GENEROUS
WORSHIP
DR. JIM DIXON
ROMANS 12:1
OCTOBER 9, 2011
In the Mishnah, which is part of the Jewish Talmud, there is mentioned the thirteen trumpets, sometimes called the thirteen shofars. These thirteen trumpets were in the Jerusalem temple. There is a debate in scholarly circles as to whether or not these trumpets were in the court of the Gentiles or in the court of the women. They were in the temple, we know that. The court of the Gentiles was mostly filled with Jewish people, but Gentiles were allowed to go in there and that is why it was called the court of the Gentiles. The court of women was mostly filled with Jewish men, but women were allowed to go in there and therefore it was called the court of women. The thirteen trumpets were a part of the treasury and people would come, perhaps Jews and Gentiles, and put their money into the trumpets. They put their coins, gold, silver, copper into the trumpet and the coin would go down into a box. Thirteen trumpets, thirteen boxes. Men, women, Jews and perhaps Gentiles came in to the treasury to make their offerings. Each box went to a different cause. So, you would put it in one trumpet if you wanted to help the poor. You would put it into another trumpet if you were seeking to help the Levitical priesthood. You would put it in another trumpet if you were seeking to maintain the temple and the building structures. Different causes.
The Bible tells us in Mark chapter twelve that one day Jesus was sitting in the temple with his disciples, by the treasury and he was watching people as they came to the thirteen trumpets, he was watching where they put their coins, into which trumpet, into which box. He was watching the amounts that people were giving. Jesus told the disciples that some of the people were giving large amounts, many coins, much gold, but they were not giving sacrificially, Jesus said, because they were giving out of their abundance.
Then Jesus saw a widow, a poor widow. Jesus divined that she put into the trumpet, into the treasury, all that she had, two coins. Jesus marveled at her generosity. I would pose a question to you today. The question is this: Why was the treasury part of the temple? Why were the thirteen trumpets and the thirteen boxes in the temple? The answer, biblically, is clear. They were in the temple because giving is a part of worship. That is why they were in the temple. That is why the thirteen trumpets mentioned in the Mishnah were in the temple. That is why the thirteen boxes, the treasury was in the temple because giving is a part of worship. Generosity is a part of worship. We look at worship as it relates to generosity and I want us to do it this way. I want to look at three different New Testament words, New Testament Greek words that mean worship. These are the three primary Greek words for worship. We take a look at them and how they imply generosity.
The first word is “proskuneo.” “Proskuneo” is a word used again and again in the New Testament for worship. The word literally means to kiss towards, “proskuneo,” to kiss towards God. It is a love word. “Proskuneo” is a love word because worship is rooted in love. We love God supremely; we kiss towards him. If we love him, we are generous. If we really love him, we are generous. To love is to give. I think we see this even in our relationships.
Our son Drew is getting married in two weeks. He is getting married to Rachel with whom he has fallen in love. In two weeks’ time, they will say their vows to each other on the beach down in Mexico and there will be nineteen of us there. I am going to perform the ceremony. Drew and Rachel will say their vows to each other in the presence of seventeen people but also in the presence of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. When Drew fell in love with Rachel, he began to spend money. It works that way. When he fell in love with Rachel, he began to spend money taking her out to lunch, taking her out to dinner, going to events, all of which cost money. This wedding down in Mexico is costing money. After the wedding, they are going to honeymoon in Hawaii and it is going to cost money. When Drew gave her the beautiful engagement ring it cost money because to love is to give.
If we love God, we give to God, we kiss towards God. “Proskuneo.” You might think, “Well, that is true of romantic love.” I tell you, it is true of all love. If you love, you give. Even the love we have for our pets, if we love them, we give to them. Barb and I have a little dog, a yorkie terrier. Her name is Pudding. I will confess to you that in the course of my life I have had little love for dogs. I will acknowledge that in our 41 years of marriage, we have had 21 dogs. That is because we had a pair of dogs that had litters of puppies twice and some of those puppies we gave to missionaries. They are on the mission field today.
I really never liked the idea of having a dog in my house, but I will say that this is different. I have really, really grown to love Pudding; she is a great dog. A couple of weeks ago she became ill. You could tell in a variety of ways, she was congested, she became lethargic, she didn’t eat, she couldn’t bark; when she tried to bark it would just be a squeak. We knew something was wrong. As she quit eating, we began to be afraid so we took her to the vet. The vet checked her out and gave her some medicine and charged us 250 dollars. We brought her home and she got a little bit better and then she kind of reversed again. We took her to the vet again and, 150 dollars, he checked her out and gave her some stuff.
