The Grace of Worship

Here is a video of the Palm Sunday message

The Grace of Worship

The following is condensed text version of a talk I gave at SSAG on Palm Sunday. You can check out the complete video version at www.ssag.org.

For the past month, Pastor Jack has been looking at Jesus’ Journey to Jerusalem focusing on the thing HE did during holy week from Jesus’ perspective. We have looked at such events as the dinner a Simon’s house, the cleansing of the temple, and the last supper. Today we will try to look at Palm Sunday from the perspective of Jesus. This story is found in Luke 19:28-40 and it clearly hinges on the praise and worship the people express toward Jesus. When we consider this from Jesus’ point of view, we see 3 things about worship. 1. The Priority of Worship; 2. the Defense of Worship, and 3, the Grace of Worship.

I. PRIORITY OF WORSHIP

It seems obvious from verse 40 that Jesus places a lot of value on people worshipping HIM. HE states that if the people don’t do it, the rocks will. Someone or something is going to worship HIM. As a matter of fact, that is what we were created to do. The very reason that we exist and breath and get up in the morning is to praise and worship Jesus.

Our very nature as humans points to the fact that we were created to worship God. There has never been a civilization in history that developed as atheists. Every civilization on the planet has developed with a belief in a god and an attempt to understand this god and worship him, her, or it. Atheism is a philosophy we have needed universities to develop for us and has only been around for the past couple hundred years.  The heart of man cries out to worship God.

Another place where we can see that the purpose of our lives is to worship God is found in the book of Psalms. Twice David is found praying for his very life (Psalm 30:8-9 & 88:10-12), both times he makes the argument that he can’t praise God if he is dead. The best argument David can come up with for why God should save him is that he needs to be alive to praise HIM. What that reveals is that the purpose for life is to praise God and declare HIS wonders.

We have all heard “if you love someone, set them free. If they love you , they will return.” That is what God has done with us. He has set us free to choose HIM or reject HIM. True love can only come from free choice. Our choice to love and worship God is so important to HIM that HE set us free. Inherent in that freedom to choose HIM is the freedom to reject HIM. Many have rejected HIM and chosen evil. Therefore, our love and worship is so important to God that HE has allowed evil to exist in the world so that we would have the option to choose to love and worship HIM.

II. DEFENSE OF WORSHIP

The second thing we see in this story is that worship is so important to Jesus that HE will defend worshippers. The religious leaders tell HIM to quiet the people. Instead, Jesus defends them. This tells me I should be very careful when I am tempted to criticize people for how they worship God. If we feel like people are distracting us, we should quit looking at them and worship God ourselves. If Jesus is defending worshippers, I do not want to find myself opposing HIM! After all, HE is the only one who can judge someone’s motives. I have no right to put myself in HIS place and judge people.

III. GRACE OF WORSHIP

The third thing we can learn about Jesus’ view of worship is that HE is full of grace when it comes to worship. He defended these people and accepted their worship knowing that many of them would be the ones demanding HIS crucifixion less than a week later. As a matter of fact, Jesus gives us “the benefit of the doubt.” Actually, HE gives us more than the benefit of the doubt. HE has no doubt that we will not live up to our words but HE accepts of praise anyway.

The funny thing is that we often avoid worship because we feel unworthy. We don’t want to pray because we are afraid we will not live up to our grand promises. But Jesus KNOWS we will fail and embraces us anyway. HE accepts us at face value. HE gives us credit for being willing to try again.

The enemy wants us to quit trying and to walk away from God. After all he tells us, we can’t walk it out. But Palm Sunday tells us that Jesus loves us and embraces us even when HE knows we will fail. That is grace!

What Am I Worth?

I have a funny little thingamajiggy (technical term) on my myspace page. It is a little sign that says I am worth $2.44 million dollars. I took a quiz about my education level, health, and habits and it put a price tag on me. I am still looking for a buyer if you are interested…

I was reminded of this quiz as I was reading Matthew 13:44-46 again. I love these verses because they tell me that I (and you) are worth much more than $2.44 million. For many years I didn’t understand what the verses were saying because I thought they both said the same thing. Then one day I actually READ them and realized they did NOT say the same thing.

