The Essence of Worship

Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”  –Gen. 22:5

The first sacrificial offering recorded in Scripture occurs in the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4. Among other things, through that story we learn that ritual offerings to God are at least in their nascent stage of development even as early as Adam and Eve's first generation of children. Then, the idea of bringing an offering to God develops over time into a highly regulated, fully-blown legislative and ceremonial Israelite practice—as exemplified by the laws given to Moses on Mt. Sinai (see Lev. 1-7). However, in the time of Abraham, the offering (whether animal or other) was basically meant as a gift to God.

So, when Abraham says to his servants, "You guys stay here while Isaac and I worship over there," he's equating worship with the burnt offering he's about to make. In Abraham's mind, the essence of worship is an offering to God. Scripture makes this connection elsewhere, too. For example, the psalmist says, "Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name; Bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness..." (96:8-9). But, since we no longer offer animals to God as worship, Hebrews says to offer a sacrifice of praise (13:15). Further, Paul says to offer our bodies (and lives) as our spiritual worship—as opposed to physical animal-sacrifice (Rom. 12:1-2). Peter puts it this way, "...you also...are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ"—i.e., everything we do should be a worship offering to God!

In short, we can offer anything to God as worship, especially ourselves. Now, because of Jesus Christ's spotlessness and our mystical union with Him, we literally can make acceptable worship offerings to God in our hearts everyday. May we make all that we do, say, and think an offering of worship to our God!

Like an Eagle Soaring

Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength;

They will soar with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.

               –Is. 40:31

Isaiah chapters 40 and 41 introduce the themes which run all the way through chapter 48. One of those themes is the return of Judah to her homeland from exile (40:27). Not long after the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered and forever dispersed, the southern kingdom known as "Judah" was conquered by Babylonia, taken to Babylon, and held in captivity for 70 years.

In these inspiring, almost poetical lines, Isaiah is prophesying to those captives in Babylon. The exiles are feeling hopeless and abandoned by God. They say, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me [return from exile] escapes the notice of my God" (40:27). In their minds, it is unjust to be imprisoned by a foreign people. Nevertheless God takes pains to bring them a message of hope through Isaiah. 

Even in the midst of exile, God will supply His strength—"new strength"—to those who hold onto His promise to bring them out of exile. He will sustain them and deliver them. This awesome strength and deliverance will feel like an eagle soaring, free from all chains, high in the air with the wind rushing through its feathers. It will feel like a runner who could keep on running forever and ever. It will feel like a man walking, who never needs sleep.

Only God could supply this type of strength to His people. Only He could walk and never sleep. Only He could keep on running forever. So, may we wait for the LORD to mount us up, like an eagle soaring, free from all chains, high in the air with nothing but wind rushing over our heads.

A Singular Desire

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

–Ps. 73:25-26

Who was Asaph? Well, for starters, he was the author of this Psalm 73. In fact, he composed 12 psalms in total. Originally though, he was appointed by David over "the service of song in the house of the LORD" (1 Chr. 6:31-32), which at that point in time referred to the tabernacle, not the temple. Additionally, Asaph and his brother Heman played the cymbals in David's ark-of-the-covenant marching band, as the ark was relocated out of obscurity from Kiriath-jearim to the city of David (2 Sam. 6:12; 1 Chron. 15:19). So, Asaph was one of the guys playing music when David danced before the LORD as the ark arrived in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:14)! Asaph likely wrote psalm 73 a little before the ark made that journey.

In Psalm 73, Asaph was embittered and jealous of people who were living exorbitantly, taking advantage of others, and relishing in their comfort and wealth with no regard for the people they were oppressing (v. 21). He couldn't understand it. It seemed like these godless, violent, prosperous, arrogant men were living the good life. "What's up with that?" he thought. "Here I am playing the measly cymbals at the worship tent, trying to keep myself pure and innocent of wrongdoing, and these guys are out there enjoying the finest things the earth has to offer."

But, Asaph combated the impulse of jealousy and discontentment with worship. "When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God" (vv. 16-17, italics added). His worship led him to a place of singular desire. As he worshiped God, his heart no longer needed toys and games and parties and fine wines and fame and power and wealth. All those things—everything—faded away, and he just wanted God. That's why he closed the psalm, saying, "But as for me, the nearness of God is my good..." (v. 28).

Through worship, our disparate, competing desires become unified, singular desire for God. We don't need all the toys and games and whatever else. His presence will be enough. Like Asaph, the nearness of God will be our good.

The Rushing Torrent of God

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" –Jn. 7:37-38

The purpose of the Feast of Booths (aka, Sukkoth or Feast of Tabernacles) was to celebrate the corn, grape, and olive harvest. Food and drink offerings occurred often throughout this agricultural festival. The feast proper lasted for 7 days, with an 8th day of "solemn rest" (Lev. 23:39). A water-pouring ceremony took place in the morning of each of the seven days. The priests would fill a golden pitcher of water at the pool of Siloam. Then, the high priest would lead a processional back to the temple, where he would offer the water to God, pouring it out before Him.

