Ecclesiastes...Pastor Phil Strong

                                                             Part 11

5-1-11                                    

Texts: 5:1-7

Review…

Worship is a response.

“responsive” (def.)- to react appropriately; function according to intent.

We as humanity appear to be the only ones who are intentionally ‘resistant’ (“the ability or power to be unaffected by something”) to our Creator. Not particularly hostile or aggressive, just indifferent.

Worship is a response to glory… the ‘weighty-things’; the substantial.

Glory is meant to get our attention; to promote curiosity; to inspire within us the heart of a ‘seeker’. It is so prevalent, yet so easily dismissed.

Worship has always been centered in a grateful response to God’s goodness.

It was in worship that the Israelites were oriented (re-oriented) around the story of their God and his gracious interaction with them. “Goodness” cannot always be interpreted/defined by every circumstance, but by the over-arching purposes of God.

● Whatever else the people of Israel would come to conclude about their God, they were convinced that they were meant to be near him; that it was to be his presence with them that would establish their sense of identity and their place in his world.

● This uniqueness would always be conditioned upon not only their response to their God and willingness to order their lives around his ways, but their response to their ‘near ones’… neighbors.

            Matthew 5: “… go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and present your offering”… “… [on your way to court] make friends with your adversary…”

● In these particular instances, we find reconciliation and settling of differences, themselves, as acts of worship.

[I find this ‘sudden remembering’ to be the work of the Holy Spirit; to be what happens when you are in the presence of love: as if God were saying, “Uh, are you forgetting something… someone?”]

● Jesus is saying that we cannot worship… be devoted… “singular focused” when some offense or offender is proving to be an obstacle to our time with him.

Missions/Evangelism is not the ultimate goal of the church--- worship is.

            If God’s people would live as he intended, the world would take notice. It would be a way of making the ‘invisible’ presence of God ‘visible’.

            Deut.4:6-9 “What other nation has a God like ours, so close when we pray…what other nation has such ‘guidance’ (law) as we do? Only do not forget…”

How would the world know that God was with his people? By the way that they ordered their lives in worship, first toward God, then toward others.

By its very nature, worship can be offered any time and in any place; but, it can’t be offered in just any way!

● There are acceptable ways as well as unacceptable ways, but none of them have anything to do with whether we sit or stand, kneel or lay out; whether our prayers are spontaneous or scripted, whether we are in pews or chairs, whether we sing hymns or choruses,   whether we use Merlot or Safeway Cran-Grape juice!

They have everything to do with how we are living:  how grace (this movement of God toward and in us) is transforming my being with God, my being with you (neighbor/near one) and my loving stewardship of all of his good creation.

Solomon warns against acts of worship which make statements about God which our lifestyle does not support.

“These people worship me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8-9)

Although this is not the time for such a topic to be fully developed, let me at least say this: how we behave--- how we conduct ourselves; how we live--- is determined by who/what we worship.

Israel’s worship was acceptable only as it reflected the character/nature/glory of the God they presumed to worship.

“…this place where you have said, ‘My name will be there’” (1 Kings 8:29).

“My name will be there…” Although the phrase is packed with significance, it suggests that whatever takes place in “God’s house” is a reflection of who he is; his character; his reputation.

● The Psalmist used the phrase, “…clean hands and a pure heart…” (24:4) to describe such a condition (Psalm 15 and 24).

            “dwelling in his sanctuary”, “living on his holy hill”, “standing in the holy place”: these phrases depict being in the presence of God. Since God had chosen them, given them his name, they were to conduct themselves in ways which properly reflected his character (Jer. 7:1-11; Amos 5:22-24).

My acts of worship are acceptable (pure) only when they are accompanied by a lifestyle that substantiates such acts as authentic.

Our acts of worship are not acceptable if they attribute glory to God while ignoring the very ones/things he takes glory in.

Paradox? Personal piety flourishing amidst social disintegration.

Plenty of zeal, plenty of personal piety, plenty of religious observances, but a lot of marginalized and vulnerable people left in their wake as a result of ‘worship’ (?)

● It is to be the priest of the Levite who professes loyalty to YHWH, while ignoring the practical implications of such love.

 “I wish someone would just shut this whole thing down; stop lighting useless fires; stop all of this so-called worship. I am not pleased with this” (Mal. 1:10).

Isaiah 1:11-12

“What do I care about your sacrifices? Who asked you for this?”

● You can almost hear their immediate objections, can’t you? “Whooa, God… back the Bible-truck up: we’ve prayed, we’ve offered sacrifices, we’ve observed the feasts. What do you mean who asked for it; that’s what you wanted!?” (see Jeremiah 7:22; Amos 5:21-24; Hosea 6:6).

● Notice how God “distances himself” from such activity: ‘your offerings, your gifts, your festivals, your assemblies, etc.’

● Listen to the words he uses to describe their acts of worship: “meaningless, disgusting, evil, false, burdensome” (“When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way” MSG)

Hosea 6:6 “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings”.

Almost as if God were saying… “If you really knew me, you’d know what I wanted” (Jeremiah 22:15-16).

Without a commitment to righteousness (rightly-ordered living), our acts of worship better resemble personal gratification than glory. They belittle both God and us.

                It becomes obvious that we haven’t been paying attention!

Covenant love and faithfulness always precedes any discussion of ethical conduct. God acts first (grace: the unaided, unprovoked love of God toward us) and then, calls for a response (Exodus 19:4-5 “You’ve seen what I’ve done to the Egyptians…”)

So, our worship is not to be viewed as ‘blind-obedience’, but a grateful response: not attempting to appease God so that he will respond favorably toward us, but being grateful because he already has.

● This posture is based on the Exodus story. Notice the series of events: God does not appear to Moses and say, “Here is my list of demands... I’ll await your compliance”.

● No, God acted first so that our response would be rightful and volitional.

Be cautioned about any other motivation for repentance than God’s kindness.                                                      

I have discovered that: nothing but love (devotion) is able to sustain any relationship. Not attraction, not curiosity, not ritual or habit… love.

Awareness of our weakness and insufficiency, as offered in the Scriptures, was never reason for despair, but for gratitude and the inspiration for repentance. (Romans 2 “… do you show contempt… not knowing that it’s God’s kindness that leads toward repentance…”)

If it’s God’s kindness that leads people to repentance (Romans 2), it’s our kindness that leads them to God.