The
Purpose Driven Life
Worship that pleases God
John 4:19-26
The Worship leader of First Church Big was having a problem. He never had a problem of putting together a worship service together to match the Pastor’s sermon but this Sunday he had met his match. He couldn’t decide what to do. All week he prayed and thought about all the choruses and hymns he knew and could not find one to go along with the Pastor’s sermon. Finally in desperation in the choir room he began asking the assembled choir. “I need your help. I try to match the worship music with the Pastor’s message and I have been stumped this week. Can you help me? The Pastor’s message this week is on the Biblical view of sex in marriage and for the life of me I cannot come up with even one hymn or chorus to go with his message. Any suggestions? It was quiet for a couple of minutes and then a small, elderly man in the back of the choir suggested we could sing, "Precious Memories!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The gods we worship write their names on our faces,
be sure of that. And a man will worship something —have no doubt about that, either.
He may think that his tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of his heart—but
it will out. That which dominates will determine his life and character. Therefore,
it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are
becoming.”
Gordon Dahl put it more succinctly
when he said, “Most [people] tend to worship their work, work at their play, and
play at their worship.”
In our gospel reading we encounter Jesus at Jacob’s Well in Nablus. Tired and thirsty he meets a local woman from Samaria and begins to gently expose her need of God’s forgiveness by asking her for a drink of water. A little defensive, she tries to engage Jesus in a debate about the best time, place and style for worship. "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." (John 4:19-20)
The
woman tried to engage Jesus in a debate about the differences between Samaritan
and Jewish worship. Jesus answer shows that external issues are really quite irrelevant.
"Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:21-25)
Jesus reveals that questions over where we worship are not as important as how and why we worship. Toward the end of the Book of Hebrews the writer explains, “Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him” (Hebrews 12:28 TEV). That is our objective this morning. To discover from these words of Jesus how to worship God in a way that will please him. We can observe from this passage that “the kind of worship that pleases God has four characteristics”:
1. God is pleased when our worship flows from being saved
2. God is pleased when our worship is scriptural
3. God is pleased when our worship is spiritual
4. God is pleased when our worship is sacrificial
1. God is pleased when our worship flows from being saved
“You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” (John 4:22)
Worship is linked to salvation. This is the most profound truth we can learn about
worship. Only those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour can truly
offer worship that is pleasing to God. Remember at this point the Samaritan woman
did not recognise Jesus as her Lord and Saviour so her worship was in ignorance.
Perplexed by Jesus’ reply, “The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called
Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." (John 4:25-26). Jesus
reveals himself to her. Amazed at his answers she runs back to her village to
tell everyone she has found the Messiah. The whole village returns and urges Jesus
to stay with them.
“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony… And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world." (John 4:39-42)
The Samaritans of that village worshipped no more in ignorance. It now sprang from thankfulness for who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Worship that pleases God springs from a heart that is saved and will lead others to salvation. We pray in Jesus name. We proclaim in Jesus name. And we do both when we praise in Jesus name. God is pleased when our worship flows from being saved.
2. God is pleased when our worship is scripturally accurate
“true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.” (John 4:23)
Worship that pleases God must be scripturally accurate not scripturally ignorant. Occasionally someone will say to me “I like to think of God as…” and then they go on to describe a god they have created in their own image that they worship. The bible has a word for this approach. Its called idolatry. Worship must be based on the truth of scripture. Jesus acknowledged that there are two kinds of worshippers - true worshippers and by implication - false worshippers. “true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”
“To
‘worship in truth’ means to worship God as he is truly revealed in the Bible.”
The best way to worship God, therefore, is to use scripture in worship. The Psalms,
for example, are a divinely inspired hymnbook without the tunes. Indeed our study
of the bible should not only feed our worship, it should also shape our view of
what true worship is. Our faith is based on God’s progressive revelation of himself.
That is what Jesus meant when he said “salvation is from the Jews”. The Jews were
intended to be a light to the Gentiles. But Jesus also predicted to the Samaritan
woman that the time had now come when it was no longer necessary to travel to
Jerusalem and enter the Temple or offer sacrifices to worship God.
Much
of our thinking about worship, however, is still shaped by obsolete Old Testament
concepts. Our churches seen as holy places, with altars and priests. That is why
it is so important that our understanding of worship focuses on the teaching of
Jesus and practices of the New Testament. If Jesus is your Lord and Saviour, your
body is now the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This means we can worship God anywhere.