She is fine now. The vet called and said if we would like to bring her back, he could charge us some more money. He said there were other tests he could run and x-rays and whatnot, and we thought, “Thank God she is not sick any longer.” We do care about her and therefore we give. To have a pet is to give. Any kind of love is to give. Here is the question: Do you love God? Do you love him supremely? Do you kiss towards him above all else and above all others do you kiss towards him? If you love him, you give. You give your life, Romans 12:1, as a living offering. You offer him your time. With generosity you offer him your time. You offer him your talents. With generosity you offer him your talents. You offer him your treasure; you offer him your money with generosity. You seek to serve the cause of heaven, the cause of the kingdom of Jesus Christ and it is all based on love.
In this church, many times, we have quoted the Shema. The Shema is found in Deuteronomy six. It was carried in phylacteries on the forehead and on the arm by the heart of every Jewish male. It was placed on the lintel of the doorposts of Jewish homes. The Shema is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. The words which I tell you this day shall be upon your hearts and you shall teach them diligently to your children. Love with all your heart soul strength and mind. This is what God wants. This is worship. This is “proskuneo.”
In times in Jewish history the people of God at times did not love as they were called and they did not kiss towards God. Thus, you have passages like Malachi chapter three where God says, “Will men rob God? But you are robbing me. You say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ With your tithes and with your offerings you are robbing me, the whole nation of you and you are cursed with a curse. Therefore, bring the full tithes into my house and put me to the test and see if I will not open up the windows of heaven for you and pour down upon you an overflowing blessing.” Throughout God’s history with his people, God is constantly seeking to encourage people to give and to be generous. He offers blessing and reward, but most of all he wants our generosity based on love. He wants our worship to be based on love. “Proskuneo,” kissing towards God.
There is a second word for worship. The second word is “sebomai.” “Sebomai” is a word frequently used in the New Testament and it is always rendered worship. But it refers, literally, to awe. To worship God is to stand in awe of God. To worship God is to stand in reverential awe, to behold his majesty and be stunned. That is worship. I submit to you that if you stand in awe of God, and if you behold his majesty, you will be generous. Many of you have travelled to the city of London. Barb and I have travelled there many times. London, England, is a very old city. It is 2,000 years old. It is hard to imagine, as Americans, a city that is 2,000 years old. The city of London was founded by the Roman Empire in AD 43. The Romans called the city Londinium, AD 43. In this long history of London there have been good times and bad times, triumphs, and tragedies. One of the hardest times in the history of London took place in the seventeenth century in the year 1666. Surely, in the history of London, no year was more difficult than 1666.
In that year the Bubonic plague swept over the city of London, the Black Death. It actually began to spread in London late in 1665. In the middle of 1666, the Black Death, the Bubonic plague, had literally covered the city. One hundred thousand people were dead in the city of London from the Bubonic plague. One hundred thousand people died. Later that year, September 2, 1666, there was the great fire that broke out in a bakery shop on Pudding Lane. They could not stop it; it just raged because the city of London, in 1666, was a city built primarily of wood. The structures and the buildings were crafted of wood so the fire raged for 24 hours, for 48 hours, for 72 hours, for 96 hours, for 128 hours—five days—and they could not stop it. It burned the city of London to the ground. Thirteen thousand buildings burned to the ground.
Can you imagine? Have you have heard of such a thing? Thirteen thousand buildings burned to the ground, including the Royal Exchange, all the guild and trade houses, all of the well-producing businesses of London. Gone, everything. They had to rebuild the city. Eighty churches and cathedrals in the city of London burned to the ground in that great fire of 1666. I have told this story in the discovery class many times. It is a marvel that they rebuilt everything and they made it better. People had to be generous. People had to give.
Fifty five of those eighty churches and cathedrals were rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, a great architect, one of the greatest architects the world has ever seen. He crafted and designed fifty-five of those rebuilds, including St. Paul’s Cathedral. It is a majestic structure. It is hard to even comprehend the vast size from a picture like that. The cathedral, inside, is longer than a football field. This is an amazing majestic church; an amazing structure. It is just one of eighty churches rebuilt, one of fifty-five by Sir Christopher Wren, all with the generosity of Christians. That took a long time to rebuild St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was not completed until 1710. Sir Christopher Wren was very old in 1710.
