Title Exemplary worshipers (Psalm 100:1-5)
Contents
Someone asked this question to former President Clinton of the United States.
“How much preparation time would you give me to give you a three-hour lecture?” Clinton answered. “There is no preparation time required. I could give a three-hour lecture right now.”
The questioner asked again. “Then how much time can I give for a 30-minute lecture?” “A 30-minute lecture takes three hours.”
“What if I give you a three-minute lecture?” Clinton answered. “If you have a three-minute lecture, you should give yourself three days of preparation time.”
Official worship services at the church are three times a week, but most of them end with a service once a week during the day. This is a good anecdote that shows how to prepare for a short official worship service.
Worship is the essence of our lives. Moreover, it is God the Father who is the source and preserver of our lives. If you look at today's verse, you are talking about God well. As a person who gave agape love to save sinners, God is a spiritual being and a personal person (personality) who wants to have deep fellowship with us. He is also the eternal and infinite One (transcendence) and the One who is everywhere and always present in our lives (ubiquity). Not only that, but he is also someone we can trust and follow because he protects and protects us anytime and in any situation (reliability). This God is in charge of our worship.
In other words, we do not worship, but God leads us to worship. Therefore, depending on how well we know and think about God, the object of worship, the attitude and content of the worshiper will change. We practice in advance even when we meet the president. In the case of soldiers, how to shake hands, how to say government statements in a certain tone, and how to answer questions in advance. Much less, as a worshiper of the holy and almighty God, we must realize that we cannot provide proper worship without thorough preparation.
On the other hand, we need a clear awareness of ourselves as we worship. We are not merely an audience who sits listening to sermons and admires the praises of the choir. A worshiper who worships God together with a worship leader. Just as an orchestra is made up of one conductor and many performers, the congregation is a group of musicians who each bring their own instruments and perform music praising God according to the score of the Bible, the Word of God.
Worship is to tune your instrument to the basic sound of Jesus Christ and praise God's saving grace in our lives. Worship is taking the instrument God has given me, my own instrument called ‘my life’ that I can never play without myself, and playing in front of God. In order to have such a precious worship service well, above all else, we need to prepare well.
Thorough preparation for worship
Sunday morning should be a moment of joy that people who love the Lord or their families welcome in joy. Nevertheless, if you use it for your own benefit until Sunday morning and even fight for the lusts of the flesh, this is not the right attitude as a worshiper.
Because the six days God has given us are not enough time, it is impossible to properly worship God with the remaining energy until late Saturday or even Sunday morning. Meeting God on a Sunday morning requires the best condition, not the lowest.
In general, Saturday evenings are free time for everyone. In rural areas, people work until late on Saturdays, but in other areas, it is a time for shopping and leisure. As a result, watching a movie or watching TV until late at night will end up falling asleep late, and eventually you will end up oversleeping on a Sunday morning and struggling. You have to realize that this is an attitude that you are not prepared for. It must be remembered that Sunday worship begins on Saturday evening.
When you enter the church, you sit down and pray quietly. It varies from a few seconds to a few minutes, but on average, I tend to pray so simply that it feels too short. However, the first prayer time is the moment when we finally prepare to meet God. We should pray for the worshipers themselves as well as the worship leaders, other members of the congregation, and those unable to participate because they are physically disabled or away from home.
If you are praising before the worship service, you should praise it with a heart in preparation for the worship service. At this time, the praise leader should choose the appropriate songs and lead them reverently so that the members can concentrate on worship.
Proper Attitude in Worship
When the worship service begins, you must attend the worship service in an orderly manner. Confession of faith must be confessed sincerely by realizing the meaning of the Apostles' Creed. You have to sing the hymn with sincerity in tune with the song while thinking about the meaning of the lyrics. If possible, you should open your own Bible and read the Bible yourself. However, if there is a separate reader, you must read the Bible with your eyes and heart at the speed of reading. At the time of the dedication, you should offer the offering prepared in advance with joy and gratitude. It is not pleasing to God to give generously or forcefully. You should not listen to praise with an attitude of appreciation, but participate with the choir in an attitude of praising God.
