Six Practices of Disciples: Worship Weekly
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Luke 19:28-40; Zech 9:9
Here’s an old word you may not have heard - “doattee.” A 1778 English dictionary defines doattee as “to nod the head when sleep comes on whilst one is sitting up.” The dictionary continues, “This action is…to be noticed in church!” Some things don’t ever change it would seem!
For 75 years, Gallup pollsters have been asking Americans, “Did you yourself happen to attend church or synagogue in the last seven days?” Approximately 40% of us have answered “yes” to that question pretty consistently. However, some new studies have found that in reality only about 20% of us are in worship on a given Sunday! Apparently, many of us have no qualms about lying about our church attendance! Come on! Whether the actual number is 20% or 30% as others suggest, it is clear that being in church on a Sunday morning is a counter-cultural thing to do, since relatively few of us do it! So why do we do it? What are we doing here on Sunday morning?
Today we conclude our series on “Six Practices of Disciples.” These practices are ways God uses to shape us into fully devoted followers of Jesus or “disciples.” They are: Study Regularly, Pray Daily, Witness Boldly, Live Faithfully, Serve Creatively, and finally, “Worship Weekly.” So let’s talk about worship. As I prepared this sermon I recalled the many different places in which I have worshiped God- in grand cathedrals in Europe, in small Army and Air Force chapels in Germany, and in tiny inner city storefront churches in Philadelphia. I’ve worshiped in camp dining halls, in a cave, on the beach, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., under an open air tent, at a Billy Graham crusade in a Convention Center, under a small thatched roof in a Mexican church, and at a National Park amphitheater.
Clearly, we can worship God in many different places and in many different ways. In fact, today’s Scripture lesson tells of a worship event that happened spontaneously in the street with a great deal of exuberance. Let’s read the story of Palm Sunday and see what we can learn about worship. (Luke 19:29-40)
29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,
30 saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
31 If anyone asks you, "Why are you untying it?' just say this, "The Lord needs it.' "
32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.
33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
34 They said, "The Lord needs it."
35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen,
38 saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop."
40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."
The first thing we notice about worship in this passage is that it is primarily about God, not about us. Listen to verse 37, “As Jesus was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’” In worship we may well enjoy the company of other worshipers, we may learn something helpful from a sermon, we may feel moved by the music- and there is nothing wrong with any of that. But the fact is that we can experience fellowship and instruction and inspiration in other settings- like a local Rotary Club meeting. If those things are all that happen in church on Sunday, if we have not encountered the living God, if we have not “praised God joyfully,” then worship has not occurred.
The actions of the people on that first Palm Sunday- shouting, singing, laying down their coats, quoting Scripture, waving palms- all of these were actions of worship in response to what God was doing. Remember what was going on at the time. The people of Israel were under occupation by Roman forces. And they hated it. They longed for the fulfillment of God’s promise to provide them with a new king, a Messiah, who they believed would save and free them from foreign oppression. The prophets had foretold what the coming of that new king would be like. Listen to these words from Zech. 9:9, written centuries before Jesus, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The people praised God because they believed God was giving them a king who would deliver them from Roman oppression. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” they shouted. They also praised God for the miracles and deeds of power and healing that Jesus had done. They praised and thanked God because of the good gifts God was giving them.
That’s part of why we worship God too. Because we are grateful for the many good gifts that God has given us. For the blessings of nice homes, caring families, a vibrant church, a free and prosperous nation, and good friends.
But the people in our Scripture passage were doing more than thanking God for what God had done for them. They are also praising God simply for who God is- in this case a God who is faithful to his promises to his people.
Part of our worship is also about praising God for who God is. God is… Faithful. Forgiving. Truthful. Loving. Compassionate. Powerful. Just. Our Shepherd. Our Creator. Our songs and prayers reflect this aspect of worship each week. In worship we encounter the living God and praise God for who he is.
There’s a great scene in Steven Spielberg’s movie, “Jurassic Park,” when the paleontologist Allen Grant, who has devoted his life to the study of dinosaurs, comes face-to-face with a real live prehistoric creature. He falls to the ground, dumbstruck. It is one thing to meticulously piece together a dinosaur skeleton and speculate about how it lived, but it is entirely something else to encounter an actual dinosaur!