Most of us are famiiar with verse 44, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.” This is easy enough to understand, right? Heaven is so valuable that we should give everything to be there. We should “sell out” for God! We have heard this preached all our lives.

What is interesting are the next two verses, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Did you catch the subtle shift? The subject changed. In the first one, we find God and give everything to gain HIM. In the second, God finds us and gives everything to be with us. This blows my mind. I (and you) am the “pearl of great price.”

Now, I understand that nothing good dwells in me and that I have nothing to offer HIM. But HE is so crazy about me (and you) that HE sold everything and gave HIS own life to be with us. I will never understand why since I know I am unworthy but I have learned over the years that the best thing to do when someone loves you is to accept it greatfully instead of asking why. I learned this after many years of driving my wife crazy trying to figure out why she loved me. I finally quit asking and said, ‘thank you.’ I know I married “up.” I know I don’t deserve her. But I have learned to be thankful she loves me. The same with God. I know I don’t deserve HIS love, but I am sure glad HE thinks I am worth more than $2.44 million. He thinks I am worth giving HIS own life.

Just Try Harder???

Many times in my life when I have been struggling in a certain area, I have been advised to just try harder to be holy. I grit my teeth and determine that I will not do that thing again but before long, I find myself right back where I started. It seems like the harder I try not to sin, the more I end up sinning.

Last week I was reading in the book of Acts where Paul comes to the city of Ephesus and finds out that the people only knew of the baptism of John. He explains that the baptism of John was for repentance but that there was another baptism into Jesus that they needed to know about (19:1-7). Now, I am pretty sure he was not worried about what ritual they performed, what words were spoken, or how they got wet. He wanted them to understand a foundational fact about salvation. Namely, that salvation does not come from trying to be a better person; it comes from knowing and following a better person.

John’s baptism was all about trying harder. Repent you brood of vipers… That kind of thing. There was no grace. There was no forgiveness. There was just a harsh call to try harder. There was no hope. When Jesus came, things changed. He came to show us we can’t be good enough no matter how hard we try. He came to die in our place and take the punishment for our sin. He came to bring grace not rules. The message of Jesus could not have been more different than that of John.

I am not saying that Jesus told us we could do any sinful thing we want. I am saying HE made provision for our failures and offered to lead us in the ways of righteousness. HE could have been like John and said, “go do better.” Instead HE said, “Come follow ME.” There is a huge difference between rules and relationship. John said “don’t do this or that or God will smite thee…” Jesus said, “don’t do that because it will destroy you and harm our relationship.” I am much less likely to sin when I focus on my relationship with JESUS rather than concentrating on not sinning. After all , the more I think about not sinning, the more I am thinking about sin. When I replace the thought of sin with love for JESUS I am much more likely to live a holy life.

I want to move from the religious baptism of repentance to the life giving relationship of grace. I want to graduate from trying to following. I want to go from fear of GOD to relationship with GOD. After all, fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.

What Are YOU Waiting For?

It is funny to read in 2 Peter that people were already questioning YOUR return to earth way back then. They were saying, “where is the promise of HIS coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were before from the beginning of creation…” (3:4). If the first generation of the church was asking what was taking so long, how much more those of us waiting 2,000 years later! The interesting thing is that YOU answered the question all the way back then. We spend so much time trying to prove that such and such prophesy has to be fulfilled before YOU can return but in this passage, YOU told us what YOU are waiting for.

Peter writes that (YOU are) not slow in keeping (YOUR) promises as some count slowness, but (are) patient toward (us). Not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (9). YOUR patience and mercy are holding YOU back from returning before more people have the chance to know YOU. It is not about prophesy and history. It is all about YOUR wanting to see less people spend their eternity apart from YOU.

