Worship is your single greatest and most amazing capacity, as a human being. You might be a person of astounding intellect, skill, personality, or talent… you might be a person with severe limitations… it’s still true… your single greatest and most amazing capacity is that you worship.
Worship is also the single greatest, most coveted gift, you could ever give away. Your worship is more precious than silver or gold… more precious than heaven or earth, than diamonds, or any material thing in all creation. Your worship is so precious God did not consider the life of His One and Only Son too great a price to pay. In the most holy way possible, God covets your worship, He is fiercely jealous for, he died, for your worship. He longs for you to offer your worship to him, through repentance.
Worship is also the most powerful compulsion you possess. Nobody has to tell you to worship, you just do. From the moment you get out of bed, to the moment you fall asleep at night… even as you sleep (i.e. dream) you worship! You can’t NOT worship. Worship is as natural to your body as eating, breathing, drinking, sleeping, waking. And worship is as natural to the spiritual person as the unspiritual person. The ungodly, the wicked, the unspiritual (whatever pejorative you use) have no less a capacity or compulsion to worship than you!
Everyone worships. But sometimes it’s the venue that changes. People worship in sanctuaries, but they also worship in stadiums, in arenas, at race tracks, on the Internet/Cloud, on Wall Street, at the mall, at home, work, or the great outdoors.
And sometimes it’s the object of worship that changes. People worship Deities, but they also worship and serve created things, their own bodies/personas, or even other human beings we’ve elevated on a platform. We are worship machines! And our worship is always on. But we don’t always discern what we’re doing with our worship.
We’ve been conditioned to think of worship in such a narrow way. Worship is what we do on Sunday morning, it’s what we do in a church building… at a certain place or set time. But actually, worship is all-encompassing. Worship is what you do with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. Worship is what you do with your relationships. Worship is just as much about Monday as it is Sunday. Yes, God cares about our singing, the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, our offerings, the preaching of his word… but God is seeking far more than an hour of our service once every week or two or three!
In Romans 12:1 Paul writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
In a few minutes, I want to flesh out what true/proper worship entails, but first I want to take you back to Romans 1… because it’s back in Romans 1 that Paul reminds us what happens when we give our worship to anything other than God.
First, in Romans 1:20, Paul establishes that nobody has an excuse to ignore God. He says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” It’s exceptional for a person witnessing some marvelous phenomenon of creation (a sunrise, a sunset, a rainbow, the night sky, a scenic panorama…) or to witness the power of nature (a hurricane, a tsunami, a tornado, a volcano, an earthquake…) its exceptional for a person not to exclaim, “Oh my God!” If crass Facebook posts evoke the sacred “OMG,” how much more does the God of all creation? “We” intuitively know. You drop OMGS everywhere, every moment day.
The reality of God’s divine power and eternal nature are inescapable conclusions for all human beings. We’re not so spiritually dead, so totally depraved, as not to recognize there is a God! But people make a tragic exchange. Instead of offering your worship to God, you offer their worship to something “other.” Romans 1:21-23 says, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.” Romans 1:25 says, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”
Now we’re starting to get to the nitty gritty of worship. Worship is about who we most love, and what we most serve. In Matthew 22, Jesus offered a pretty solid definition of worship when he was asked about the greatest commandment in the Law. What did Jesus say? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind body and soul.” And “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
We perpetually substitute other things for God. The heart can be filled with all sorts dark, sinful desires. The mind can be filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity. The body can indulge in all sorts of unholy, crude, shameful acts. The soul can become the slave as much to our own desires, as taken hostage and exploited by another human being’s desires. Never are relationships subject to greater pain, than when we turn away from God. Parents teach their kids to do evil; kids disobey their parents; sexual relationships and identities becoming disordered; the whole nine yards.
Why does my worship matter? Well first, consider how great a capacity you have to worship. But also consider there’s really only one thing in the universe “infinite” enough to receive all your heart, mind, body, and soul can give! What happens when you give your worship to something other than God? Your desperation for a thing is only eclipsed by an unquenchable boredom and sense of dissatisfaction for the same. In Romans 1, a person keeps exchanging one finite thing for another, destroying themselves and others in an escalating (tragic) cycle of self-ruin.
Let’s talk for a moment about “true and proper worship.” What is it?
First, true and proper worship is ROOTED in God Himself.
You might remember that the driving image of salvation from Romans 11 is the olive tree. The gnarly, knobby, ancient roots of the Olive Tree provide everlasting nourishment to its branches. Apart from the root, the branches wither and die. But when vitally connected to the root, the branches flourish, and bear satisfying fruit.
