WORSHIP
INSPIRE
DR. JIM DIXON
EXODUS 20:1-8
MARCH 30, 2008
Stonehenge is the name of a place in southwest England in the Region of Wiltshire County on the Salisbury Plain. Some of you in times past have traveled to Stonehenge. Barb and I, my wife and I have traveled there. We traveled there many years ago when you could actually walk freely in and about the stones of Stonehenge. Things are more restricted today.
Stonehenge is called a megalithic monument. That comes from the word “megas” which means, “large or great” and “lithos” which means, “stone.” Of course, the large stones of Stonehenge are arranged in a circular pattern. Stonehenge is very old. Archeologists tell us that parts of Stonehenge date to 6,000 years ago, 4,000 BC. The largest stones date to about 4,000 years ago, 2,000 BC. For centuries and millennium people have debated the purpose of Stonehenge. Why was this place built by ancient people?
There was a time when people thought that maybe Stonehenge was meant to be a cemetery, a burial place for ancient times. Then there was the thought that maybe Stonehenge was a place of primitive science, a place where the stars studied, that the stones were perhaps aligned with constellations, that this was a place for astronomy and astrology but today there is a general consensus that Stonehenge was all about worship, that in fact all of the megalithic monuments of the ancient world were crafted to inspire worship.
Now of course Stonehenge was built long before Jesus came to earth and Stonehenge was built before God gave His law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Stonehenge, at least parts of Stonehenge were built long before Abraham ever left Ur of the Chaldees. And yet in the ancient world even though people knew not God, still there was this desire in the heart of man to know God, to be inspired in the worship of God and they built these great megalithic monuments to inspire worship, much like the cathedrals of Europe were built to inspire worship.
What inspires you to worship God? What inspires you to worship Christ? This morning I would like us to focus on two things. First of all, I’d like us to focus on external inspiration and then I’d like to take a little bit of time and focus on internal inspiration for worship. So, we begin by looking at those things which inspire us to worship and they are external. First of all, we might think of miracles. Miracles inspire worship.
You can turn to Matthew, chapter 14, and I hope sometime this week you will because Matthew, chapter 14 is an amazing chapter of scripture and it tells about a day in the lives of the disciples. It was a day like no other day. They had crossed the Sea of Galilee in the Region and Territory of Galilee and they had come to the eastern shore. The disciples were with Jesus. They began to walk along the slopes and amongst the villages. As they walked, crowds gathered and began to follow them because rumors were spreading that this was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, and so, thousands of people began to follow Jesus and the disciples. As time passed, people were hungry and you know the miracle. You know what Jesus did that day as Jesus took a boy’s lunch and he multiplied it, feeding thousands of people until they were stuffed. When they had all eaten their fill, there were 12 baskets of fish and chips left over the Bible tells us. Pretty amazing.
The disciples were of course stunned and perplexed and they marveled. Jesus said to them that He was tired, that He wanted to go to a place apart, to a place of solitude, a grassy slope. He asked the disciples to get in the boat and go back to the other side. So, they got in the boat and a storm arose. It was a huge storm. Experts can tell you and tell us that the Sea of Galilee has great storms, storms so great that people die. Boats are turned over. Rowing with all of your strength, you begin to move backwards, the storms are so great. This day was such a time. The disciples began to row toward the western shore making little progress and hours passed. They were making little progress as they went through the night. Suddenly in the midst of their struggle and in the midst of the storm and in the midst of their fears, they saw something moving on the water by the boat. They were terrified not knowing what it was. They thought maybe it was a ghost and suddenly Jesus called to them saying, “Take heart. Fear not. It is I.” And the disciples took heart, particularly Peter who said, “Lord if it is You, bid me come to You on the water.” And Jesus said, “Come.” Peter stepped out of the boat in the midst of the storm and starts to walk to Jesus. In the midst of the storm and the violent waves, he fears and he begins to sink. Jesus reached down and just lifted him up and said, ‘O ye of little faith. Why did you doubt?’ He put Peter into the boat and as Jesus got in the boat, suddenly the storm ceased. The wind stopped. There was a great calm. What did the disciples do? They fell down and worshipped Him. They worshipped Him. Certainly, a miracle can inspire worship. I think any of us, had we spent that day and night with the disciples would have been on our knees and worshipping the Son of God.