No place is more holy than any other. If we limit worship to what happens in this
building, the minute you leave, you will leave your attitude of worship behind
like a crumpled-up news sheet.
So if we are to please God, our understanding of worship must be shaped by the
Bible. For God is pleased when our worship flows from being saved; God is pleased
when our worship is scripturally accurate.
3. God is pleased when our worship is spiritually authentic
“true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24)
“When
Jesus said we must ‘worship in spirit’ he wasn’t referring to the Holy Spirit,
but to your spirit.” That is to your innermost being. That is why only those
who have been born again and made alive by the Spirit can worship in a way that
pleases him. We are to worship with all our heart, with all our soul, with all
our mind. “God wants all of you.” He doesn’t just want part of your life on Sundays.
Jesus told us to give God, all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind
and all of our strength. Rick Warren insists, “God is not interested in half-hearted
commitment, partial obedience, and the leftovers of your time and money.”
Spiritual worship therefore engages the whole person including our emotions.
“God gave you emotions so you could worship him with deep feeling - but those
emotions must be genuine, not faked. God hates hypocrisy. He doesn’t want showmanship
or pretense or phoniness in worship. He wants your honest real love. We can worship
God imperfectly, but we cannot worship him insincerely.” Notice Jesus insists
““true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”
How
ironic then that worship seems to be the most divisive issue in many churches
today. “Christians often differ on the most appropriate or authentic way to express
praise to God,” but often “these arguments usually just reflect personality and
background differences.”
The Bible describes many different ways to praise God. These include, “confessing,
singing, shouting, standing in honour, kneeling, dancing, making a joyful noise,
testifying, playing musical instruments, and raising hands.” What is the best
style of worship? Do you want to know? Rick Warren suggests, “The best style of
worship is the one that most authentically represents your love for God, based
on the background and personality God gave you.”
In his book Sacred
Pathways, Gary Thomas observed that over 2000 years, Christians had used at
least nine different pathways to enjoy intimacy with God.
Naturalists are most inspired to love God out-of-doors in natural settings.
Sensates love God with the senses and appreciate beautiful worship services that involve their sight, taste, smell, and touch, not just their ears.
Traditionalists draw closer to God through rituals, liturgies, symbol and unchanging structures.
Ascetics prefer to love God in solitude and simplicity.
Activists love God through confronting evil, battling injustice, and working to make the world a better place.
Caregivers loves God by loving others and meeting their needs.
Enthusiasts love God with mystery and celebration. (The term 'enthusiast' is derived from a Greek root-word which means God-filled.)
Contemplatives love God through adoration.
Intellectuals
love God by studying with their minds.
Rick Warren observes, “There is
no ‘one-size-fits-all” approach to worship and friendship with God. One thing
is certain. You don’t bring glory to God by trying to be someone God never intended
you to be. God wants you to be yourself.” Eugene Peterson beautifully captures
the meaning of John 4:23 in his translation of the Message in this way,
“Its who you are and the way you live that counts before God … That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship.” (John 4:22-23 Message)
God is pleased when our worship flows from being saved; when our worship is scripturally accurate; and when our worship is spiritually authentic.
4. God is pleased when our worship is sacrificial and practical
“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ? They came out of the town and made their way towards him.” (John 4:28-30)
What the Samaritan woman did involved great sacrifice. Sacrifice to her pride, to her self-esteem, a risk to what ever reputation she still had. "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Sacrificial and also practical. Indeed Jesus gently rebukes his disciples when they return and points to the Samaritan woman returning with her neighbours, praising her actions.
“Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.” (John 4:35-36)
In our second reading from Romans 12 we similarly, “Therefore, 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 act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)
Why
does God also want our bodies? Why does Paul not say “offer your spirits”? Rick
Warren explains why. “Because without your body you can’t do anything on this
planet. In eternity you will receive a new, improved, upgraded body, but while
you are here on earth, God says, ‘Give me what you’ve got … When you praise God
even when you don’t feel like it, when you get out of bed to worship when you
are tired, or when you help others when you are worn out, you are offering a sacrifice
of worship to God” And that pleases God.
God is pleased when our worship flows from being saved; pleased when our worship is scriptural; pleased when our worship is spiritual; and pleased when our worship is sacrificial.
