We continue our journey through the core values of our worship this week with the seventh value, A Spiritual Discipline. As I keep saying, you may be surprised that none of the things the Elders have adopted as core values of our worship are necessarily music-oriented. Actually none of them deal with elements at all, but rather with the essentials of worship. They are more the why than the what of worship, if you will.
When we are for worship there are an infinite number of thoughts going through our heads: Where is so and so? I am so tired. Thank you Lord for another day. Does anyone even notice that I am here and I am crying? I sure don’t like that song. I am not praying in a small group, no way. I wish I had more to give You Lord. Not matter what may be on our minds as we gather for worship, we must bring it all and place it at the foot of the cross. We must fix our eyes on Jesus. We must train ourselves to give Him glory, for worship is…a spiritual discipline. There are any number of Scriptures that speak to this value, but here are the ones we have adopted for inclusion in the philosophical document:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1-2
…train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. I Timothy 4:7b-8
The first passage is one of the most common scriptures used when anyone talks about worship. In view of God’s mercy we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. This is one of the primary scriptures to consider when thinking about whole life worship. That is to say we do not offer ourselves one Sunday morning, then climb down off the altar and live for ourselves until next Sunday. However, the probably with a living sacrifice is that is exactly what can happen.
This is where the spiritual discipline aspect comes into play. Recognizing that we have offered ourselves to God, we keep ourselves before God in this most life-engaging act of worship. While this is the only appropriate response of the redeemed soul to mercy of God, that does not make it easy. This is where the second passage comes to life.
We must train ourselves in this. While again this is the response of the entire life, our focus has been on corporate worship in particular. So how does this come to bear on that value. If we train ourselves, as unpleasant or at least demanding as that process is, there is promise for this present life and the life to come.
I have often half-jokingly teased people about being in choir because it prepares you for heaven. While I do not think we will be in one eternal worship service as our minds might conceive of it, their will be worship in heaven. If we engage ourselves now in this discipline, it will be to our advantage somehow in eternity. But not only then, now as well.
And what does this training look like. Well, it must include doing things that we know are good for us: getting up and going to church when we do not feel like it, praying in small groups when the opportunity comes, giving of the “first fruits” of our labors to the Lord, actively listening to what God is saying, actively saying things in response-in word, in song, in deed among a myriad of other things.
I encourage you to discipline yourselves to worship…it does the body good…pass it on.
Stay tuned…NEXT WEEK…Worship is…Recognizing and expressing God’s beauty.
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
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