Last week, we talked about this biblical guideline for worship: true worshipers will worship God in spirit (heart) and in truth. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman that this is the kind of worship God is looking for … and it begins with hearts that have turned toward God… If we are not willing to turn our hearts toward God—fully, we’ll never know the kind of relationship (or worship) that God so desperately wants us to have! That’s where it begins. And once we’ve turned our hearts over to God, we’re ready to learn more things about worship. Here’s our lesson for today: Let me set it up…
In the Old Testament, when the prophet Elisha was near death, King Jehoash [Joash] came to him in fear and we see Elisha, in his last hours, encouraging the king of Israel (2 Kings 13:14-20a, NLT)…
When Elisha was in his last illness, King Jehoash [Joash] of Israel visited him and wept over him. “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” he cried. 15 Elisha told him, “Get a bow and some arrows.” And the king did as he was told. 16 Elisha told him, “Put your hand on the bow,” and Elisha laid his own hands on the king’s hands. 17 Then he commanded, “Open that eastern window,” and he opened it. Then he said, “Shoot!” So he shot an arrow. Elisha proclaimed, “This is the LORD’s arrow, an arrow of victory over Aram, for you will completely conquer the Arameans at Aphek. 18 Then he said, “Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. 19 But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times.” 20 Then Elisha died and was buried…
Kind of a strange ending, wasn’t it? Why do you think that Elisha was so angry with the King of Israel? Just moments before, he was enthusiastic—encouraging him that Israel would have the victory! Why, now, would the prophet become so obviously irritated at the king? There can only be one answer to that question: If Elisha did not specifically tell the king what to do here, then it must have been because Elisha believed that Jehoash should know what to do as the King of Israel—it should have been obvious… Oh, maybe not to you and me who live in an entirely different culture several thousand years later … but Elisha expected more spiritual astuteness from the King of Israel!
The prophet was angry … because the king had missed the obvious. Elisha’s anger flared because Jehoash had failed to recognize that his physical actions had spiritual significance! Jehoash, as the King of Israel, should have known that! Apparently, he had a lapse of memory … and Elisha called him on it…
Do you guys remember the story of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho? The Israelites were preparing to lay siege to Jericho. Do you remember what God had asked them to do? He told them to march around Jericho, blow their trumpets, and shout … and then the walls would come tumbling down… Right? And it happened just as God had promised (Joshua 6)…
Let me ask you a question: Do you think that God could have just said the word and those walls would have come down without the actions of the Israelites? Not a hard question, is it? Of course God could have! There’s no question about that; after all, God is God! But, he didn’t…
God waited for the people to do what he told them to do … before he did his part! AGAIN, their physical actions had spiritual significance! When the Lord’s people are obedient to do the thing he calls them to do, they receive spiritual blessings from on high! There’s the gist of this message … but remembering this and living this are not always easy… The physical can actually turn into the spiritual … when it’s an act of obedience toward God. Scripture contains just too much evidence to deny the fact that God offers spiritual blessings to those who are physically obedient to his word…
So, what exactly do we need to know to move ahead in our understanding of this biblical truth? Well, first of all, this biblical truth applies to worship, as well as the rest of our lives. Let me begin here:
WORSHIP IS A LEARNED SKILL… In her now famous book, Up with Worship, Anne Ortlund said it this way: “Worshipers all have to be taught how to worship…. Let none of us assume we know how. In fact, scenes of heaven in the book of Revelation seem so foreign to us we probably know much less than we think we know.” You read or re-read Revelation sometime … and see if you don’t believe the same! I think Anne’s on to something here…
In a similar vein, I’ve always said of those who assume they’re ready for eternity, “What makes people think that they’ll feel at home in heaven … when the very thought of God is so foreign to them here?” Well, the fact is, worship is a learned skill—our life with God is a learned skill … and God has given us this life to get good at it! And a further truth is…
Sometimes, what God asks us to do, doesn’t seem natural! Have you ever noticed what a hard time those who come from a northern European background have with expressing themselves outwardly in worship? For instance, the direction to raise your hands/arms in Psalm 134:2 is usually a bit uncomfortable for those of us who come out of that kind of background. It’s as if we’ve all had rotator-cuff surgery on both arms … every weekend! Isn’t it?