On the last day of the feast Jesus capitalized on the visual demonstration. He likened the water to His Spirit and the pitcher to anyone who believes in Him (Jn. 7:39). Only, Jesus amplified the picture by referring to rivers of water. In other words, it's not a trickle but a rushing torrent of God inside the believer. So, when people believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells inside them, giving them powerful resources for living life and glorifying God.

Furthermore, the direction of the flow is outward. God energizes believers in the deepest part of their being, invigorating them with forgiveness, comfort, grace, joy, and love. Then, God flows through the changed believers to treat others the same way He has treated us. But, how do we activate the flow of this living water? The one word answer is faith. When people believe Christ and what He taught and stood for, the flowing begins.

May we have the faith that activates the Spirit's flowing through us. May God energize us within our innermost being to love Him and bless others with this rushing torrent of forgiveness, comfort, grace, joy, and love. May the flowing begin.

The Bright Light of the World

You are the light of the world. –Mt. 5:14

In the ancient near East, Israel was intended to be a light for the nations (Is. 49:6). Israel was to be so utterly righteous and just and different from the surrounding nations, that the nations would notice Israel's flourishing and desire the God of Israel to be their own. Unfortunately, Israel failed miserably to be bright enough to attract all the other nations to Yahweh. However, God also said His servant coming out of Israel would be a light to the nations (Is. 42:6).  Plus, the righteousness of the entity would determine the brightness of the light (51:4).

So, when Jesus shows up on the scene, preaching the sermon on the mount to a Jewish audience, he invokes the well-known metaphor. He reminds his audience that they are meant to be a light to the nations. Only this time, Jesus tweaks the plan. People now receive righteousness by believing that Jesus—God's chosen servant spoken of in Isaiah—gives them his own righteousness. Then, Jesus' righteousness flows out of the individual in such a way that other people see it and embrace the Father, likewise glorifying and serving Him out of Jesus' righteousness. That's why Jesus says elsewhere in the sermon, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness..." (6:33, emphasis added). That's why He also says, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (5:16).

May we all receive Jesus righteousness, and may Jesus' righteousness shine through us as the bright light of the world.

These Little Ones and Anyone in Need

And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. –Mt. 10:42

In chapter 10 of Matthew's gospel, Jesus gathers the twelve disciples, instructs them, and sends them out to minister and proclaim the gospel. The message to be preached was "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (v. 7). Everything they did, then, was to be a validation for that message. After a series of instructions, the last thing Jesus tells his disciples is to pay attention to the little ones. Why? They are extremely vulnerable. In this verse, they are depicted as so weak, famished, defenseless, and unprotected, they simply need a drink of water (v. 42).

Children are the most helpless people on the planet. In the ancient world, children born with disabilities or simply born female, were commonly left outside to die by exposure. Children are unable to work, not respected, and sometimes even seen as a burden. No wonder elsewhere in Matthew's gospel, Jesus equates neglecting children with despising them, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones..." (18:10, emphasis added). And, in Jesus' last great teaching in Matthew's gospel, he expands his vision from children to anyone in need. He makes a personal matter of caring for people who are hungry, thirsty, poor, naked, and sick, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me" (Mt. 25:40). Strikingly, Jesus embeds these remarks within a teaching that pictures himself sitting on his throne, judging the nations of the world! Clearly, then, God cares how nations—and individuals—treat the needy and vulnerable among them.

So, where are the needy in our society? Where are the little ones, the hungry, the thirsty, the poor, the naked, the imprisoned, and the sick? How can we engage them as a society and as an individual? When I appear before Jesus Christ sitting on His glorious throne, I pray there is some kind of evidence from my life that I cared about the same things He did.

Restoring the Outward Gaze

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked... –Gen. 3:7

God created Adam naked, bare, and clean. When Adam walked through the garden, he had no conscious preoccupation with his nakedness. It was all he ever knew. He just didn't think about it. What he thought about was God. That's how he saw himself—as a person in relationship with God. God was his frame of reference. Adam had an outward gaze. He simply looked out and saw God, the focal point for his existence, and everything else—including himself—was an afterthought.

After he sinned, however, things got disoriented. He lost his frame of reference. His gaze turned inward. His eyes were opened, and he knew he was naked. Why was he suddenly so aware of himself? Sin made him acutely self-conscious and self-critical. He was no longer an afterthought. So, he ran and hid in shame.