In worship, we move beyond assembling facts and theories about God from ancient artifacts. We ought to be encountering the living God in person. And that encounter provokes a response of awe and wonder and praise in us. In fact, we were created for that purpose- to praise God! It is a natural, human response to encountering God. As the Westminster Catechism says, “The chief end of [human beings] is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”
The first thing we can say about worship, is that it is focused on God. It responds to God’s actions and God’s character with acts of praise and thanksgiving.
But there is more to worship.
Garrison Keillor once said, “If you can’t go to church and, for at least a moment, be given transcendence; if you can’t go to church and pass briefly from this life into the next; then I can’t see why anyone should go. Just a brief moment of transcendence causes you to come out of church a changed person.” Worship is primarily about God, but it changes us.
How does that work? In celebrating who God is, we gain a perspective on who we really are- creatures made wonderfully in the image of God who have great value. Yet creatures who fall far short of being who God created us to be. We gain a whole new perspective on our place in the world.
It’s tax time. Have you ever noticed how your perspective on money changes this time of year? During most of the year we are excited to receive paychecks, interest from the bank, and dividends from our mutual funds. And we tend to grumble a bit when we write checks for our mortgage or even for our offerings to the church. But when we fill out our income tax forms everything changes! We groan when we record all that extra income, because it means we’ll pay more tax. And we celebrate the mortgage interest and charitable giving we have done, because it is tax-deductible. Our perspective has been turned upside down.)
Worship has that same effect on us. It gives us a new perspective on the way things are. You see, as finite sinful creatures, our values and priorities and behaviors frequently get twisted and out-of-whack. Worship helps us put them back in proper order. Also, as fragile creatures, we are often beat-up and overwhelmed by the things that life throws at us- serious illness, fractured relationships, receiving hostility in response to doing the right thing, failure at work or school. In the eternal perspective of worship, we find comfort and strength to go on for another week.
A few years back, three gray whales became icebound near Point Barrow, Alaska. They became battered and bloodied as they struggled to breathe through the one remaining, closing hole in the ice. They needed to be transported 5 miles past the past the ice pack to the open sea, but no one could figure out how to do that. So rescuers did the next best thing. They began cutting a string of breathing holes about 25 yards apart and for eight days they coaxed the whales from one hole to the next, mile after mile. Finally, the whales were able to swim to freedom! Worship is like a string of breathing holes that God provides for us. A place where new life and affirmation and truth are breathed into us week after week in a world which can be harsh and barren.
And that’s why weekly worship is fundamentally important to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. It serves as a regular reality check for us. It reminds us of who the God is that we serve. It reminds us of what God is calling us to do with our lives. And in worship we are equipped and empowered to do God’s work in the coming week.
Now, I know some people believe that they can worship God just as well on the golf course or as they hike. And I don’t deny that is possible. But, without the discipline of weekly worship, we are highly unlikely to worship in those other places. Besides, we need the input of the Scripture and prayers and songs to keep us on track. Otherwise, we’re only hearing our own thoughts, which are unlikely to give us a new, real perspective on our lives.
We must also admit that some people find worship to be boring and irrelevant. That probably says something about our worship services. Just a couple weeks ago I noticed a teenage girl texting someone during my sermon. Perhaps she was sharing my stellar insights with a friend, but I suspect that she had just lost interest in my sermon. We worship leaders have responsibilities to prepare well and use our creativity to enrich worship and keep it from becoming routine and boring. But worshippers have some responsibilities, too.
Remember what happened in today’s Scripture lesson before the crowds were singing and shouting as Jesus rode into Jerusalem? Some disciples had to go and find the donkey for the Lord. Seven verses are devoted to this preparation for worship! Meaningful worship requires preparation. Those who lead worship prepare- ushers, choir members, preachers, liturgists, & accompanists. But participants in worship also need to prepare to keep worship fresh and meaningful. How do you do that? Pray the night before worship that you will encounter the living God in church! Read the Scripture text for the day if you know what it is. Get enough sleep. Arrive a little early and prepare your heart to praise God and receive whatever God has for you. Prepare for worship!
Eugene Peterson, a Presbyterian pastor, is one of my favorite writers. Listen to what he says about worship: “Failure to worship consigns us to a life of spasms and jerks, at the mercy of every advertisement, every seduction, every siren. Without worship we live manipulated and manipulating lives... If there is not (a) center, there is no circumference. People who do not worship are swept into a vast restlessness, epidemic in the world, with no steady direction and no sustaining purpose.”
Worship weekly. It’s an important part of being a disciple of Jesus.
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