Sermon for August 12th, 2012

Deuteronomy 12:5-7
5But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes as his habitation to put his name there. You shall go there, 6bringing there your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your donations, your votive gifts, your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks. 7And you shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your households together, rejoicing in all the undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

John 1:1-5, 14-18
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15(John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

Colossians 3:12-17
12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The Heart of Worship
This week we begin an eight-part series, The Heart of Worship, where we'll take a closer look at what it is we do here every Sunday morning, why exactly we do it, what scripture has to say about it, and what it all means for us both as individuals and as a church family. If you're a football fan, you might think of the next eight weeks as a Vince Lombardi style "back to the basics" approach.

For those who aren't already familiar with Vince Lombardi and that legendary story, it goes something like this: One day after a really embarrassing loss--actually, make that ten straight years of embarrassing losses--the Green Bay Packers were waiting in their locker room for their new coach, Vince Lombardi. When he came in, rather than yelling at them, he quietly picked up a football, held it up and said five simple words: "Gentlemen, this is a football." And the packers began to start over from scratch, relearning the fundamentals of the game. I'm sure there were a lot of seasoned, veteran players on that team that day who rolled their eyes or wondered who this rookie coach thought he was. However, five NFL championships later, I doubt anyone questioned his approach anymore. So, let's get back to the basics. Ladies and Gentlemen...this is a worship service.

Worship is the heart of the church. It's kind of a big deal. We do lots of things as a church: programs, outreach, fellowship, education, pot luck dinners -- but the local country club or rotary club do those things too. What sets us apart, as a church, from other organizations is that we gather together every week for the purpose of worshiping God. Worship is at the heart of the church.

So what's at the heart of worship? I'm going to do something a little uncharacteristic for a preacher: I'm going to cut right to the chase. Worship is at the heart of the church, and Jesus Christ is at the heart of worship. Nothing more, nothing less. But how do we get from Jesus Christ...to this [bulletin]? To understand that connection, we need to go back to the basics, to the very beginning, of the Gospel of John (today's second scripture reading): "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us." Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

This is an important statement, and it has important ramifications for worship. When most people hear "The Word of God" they immediately think of the Bible, and they stop there. But Presbyterians have long taught that there's more to it than this: The scriptures are the Word of God written which reflect Christ, the living Word. But there is also preaching, which is the Word of God proclaimed and which also reflects Christ, the living Word. The sacraments--Baptism and the Lord's Supper--are the Word of God enacted, which reflect Christ, the living Word. So when we, as Presbyterians, say "The Word of God" we don't mean just the Bible. When we say "The Word of God" we really, truly, mean Jesus Christ, just as the Gospel of John and today's scripture passage teach. Jesus Christ, the Word of God, is at the heart of our worship, and before it and after it and throughout it and all around it.

So let's turn to this [bulletin] again and see what we find. You should see four main sections in bold capital letters:
 * 1) We Gather in God's Name
 * 2) We Proclaim and Hear God's Word
 * 3) We Respond to God's Word
 * 4) We Go Forth In God's Name

In some Presbyterian churches, the first section is actually called "We Gather around God's Word" and the last section is called "We take God's Word into the World," so that the emphasis on the Word is a little more pronounced. But I would ask you to remember that for us as Christians, the name of God is Jesus Christ, the Word, so that when we gather and go forth in God's name, we are still gathering around the Word, and going forth in the name of the Word as well. Our Old Testament passage today tells us that "you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes as his habitation to put his name there" and our third reading tells us to "do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." As I hope you can see by now, God's name--or who we worship--is central to both where and how we worship.

As we move through this sermon series in the weeks to come, we'll stop and spend time on each of these four sections, and we'll talk about what happens in each of them. That's the what part. I've already spent a lot of time talking about the who part, so I'd like to turn now to the where and how'' parts of worship. Let me read that first part of our passage from Deuteronomy again:

"But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes as his habitation to put his name there."

Put the following in the list of things your pastor doesn't want to hear you say: "Really, since God created everything, and since God is everywhere I can worship God any place I feel like it.  Like on the Golf course Sunday morning, or in my bed.  I worship God while I'm watching TV."

Hmmmm....

Unless you think your bed is the one place out of all the tribes that God chose as his habitation, and unless God put his name there, somewhere right on that golf course...how 'bout you just come to church instead? God has always set apart special places for his people to worship, from the Tabernacle in the desert to the the Temple in Jerusalem, from the Synagogues Jesus attended to the house churches of the early Christians. God tells us "you shall seek the place" and "you shall go there . . . And you shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your households together (notice the plural of households--many families).

I'm not saying you can't worship individually, privately. Because you can and you should. There is a place for personal worship, and 1st Thessalonians tells us to "rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances." But Hebrews 10:25 tells us "do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together." You can worship God on the Golf course (and I hope you do, loudly and singing hymns at the top of your lungs). But I hope you're also here on Sunday morning, because worship is at the heart of this church, and this is--perhaps not the only--but certainly one of the very best places you're likely to have an encounter with Jesus Christ, the living word, and the heart of every worship service.

Now that you know where to worship, let's raise a different kind of wear -- Ever wonder what you should wear when you come to worship? It's right here in our passage from Colossians: "Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience." That's way more important to God than whether or not you wear a jacket, a tie, or a pretty dress. "Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

How about what to bring? In Deuteronomy, God tells the ancient Israelites to bring "your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your donations, your votive gifts, your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks." What Colossians says to bring is just as important: peace and wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. You can bring your complaints, but only if you "forgive as the Lord has forgiven you."

I like this question of "what do we bring to worship?" I think too often, we come to church the way we come to so many other places in our culture--as consumers. We come to church asking the question, "What can God do for me today? I need to be filled, recharged; give me something good today, preacher!" But worship is a verb, and last time I checked, God doesn't come to worship us. It's the other way around. Hopefully, we do walk away feeling filled with love, hope, and God's spirit...but primarily worship is about what we bring to the table, what we bring to God.

It may seem like we don't have much to offer, at least not anything of worth. But the good news is, God values things a little differently than we do. The money and possessions we spend so much of our time chasing after mean nothing to the creator of the universe. He looks deeply into our hearts and sees the child of God he created each of us to be. When we bring our hearts to God in worship, I imagine it's a little like when my kids bring me something they have drawn, colored or made. To someone else it may look like just a scribbled mess...but to me it's the most beautiful thing in the world, not because of what it is, but because of who made it.

So come to worship. Come to Jesus. And bring your heart.

The Heart of Worship
by Matt Redman When the music fades, and all has slipped away, and I simply come. Longing just to bring something that's of worth that will bless your heart.

I'll bring You more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required. You search much deeper within, through the way things appear, you're looking into my heart.

I'm coming back to the heart of worship and its all about you, its all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it when its all about you, its all about you, Jesus.

King of endless worth, no one could express how much you deserve. Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is yours, every single breath!

I'll bring you more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required. You search much deeper within, through the way things appear, you're looking into my heart.

I'm coming back to the heart of worship and its all about you, its all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it when its all about you, its all about you, Jesus.