But, God comes looking for Adam in the garden. "Where are you?" God asks. Adam replies he is hiding because he is naked and afraid. Naked? Of course he is naked. God made him that way. Then, in a single question, God puts his finger on the problem, "Who told you that you were naked?" In other words, What caused this sudden shift in perspective? God goes on to explain the consequences of Adam and Eve's sin. Then, graciously, tenderly, God makes them some garments to wear. He covers their sin and restores the relationship.

Sin makes us so aware of ourselves, we become the frame of reference for our own existence. We become acutely self-conscious and self-critical. We run and hide and cover ourselves up. But, we can't get rid of our inward gaze. The only solution is for God to restore the relationship and cover our sin. He mends our wounds and covers us with his garments. Only then are we able to look out again and see God first, and ourselves in relation to Him. Only then is our frame of reference reset on God, our outward gaze restored.

Abiding in the Vine

Abide in Me, and I in you. –Jn. 15:4

This familiar passage of the vine and the branches appears in Jesus' farewell address to His disciples. The discourse begins in the upper room where Jesus and the disciples are having their last Passover supper together. Jesus gives them a new commandment to love each other and tells them about the Holy Spirit who will come once He is gone. Then, at Jesus' direction, they all get up and leave, heading toward the garden of Gethsemane (14:31). On the way, Jesus continues His farewell by comparing Himself to a grape vine, "I am the true vine..." (15:1ff).

As Jesus extends the metaphor, He uses the word abide 10 times. Literally, to abide means for the branch to stay attached to the vine so that the pulsating, sustaining life of the vine may flow through the branch. Metaphorically then, Jesus is telling his disciples, "Hey, when I'm gone, don't desert me. Stay connected to me so my life will flow through you." But, what would it mean for Jesus' life to flow through somebody? In context, the main entities that flow through the branches are Jesus' words and the Holy Spirit. That's why Jesus says, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you..." (v. 7, emphasis added). Likewise, that's why Jesus says, "[The Spirit of truth] abides with you and will be in you" (14:17, emphases added). So, Jesus' words and the Spirit sustain the branches and ultimately lead them to produce fruit.

What is interesting throughout the passage is that Jesus puts His emphasis on abiding, not on bearing fruit. It is as if He is saying the fruit will come as long as we abide. May we all stay attached to Jesus so His life will pulsate through us. May we cherish Jesus' words and Spirit so that they will sustain us and cause us to bear much fruit!

Worship and Grace

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. –Rom. 12:1

In order to understand the full force of this verse, you have to understand the structure of the book of Romans. After the introduction, Paul takes the first 2½ chapters to explain humanity's sad plight before God: everyone has rejected God and broken His law, thus lacking righteousness (the prerequisite to a relationship with Him). The rest of chapters 3 and 4 explain the solution to this plight: Jesus displayed God's righteousness by obeying the law perfectly, and God will give you Jesus' righteousness if you believe that you need it. Paul says it like this, "...having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we now stand..." (5:1-2, emphasis added). So, faith gets us righteousness, which brings us into grace. But, what is grace? Paul takes chapters 5 and 6 to answer that question.

In general, grace means favor or goodwill. Specifically in Romans, grace means that God relates to you through Jesus' righteousness, and not through constantly beating you over the head with how much you fall short of perfection. Paul says, "...you are not under law but under grace" (6:14). And, "...the grace of God and the gift [i.e., righteousness]...of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many" (5:15). Chapters 7 and 8 detail how we live in this grace and how, ultimately, nothing can take us out of it. Then, Paul clarifies briefly (chapters 9-11 :) how God's grace is not void to Israel, and therefore, not void to anyone else either.

After all this teaching, then comes our verse, "Therefore...present your bodies...to God, which is your spiritual act of worship." Why do we present our bodies (and lives) as worship? Because—as the previous 11 chapters have just explained—God gives you Jesus' righteousness and puts you in a grace relationship with Him!

So, we must begin to see how grace works in tandem with worship. The thing we worship controls us. If we worship anything other than God, it will not show us grace; rather, it will be cold and condemning. It will torment us, fill us with guilt, and make us feel like we're a worthless failure and could never measure up. If we worship God, however, He controls us and accepts us and shows us the grace we need in order to flourish. He is warm and inviting. He empowers us, forgives us, and builds us up to the person we never knew we could be without Him. The grace in which we stand renews us in worship, and our worship brings us to a deeper understanding of grace.

Worship as a Way of Life

  ...But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. –Heb. 12:22-24

When Israel was still enslaved in Egypt, God told Pharoah, "Let My people go, that they may worship Me in the wilderness..." (Ex. 7:16b, emphasis added). After about three months of walking and camping, on the third day of their arrival in the wilderness of Sinai, "Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain" (19:17).