He invited the queen, Queen Anne who was the first queen of the United Kingdom, to come and take a look at it. He said to her, “What do you think?” She gave her famous response, she said, “I think it is amusing and artificial. I think it is awful.” He couldn’t have been more pleased because, in 1710, those were all words of praise. You have certainly heard that story. Words of praise. The word artificial meant beautifully artistic. The word amusing was identical to our word amazing. The word awful was the highest word of praise in the year 1710; it meant full of awe, like our word wonderful today means full of wonder. She was saying, “I think it is beautifully artistic and amazing. I think it is full of awe.” Words of praise.
Understand that many churches that were built in that era were built with a purpose of showing the awe and the majesty of God. Christians were generous. They gave because they wanted people to go into the church and see the majesty of God. They wanted people to be stunned by the majesty and the glory of God. You might think, “Well, there are better ways to show the majesty of God than through buildings.” You might think, “I see the majesty of God in nature.” You might think, “I see the majesty of God in relationships.” You might think, “I see the majesty of God in music.” All of these things are true. But it is also true that we can see the majesty of God in art and architecture. Generations of Christians have been generous as they worship God. The truth is, you can find this out in any history book in London, all 80 of those churches were rebuilt because of worship and generosity that it produces as we stand in awe of the one we worship.
There is a third word. The third word used in the Bible is “latreuo.” This word is always translated worship. It is sometimes used of worship of the Father. There are eleven times in the synoptics where it is used of worship of the Father. Sometimes the word “latreuo” refers to the worship of the Son. In revelation four and five, we sang the Revelation Song. How beautiful that is, that is based on Revelation four and five where you have angelic hosts surrounding the throne of God in worship. In Revelation chapter four it is worship of the Father. In Revelation chapter five is worship of the Son, the Lamb who was slain. It is “latreuo.” You come to Revelation chapter twenty and again the worship of the Lamb who was slain. He alone is worthy. “Latreuo.”
This word “latreuo” means worship but it literally means to serve. You might think, “Why is that?” That is because in the sight of God, the essence of worship is service. If you really worship him, you kiss towards him, you love him, you stand in awe of him but you serve him. Worship is service. You might think, “Well, I worship on the Lord’s Day. I remember the Sabbath day. I try to keep it holy. I come to church; I worship for an hour at church each week.” That is good. That is well and good.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the body of Christ. Understand that worship is 24/7. Worship is something that we do every moment of everyday with every breath that we take. If we worship, we have presented our bodies as a living offering. This is our spiritual worship. “Latreuo.” Romans 12:1, this is our spiritual worship, this is our spiritual service that we offer ourselves, we offer our time in his service, we offer our talents in his service, and we offer our treasure in his service for the sake of his kingdom. This is worship and it is what worship is all about.
Therefore, the early church understood that to worship is to serve. The early church took the word servant and they elevated it and they honored it. This is a word that was hated in the Roman world, even in the Greek world, even in the Jewish world. But the early church, the followers of Christ, took the word servant and they elevated it. In the Roman world, what was the word for servant? The word was minister. Minister meant servant. That was the Roman word for servant. It was a despised word. Nobody wanted to be a minister, nobody wanted to be a servant. The word minister comes from the Roman word “minor,” which means small.
Nobody is wanting to be small; nobody is wanting to be minor; nobody is wanting to be a minister. What everybody wanted to be in the Roman world is” majester.” “Majester” meant master. Everybody in the Roman world wanted to be a master. The word majester comes from the Roman word “major,” which means large. Everybody wanted to be large, everybody wanted to be major, and everyone wanted to be “majester.” The early church came in the Roman world and took this word minister and elevated it and gave it honor. Jesus elevated it. It was Jesus who said, “He who will be the greatest among you must be the servant of all.”
The early church took all of the servant words and elevated them. Even the word “doulas,” most despised of all, a word meaning slave, the early church took it and proudly claimed it for themselves. You read the letters of the Apostle Paul, every epistle, every letter begins with the words “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.” The word is “doulas.” “Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ.” There were 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire; the whole Roman socio-economic system was predicated on the functioning of slavery. It was a hated word, “doulas,” and the early church took it and honored it.