You might be thinking, “Well, that’s well and good but stuff like that doesn’t happen in my life. I wasn’t there that day and I’m just not experiencing a lot of miracles in my life that prompt worship. Now I have to say as I look back on my years in the ministry, I have seen miracles. I believe this with all my heart. I have seen children told they would not live and they did live after much prayer. I’ve seen one of our elders diagnosed with cancer of the lungs and the cancer just disappeared. I’ve seen before and after X-rays. I’ve seen children told they will not see and they see. I’ve seen children told they will not hear and they hear. I’ve seen miracles and all miracles prompt worship. I’ve actually had doctors say to me, “This could not have happened apart from God.” Many doctors are very hesitant to use language like that.
I must also confess to you that I’ve had many more times when I’ve prayed for miracles that did not happen. Miracles are rare in this world and yet they prompt worship. You think about it in the Bible and the Greek language and there’s no word for miracle so the Greek-speaking Christians took three other Greek words and applied them to miracles. These are the words, “signs, wonders, and powers.” “Dunamis,” the word “power” points to the supernatural of God. “Teras,” the word “wonder, awe” points to the majesty of God and “Semeion,” “signs” is simply the fact that a miracle should direct us to God, worship of God.
Another external source of inspiration and worship is music. Is not music something which can inspire us to worship? Music is very old. Just recently archeologists unearthed a group of clay tablets in the ruins of the ancient city of Uruk which was part of the ancient kingdom of Sumer and the Sumerian city had these clay tablets just discovered and they date to 4,000 BC. The amazing thing is that the archeologists were stunned when they looked at the clay tablets and saw kind of crude outlines and inscriptions of musical instruments including the harp. They realized, “Wow! There have been musical instruments for a long, long time.” People love music.
In the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, the 4th chapter, you read about Jubal who is considered the father of music. Biblically we understand that Jubal kind of, in the beginning, crafted this beautiful art of music. From the name Jubal comes from a Hebrew word “jobel” which means “ram” or ram’s horn” and scientists and historians tell us that the original instrument was indeed the ram’s horn. People took the horn from the ram and they used it to create music and of course today in Hebrew cultures it is called the shophar.
Now you move through the Bible and you see David. Is this guy complex? David is this courageous warrior and a hero of many battles and yet he’s an artsy sort of a guy and he’s a musician and he’s a dancer and he’s even a court musician in the court of King Saul and a gifted, gifted man and a lover of God. You see how he brings music into the worship of Israel. So, go back this week and read I Chronicles 15 and go back this week and read I Chronicles, chapter 25. It’s just awesome to read about David’s love of music, all the musicians and instruments that he brought into his court and how music was used in the worship of God.
Of course, you come to the New Testament and you see the early church inspired to worship because of music. The Bible tells us in the Book of Acts that the early church and the early congregations sand and they sang Psalms and spiritual songs. Then of course you move through church history and you see how music was used by the church, used to influence people. In the Aryan controversy where you had the Arian heresy and those who followed it and then you had the Orthodox Christians. They both wrote songs to try to influence the people and they were catchy little tunes that people could sing as they walked around their villages. The idea was to sway the people because of music. Music has great power. You come to the 6th century and you see Pope Gregory I and what did he do? He was the one who crafted Gregorian chants. Gregorian chants for centuries were so popular. Of course, Gregorian chants had no harmony. There was no harmony in a Gregorian chant because they had no parts. They were not polyphonic. Everyone sang the same part in a Gregorian chant but there was a melody—no harmony but a melody—and a melody that was kind of mystical and otherworldly. For centuries Christians would sing the Gregorian chants in inspiration of a God who was mysterious and otherworldly. They would sing His chants.
Then came the Reformation and the Reformation transformed Christian music as Reformation leaders began to write hymns. John Huss wrote countless hymns. Even Martin Luther, the great reformer, wrote 37 hymns including “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” He took a tune, a melody from a local bar, and he just changed the words to the glorious words of “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” and it’s a classic today.
So, here we are today and most of us love music. If you don’t love music, you need to get a life. So, we love music and of course at this church we try to provide music that inspires worship. We have different venues, different settings, three services every Sunday. In the chapel we have more traditional music. Here we’re moderately contemporary but we seek to honor Christ and exalt God and inspire your soul in the worship of God.