When your worship gets severed from the root, you go looking for something to attach your branch to. But nothing can ever nourish your soul (not like the root, not like God!) The unspiritual mind says, “this mortal human being will fill me with life… This man, this woman, of my dreams, this forbidden romance. This created thing will fill my life. Getting this car, building this home, wearing a certain brand clothing, carrying a certain brand purse, sporting a certain kind of toy, gun, or tool, or accessory.” This activity will fill my life. Drinking, getting wasted, binge watching Netflix, working, gaming, surfing the web, playing, partying, shopping, hobbying, hunting, fishing...”
You know how you can tell when you’re not rooted in God? You’re never satisfied. Your soul is withering, dying. You envy what others have. You’re always comparing. You’d kill just to walk in someone else’s shoes, to have what they have, to experience what they experience. You act entitled, as if everyone owes you happiness. Your life is filled with strife, conflict because you no one and nothing is ever enough for you! You see others as an existential threat, impeding your satisfaction. You’ve been crossing lines you never believed you were capable of crossing. Until your worship is rooted in God, nothing else will ever satisfy you.
Second, true and proper worship is CENTERED in Christ.
The whole book of Romans, from chapter 1 to chapter 12, is how God sends his Son Jesus into the world. His mission was to reclaim your love, your affection… your heart, mind, body, and soul, our relationships… your very worship! Thus in Romans 12:1 Paul writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Paul wants us to understand that there isn’t anything more spectacular, that God might do to reclaim our worship, than what he’s already done in Christ Jesus! At the end of Romans 11:33-36, Paul offers up an incredible doxology. He says, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”
“What has Jesus done for me?” While we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. He was delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification. Through his obedience, and God’s abundant provision of grace, the many are made righteous in God’s sight. The righteous requirements of the law have been fully met in us, by virtue of Christ’s sacrifice. We’ve been set free from sin, and have become slaves of God, and the benefit we reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. He who graciously gave up his son will he not graciously give us all things? God has not excluded Gentiles, but graciously by faith, grafted us into his marvelous salvation!
The late Robert Webber, an internationally known author and worship professor, observed that “much of our worship has shifted from a focus on God and God’s story to a focus on me and my story.” One of the consequences of self-focused worship is narcissism—a preoccupation with the satisfaction of self. Biblical worship, on the contrary, boldly centers on God’s story (Christ) as the central narrative of reality.
Third, true and proper worship is HOLISTIC.
In Romans 12:1 Paul speaks of how true and proper worship means “offering your body.” This is a direct reference to Romans 6, where Paul talks about baptism. In baptism, we die with Christ. Our old self is crucified with Christ, and buried with Christ, so that the body of sin might be done away with. In baptism, we’re raised to new life… and the life we live, we live for God.
And what are the implications? Romans 6:11-13, “… count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the part of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness…”
Consider the totality of what God has in mind. He doesn’t just want a small part of your life, he wants all your heart, mind, body and soul. He wants your lips, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord…” He wants your heart, “if you believe in your heart God raised Jesus from the dead…” He wants your soul, “you will be saved.” He wants our feet, “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” He wants your mind, Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”. He wants to be gloried in your most challenging relationships.
Fourth, true and proper worship is COSTY.
In Romans 12:1 Paul describes worship as “offering our bodies as living sacrifices.” Christ’s very life ought to be the pattern for what our worship looks like. I think it’s fair to ask, where is the “sacrifice” to be found in modern worship?
In 2 Samuel 24:24 King David announces, “I will not give any burnt offering to the Lord my God that costs me nothing.” So often, our worship isn’t costly, it’s conditional.
I think Churches should make reasonable strides to ensure worship isn’t the most miserable hour of your week. But the attitude today is, “I’ll worship if it fits my schedule, if it makes my kids happy, if my kind of music is played, if they don’t pass the collection plate, if they don’t ask me to be baptized, if they don’t have to do communion every week, if the sermon isn’t too long, if the service doesn’t interfere with my lunch plans… or NASCAR or football or sports or family or fishing or golfing or gardening…” If worship isn’t costly, if it’s only offered on our terms… is it even meaningful to God?
Fifth, true and proper worship is FORMATIVE.
In Romans 12:1 Paul describes how we are to offer our worship in a way that is “holy and pleasing to God.” First of all you need to know that every kind of worship is formative. Romans 1 worship is just as formative as Romans 12 worship. The difference is that some worship deforms you from the image of God; while some worship transforms you into the image of God.
A worship student once asked his professor, “How do you know if you have truly worshiped?” Without hesitation the professor replied, “You have truly worshiped when you find that you are ever increasing in your day-to-day obedience to God.” According to Romans 12:1-2, you have worshiped when you find your no longer being conformed to the pattern of this world, but being transformed into the image of Christ.
We’re always evaluating other people’s worship. How is your worship this morning?