That means that if I want to move things along, I need to lead more people toward YOU. There is nothing I can do about the mark of the beast or the antichrist. But I can help bring about the culmination of history by partnering with YOU to help people know YOU.

Religion Does Not Work (II)

Lord, why do we always want to paint the outside of the car when it needs a new engine? We always want to fix the outside and ignore the real problems. We want people to clean up the outside and then hope their hearts will change. But we are not alone in this kind of thinking. Even in the early church they had a problem with it. Immediately after Paul came back from his first missions trip, people showed up telling the new believers that they could not follow YOU unless they followed all the religious rules first. How silly! When YOU were on earth, YOU just walked up to people and said follow ME, not follow rules. We can start following from wherever we are.

In Acts, Peter got up in a meeting to discuss this problem and said, “Why are we burdening Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?” (Acts 15:10) He is saying, ‘Why are we expecting these people to follow a bunch of religious rules when we can’t even follow them?’ This reflects the human condition. I know I can’t keep the law. I know the filth that still resides in my heart. But I seem to love imposing the law on everyone else. Peter is saying, we hate living by a bunch of religious rules, why are we trying to put it on them? At some level, all humans hate rules. But we love giving rules. Why?

If I start with rules, they will always be a burden and I will always despise them. But if I start with following YOU, spending time with YOU, getting to know YOU, falling in love with YOU, I will want to be like YOU. Then I won’t be hung up on rules. I will know that any rule YOU give is good and for my benefit.

Lord deliver me from religious thinking. Not just me, but deliver me from imposing religion on others. Help me extend the grace and mercy I want for myself to everyone else.

Too Weak For What?

As I read about YOU in the Garden of Gethsemane, I am struck by YOUR instructions to the Peter, James, and John. YOU told them to watch and pray that they wouldn’t fall into temptation. First YOU asked them to pray with YOU but then YOU told them to pray for themselves. YOU wanted company during YOUR time of struggle but even more YOU wanted them to be strengthened in their spirit so that they would have strength for the trial they were about to go through with YOU. In the midst of YOUR suffering, YOU wanted them to be strengthened.

In Mark 14:31, Peter said, “Even if I have to die with YOU, I will never deny YOU.” And the others agreed with them. That is what YOU meant when YOU said their spirits were willing. Their spirits were ready to die with YOU but their flesh was too weak to live for YOU. How different it would have been if they had prayed…

The interesting thing is that YOU didn’t want them to die with YOU. What YOU really wanted was to make sure they did not quit and give up completely. YOU told Peter he would deny YOU. YOU weren’t telling him to pray he wouldn’t do that. YOU were telling him to pray so that the failures of his flesh would not cause him to quit following YOU.

Satan does not just want to hurt Peter and YOU by making him fail. The enemy’s goal is to encourage Peter to go from failure to self-condemnation and guilt. He wants Peter to feel so bad about his weak flesh that he will avoid YOU. Then, if he avoids YOU long enough, he will wither up spiritually and YOUR life energy will dry up in him and he will quit following YOU.

That is the ultimate goal of the enemy in my life. He wants to see me fail; which will lead to feeling guilty and ashamed; which will lead to avoiding spending time with YOU; which will cause me to lose my joy, strength, and energy for life; which will make me quit following YOU. He does not just take joy out of hurting me, he wants me to give up. Lord, help me recognize and stop this cycle in my life.

Today, YOU are not so much concerned that I might fail to live up to my big promises to bravely follow YOU. You are more concerned that when I fail to live up to those words, I do not become so discouraged that I quit accepting YOUR grace. Help me remember that YOU have already dealt with my failures and the weakness of my flesh. YOU understand my weakness better than I do. Help me to not condemn myself and feel so guilty that I quit trying. Don’t let me be so ashamed that I avoid YOU. When I fail, remind me of how that is the time to run to YOU, accept YOUR grace and forgiveness, and let YOU restore my joy and strength!