piercing the division of soul and of spirit’. God’s Word is not just some words in a book. It’s alive. God still speaks. And when He speaks things happen. Remember those early words of His, ‘Let there be light’.

With that in mind, notice how the author of Hebrews refers to something in one of the Psalms, something written centuries before he was born.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion… Hebrews 3.7-8

Did you catch it? Did you note the grammar? It’s not, as the Holy Spirit said or wrote or anything in the past tense. It’s ‘as the Holy Spirit says…’ Present tense. The Spirit of God still speaks through the Word. It’s not just a book.

So, back to that definition. Worship is a time when we meet with God so that we can have a conversation with Him. He speaks by His Word, and we respond to Him with our words.

That basic idea is reflected in how we have structured our Sunday worship. It’s a conversation. God speaks, and we respond.

So, for one example, He speaks His truth to us to graciously point out our sin: The Reading of the Law of God. We respond to what He says with our Prayer of Confession. But that’s not the end of it. God responds to our words of confession with His own words of forgiveness and blessing, The Declaration of Pardon. We respond to those words of His with our words, a hymn that is focused on some aspect of the Gospel that makes His pardon possible. And on it goes.

Worship is meeting with God to have a conversation with Him.

Our worship includes our response of thanks and praise to God for what He does in our lives. Listen to some Psalms.

O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. Psalm 59.17

Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you. Psalm 71.6

I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. Psalm 71.22–23

These are just a few examples of praising God for what He has done and continues to do in the lives of His people, us.

When we declare our praise for these things, we are not just expressing our wonder at God’s actions. We are also expressing our profound dependence on Him. When we sing His praises, we are acknowledging that we are utterly undone without His grace and love.

So, in response to God’s grace granted to us by the Gospel, we sing,

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!

Or

Man of Sorrows! What a name for the Son of God who came ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Or some other hymn.

Think about it. Where would we be if Jesus had never come? What would our lives be like without being changed by His grace? I actually think that that is a really good question for each of you to spend a little time on. What would be different about you if there never was a Jesus? But there is a Jesus. He has come. He has rescued us and He continues to rescue us. And He does all of that without any help from us. It only makes sense for us to respond to His words expressing the Gospel with our words expressing our praise.

Now, let’s deal with the sermon. How does a sermon fit into this idea of a conversation with God? How is listening to a sermon worship? It is too easy to think of the sermon as the time for a little education. We’ve done our worshiping, which in too many churches means that we’ve spent some time singing. Now it’s time to hear a good lecture on being a Christian, right? Wrong! Hearing the Word preached is also an act of worship. Remember, God speaks through His Word. And His Word is filled with promises, commands, warnings about the dangers of this life, wisdom to embrace and the contrary foolishness to avoid, and lots of other things. Hearing the Word preached is an act of worship because it is an act of submission to God. So, when some promise of the Gospel is explained, you express your submission by trusting God and believing that promise. That is an act of worship in the context of your conversation with Him. When some bit of Scripture is about some sin that you commit along with a call to repent of that sin, and you acknowledge that sin and do repent of it, what is that but an expression of worship. It’s saying, ‘You are God, and I am not. You say to repent, and I submit to You by expressing my desire to do exactly that.’ This is the kind of thing that you do during the silence after the sermon as well as much later.

So, a sermon is not a Bible lesson. It is to be a means that God uses to speak His Word to His people during His conversation with them so that they will submit to Him and be built up in the faith. Submission to God is an act of worship.

Here’s another perspective on worship that I think is really helpful. Since worship is time you spend with your God, conversing with Him and He with you, it becomes a time for the friendship that you and He have to grow.

Friendships develop as friends get to know each other better. God doesn’t need to get to know you better, but you need to get to know Him better. And that happens when He and you spend time together conversing. Your friendship grows. Worship is a time to build your friendship with God.

Here’s something that really is quite important, something that needs to be stressed these days. Worship is, first and foremost, for God’s benefit. It’s a time for God to receive the praises and thanks and expressions of submission that His people owe to Him. It’s important for me to say this because, in too many churches, the primary goal of weekly worship isn’t about pleasing God. It isn’t even about meeting with Him to have a conversation. The focus is on the people who attend. Will they like it? Will they feel that they got something out of it? The goal is to please them. How foolish! How evil!

To be sure, there are benefits that true worshipers receive by worshiping God. But that’s not the first goal of worship. No, the first goal is to please God. We come and meet with Him in order to give to Him. Whatever benefits we receive are of secondary importance.

So, something from another Psalm.

Give unto the Lord glory and strength.

Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29.1-2 [NKJV]

We worship God, first of all, in order to give to Him.

And that’s another reason to be at worship every week. It’s not about you. It’s about Him.

Now, I presented these thoughts on worship in terms of what is to happen on Sunday morning. I think that it is most helpful for you to hear them in terms of that time. But you should also hear them in terms of other times. You should take what I’ve said and apply it to your personal times of Bible reading and prayer. That’s also a time for you to meet with God in order to have a conversation with Him. Seeing it that way will affect how you understand what you are doing. It really is a conversation. And you should also apply what I’ve said to your family times of Bible reading and prayer.

Now remember, I get the sermon first. So, as I’ve considered this definition of worship as conversation, I’ve tweaked some things about my daily time of Bible reading and prayer. Maybe you need to do that also.

Let me pull this all together. At this point I could talk about how seeing worship in this way leads to a different feel. Reading your Bible at home becomes more than searching out new information that you’re supposed to know. It’s listening to God. And seeing your personal worship this way also helps you to see that your prayers are your part of a conversation. And all of this also affects your expectations for what happens on a Sunday morning. I could talk about that.

All of that is important. But more important than any of those things is this. The Father is seeking worshipers. He is seeking a certain kind of worshipers. He is seeking true worshipers. And He is very serious about that.

Listen to what God has to say about our worship.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20.4–6

The Father is very serious about worship, about true worship. He has a zeal about it, a zeal that He will follow through on. So, is there anything more important than worship? I think that it’s safe to say that the Father’s answer to that question is a very clear, ‘No!’ Wandering away from a biblical understanding and thus practice of worship will be very dangerous. The Father sees what’s going on. And He will act. He will visit iniquity.

But understanding the Father’s zeal about worship can also be so very encouraging. We still have lots to know and to put into practice when it comes to biblical worship. But what will God do when He sees Christians like you working at that; not perfect but working at it? He will be pleased with you. Isn’t that what He said?

showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

And that includes commandments about worship. There will be blessing. Remember, God still does stuff. So, let me encourage you to work on your understanding and practice of worship. Don’t be in a rush to figure it all out. But spend some time say, thinking through what it means that worship is a conversation with God. Pray for insight. As you do that, the Father will see, and He will bless your efforts.