The people were "trembling" and not sure what to expect. It had been thundering and flashing lightning all morning. Thick smoke had been gathering and covering the mountain. Then, the mountain shook. God was coming down. The people were in the presence of Almighty God! He gave them the Ten Commandments verbally, then immediately told them to make sacrificial offerings to Him in response (20:24). Why this response? Mount Sinai was an explicit place of worship.

But, things have changed since then. God's people are no longer at Mount Sinai, and we don't offer sacrificial bulls and goats anymore. So, what do we do instead? We worship God from our hearts with praise. "Therefore," Hebrews says, "...let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God acceptable worship..." (12:28). And the kicker is, now, because of and through Jesus—the mediator of a new covenant (as opposed to the Mosaic covenant at Mt. Sinai)—people's worship literally reaches God in heaven. That's why Hebrews goes on to say, "Through Him [Jesus] then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God..." (13:15). 

We must begin to see heaven as accessible and God as real and majestic. We must see our worship as joining that of the angels and saints in heaven as often as we offer it. We must embrace worship as a way of life. We must continually offer up a sacrifice of praise!

Patience and the Coming of the Lord

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. –James 5:7

The book of James is extremely practical. It deals with all kinds of issues of life. After all the  discussion, at the end of the book, James tells his readers to be patient. That is, after he has spoken of trials, sin, and anger (ch. 1), faith and works (ch. 2), taming the tongue (ch. 3), quarreling and humility (ch. 4), and "living a life of wanton pleasure" (ch. 5), he closes his book with an instruction to be patient until the coming of the Lord. Why patience?

All the crap that happens in life is enough to drive you crazy sometimes. We need patience in order to maintain a proper perspective on life. The crazy stuff that happens here and now is not what we have to look forward to in the future. Ultimately, we have life with Jesus in the new heavens and earth to look forward to. So, in the meantime, James commends an approach to life to his readers of being patient until the coming of the Lord—in other words, remaining calm while we wait for Jesus to come back and recreate and redeem all of creation.

No doubt, we have to deal with the issues of life as they come, and we have to be active, not passive, about it. But, we cannot afford to be short-sighted while doing so. We must not forget about the coming of the Lord. We must remain as calm as possible in these crazy days by reminding ourselves there is a God who is coming back to make all things new.

Powerfully Strengthened on the Inside

...For this reason I bow my knees before the Father...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened powerfully through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith... 

                    –Eph. 3:14-17

For what reason did Paul decide to pray for the Ephesians? He didn't want them to lose heart (v.13). Paul knew the people alone could not stabilize themselves in a lasting way. So, he invoked God on their behalf to stabilize them powerfully on the inside, in their inner selves.

Paul shows great care for the Ephesians through his prayer. Interestingly, however, this prayer for soul strength was not so the people would feel better about themselves (though this is a byproduct of the process), but rather so that Christ would feel at home enough in their souls to unleash the abundance of His life in them. In other words, the Spirit plays a stabilizing and nurturing role in people's inner lives, to encourage Christ-unleashing faith in their hearts.

O, that God would strengthen our souls! O, that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith!

The Righteousness of God

For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. –Mt. 5:20

The Old Testament displays the righteousness of God primarily in His faithfulness to keep His covenants with Israel. God always, always, always delivers His people—whether out of slavery, exile, or sin. That's why Isaiah speaks of a shoot springing from the stem of Jesse, of whom "righteousness will be the belt about his loins" (Is. 11:5). Jeremiah speaks of a "righteous branch" ruling on David's throne whose name will be "The LORD our righteousness" (Jer. 23:5-6). Zechariah envisions this king coming to the rescue of Israel, "Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey..." (Zech. 9:9).

But, righteousness doesn't just stop with God. He expects humans to be righteous—to uphold their end of the Mosaic covenant by keeping the Law—and He links righteousness to staying alive. Ezekiel says it like this, "But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die" (Ez. 18:21). But, if that man messes up and sins, "All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery and...his sin which he has committed; for them he will die (v. 24). That's quite a predicament! If you sin once, you're toast!

Now, enter Jesus. He lives His life and fulfills all righteousness (Mt. 3:15), for He "didn't come to abolish [the Law] but to fulfill it" (5:17). Jesus perfectly performs the righteousness expected of humans. So, when it comes to righteousness and the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is offering people a way to be righteous and thus fulfill the Mosaic covenant. For Jesus to say that people must be more righteous than the Pharisees is scandalous! It's impossible! It's Jesus' way of saying that no one has kept the Mosaic covenant. They need His righteousness to make it into the kingdom of heaven. That's why Jesus tells people to seek His righteousness (6:33), and "Ask, and it will be given to you" (7:7). In context, the primary thing Jesus means people to ask for is His righteousness! May we all ask, seek, and knock...

But whatever things were gain to me,
those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
More than that, I count all things to be loss
in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, 
and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
and may be found in Him,
not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law,
but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.
–Phil. 3:7-9