Worship: How to Make It a Way of Life
Mwemba Mwemba
Midland SDA Church
January
25, 2020
SCRIPTURE: 1
Corinthians 10: 31-32 (So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to
stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God)
Good
morning, brothers and sisters. It’s such a blessing to be in the house
of the Lord with you. Shall we pray before we begin?
Prayer………………………
In
the last few weeks I have been thinking about worship a lot…..You
notice the title of our message this morning… “Worship: How to make it
a way of life”… and I wanted to share what I found with you.
Retired
minister Lowell Ogden tells a story of a little boy who lived out
in the country many years ago, and had never seen a traveling circus,
and one was coming to his town. The boy asked his father for
permission to go and his dad said that he could, provided his chores
were done early. That morning came. Chores finished, the little boy
asked his father for some money so he could go to the circus. His dad
reached down in his overalls and pulled out a dollar bill, the most
money the boy had ever seen at one time and as he approached the town,
he saw people lining the streets. Peering through the line at one
point, he got his first glimpse of the parade. There were animals in
cages and a marching band. Finally, a clown was seen at the rear of
the parade. The little boy was so excited that when the clown was
passing by, he reached in his pocket and handed him the precious
dollar bill….thinking he had seen the circus, when he had only seen
the parade, the little boy turned around and went home.
I
share this story to illustrate that some of us come to church like this
little boy? Nothing wrong with this but we may come with the intent to
worship God, for a few hours… – the parade of hymn singing, prayers,
communion and preaching….we may even take a nap during our worship. We come to church to WORSHIP as a
ritual, to watch the parade by peering through the pews at all the
activities during church worship and then turn to go home at noon;
thinking we have done our part of WORSHIP by being in God’s house, but
yet we missed the main event – a daily personal encounter with Jesus
Christ.
Or we may have a different view about
WORSHIP…similar to the Brazilian Indian man that
Robert Kennedy met when he visited the Amazon. They talked, through a
translator. “What do you most like to do?” Kennedy asked
expecting an answer like “hunting with a bow and arrow” or
“canoeing.”
The Indian answered, “I like being
occupied with God.”
Kennedy said to the translator, “Ask him
again. Something may be lost in the translation.” But the
Indian gave the same answer. I like being occupied with God.
Some among us brothers and sisters, view
worship like this Brazilian Indian brother did. A true worship experience as being
occupied with God……
For some people worship or being
occupied with God is 'singing', 'shouting', 'raising of hands',
'prayer', or other forms of demonstrative praise...which the dictionary defines as the
expression of reverence and adoration for a deity'...
In John 4 Jesus is talking to the
Samaritan woman at the well. This woman had been married five times
and is now living, with someone who is not her husband. In verse 19
the subject sort of changes (“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you
are a prophet. Verse 20… Our ancestors worshiped on this
mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must
worship is in Jerusalem.” and then in verse 21 “Woman,” Jesus
replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will
worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem. Verse 22… You Samaritans worship what you do
not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the
Jews. Verse…23 Yet a time is coming and has now
come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the
Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the
Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers
must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”)
Jesus says here in John 4 that true
worship should have nothing to do with the place, or church, seasons
or festivals, such as Christmas, thanksgiving or Good Friday, but
rather we should worship God IN THE WAY WE THINK, THE WAY WE TALK AND
HOW WE LIVE OUR LIVES DAILY- whatever we do, whether we eat or whether
we drink, we are meant to do it all to the glory of God. THAT IS
WORSHIP.
Christian music artist Chris Tomlin put
it this way: 'Worship is where God isn't moved by the quality of our
voice, but by the condition of our hearts'.
What does it mean to “Love your neighbor
as yourself? I have been thinking about some practical things we can
do to enhance our worship experience according to verse 31. I came up
with 4 things we can do….on how we can make worship a way of life.
# 1 Take the time to greet GREET ONE
ANOTHER as part of our worship experience. Here’s what scripture says
to encourage us to GREET ONE ANOTHER.
· Romans 16:16 (Greet one another with a holy kiss. The
churches of Christ greet you.)
· 1 Corinthians 16:20(All the brethren greet you. Greet one
another with a holy kiss).
· 2 Corinthians 13:12 (Greet one another with a holy kiss)
· 1 Thessalonians 5:26 (Give each other a kiss when you
meet)
· 1 Peter 5:14 (Greet one another with a kiss of love)
Every tradition, race, nation, tribe, or
people has its way of greeting. In the US most of us shake hands,
exchange kisses, hug or cuddle. As simple and routine as it appears,
greeting is a way of showing care to anyone to whom it is expressed.