Matt Redman is a worship leader and song writer based near Brighton. About 6 years ago his pastor Mike Pilavachi did a teaching series on the theme of worship. This is how Mike explained what happened.
“With a spanking new building, a congregation wearing combat trousers, a PA system that cost thousands and links with the summer festivals, some might have thought that worship wise, a Church like Soul Survivor Watford had it sussed.
Over the years people have poured out their hearts to God through it, and there have been plenty of examples of great things happening as a result. However, in the autumn of ’96 we realised that something was ‘up’ with our worship. At first it was difficult to put our finger on the problem. On the surface everything was just fine; many of the musicians had worked out how to tune their instruments and the sound engineers were getting out of bed on time. Each service contained a block of songs that focused on the cross and gave people the chance to get down to business with God. To make this easier, the music was (nearly) up-to-date, the chairs had disappeared and the lights were low: what better atmosphere for young people to worship God?
Yet, we seemed to have lost the spark. We seemed to be going through the motions but I noticed that although we were singing the songs, our hearts were far from him. Was it Redman’s fault? I listened…he wasn’t singing any more duff notes than usual. Then it clicked; we had become connoisseurs of worship instead of participants of it. In our hearts we were giving the worship marks out of ten: “Not that song again”, “I can’t hear the bass”, “I like the way she sings”…We had made the band the performers of worship and ourselves the audience. We had forgotten that we are ALL the performers of worship and that God is the audience. We had forgotten that sacrifice is central to biblical worship. In the Old Testament, whenever the people of Israel gathered to worship, they sacrificed a lamb or other animal. In 2 Chronicles 7, when King Solomon and the people gathered to dedicate the new temple to the Lord, Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. Now that’s what I call a barbecue! The passage says that the glory of the Lord fell on the people and they prostrated themselves on the pavement and worshipped. In fact the presence of God was so tangible that, for a while, even the priests could not perform their duties.
We don’t need to sacrifice sheep and goats today and certainly no sacrifice on our part can earn God’s forgiveness or our salvation; the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross has done that for all time. Yet we ARE called to bring sacrifices in worship. We are called to offer our bodies as living sacrifices - this is OUR spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1). We are called to offer our sacrifice of praise.
We were challenged to ask ourselves individually, ‘When I come through the door of the church, what am I bringing as my contribution to the worship?’ The truth came to us: worship is not a spectator sport, it is not a product moulded by the taste of the consumers. It is not about what we can get out of it; it is all about God.
We needed to take drastic action. For a while, in order to truly learn this lesson, we banned the band. We sacked Redman!
Then we sat around in circles and said that if no one brought a sacrifice of praise, we would spend the meeting in silence. At the beginning, we virtually did! It was a very painful process. We were learning again not to rely on the music. After a while we began to have some very sweet times of worship. We all began to bring our prayers, our readings, our prophecies, our thanksgiving, our praises and our songs. Someone would start a song a cappella and we would all join in. Then someone else would take it on to another song. The excitement came back. We were not having Church; we were once again meeting with God. With all the comforts stripped away we worshipped from the heart.
When we had learnt our lesson, we brought the band back. It was at this point that Matt began to sing the song he had written out of this experience. I wept as we sang it for the first time. The words expressed exactly what was going on:”[i]
When
the music fades,
All is stripped away,
And I simply come.
Longing
just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart.
I’ll bring You more than a song.
For a song in itself is not what
You have required.
You search
much deeper within,
Through the way things appear;
You’re looking into
my heart.
I’m coming back to the
heart of worship,
And it’s all about You, All about You Jesus.
I’m sorry
Lord for the thing I’ve made it.
When it’s all about You.
All about
you Jesus.
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve.
Though I’m weak and
poor
All I have is Yours,
Every single breath.
I’ll
bring You more than a song.
For a song in itself is not what
You have
required.
You search much deeper within,
Through the way things appear;
You’re looking into my heart.
I’m
coming back to the heart of worship,
And it’s all about You, All about You
Jesus.
I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it.
When it’s all about
You.
All about you Jesus.[ii]
Amen.
This sermon was inspired by a variety of sources but primarily, Rick Warren’s, “Worship that Pleases God” in The Purpose Driven Life, pp.100-106. Unless otherwise stated, quotations are taken from the book.