Sunday, July 16, 2006
Elements of True Worship
Introduction:
This summer during our “United in Worship” series, we have been exploring what it truly means to worship. Tonight I’ll be talking about 4 key elements of true worship, to please the Lord and have a deeper relationship with Him.
(Isaiah 6:1-5)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
1) RECOGNITION
The first important element of worship is to stop and truly recognize who He is and how awesome and amazing He is. We must enter His presence with awe, reverence, and deep respect. Sometimes though, there are things in our lives that block our recognition of God. Sometimes we allow idols (people, things, etc.) to block our view of God, to where we don’t see Him as He truly is – it’s like a spiritual eclipse. For the people at the time of Isaiah, King Uzziah had been put on such a pedestal, that he blocked many people’s view of God. It’s no coincidence that it wasn’t until the year that King Uzziah died, that Isaiah could finally “see the Lord.” The idol had to get out of the way first. There are things in our lives that need to be knocked down off their pedestals so that the Lord can have His rightful place in the spotlight in our lives. For me, I had always found my security and identity in two things – my family and my academic success. Thus it’s no surprise that it wasn’t until college that I truly “saw the Lord” for who He is – when I was away from my family and couldn’t depend on them instead of God anymore, and after my grades took a beating during my first quarter of classes and I was humbled academically. Stop and think about it – can you “see the Lord” clearly tonight in your life in order to truly worship Him in His full glory, or is there something or somebody causing an eclipse, that you are placing more value in than Him?
2) CONFESSION
The second key element of true worship that we get from this passage is confession. Like Isaiah, when we come into the presence of the Lord for true worship, we become acutely aware of just how dirty and undeserving we are, and the proper response is confession. Unconfessed sin is a serious block to worship. We must stop and get things right with God before we can truly and freely worship. Confession is a major element of worship. Don’t let unconfessed sins stop you from entering the presence of the Lord and communing with Him. There’s no reason to, because He has promised to forgive your sins when you come to Him and openly confess and repent.
3) RECONCILIATION
(Matthew 5:21-24)
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, everyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
That is truly deep – notice that it doesn’t say “when you have something against your brother”, it says when “your brother has something against YOU”! That means you are called to be a peacemaker and an agent of reconciliation, even if it’s not you who had done anything wrong. You are called to make the first move towards reconciliation, even as a priority over offering your praises to God. How can you love God, who you can’t see, if you can’t even get along with your brother, who you can see? I think reconciliation is one of the most overlooked aspects of worship, because it makes us uncomfortable and face some of the deepest, darkest areas in our hearts. But let’s be clear, grudges and conflicts with our brothers and sisters put a block on our worship. The Lord does not even want to hear our worship until we get things right with our neighbors. It’s so important to take quality time before worship, not only to get things right with God, but to get things right with our brothers and sisters.
4) ACTION
(Isaiah 6:6-8)
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send” And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
The reaction (to God in worship) should be ACTION! Notice that Isaiah didn’t just give lip service to the Lord by recognizing who He was and confessing His sin and being in awe – Isaiah volunteers to take action, and to go spread God’s Word to the people. The final element of worship is what should come as a result of true worship, as a result of spending quality time in the presence of God lifting up His name – OBEDIENCE. It’s not enough to sing about God, He calls us to take ACTION and LIVE for Him. True worship has to do with what you do even after you leave the church building – it’s what takes place when the music stops. It’s easy to sing about God, but if you truly love Him you will obey His commands and live the life you sing about. And that takes us back to Romans 12:1, our theme for the summer, which reminds us that offering our lives as a living sacrifice to God is our spiritual act of worship, in view of God’s mercy and who He is and how good He’s been to us. Our response to worship should be to go out and spread the Good News! “Here we are – send us!!!” It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how unworthy you feel, when you come before the Lord and confess, He forgives you, clean you up, and sends you out towards your calling. I want to challenge you to engage in TRUE WORSHIP tonight and always… even after the music stops…
This summer during our “United in Worship” series, we have been exploring what it truly means to worship. Tonight I’ll be talking about 4 key elements of true worship, to please the Lord and have a deeper relationship with Him.