Maybe some of you remember Jesus’ words as he taught about the dangers of anger in our lives and he asked for a physical action (of another kind) in our worship (Matt. 5:23-24, NLT): “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.”
I think if we were all honest, each and every time we entered into this place for worship, at least someone in the crowd would have to physically get up, ‘go’ and find that person, and work toward reconciliation prior to coming into the presence of God… Do you want God’s blessing on your life, worship that is pleasing to God? Seriously, we have to learn this skill, don’t we? And it doesn’t always seem natural to us … until the Son of God in us is in control! Folks, what God asks us to do may not seem natural…
But, what God asks us to do, does need to be considered! Why? Because of the blessings that are attached to the physical actions God expects. Do we want to miss out on God’s blessings … or do we want to experience God’s blessings in our lives? Here’s something else we all need to be aware of, as we explore the biblical truth for today…
PHYSICAL WORSHIP IS DESCRIBED IN THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD… Expressing ourselves through physical actions—many times, wordless physical actions—is very common in our culture today, you know… Walk up to someone you meet for the first time and stick out your hand; what is their reaction likely to be? That person will almost unquestionably shake hands with you, without any prompting. Other wordless physical actions we experience every day might be things like … a kiss, a salute, a wave of the hand…
We’re very used to physical ways of expressing ourselves in our culture, but what does the Bible say about how we should interact in our relationship with God, in worship? I’m glad you asked… Going to the Psalms today, we see a few examples of how we’re to interact with God in worship…
Be still… Psalm 46:10a says, “Be still, and know that I am God!” Most of you would agree that we live in a society that is anything but still; it’s a lost art … but we would do well to learn to be still and know that he is God!
Clap our hands … and shout with praise. Psalm 47:1 reminds us of this with, “Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise!” And, let me remind you, our clapping … and our shouting (as the Spirit moves us) needs to be directed toward God; it may be one of our music groups who just sang or played music, but the Glory (in this place) always needs to be directed at God (and we’ll talk more about that next week)…
Bow down… Psalm 95:6 – “Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker….” It is important that we—at least in our hearts, if our knees are bad—kneel or bow before the Lord, acknowledging that there is One who is greater than we are (Apostle Paul – Ephesians 3:14).
(One more example…) Praise God with a variety of instruments… One of my favorite Psalms is 150 (3-5): “Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! 4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! 5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals.” Some have suggested that since the Bible does not specifically mention certain instruments (e.g. drums, electric guitars, electronic keyboards, saxophones, etc.), those instruments are not acceptable for worship today… Along those lines, have you noticed what else is missing? Pianos … and organs… Seriously, what the Psalmist is telling us to do as we worship God is to use a variety of instruments … and we do … and we will!
So, what does the Word of God—our primary source of TRUTH—say about how we are to express our worship to the Lord? TRUE WORSHIPERS WILL WORSHIP GOD IN SPIRIT (WITH HEART) AND ACCORDING TO THE TRUTH OF HIS WORD. And scripture seems clear that worship is to involve various forms of physical action… For all of you who come out of a Northern European background, IT’S O.K. to physically move in worship…
Folks, are we worshiping the way God has asked us to … or does some of what we’ve talked about today seem foreign to us?
What has God asked us to do, as individuals and as a Body of Christ, that we haven’t yet been obedient to (especially as it applies to: Love God, Love People, Serve God by Serving Others)?
What do we need to do today, physically speaking, that might result in God’s blessings in our lives?
There’s no denying it: Scripture contains just too much evidence to deny the fact that God offers spiritual blessings to those who are physically obedient to his word… Let’s commit today to learn to be true worshipers—even in a physical sense—together…