Last Sunday, Easter Sunday, I don’t know what kind of an experience you had but at the conclusion of the service our choir sang “The Hallelujah Chorus” and that, for me, is always kind of rapturous but right before they sang “The Hallelujah Chorus,” the choir sang “My Redeemer Lives.” They sang and it was glorious. I talked to Bob Beltz after the service and Bob said, “It’s hard to trump the Hallelujah Chorus but I think “My Redeemer Lives” might have done it. I teared up and I know many of you did. It inspires worship.
I was just reading this past week about a guy named Masaaki Suzuki. Masaaki Suzuki is, as you might guess, Japanese. Masaaki Suzuki leads the Bach Collegium. The Bach Collegium has hundreds of chapters in Japan and they all love the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. This last Sunday, on Easter Sunday, Masaaki Suzuki’s orchestra did a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion. They charged $600 a seat in Japan to go hear Bach and it was sold out. This Bach is just growing in popularity all over Japan. People are accepting Christ. Suzuki says people come up to him after every performance and they say, “Tell me about this Jesus.” Some experts think that it has something to do with the symmetry of Bach’s music and how that appeals to the Japanese mind and culture but, you see, there’s an anointing on the music of Bach. It’s anointed by God. Before every masterpiece he wrote, he put “In the name of Jesus.” He wrote that in Latin at the top of every page in every manuscript he would write, “Jesu iuval”—”Jesus, help me.” At the bottom of every page, he would put “Soli Deo Gloria,” “to God alone be the glory. “To God alone” on all of his music and lives to this day still coming to Christ because music inspires. It inspires worship.
You might think, “Well, another external thing that inspires worship is nature. Does nature inspire worship?” I know it does. Through the years many of you have explained to me you don’t need to come to church because you have trees and forests and stuff like that. Nature certainly inspires worship. How could I disagree with that? The Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of God. The earth showeth His handiwork.” Psalms 8 says, “Oh, Lord, Oh Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth.” And it says, “When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which you have established… ” Nature inspires worship and of course the beauty of nature on earth inspires worship.
Have you ever been to Yosemite, California? Barb and I honeymooned there. Every year we would go back on our anniversary to Yosemite in California. Yosemite in California has Half Dome, El Capitan, The Merced River, Meer Lake, beautiful meadows, Vernal Falls, Bridal Veil Falls cascading over the cliffs. How could you not be inspired? You go there and you’re just inspired to worship God. Have you ever looked at a flower? It’s kind of hard to do this time of year in Denver but look at a flower. Jesus loved flowers and of course as the Son of God how could any of us even imagine the joy He felt in the Creation.
In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus kind of said, “Have you ever looked at a flower?” Jesus said, “I tell you that Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one flower, more beautiful than Solomon in all of his glory.” That’s what Jesus thought when He looked at the lilies of the field. So, take a little time to check out flowers and be inspired to worship the Creator. Be inspired to worship God.
In this Worship Center we tried to build things in such a way and maintain things in such a way that we bring the outside in. We have these big windows which I know are oftentimes kind of blocked with the shades because of stage lighting but the intent was for you to be able to see the mountains so when I have an “off” sermon you can look out there and be inspired—or maybe a normal sermon—but you look out there and you can be inspired. We put up on the video screens images from nature, beautiful images meant to inspire you in your worship of God.
In some Christian communities relics and icons are used to inspire worship. Just after the Easter service Barb and I went home. We got together with the kids and then that night I watched 60 Minutes. They kind of did a special on relics and they talked about the James Ossuary and is this really the brother of Jesus and is this a Christian relic and they mentioned the Shroud of Turin. For some people Christian relics inspire worship. Then of course in some Christian subcultures like the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Churches, icons are used in worship. As Evangelicals we tend to be a little suspicious of icons and we suggest that maybe icons are idols and therefore a violation of the Second Commandment. People in the Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church they assert very strongly that for them icons are not idols, that they do not worship icons, that they are merely meant to inspire the worship the One True God. They would say to you that they use icons to inspire the worship of the One True God but I think of course the concern is that for some people the movement from icon to idol is a small journey. Nevertheless, certainly in some Christian subcultures relics and icons are important for inspiration.
The Bible… you look at what inspires us to worship, what external things. How about the Bible? This book is God-breathed. All scripture is inspired of God. The Greek word is “theopneustos,” which means, “God-breathed.” You read this book and God breathes on you. I read this book and God breathes on me and I’m inspired to worship God. In this church we have teachers and preachers and Bible studies and everything is designed to help you find inspiration from the Word of God.