(Isaiah 6:1-5)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
1) RECOGNITION
The first important element of worship is to stop and truly recognize who He is and how awesome and amazing He is. We must enter His presence with awe, reverence, and deep respect. Sometimes though, there are things in our lives that block our recognition of God. Sometimes we allow idols (people, things, etc.) to block our view of God, to where we don’t see Him as He truly is – it’s like a spiritual eclipse. For the people at the time of Isaiah, King Uzziah had been put on such a pedestal, that he blocked many people’s view of God. It’s no coincidence that it wasn’t until the year that King Uzziah died, that Isaiah could finally “see the Lord.” The idol had to get out of the way first. There are things in our lives that need to be knocked down off their pedestals so that the Lord can have His rightful place in the spotlight in our lives. For me, I had always found my security and identity in two things – my family and my academic success. Thus it’s no surprise that it wasn’t until college that I truly “saw the Lord” for who He is – when I was away from my family and couldn’t depend on them instead of God anymore, and after my grades took a beating during my first quarter of classes and I was humbled academically. Stop and think about it – can you “see the Lord” clearly tonight in your life in order to truly worship Him in His full glory, or is there something or somebody causing an eclipse, that you are placing more value in than Him?
2) CONFESSION
The second key element of true worship that we get from this passage is confession. Like Isaiah, when we come into the presence of the Lord for true worship, we become acutely aware of just how dirty and undeserving we are, and the proper response is confession. Unconfessed sin is a serious block to worship. We must stop and get things right with God before we can truly and freely worship. Confession is a major element of worship. Don’t let unconfessed sins stop you from entering the presence of the Lord and communing with Him. There’s no reason to, because He has promised to forgive your sins when you come to Him and openly confess and repent.
3) RECONCILIATION
(Matthew 5:21-24)
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, everyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
That is truly deep – notice that it doesn’t say “when you have something against your brother”, it says when “your brother has something against YOU”! That means you are called to be a peacemaker and an agent of reconciliation, even if it’s not you who had done anything wrong. You are called to make the first move towards reconciliation, even as a priority over offering your praises to God. How can you love God, who you can’t see, if you can’t even get along with your brother, who you can see? I think reconciliation is one of the most overlooked aspects of worship, because it makes us uncomfortable and face some of the deepest, darkest areas in our hearts. But let’s be clear, grudges and conflicts with our brothers and sisters put a block on our worship. The Lord does not even want to hear our worship until we get things right with our neighbors. It’s so important to take quality time before worship, not only to get things right with God, but to get things right with our brothers and sisters.
4) ACTION
(Isaiah 6:6-8)
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send” And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
The reaction (to God in worship) should be ACTION! Notice that Isaiah didn’t just give lip service to the Lord by recognizing who He was and confessing His sin and being in awe – Isaiah volunteers to take action, and to go spread God’s Word to the people. The final element of worship is what should come as a result of true worship, as a result of spending quality time in the presence of God lifting up His name – OBEDIENCE. It’s not enough to sing about God, He calls us to take ACTION and LIVE for Him. True worship has to do with what you do even after you leave the church building – it’s what takes place when the music stops. It’s easy to sing about God, but if you truly love Him you will obey His commands and live the life you sing about. And that takes us back to Romans 12:1, our theme for the summer, which reminds us that offering our lives as a living sacrifice to God is our spiritual act of worship, in view of God’s mercy and who He is and how good He’s been to us. Our response to worship should be to go out and spread the Good News! “Here we are – send us!!!” It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how unworthy you feel, when you come before the Lord and confess, He forgives you, clean you up, and sends you out towards your calling. I want to challenge you to engage in TRUE WORSHIP tonight and always… even after the music stops…