When you greet or receive greetings, there is a warm feeling you
experience within. But if those you expect to greet you, do not do so,
you feel bad. We all know IT…..and research shows that there are
benefits derived from greeting…that’s why God encourages us to greet
one another. Greeting shows that you are in good terms with the person
greeting….greeting sets the tone for a conversation…greeting is an
expression of care, an expression of warmth…of friendliness…greeting
could ease tension.
In some cultures failure to offer a
greeting as an insult, a show of pride, or any other negative
behavior…. by the way one research also showed that greeting (more so
hugging) enhances ones well-being, health and productivity.
We may not necessarily have to give each
other a kiss of love as was the culture in Paul’s time, but a hand
shake and a greeting does everyone good. Did you know that there are
some who attend worship with us here and never get to be greeted by
anyone else apart from the greeter at the door? May I encourage you to
take the time each and every day to greet those we know as well as
those we do not know as part of our worship experience….it may be the
single parent at work… the elderly woman at the grocery store….or the
young man at the Dr’s office.
#2. On how to make worship a way of
life….. Take the time to ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER. Here is what scripture
says in…..
· 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (11 Therefore
encourage one another and build each other up, just as in
fact you are doing)
· Romans 15:5 (May
the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same
attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,)
· 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (May our Lord Jesus
Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his
grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your
hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.)
I am sure all of us could use some
encouragement once in a while……. Be that person who encourages others
too. We all need some encouragement…… Research on marriage has
identified an interesting characteristic of happy couples…..that
healthy homes enjoy a positive-to-negative ratio of five to one. In
other words for every negative comment or criticism there are five
acts of encouragement. Long lasting friendships are made up of
individuals who encourage each other. I encourage you to do this for
someone…ask them to tell you their story. Resist the urge to interrupt
or correct. Turn off the television, log off the internet, put away
your cell phone and give your full attention to encourage them as part
of your worship experience and make worship a way of life.
#3. On how to make worship a way of
life…Take the time to REGARD ONE ANOTHER AS MORE IMPORTANT…… here is
what scripture says
· Phil 2:4 (Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in
humility value others above yourselves)
· 1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to
the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one
another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
· Ephesians 4:2 - Be completely humble and gentle; be
patient, bearing with one another in love.
· Romans 12: 16 - Live in harmony with one another. Do not
be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do
not be conceited.
Our generation’s fascination with social
media has taken addiction to adulation to a whole new level. We
compare each other and measure our success by how many “likes”,
retweets, thumbs-up or friends we have on social media…essentially
betting our joy on the unpredictable reactions and reviews of people
we don’t even know. We are obsessed with Self-promotion…which as you
know is about self.
Blessed is the Christian whose focus is
on others. Miserable is the Christian whose focus is on self. Our
obsession with self-promotion is making us miserable. If your desire
to be noticed is making you miserable, I am sure others around you are
miserable too as a result of your desire to be noticed. I encourage
you to regard others, instead, as more important than you….as part of
your worship.
#4. On how to make worship a way of
life…. Take the time to FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER…... Here is what scripture
has to say…about forgiveness….
· Eph 4:32 (Be
kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ, God forgave you.)
· Eccl 7:9 (Do not be quickly
provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in
the lap of fools.)
· Colossians
3:13 – Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against
another, forgiving each
other; as the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive.
After
a long shift at the fire department, Matt Swatzell fell asleep while
driving and crashed into another vehicle, taking the life of pregnant
mother June Fitzgerald and injuring her 19-month-old daughter.
According to a news report, Fitzgerald’s husband, a full-time pastor,
asked for the man’s reduced sentence—and began meeting with the person
who killed his wife and unborn baby for coffee and conversations. Many
years later, the two men remain close. “You forgive as
you’ve been forgiven,” Fitzgerald told the reporter.
How
many times do we go on without asking God to help us forgive those who
have hurt us? Many of us continue to carry with us anger and hurt
against those who hurt us years ago. God has forgiven us, and that in
return, we forgive others and extend grace as we have been shown
grace. It can be one of the hardest things we face in life! The pain
and hurt others cause us is real and great. But, the pain of living
with bitterness and unforgiveness can poison your soul and destroy
you. As part of worshipping God, when we forgive others, we are not
saying what they did was OK, but we are releasing them to God and
letting go of it's hold on us.
Worship is a daily experience and does
not just happen when we worship God in church. It is being occupied
with God daily. May God richly bless us as we continue to worship Him
and Him alone? Amen!