Christians can inspire us to worship God. That’s a radical thought but it’s true that sometimes Christians actually inspire us to worship God, particularly when Christians reflect the love of God and when Christians reflect the compassion of God. Right? When you see God through somebody usually it’s because you’ve seen God’s love and God’s compassion through them and it inspires you. I’ve had times when I’ve been greatly inspired to worship God because of brothers and sisters in Christ. So we leave this first point but I think God would say to us, “Seek those things which inspire worship. Build them into your lives and do it every day. If music inspires worship, put it on in your car. Wear those headphones when you’re taking a walk. Put it on in your house. Come to church often. If music inspires the worship of God build it into your life. Look for those things that really inspire you to worship God and craft them into your life.”
There’s a second and final teaching this morning and it has to do with internal inspiration. I believe with all my heart that the primary inspiration for worship is internal. Let me explain this. The word inspiration in some ways is a very Christian word, a very Christian word because it literally means, “in spirited.” Inspired means, “in spirited,” “the Holy Spirit,” “the Spirit within,” the Spirit coming within.” Of course, as Christians we have unique claim to this for when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God sends His Spirit within us.
When you come to John’s Gospel, the 4th chapter, Jesus had this long conversation with the woman of Samaria. It’s a beautiful conversation and she’s lived an immoral life but Jesus just knows every detail of her life. He just divines it and she’s amazed. She goes to her friends and she says, “Come, meet a man whose told me everything I’ve ever done.” She said to Jesus, “I have discerned that you are a prophet and of course it began to dawn on her that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the Promised Messiah, the Christ,” so she decides that here was an opportunity to ask questions I’ve always wanted to ask and so, the Samaritan woman asks Jesus about worship. What’s true worship?
She says, “In the Samaritan community we believe that true worship takes place in the Temple on Mt. Garrison, but you Jews say that true worship takes place in the Temple on Mt. Zion. Which is true? Is true worship found in Samaria or in Jerusalem, Mt. Garrison or Mt. Zion?” Jesus said, “I tell you. The day is coming when people will worship neither at Mt. Garrison or Mt. Zion but those who worship Me truly will worship Me in Spirit and in truth. The day is coming when all who worship will worship in Spirit and in truth.” Of course, Jesus knew, He foreknew, the Jerusalem Temple would be destroyed and the Temple at Mt. Garrison destroyed but new temples would be created. This is what’s so important to understand. Jesus knew that he would make of His people “temples,” living temples and those earthly structures would be torn down but Jesus was going to create a community of living temples and send His Spirit to dwell within them. The Holy Spirit dwells in the Holy of Holies, in the Shekinah, the presence of God, dwelled in the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple.
But that temple was destroyed in 70 AD by Titus and his Roman Legions. The sacrificial system came to an end. Jesus foreknew that but Jesus would create a community of living temples called “The Church” and He would send His Spirit to indwell them. Jesus said to His disciples, “The Holy Spirit is with you but will be IN you.” Then Jesus died, rose again, appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room. John, chapter 20, “He breathed on them saying, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit,’” and they became temples.
Then you come to Acts, chapter 2, verses 1-4 and you have Pentecost. The Holy Spirit descends upon the Church and the whole community of believers are filled with the Holy Spirit and become temples and now the Gospel goes forth to the nations. Wherever any person, any man, any woman, any child accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior the Spirit is given and they become a temple. So, we are temples of The Living God, not like we used to be. We’ve been born anew.
Non-Christians can sing Christian songs but when you become a Christian, when you become a temple, something is different. I don’t know how many of you have ever read a biography of Johnny Cash or June Carter Cash but those biographies all make it very clear that in Johnny’s early career he was not a Christian. He believed in God but he was not a Christian. He was not a temple of the Spirit of Christ but he sang gospel songs before he became a Christian. Then he sang gospel songs after he became a Christian. Before he was a living temple and then after he was a living temple and the difference was like night and day. The passion. The love of God. The love of Christ that came through. His gospel music after he embraced Christ and found Christ as His Redeemer, that music is anointed and powerful. It just makes all the difference in the world.
