Proper 25A - Created for a purpose - to Worship God

Much has been made of Rick Warren's bestseller The Purpose Driven Life. People all over the world ask the questions, "What am I here for? What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose?"

Warren has answered that question with the five biblical purposes of worship, fellowship, discipleship, service, and evangelism. He grounds these purposes in the words of the "Great Commandments" and the "Great Commission."

This week, the scripture lesson that we'll be addressing is Matthew 22:34-46, commonly called "The Great Commandments." Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is, and the two are so intertwined that He can't just give the greatest, but must immediately follow it up with the second one, which is like it.

Warren, and others, have used the first part of this verse, "Love the Lord your with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," to provide support for "worship" as the primary purpose of the church and of the Christian. While I agree with this, we have to understand that our common definition of worship as the weekly corporate church service is woefully inadequate to fulfill the biblical definition of worship.

If we think that we are fulfilling the call to worship by singing three hymns and a chorus (or three choruses and a hymn), then we are deceiving ourselves. If we think that we have satisfied the greatest commandment because we came to an altar to pray, we are mistaken. In fact, if we believe that attending an hour of a "worship service" satisfies this greatest commandment, then we are truly missing out.

We are often guilty of becoming consumers instead of worshipers...coming to church to see what we can "get out of it" instead of what we can "bring to God." Worship should be about the gifts that we bring, not about the warm-fuzzy feeling we leave with.

I'm reminded of the Matt Redman song, "The Heart of Worship." As I understand the story behind the song, the pastor of their church realized that the church had become so wrapped up in the music that the congregation had become consumers of a great performance, instead of producers of authentic worship. And so, the worship team and worship leader went on a break. They eliminated music from their service, and the congregation was responsible for bringing the sacrifice of praise into the service--through testimony, scripture, and prayer. The song "The Heart of Worship" was written out of this experience...reminding us that worship is all about Jesus.

The greatest commandment is full of repetition. Jesus doesn't say, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." He says, "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind." This reminds us of two things:

1) ALL. God really isn't satisfied with a 10% tithe and an hour of our worship. He doesn't ask for just a bit of our heart, but for all of it. He asks for all of our resources to be available for His disposal. Romans 12:1 tells us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, and we remember that sacrifices no longer have thoughts, passions, or wills of their own. A living sacrifice must also surrender every part of his life to the King.

2) YOUR. This verse is immensely personal. We are not responsible for someone else's heart, soul, or mind, just our own. We find it very easy to look at everyone else to see how they're doing: who came to all three services of Faith Promise convention? who was at small group? who is bringing pies to the Root Cellar for thanksgiving distribution? The Pharisees also fell into this trap, being more concerned about other people than about their own heart. We must recognize that nobody else can make a faith decision for us, but at the same time, we can't make those decisions for anyone else.

As we follow this commandment more and more, we become a more accurate reflection of God. Our heart begins to beat as His, our soul is connected to Him, and our mind begins to think His thoughts. As we become more like God, the obedience to the second commandment becomes more natural, for God is always expressing extravagant love for His creation.

Our commitment to life ought to echo that of the songwriter:

I'll live for Him, who died for me, how happy then my life will be.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon