Worship - What's it Really Worth?
Worship is certainly a well used word in the Bible. But is it really that significant?
First, a little background. The words* worship, praise, thanksgiving, sacrifice and offering occur over 1500 times in the Bible. Those aren't all the words related to worship, but they indicate some of the frequency of the concept of worship in the Bible.
* various forms of the words are used, past and present tense, or plurals.
Also, the largest book in the Bible is the book of Psalms, a songbook of worship. The book of Revelation shows worship as a significant part of what is happening right now in heaven. Some of the times when people where killed by God was for improper worship (when Moses two sons offered incense, when Uzzah touched the ark, and when Ananias and Saphira pretended to offer God everything.) Saul lost his kingdom partly for making sacrifices he was not allowed to make, and Uzziah the king was made a leper for offering incense to God against God's laws of worship.
On the other hand, after seeing so much use of words related to worship, Jesus didn't talk about worship much at all. One of the few times when He does discuss worship occurs in John 4.
And He had to pass through Samaria. He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." She *said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
The woman *said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw." He *said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus *said to her, "You have correctly said, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." The woman *said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus *said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman *said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us." Jesus *said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why do You speak with her?" So the woman left her water pot, and went into the city and *said to the men, Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples were saying to one another, "No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?" Jesus *said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work."
John 4:4-34
What can we learn about worship from this passage? First, it's importance to Christ and His Father. In the middle of that passage, Jesus said, 'But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.' God is looking for worshipers!
That's not a new insight. But consider the following verses:
Ezekiel 22:30 "I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.Ezekiel 34:11, 16 For thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out... I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.
Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
John 4:23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
These are the only verses in the Bible that talk about what God is looking for. God looked for a man to stand in the gap. God looks for His lost sheep. And God seeks worshipers. We do not choose to be lost, we are lost when we are born. We can choose to stand in the gap, if we are the right kind of person. But by the simple choice we make to worship God, we become the kind of person God seeks.
Notice the way this situation was set up. Jesus was alone. Does that strike you as odd? It should. In the gospels, Jesus is very rarely alone. He is alone when He is tempted before His ministry begins. He is alone sometimes when He prays. He is alone when Nicodemus approaches Him. And He is alone when He speaks to the Samaritan woman.
Typically, Jesus is surrounded by people. But not this time. For some reason, all 12 disciples were required to go into town to buy food. No one could stay back with Jesus. Why?
I think so He could seek, and find, another worshiper.
There are at least two other stories that speak of the concept of worship from the gospels. The first is Mary and Martha, when Mary sits at Jesus' feet. The second is when Mary pours perfume on Jesus' feet.
Let's look first at the story of Mary and Martha serving Christ. At this point in time, Jesus had not yet raised Lazarus (Mary and Martha's brother) from the dead.
Now as they were traveling along, He (Jesus) entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me."But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
Luke 10:38-42
The story is very simple. Jesus is the guest of Martha, Mary and Lazarus in their home. Martha begins preparing a meal, and Lazarus is probably listening to Christ. What will Mary do?
That's what Martha wanted to know. From Martha's viewpoint, Mary wasn't doing anything. Martha was working up a sweat trying to serve Jesus, but Mary was just sitting there, doing nothing. So Martha asks Christ, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." Martha had a question about Christ, don't You care? Jesus cared, but His primary concern was not about food.
It's interesting that in the situation of the woman at the well, Jesus' concern was not about food. At the temptation, Jesus' concern was not about food. At the feeding of the four and five thousand, Jesus' concern was not about food. And when He went to Martha's home, Jesus' concern was not about food. It's not that He had no need for food, but that His desire was for something more.
Jesus finished by saying, '...only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part...' Mary had chosen the necessary thing, sitting at the feet of Jesus.
Probably the most significant element in worship is sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him. Physically, we may be singing, or standing, or praying. But if we're not sitting at His feet spiritually, listening to Him, what we're doing isn't really worship.
Now let's take a look at the story of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus.
Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.
Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people " Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.
Therefore Jesus said, "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me."
John 12:1-8
Again, Mary is focusing on Christ, not on other things, or other people. In both of these situations, Mary could have been criticized by others. In fact, in both situations she was. Once for wasting her time, the other time for wasting her wealth. In the second passage, it says that Mary anointed Jesus feet with a pound of pure nard. Judas, being an astute treasurer said it was worth 300 denarii.
In those days, a denarius was a days pay for a man. Women were typically paid less. Yet Mary took one years worth of earnings for a man, and poured it out on Jesus feet.
This wasn't a years savings, it was a years earnings. It would be the equivalent for many of us of taking our homes and selling them. Then taking half of the proceeds and paying off our home loans. And then taking the other half, buying perfume, and pouring it out at Jesus feet.
Think about it. Every time you hear the jar go 'glug' a weeks pay goes out. 'Glug, glug, glug, glug...' A months pay. And Mary did this with no regret, no sorrow, no second thoughts. Publicly showing her devotion to Christ.
Do you know how many stories are told in all four gospels? Very few. Jesus birth? no. Jesus baptism or temptation? no. The sermon on the mount, or the Lord's prayer? no. Lazarus being raised from the dead? no. Jesus ascension into heaven? no.
I could find only six. The feeding of the 5,000. The triumphal entry. The upper room. Jesus betrayal, death and resurrection. Peter's denial. And the story of a woman anointing the feet of Jesus.
Not even Jesus' birth occurs in all four gospels. There must be something significant about expressing our devotion to Christ. And that also is a part of what worship is about.
Why Was Jesus Silent On Worship?
But still, we are left with a question. If worship is so important, why didn't Jesus talk more about it?
I think Jesus' silence on worship is because He wasn't interested in talking about worship, He was interested in worshiping. Look carefully at some of the parables...
Matthew 13:24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
This parable is really about God the Father. God is the one who sows the seed, His Word, into the lives of men. But then the enemy comes and sows weeds among the seed. They grow up together, until the weeds become evident. How will God react?
Matthew 13:29 "But he said, 'No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them.
God lets the two grow together until harvest.
Do you know that these verses explain some of God's thinking? I sometimes wonder why God would let wicked people live. I mean really bad people. Why does He let them live? Because He doesn't want any damage to the crop! Now to a farmer, that would make perfect sense. But to me, until I read that analogy, it was kind of a difficult question.
That person that I consider offensive may have a friend or relative who will be 'damaged' if they are removed. In fact, that person themselves may be a part of the crop, but I can't identify them that way. So the Father kindly says, 'Not now, later.'
Matthew 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Here, Jesus is again talking about His Father. His Father is like a man who found a treasure, and sold everything to buy it. The amazing thing here is that from God's viewpoint, you and I are the treasure! We may not look like it, but we are.
Again, though, Jesus here is talking not just about an abstract kingdom, but about His Father. He wasn't talking about worship, He was worshiping.
Matthew 13:45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,
Again, Jesus is talking about His Father. He did this in about half of the kingdom parables. That's the point of this section. Jesus didn't talk about worship, but He did worship. And we should probably be like that, not talking about worship, but worshiping.
Talking to God, Singing to and about God, and talking about God to others.
Introduction
The Importance of Worship
The House of Worship- An Analogy
The Door - The Man of Worship
The Foundation of Worship - Who God Is, His Works and His Word
The Walls of Worship- Prayers, Songs and Words
The Roof of the House of Worship - Adoration
Repentance - The Forgotten
Act of Worship