Come Let Us Worship, Day 3, December 3

As a father of three girls there is little doubt that I am captivated by them and so proud of their achievements.  When I think of them I rarely think of them as babies.  But what fond memories of those young years!  I was the patient and they were the attending physicians.  What fun it was doing their hair and bathing on Saturday nights.  But when I think of my daughters, I never immediately think of those infant years. Those years were precious because I saw grown, mature, beautiful women clothed in the flesh of an infant.  As I consider my Lord, likewise, I rarely think of him as a boy-child (although he was).

No, when it comes to worship, we see our Saviour is exalted.  Once a child-King now reigns as King of kings. “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” (Revelation 5:6, NIV)

Or earlier, John wrote, “and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” (Revelation 1:13–16, NIV)

The noun worship comes from the old English meaning a condition of being worthy, dignity, glory, distinction, honour, or renown. The primary Greek verb to worship is proskuneo (προσκυνέω) and is compound meaning pros, “towards,” and kuneo, “to kiss”.  It’s an act of homage or reverence.  A second most common New Testament word for worshipping is  latreuo (λατρεύω) meaning to serve.

Such was the case in around 740 B.C. when King Uzziah died.  In a vision the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus Christ.  The prophet wrote, “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.”^[1]   This was indeed the Second Person of the Trinity, Christ in his pre-incarnate glory. The Apostle John by inspiration of the Spirit confirms that this is the Christ.[2]

Worship or the giving of honour and service go hand in hand with seeing the Lord, high and lifted up. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”” (Isaiah 6:8, NIV)

Jesus always possessed the glory of His royal divinity.  In the crib in Bethlehem it was only obvious to those who looked beyond the child to the King.

Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King for ever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign!

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11, NIV)

Jesus was always a King.  Yes, temporarily clothed in infant humanity, but always a King.

Father, hidden inconspicuously among the gifts, the bows, the presents and all the fuss is royalty.  Somewhat forgotten lies One clothed with majesty, power and glory.  He always was King and he always will be.  Enable us by your grace, to see within the wrappings and the trappings, One who calls us to worship; One who is destined to be preeminent in all things; and one to whom we owe our service.  May it be so, Lord Jesus. 

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^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Is 6:1). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[2] John 12:41

Come Let Us Worship, Day 1, December 1

Jeremiah 10:1–5 (NIV)

¹ Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. ² This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them. ³ For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. ⁴ They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. ⁵ Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.”

The book of Jeremiah is a contrast between the goodness of God and His ways compared to rebellious response of Judah.  The people of Judah resist God by rebellion and idolatry. Jeremiah 2:13 (NIV) is a key verse: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Jeremiah criticizes Judah for their foolishness in pursuing idolatry.  He mocks the insanity of following manmade devices that can neither talk, move, act, bless or judge. Someone cuts down a tree, cultures it to look pleasing, dresses it with gold and calls it a god.  How foolish. “They manufacture gods out of the trees of the forest and then cover them with silver and with gold.”^[1]

What is idolatry?  We usually think of idolatry in terms of physical acts of worship.  Idolatry has no limits.  Even good things can become idols.  An idol is what we spend our time on, our energy on.  It takes hold of our thoughts and imaginations.  An idol is what we hold as ultimately valuable. 

This is not an invective against Christmas trees and decorations. The issue is found in the key word of Jeremiah 2:13: “forsaken”.  When the ongoing daily worship of Christ, our King, is replaced by the obsession of Christmas “things” we have forsaken the Living Water.  The choice starts before the Season.  “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.” (Daniel 1:8, NIV).

Dear Father.  How insane it is to place such value on Christmas “stuff”.  How foolish it is to replace worship with things that “cannot hold water”.  By New Year’s we will wish we ate less, spent less and we will be worn out with trying to keep up with the Jones’.   The multitude of gifts under the decorated tree will temporarily please our children, but these things will soon be forgotten or broken.  You remain.  We pray that we “shall have no other gods before [You].” (Exodus 20:3, NIV).  The Gospel set us free to worship you. We were “bought at a price. Therefore [we] honor God with [our] bodies.” (1 Corinthians 6:20, NIV).  “Sin shall no longer be [our] master . . .” (Romans 6:14, NIV) .  Your promise is amazing.  We can “keep [our] lives free from the love of money and be content with what [we] have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV).

As Jeremiah wrote, “No one is like you, Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.” (Jeremiah 10:6, NIV).

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^[1] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 1447). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Come Let Us Worship, Day 2, December 2

 Most of us would not be familiar with the term: cultural liturgies.  Liturgy comes from a Greek word “leitourgia” and it has come to mean an established formula for public worship, a prescribed ritual which many churches use in their services and in their ceremonial rites.  Dr. Jamie Smith, a Canadian philosopher teaching at Calvin College, has authored several books that show that it is not just the Church that has a liturgy, but culture does too[1].  Shopping Malls surface in our culture and serve a liturgy that is very much as real as the average Church.

