I Love Worship

I love to worship! It comes naturally for me. Many of you know that I am a religious man. It may not surprise you that I say that I love to worship. I am a minister. It should be natural, right? But there is a problem. It is not with my heart’s proclivity to worship. It is that my heart is so adept to worship that the standards for WHAT is worshipped is often not that high and it therefore fails to make distinctions between what is worthy and what is not.
I often drift in my worship. I say that Jesus is Lord, but I often grab that title when it suits me. Lately I have taken the title so that I can make claims to God about what is fair and just. Perhaps you have said those things yourself? This is so unfair! How is that justice? It is something that I believe most people have said from time to time. It assumes that we know better. It assumes that someone has gotten it wrong. Many times this points to the heart longing to worship and often times it finds the wrong thing to worship.
I have seen people that I care about suffering from things and my heart did what it so often does, it began to worship. I began to place priority on what I thought is right and important. I thought that if these were holy and righteous people, then they deserve better. They are owed health. They are owed wealth. They deserve the good life. It is that thought that places us as ones who can earn salvation. It is that thought that places ourselves as savior and lord. It is that thought that assumes that there is some good in us that merits something, that obligates God to give us what we want. It is a delusion that sneaks in. It is a result of our fallen nature. It is in part what makes us human. It is a fact of which I need constant reminding.
Where does that leave injustice and unfairness? Sometimes we can stand up to injustice in this world especially if it is perpetrated by fellow humans. We can fight for fairness. We fight against the forces of darkness that wages against God and His creation. We fight as we are enabled by His Spirit. But our accusations are leveled appropriately. We recognize our own failure, weakness, and sin. We certainly do not level these accusations against God. If we want to talk to Him about injustice and unfairness, then all He has to do is point to the cross of Christ. All He has to do is point to an entire human history of crime against all of creation and crime against the Creator. All He has to do is point to our depravity. We are not owed anything by God. He has not gotten it wrong. Humanity has itself to blame.
These are big truths. These are hard truths. Thankfully I am not left alone to my own thoughts. My heart isn’t left to itself and its own fickle inclinations. I was invited by Jesus Christ to receive life from Him even when I deserved otherwise. Talk about unfair! When I said yes to Christ He sent the Holy Spirit to make residence in my life. He leads and guides me. He lets me know when my heart strays from rightful worship of Jesus Christ. It is this wonderful truth that counters my weakness, and it is this truth that gives me hope of victory from my selfish imprisonment. I am released to serve God and to serve others without any restrictions, because I do not need to justify whether they deserve it or if I deserve better than what I am doing. I serve because Jesus gave me life when there was not a speck of undefiled goodness in me. I serve because I choose to worship Christ.
This Good News is not something that is restricted just for me. I did nothing to earn it, and it was not luck that I came by it. It was because the Creator of the universe reached out to me. He is reaching out to you. You might not know it. You might not hear Him yet, but He is there. You may consider yourself religious. You may even consider yourself a follower of Christ. You may have tried to stay far away from all of this. Would you consider for a moment what you worship? Would you consider for a moment that Jesus offers you life despite what you have earned? Can you say that you have released from your imprisonment of selfishness so that you can freely love the way Jesus loved, and to proclaim His Kingdom with His power and might?
This is all Good News. We all need to be reminded from time to time. Not because the news has gotten smaller, but because our hearts are so weak. Our strength comes from our reliance on Jesus Christ. So stand with boldness and love knowing that Jesus has already and continues to stand with you. Turn from you worship of small things, and turn to the only one who has demonstrated that He is worthy. Worship Jesus!
-Pastor Jeff