And in the time of listening to the Word, we must be prepared like the soil and listen to the Word with an open mind. No matter how strong a shower is, if the bowl is not placed upright, water will not pool in the bowl. However, even in a drizzle, water will pool if the bowl is placed upright. Even if an angel comes and preaches the word of God, we must keep in mind that if the listener's heart is closed, they will never be able to receive the word.
A medieval father, Chrysostom, was attending a service in a rural church, and I saw a farmer in shabby clothes attending the service and offering a moving worship service with all his heart and faith. After the service, I approached him and praised him, saying, “I have never seen such a passionate and serious worship service as you do today.” Then the farmer looked at the Father with a puzzled look and said, “Father, can you worship God in a different form than the one I gave you?”
That's right. There can be no other worship other than worship in spirit and truth. If there is any other worship, it is not true worship. It is said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).
Participate until the worship service is completely over, but when leaving the worship service, you should exchange greetings with each other and share the fellowship of the saints. If possible, do not leave the chapel until the worship leader lowers you down and greets you at the doorway.
Christ is the center of worship
After Adam's transgression, the way for humans to worship God directly was blocked. They had to offer temporary and finite sacrifices through the priests with sacrifices. However, as the Word became flesh and came among us, Jesus Christ, who has the same status as us, took up the cross and shed His atoning blood, the barrier between God and man was reopened. The Gospel writers recorded this fact, when Jesus died on the cross, “the veil of the sanctuary was torn in the middle” (Luke 23:45). As a result, humans have gained the qualifications to worship God directly without going through a priest through Jesus Christ as their mediator.
'Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the sanctuary once for all, having obtained eternal redemption' (Hebrews 9:12) Come boldly before the throne' (Hebrews 4:16) clearly demonstrates this fact.
Therefore, today, we confess our sins in the name of the Lord and come boldly to the throne of God the Father's grace while praying in the name of the Lord. Therefore, worship is meaningless without our Mediator, Jesus Christ. This is also the most important factor that sets our worship apart from the worship of other religions.
Jesus said, “I will be with you to the end of the world” (Mt 28:20), and He promised, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them” (Mt 18:20). This is a clear assurance that Jesus Christ is always present in our worship. Therefore, true worship must believe in the presence of the resurrected Jesus as the Holy Spirit and give thanks for the grace of redemption and offer it in truth.
Nevertheless, these days, there are many worship services that are held only among themselves, as Jesus is not present. I remember talking about it one day, but in the United States, a black man went to a chapel other than his usual church to hold a Sunday service, and he stopped him at the entrance saying, 'Black people are not allowed to enter'. I went to another church, thinking, “I wonder if there are still churches like this.” It was the same. So I went to a few churches, but to no avail. He was so exhausted that he was sitting on the stairs of the last rejected church, and someone like Jesus approached him and asked, ‘Why are you sitting here instead of entering the church?’ Speaking of self-inflicted things, he said, "It's not only you who couldn't join the church, but I was also rejected."
This morning we need to make sure that the Lord is with us. Our mindset is proof of that. The Lord is not present in unserious or formal worship. What is particularly important is the right attitude of a true worshiper to be concerned about what I can do for the Lord rather than thinking about what the Lord will do for me.
In our church, hymns that are sung after hearing the Word are called 'singing hymns'. This is because it is a hymn that is sung while being given a new mission given through the Word and going out into the world. Then, worship is not only offering to God, but also receiving a mission from God and being sent into the world. Therefore, God does not end with simply receiving worship, but gives us a new mission to worship before Him. Therefore, worshipers must worship in spirit and truth, receive a new mission, become a witness of Christ in the world, and live like a believer in their lives. This is the meaning of the words, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).
Recognizing that not only the worship itself but also the preparation before the start and the life after giving are very important, I pray that all of you will become exemplary worshipers and walk with the Lord for the rest of today as well as this week and win with faith.