Dr. Smith convincing argues that there is an intentional parallel between historic places of religious worship and our shopping malls and plazas.   When you enter, you cannot see the outside world anymore, so time has the effect of standing still. You have now entered an arena where you will be cared for.  You are now part of an ‘ekklesia’ – a community or an assembly of people all worshiping the same things.  Of course the objective of mall worship is the same as Christian worship: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21, NIV).  The goal of cultural liturgy is to take your heart.

As you enter the mall you are greeted by inviting people.  Your mind is immediately introduced visually and audibly to the promises that are laid out for you.  Examples of the “faith” crowd the windows inviting potential disciples to be just like them.  Mercy is extended to indebtedness so that everyone can participate. What is presented is their form of the good life.  This is how you and your family can flourish.  Like the local church, the more you participate, the more your heart is transformed into a cultural worshipper. 

Dr. Smith understands Paul to see us as creatures pursuing love. The prominent notion is that "you are what you think;" but Smith argues that Paul believed that we "are what we love."  "More specifically, our identity is shaped by what we ultimately love or what we love as ultimate— what, at the end of the day, gives us a sense of meaning, purpose, understanding, and orientation to our being-in-the-world."[2]    

Christians “are in the world”^[3], that is true.  But what Christians need to be mindful of is that as we live in the world, as we watch television, as we enter shops and malls and as we are plummeted by this cultural liturgy, we need to stop and think: I am now engaging with the values and purposes of a “religion” that wants my heart.   The moment you step out of your car and hear the sounds of “Christmas Bells”; the moment you approach the doors of this “sanctuary”, you are entering a “temple” that is actively engaged in capturing your heart.

Heavenly Father we owe no man worship but you.  Your grace and mercy that has snatched us from a world of pain and destruction has left a huge debt – a debt that can only be paid by going deeper into debt.  So Lord we pray that You would let ,  Thy goodness, like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee ,

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it seal it for Thy courts above.

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[1] What Dr. Smith means by "secular liturgies" is important. He argues that our whole marketing system via various forms of media is fashioned to grab our hearts.  Of course as Christians we know these things don't satisfy. In further questioning Dr. Smith clarifies that he views even the secular world as "religious" – calling us to worship something or someone other than God.  But for sake of distinction he names these "secular liturgies."

[2] Smith, James K. A. (2009-08-01). Desiring the Kingdom (Cultural Liturgies): Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (pp. 26-27). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

^[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 17:11). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Come Let Us Worship - Preview

¯“C” is for the Christ-child, born upon this day . . .”¯  so goes the song written by Jenny Lou Carson and Eddy Arnold nearly 70 years ago.  The message of the song is summed up in the words, “that’s why there’s a Christmas Day.”  The opposite narrative is frightening.  What a different world it would be if there were no Christmas.

If there were no Jesus, there would be no liberation from sin, which is the cause of all sorrow and pain.  It is the cause of the great separation between people and the God who made them.  “And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, NLT).

If there were no Bethlehem, there would be no Calvary. ““For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NLT).

If there were no Christ, there would be no arbitrator between God and humanity. “For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5, NLT)

So, the banners are right: “He is the reason for the season.”  What will your CHRISTmas be like this year? The holidays are but a few. The presents will someday break, get old and be forgotten. The big dinner will prompt further resolutions to diet.  But to those who heed the invitation, “Come, Let us Worship”, this Christmas can be different.

I invite you to follow me for the next 25 days as we hear and respond to the invitation of Christ, to worship Him.

What Did You Do Last Sunday?

In a recent study group I was reminded about my Church’s faith statement about Sunday.  It goes like this:

               12.   The Lord’s Day

We believe that the first day of the week[1] is the Lord’s Day[2] and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely  appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.[3]

For all intents and purposes, this is the value statement that we purport to teach and preach.  For all practical purposes, it is this statement that the membership of the Church agrees to support and respect. Albeit it should be regarded as a lower tier doctrine, it is nonetheless a statement summarizing what we believe the Bible teaches; and a principle that we believe is worthy of our compliance.      

The Bible doesn’t use the word “Sunday” but rather uses the phrase: the first day of the week.  Scripture teaches that the New Testament church gathered to worship on this day, for example: Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10.   The Jewish Sabbath had typological significance and found it’s fulfillment in the finished work of Christ in redemption of His people. To what significance might the early Church have implied by this day – “The first day of the Week”?  It was certainly the day that the Lord rose from the grave.  Parallel to the Genesis record of creation, Sunday was commemorated as the first day of the New Creation. It was the inspired Apostle John who named the day, The Lord’s Day, in his Revelation. 

