The Price Of Worship - Week 2

Looking back at last week's material, we learned that worship is a sacrifice of obedience to God that encompasses many aspects of our life, including time, finances, desires, and pride.

Worship is based on grace, and recognizing it as it is given from God daily. We worship in response to God's grace.

The biggest question of the day is: Is our sacrifice really a sacrifice?

Cain's sacrifice was not brought according to the precedence set forth by the first sacrifice in human history, which was the blood sacrifice to cover Adam and Eve's sin. Cain's sacrifice did not follow the prescribed pathway that God had given for worship, which was to bring a blood sacrifice that was the best he had and was a symbol of his reliance on God, rather than his ability.

The rejection of his offering (even though it was rejected because he didn't bring it correctly) rattled his cage, and he left angry.

We experience this in the church today as well. There are times in services and otherwise that things happen to rattle our cage. In those situations, we tend to respond as Cain did.

Let's look at a few instances:

When was the first time in your church experience that the words of the music were put up on a screen for the congregation to read, rather than using the hymnal? How did that make some people feel?

What about the first time you were asked to sing something besides a hymn in worship?

What about the day that the new Choir Director or Worship Leader put drums or a guitar on stage, or used a cassette or CD for the choir to sing to?

How about when the decor of the Sanctuary or Worship Center changed for the first time?


The bottom line: If something in a worship setting is new, different, or innovative, it tends to call me to excercise some flexibility.


I can either respond to that call selfishly (I want what I want no matter what), or in submission to God's perfect will, which is to worship Him no matter what may change around me.

There are going to be those who respond adversely (selfishly) to these changes.

There are also those who will respond adversely to those who respond adversely, and that causes worship wars.

Old vs. New
Traditional vs. Contemporary or Modern
Organ vs. Guitar and Drums

The list goes on and on!!!


Scripture talks about issues like these, which are caused by an unwillingness to sacrifice the animal known as pride.

This sacrifice is huge, because it removes our security blanket that we use to come to God in the known, the familiar, and on our own terms.

It comes down to doing what it takes to allow that sacrifice to happen, so that we can worship in the way God intended us to.


We all remember the son "This Little Light Of Mine", right?

There is an article written by Professor Michael Gonzales of Biola University called "When Worship Means Something", that speaks to a different perspective on light. Here's an excerpt:

"So, how do we get to that holy of holies? Let me encourage you by reciting John 1:5 - 'The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness cannot comprehend it.' Maybe I should paraphrase it: 'the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has no power to squash it out.'

This applies to all things. You are having problems with a worship team member? Well, if you're walking in the Spirit, 'the light shines in the darkness.' Even if you are accused of something, 'the light shines in the darkness'.

You don't have to be Darth Vader to be on the dark side. It can be in the way you respond to someone else. I understand what it's like to serve under bad circumstances, but what counts sometimes is how we respond. How we let our light shine cna make all the difference in the world.

Sometimes we can also irritate newcomers when we worship. The other day I sat in church and we had a new worship leader (an intern) take over the worship leading chores. The music went on and on and, after each song, he was really into it; he kept repeating the choruses over and over again. My light wasn't shining too bright that day. I wanted to unplug his amp, not only because we were singing so long (over 30 minutes), but because we were doing it standing on our feet! Bless his heart, for he thought he was doing the right thing. His voice is just right and his playing is excellent, but for him, at that moment, worship meant one thing and for me it meant another.

So, as dim as my light might have been that moring, I surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, and continued to praise God in song."

See, it's all about forgiveness. Professor Gonzales had to surrender to the Lordship of Christ, forgive the young worship leader in his heart, and continue to praise God for what He has done in his life.

In Matthew, the Bible speaks to this as something huge that must happen for our sacrifice to be right.

Matthew 6:14-15[NIV] - For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men in their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

The Message puts it like this:

Matthew 6:14-15[MSG] - In prayer, there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.

Forgiveness and Surrender are sacrifices. Each must happen in order for our worship to be received and accepted by the Lord.

Without making those sacrifices, our worship is worthless to God because it is done with selfishness (This isn't the way I worship...), anger (I can't believe we're doing this!), and malice (I'm witholding my tithe, and writing a comment card about this every week until it changes!) in our hearts.

He will not forgive us if we are not willing to do the same.

As we close, two songs about surrender come to mind. One is a hymn, and one is a contemporary tune:

I Surrender All

All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live
I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all

Surrender

I'm giving You my heart, and all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of You my King
I'm giving You my dreams, I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life
And I surrender all to You, all to You
And I surrender all to You, all to You

How many people miss the timeless truth and picture of surrendering to God when they shut out the idea of singing that wonderful hymn?

How many people miss the same thing when they shut out the idea of singing that beautiful contemporary chorus?

Let's work together to find a way to let our collective Light shine together, and allow God to build us up into unity!

Questions To Ponder:

1.) When it comes to worship, do I act selfishly, or in submission?

2.) How is my Light, and how can I make it shine brighter?

3.) Are forgiveness and surrender things I practice daily?

4.) Am I ready to sacrifice pride?

NOTE: If you wish to have the entire article from Professor Gonzales, please Click Here to email Jeremy.