You come to I Corinthians, chapter 6, and the Bible says that, “We who believe are temples of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us.” What I would like you to focus on just for a second is an event that took place as recorded in Luke 19, Matthew 21, Mark, chapter 11 and John’s Gospel, chapter 2. In all of these places we’re told that Jesus went into the Jerusalem Temple, which was supposed to be the House of God, supposed to be the dwelling place of the Shekinah, the Spirit of God, and Jesus went in there and became enraged because they had turned the temple into a house of trade and corruption. They were shafting the poor and they were selling sacrificial lambs at exorbitant prices and declaring that only these lambs could be used in legitimate sacrifice because only these lambs had been declared pure by the priesthood so they charged great deals of money to the poor to get these lambs. And then they required that in order to buy the lambs you exchange your money into a different monetary unit and they charged exorbitant exchange rates, just literally making the poor poorer. Jesus was enraged. Jesus said, “It is written, ‘My Father’s House shall be a house of prayer.’”
That temple is gone but here you are, living temples and I would ask you, God would ask you, “Are you a house of prayer?” You’re now the temple. You’re a living temple. This was the intention of God and His Son from before all time that there be this community of living temples. As Jesus looks at you and your temples, is He enraged? Are there things He wants to cast out? Can He say of you that you are a house of prayer? When you think of worship, real worship is prompted by the Holy Spirit who resides within us and communes with our spirits. Worship is expressed supremely in prayer, this inward internal worship, prayer. Are you a person of prayer? Can you honestly say you spend time every day as a house of prayer, communing with God?
In times past, I shared with you twelve divine names meant to be used in prayer. I took time to examine each of them. I don’t have the time today but I do want to list these twelve divine names and encourage you to go home and use them in your prayer life. The names will be on the screen along with the scripture references. You can call the church and we can give you on our website or we can just give you over the phone this information. We want you to be able to use these twelve divine names in prayer.
Jesus said, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name.” We want to hallow the name of God in prayer. We want to worship in prayer. We want to hallow His name. First of all, the first name, God is called Jehovah. The real name is Yahweh but the Hebrews took the vowel points off of Adonai, the Hebrew word for Lord and added them to Yahweh, the consonants, and created Jehovah. Jehovah or Yahweh, this name of God, comes from a root word meaning, “I Am.” God is. “I Am that I Am.” That is a name of God. This is not true of us. We have life which is derivative. My life is derivative. I have no life in myself. My life is from God. The Lord gives. The Lord takes away but God IS. He always was. He always shall be. God is “I Am that I Am.” This is true of God in His fullness, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus makes that amazing statement where Jesus said that He has life in Himself even as the Father has life in Himself. “It is the will of the Father that all honor the Son in the same way that they honor the Father,” Jesus said. Wow! He took the Tetragrammaton, the divine name “I Am” and He applied it to Himself but, you see, it’s not true of us. Our life is derivative so worship God. He is Jehovah. He is Yahweh. He is.
The second name is Jehovah Hoseanu. Jehovah Hoseanu means, “The Lord our Maker” and so, we worship Him as the Creation coming before the Creator. We hallow His name because He is Jehovah Hoseanu, The Lord our Maker.
He is Jehovah Sabbath. This is the third name of God. Jehovah Sabbath is “The Lord of Hosts” and He is the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts. He is the Lord of the starry hosts, the galactic system. He is the Lord of the angelic hosts, the armies of heaven. He’s the Lord of Hosts, Jehovah Sabbath, and we worship Him.
He is Jehovah Shammah, “The Lord who is Present.” How precious His presence. Jesus said, “I’ll never leave you.” Do you believe that? He’ll never leaves us. Every day, every moment, no matter what you’re going through, no matter what you’re doing, He never leaves you. Jehovah Shammah, “The Lord who is Present.” Worship Him.
He is Jehovah Shalom, “The Lord of Peace.” He offers harmony with God, reconciliation with the Father. He offers to bring us into a community of peace called the Church. He offers to put us back together again for we are broken. He offers that holistic peace that only He can offer, so worship Him because He is Jehovah Shalom.
He is Jehovah Rohi, “The Lord our Shepherd,” Psalm 23. He loves us like a shepherd loves his flock and He feeds us and He protects us.
He’s Jehovah Rophe, “The Lord our Healer.” He heals us. Don’t believe that anything is too difficult for God. I know He doesn’t always heal in this lifetime but pray for healing and believe He is Jehovah Rophe. He is the Lord who heals us.
He is Jehovah Jireh, “The Lord who Provides.” We seek His provision every day. Worship Him.
He is Jehovah Tsidkenu, “The Lord our Righteousness.” We have no righteousness of our own. All of my righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight but He is Jehovah Tsidkenu. He is my righteousness.