So it is obvious from the Bible that Sunday was the day set aside by the followers of Jesus to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection.  First century writers affirmed this. “A document called the Didache speaks of observing the breaking of bread on “the Lord’s day” (14:1). Ignatius commented on “no longer observing the Sabbath but living according to the Lord’s day” on which Christ rose from the dead (Magnesians 9). The Epistle of Barnabas asserts that “we [Christians] keep the eighth day for joy on which also Jesus arose from the dead” (15:8f). Justin Martyr contended that Christians gathered for worship “on the day called Sunday” (Apology I.67.1ff).”[4]

Today our culture almost unanimously fails to recognize Sunday as a unique day of worship and rest.  The same spirit has invaded the people of God.  The day becomes an opportunity for:

Hockey

Hunting

Housework

Horseplay

with little attention to pursuits of Holiness.  It would seem to me that when the priorities of worship and rest have been adequately exercised, then there may be time for other pursuits.  But when other pursuits take the place of worship and rest, we have turned The Lord’s Day into “My Day”.   The Bible would speak strongly about using this Day for legalistic reasons and even using this day for simply religious obedience.  Much like the Sabbath in Israel, we believe that ““If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”” (Isaiah 58:13–14, ESV)

Again, the Lord’s Day is not the Sabbath, but one would wonder if we “called Sunday a delight” and honoured it by not doing our own pleasure, perhaps we would be occasioned to have overflowing joy. What did you do last Sunday?

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[1] Matthew 28:1; John 20:19; Acts 2:1-4; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1,2

[2] Genesis 2:3; Exodus 20:8

[3] 1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:2; Luke 8:18; Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19; Matthew 28:19,20;  1 Corinthians 11:26; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:12; Exodus 15:1-19; Psalm 107

[4] https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1469-lords-day-the

Christian, Do You Really Believe in the Resurrection?

“Do you really believe in the resurrection,” asked C. H. Spurgeon?  In a sermon preached at New Park Street Chapel, in London, on February 17, 1856, Spurgeon said,

“There are very few Christians who believe the resurrection of the dead. You may be surprised to hear that, but I should not wonder if I discovered that you yourself have doubts on the subject. By the resurrection of the dead is meant something very different from the immortality of the soul: that, every Christian believes, and therein is only on a level with the heathen, who believes it too.”[1]

Spurgeon’s point is that there is a tendency among well-meaning Christians to view eternal life as an eternal existence, established by the Gospel, but that existence is lived out in “an airy fantastic body” rather than an existence that is a more glorified state than now, yet retaining some of its continuing, distinctive elements.  The reality is that to simply believe in immortality is a doctrine, just a step up from paganism.  Perhaps we have embraced an incomplete Gospel hope by not realizing that “Christ died not only to save my soul, but to save my body.”¹

Practically speaking this transforms a funeral service.  Any Christian with even the basics of the faith has the comfort to know that their believing loved one is with the Lord. “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, ESV).  Therefore we do not “grieve as others do who have no hope.”^[2]  So then why do we weep?  Spurgeon explains:

“You do not weep because your father, brother, wife, husband, has ascended to heaven — you would be cruel to weep about that. None of you weep because your dear mother is before the throne; but you weep because her body is in the grave, because those eyes can no more smile on you, because those hands cannot caress you, because those sweet lips cannot speak melodious nose’ of affection. You weep because the body is cold, and dead, and clay-like; for the soul you do not weep.”¹

But wait, the doctrine of the resurrection addresses that.  Indeed, for those in Christ are assured that that body will rise again.  We will see that face again.  Those eyes of affection will once again look upon us.  Those words, so tender, will again speak to us.  Those “Daddy’s hands” will again touch us. 

There is also comfort for those who die in Christ in relation to pain and suffering.  “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4, ESV), not because there is simply a spiritual, ethereal existence, but because the body has been forever healed and glorified.

Lastly, the doctrine of the resurrection of the body is practical because it provides for us a guiding principle about the care of our own bodies today.  In expounding on Romans 12:1-2, Dr. John Piper writes,

“In the Bible, the body is not significant because of the way it looks, but because of the way it acts. The body is given to us to make visible the beauty of Christ . . . God wants visible, lived-out, bodily evidence that our lives are built on his mercy.”[3]

“If your bodies are to dwell in heaven, I beseech you take care of them. I do not mean, take care of what you eat and drink, and wherewithal you shall be clothed; but I mean, take care that you do not let your bodies be polluted by sin.”¹

“The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”^[4] “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?”^[5] “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, ESV)

“But the master argument with which we close our proof is that Christ rose from the dead, and verily his people shall.”¹  “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.” (1 Corinthians 15:12–13, ESV)

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[1] Spurgeon, Charles. The Complete Works of Charles Spurgeon: Volume 2, Sermons 54-106 (Kindle Locations 12427-12439). www.DelmarvaPublications.com. Kindle Edition.

^[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Th 4:13). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[3] https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/present-your-bodies-as-a-living-sacrifice-to-god

^[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Co 6:13). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

^[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Co 6:15). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.