They took the word “diakonos,” which means servant and they elevated it. We get the word deacon from the word “diakonos.” They took the word “huperetes,” which was a despised word meaning servant, and they elevated it and they applied it to themselves. “Huperetes” literally means under-rower. You think of the Roman ships and the galley slaves who pulled the oars, under-rowers, “huperetes,” servants. The early church took this word “huperetes” and applied it to themselves. “Let everyone take an oar for the sake of Christ. Everyone grab an oar for the sake of the church, for the cause of the kingdom. We are servants.” It is worship.
I think the early church understood that and they shook the foundations of the earth. I think in the 21st century, many of us who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ just do not understand that servants we are called to be.
In Christian history there have been amazing servants. I know in my life, in my ministry, I have told many stories. I love stories. I have told hundreds and hundreds of stories. One of my favorite stories concerns a man named Robert Moffat. Robert Moffat was a pioneer missionary to South Africa. In fact, today missiologists refer to Moffat as the father of South African missions. In 1815 he went to Africa at the age of twenty. He was poor, he had no formal education. The London Missionary Society sent him reluctantly because he had no formal education. He was a gardener. His mother’s maiden name was Gardner, and he actually became one and he went through an apprenticeship as a gardener.
In the Scottish world and the English world, when you went through an apprenticeship you were taught a little bit of Latin and a little bit of history. They had a respect for education. When he was eighteen years old working as a gardener in Scotland, he went to an evangelical revival in the city of Glasgow and there he gave his heart to Jesus Christ. Eighteen years old he accepted Christ. He had been raised in a wonderful Christian family and in a sense given his life to Christ when he was very young, but he wanted to go forward at that altar call when he was eighteen because he wanted to let Christ know that he was offering his life. The revivalists who led him to Christ in Glasgow introduced him to a rich family in England and he became a gardener for a rich family on their estate. They trained him in theology. Then at the age of 20, the London Missionary Society sent him to Africa. He went to what is now the Republic of South Africa. He ministered there and learned the languages.
This man, though self-taught, was brilliant. He became a translator. In 1840 he translated the entire New Testament into African languages and in 1857 the entire Old Testament into African languages. He translated almost every Christian hymn you have ever heard. He translated some of the classics such as Pilgrims Progress into African languages and dialects. He went north in his missionary activity. He went into what is now Botswana. In his time it was called Betswannaland, but it is now called Botswana. He ministered there in and around the Kalahari and around the desert forming churches leading hundreds and thousands of Africans to faith in Jesus Christ.
Then he went further north into the Zambezi River area and part of the Zambezi separates today Zambia from Zimbabwe. Robert Moffat was there a pioneer missionary, leading people in scores and hundreds to Christ and establishing churches everywhere. In 1839 Moffat returned to Scotland on furlough and he desperately sought to find others who would serve Christ with him in Africa. He spoke in a little chapel, a little church in Scotland on Sunday night. He had a small crowd there and he was so disappointed because he wanted a large group that he could invite to come to the African continent, which was then called the Dark Continent, to join him in ministry and service.
This small crowd was in this small church. He did the best he could to challenge them to join him in Africa and he said, “There is a hill in South Africa upon which I have stood and I could look out and see the smoke of 1,000 villages where the people had never heard the name of Jesus Christ. The harvest is white, the field is ready for harvest, and I need you. Come and join me.” Nobody responded when the service was done. He was discouraged.
He didn’t know that in the balcony there was a young man named David Livingstone and he had heard every word. That was the night David Livingstone committed his life to serve Christ in the mission field in Africa; it all began that night. David Livingstone went and married Robert Moffat’s daughter Mary. Livingstone always said, “I married my boss’s daughter.” The boss was Robert Moffat. One year later, 1840, Livingstone went to Africa. He was already trained in Greek at the University of Glasgow; he was already trained in theology and medicine. He was a medical doctor. He went to Africa as a medical doctor, as an explorer and as an abolitionist fighting the slave trade along the Zambezi River, 1700 miles long. The slave trade flourished. Slaves were bought; human flesh was bought and sold in Brazil and Brazil sold the slaves to United States and to England. David Livingstone stood against the slave trade. He didn’t get along real well with white people. All you have got to do is read any kind of biography on David Livingstone and you would know that he didn’t get along real well with white people because in his day and age almost all white people were racist. David Livingstone wasn’t; he loved all people. He went to Africa. Above all else he was a missionary. He longed to lead people to Jesus Christ. In his diaries (he was constantly writing in his diaries) Livingstone says again and again the Great Commission in Matthew 28. “All authority under heaven and earth has been given me. Go, therefore, into all the world and make disciples.” He would always write, “I believe this.”