He is Jehovah M’Kaddesh, “The Lord who Sanctifies.” We saw this word last week at Fiddler’s Green Coors Amphitheater. He is the fulfillment of the First Cup of the Four Cups of the Passover, the Cup of Sanctification, the Kadush. Jehovah M’Kadush, Jehovah M’Kaddesh, “The Lord who Sanctifies.” We are saved by His holiness, not by our own.
He is Jehovah Makkeh, “The Lord who Smites.” As you worship Him and as you pray these names, remember He is Jehovah Makkeh. He is the Lord who Smites and I think our nation has forgotten this, that God smites. I think our nation, our culture, no longer wants to believe this, that God smites, but I tell you judgement is coming. Accountability is inevitable. God judges the earth.
I love this nation. God bless America. I pray that. I long for that but I’m worried because I believe that we are in a massive moral slide and all you’ve got to know to look at America to know that we’re in trouble is to realize that 40% of the babies born in this nation every year are born out of wedlock. How could that be? What has happened? Forty percent of the babies born in the United States are born out of wedlock every year and millions more are not born because they’re aborted—45 million aborted since the passing of Roe v. Wade. Most of those because of delayed efforts at birth control in an increasingly promiscuous culture. We’re a tragic nation. We’ve lost our moral underpinnings, our moral foundations, but when you pray and you worship, remember He is Jehovah Makkeh.
He’s also finally Jehovah Nissi, “The Lord our Banner.” We carry His flag everywhere we go. We carry His flag into our neighborhood, into the marketplace, into our homes. Every minute of every day we carry the flag of Christ and so, we take these names and we honor the Lord. We pray these names before Him. We should do this regularly as we are houses of prayer and we are inspired internally to worship the Son of God.
As we conclude, we are inspired internally to worship the Son of God. I know some of you think, “Well, why does God want all this worship?” Through the years I’ve had so many people say to me, “Oh man, what kind of an entity is this? What kind of a being just can’t get enough praise? What kind of an ego must God have? How can it be that He just wants people to praise Him minute after minute, week after week, month after month, year after year, millennia after millennia, ad finitum, ad nauseam? His ego is so swollen. He is never sated. He just constantly needs to be praised. What kind of a God is this?”
Of course, the very question represents such a misunderstanding of God. God loves us desperately. God doesn’t need your worship. God doesn’t need my worship. He doesn’t have a needy ego. He doesn’t need our praise but He loves us so much and He knows that I need to worship. He knows that you need to worship. He knows that when we worship, when we focus on Him, we’re changed. We begin to be transformed when we look at Him instead of looking at ourselves. When we begin to look at Him, God knows it changes us. When we focus on His attributes and His nature, it just elevates us and that’s what God longs for because God longs for us desperately and He knows that we need daily to behold Him. We need daily to look at Him and we need daily to change and be transformed.
In conclusion as you look at Luke 18—and I would say to you there’s a little story in Luke 18 that Jesus told and it’s maybe as important as any story Jesus ever told and it’s about the Publican and the Pharisee that went up to the Temple to pray. Jesus said the Pharisee stood in the Temple and the Pharisee said, “God, I thank You that I’m not like other people.” Then the Pharisee went into this long liturgy of self-praise, just focusing on himself. Jesus more or less implied that that guy’s prayer never got past the ceiling. Then the Publican stood in the Temple and he just humbled himself and broke down. He would not lift his eyes toward heaven but beat his breasts saying, “Father, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus said, “I tell you, that man went home justified. Not the other. He who exalts himself will be humbled but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
In a simplistic sense, you could say there are only two types of people in the world. Those who focus on themselves and those who focus on God, those who live for themselves and those who live for God. But that’s overly simplistic, isn’t it, because we’re all messed up. We’re all messed up and we all, at times, live for ourselves. We all at times focus on ourselves but here’s the deal. If we’re going to enter this series on worship and we really want to be the Church and we really want to be living temples and we want to be the Body of Christ and we want to be people who are houses of prayer, let’s seek more and more to focus on Him. Let’s do that together. Let’s seek more and more to focus on Him rather than ourselves. Let’s craft time every day where we just focus on Him. Let’s assemble every week to focus on Him and let’s see what God does in changing us. This is worship so worship is external and it involves so many things from music to nature. Craft these things into your life, that worship is supremely internal. The Holy Spirit has come to reside in us and we are living temples and we need to be houses of prayer. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.