He poured his life out as a missionary, leading people to Christ. In 1862, Livingstone’s wife, Mary, Robert Moffat’s daughter, died along the banks of the Zambezi River. She was a woman of whom this world was not worthy. Livingstone went into hiding into the interior of the Dark Continent for ten years. He was lost to mankind, although serving Jesus Christ. Henry Morton Stanley went in search of him. When Henry Morton Stanley found Livingstone by Lake Tanganyika he had those famous words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.”
For five months Stanley travelled and worked with David Livingstone. We have Stanley’s diary and we have it today. In his diary he writes that he accepted Christ at Livingstone’s side in Africa. During those five months he asked Jesus to come into his heart and be his Lord and Savior. Livingstone refused to leave Africa. March 17, 1872, Stanley begged Livingstone to leave Africa with him, to return to England or Scotland, even the U.S. Livingstone refused. Two days later, Livingstone wrote in his diary, “My Jesus, my King, my life, my all, I again dedicate my whole self to you.” Then he wrote these words, “Grant me, dear Father, that before this year is done, I might complete my work in Africa. I pray this in the name of Jesus.” He died a year later, kneeling in prayer in Africa, his work done.
The people of Africa who he had served loved him so much they carried his body 1,500 miles to sea that he might return to England. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. On his tomb it says, “Other sheep have I.” He went to other sheep that they might fall in love with Jesus Christ. It really all began when Bobby Moffat at age eleven. I know he didn’t formally accept Christ until age eighteen, but at age eleven he was in a church in Scotland and he took the offering plate and he put it in the center aisle and he stepped into it. You know that story. The usher said to him, “Bobby, what are you doing?” He said, “I am dedicating my whole life to Christ.” That was the beginning. You see, worship is the offering of your whole self as a living offering, a living sacrifice. That is what it means to worship is to serve. You think of Robert Moffat and David Livingstone you think of servants who served Christ.
I want to conclude with a little story, one of my favorites again. It is a story about a man named Stephen Palmer. The year was 1866; Stephen Palmer was walking down the street in Newberg, Oregon. Newberg was a suburb of Portland, Oregon, a little bit south and a little bit west of Portland, Oregon. Newberg was a very small town in 1866; it is not a large city today. Stephen Palmer was walking down the street on a Sunday morning; he was on his way to church. I want you to understand this as I tell this story. I want you to understand that when you offer yourself to Christ, when you offer yourself in his service, when you worship him truly, when you kiss towards him, when you stand in awe of him and present yourself in his service, incredible things happen. The power of heaven is released. Amazing things happen through you and through your life if you really worship. Amazing things.
This guy Stephen Palmer is walking down the street in Newberg, Oregon. He is on his way to church and he sees four kids, four boys, playing in the street. He says, “Hey guys. I am on my way to church. Do you want to join me?” They weren’t very excited about that, they just wanted to play there in the street. But they liked this Stephen Palmer. He was 24 years old, athletic-looking and they thought he was kind of cool. They thought, “Well if he is going to church, maybe we will join him.” So, they did.
Stephen Palmer got to church that morning with the four boys. He found the Sunday school superintendent and he said, “I got four new boys here. Here is what I would like to do. I would like to be a Sunday school teacher and I would like to start with these four boys. You can add to my Sunday school class any kids you want to add, but I would like to be a teacher and start with these four boys today.” The superintendent said, “Great!” So, Stephen Palmer, 24 years old, began to teach that Sunday school class in Newberg, Oregon. He taught for years and years.
Forty-six years later, in 1932, Stephen Palmer has his 70th birthday. On that 70th birthday he decided to retire from Sunday school teaching after 46 years of teaching Sunday school. On his 70th birthday he got letters from those four boys from different parts of the world. All four of them wrote him when they heard he was retiring. One was a missionary in China. Isn’t that cool? He just picked this boy off the street and he became a missionary in China. The second boy had become the head of the Federal Reserve Bank. How incredible is that? The third boy had become the personal secretary to Herbert Hoover and the fourth boy was Herbert Hoover, President of the United States. Amazing! It is the power of God.
I can’t promise you that if you offer yourself in service of Christ and you teach a Sunday school class, I can’t promise you that you are going to have somebody famous in your class. I can promise you this: you don’t have to recruit your own kids we have got them there for you. They are just waiting for you, that you might worship God that you might offer yourself as a living offering because you worship him, you kiss towards him, you stand in awe of him and you long to serve him. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.