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Hillsdale First Presbyterian Church

February 2nd, 2020

Pastor Scott Cress

Our Missional Identity – Reverent Worship

At the beginning of his book You Are What You Love, James K. A. Smith introduces us to an expansive ritual of worship. In this description, the suppliant worshipers shuffle through a grand sacred temple taking in the sights and sounds all around them. Each worshiper enters their own special shrine, and then spends a period of time in contemplation and reflection. At the end of their period of reflection, the worshiper then moves toward the altar of the shrine and makes a sacrifice in exchange for benefits from the specific deity. After describing the ritual in detail, Smith lets us in on his cleverly-devised secret – the ritual he has been describing is shopping at a mall. The shrine is the sales counter. The deity is the chosen brand. The worshiper is the shopper. Why describe shopping in this way?

The reason is that worship is not a uniquely religious activity. Or it might be better to say that everything has the potential to become a religious activity. Or to say it in a way reminiscent of the title – you worship that which you love. What do you spend your time thinking about? What are you making sacrifices of time and money for? What are your ultimate values? I have often thought that becoming a thorough-going materialist in our country is as easy as breathing. We spend our time looking for comfort. We criticize (sometimes viciously) anything we think might remove our comfort. And we construct our view of God along the lines of the moral therapeutic deism which I tried to describe last week – God is nice. He wants me to be happy and do things that make me happy. He is absolutely and utterly committed to my personal fulfillment and success.

Part of the problem for the American Christian is that we have found ingenious ways of disconnecting the Sunday morning worship hour from the other 167 hours of our week. Or we have made the connection, but everything is flowing in precisely the wrong direction. Instead of the period of corporate worship transforming our worldly affairs, our worldly affairs begin to change our approach to Christian worship. We bring our therapeutic deism into the pews. Does worship make me happy? Does the sermon serve my needs? Do I like the music? The list goes on. But God intends for us to proceed on a better path.

Our mission statement tells us that the first commitment that forms our faithful living is “a life of worship.” Now, it is true to say that our lives are automatically lives of worship, in the sense that we all worship that which we most love and value. But the point of our statement is that we are to worship the Lord who called us into the joy of new life in Christ. And this worship of our Triune God is to be a part of every single square inch of our existence. In my analysis of our missional identity, I refer to this statement as our commitment to Reverent Worship. On Sunday mornings we gather together, and our encounter with God moves us to humble ourselves before his beauty and majesty. And then we are trained to go out into the week and worship this God who calls out our reverence and affection.

And so this morning, we discuss a Bible text in which we witness Abram – soon to be Abraham – carving out the path that we are to follow. He was called out by the Lord into the joy of new life, entered into covenant with this most holy God, and then went forward into commitment. And as he went forward into commitment, he demonstrates to us a life of reverent worship. Let us look at the call of God, the journey of faith, and the act of worship.

The call of God. Verses 1-3 form one of the most important passages in Scripture for understanding the entire message of the Bible. Abram was called to leave behind his home and family to go on a journey with God. Before God's call came to Abram, there was nothing in Abram's life which indicated that he had somehow earned the blessing of the Creator. There were many people in that time who were migrating out of the land surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and moving to new territories throughout the Fertile Crescent. Abram and his family were presumably worshipers of whatever deities were worshiped in the surrounding cultures. And yet God – in his overcoming grace, acting out his saving purposes – called Abram to a new life. This is a picture of our salvation. God calls us and we come to life. God promised to Abram land, children, and blessing, and he promised that, through Abram's family, blessing would be extended to all the families of the earth. From our vantage point in salvation history, we know that the blessing of Abram has finally been realized for all people everywhere in and through the work of Jesus Christ.

The journey of faith. In obedience to this call and full of the life that only can come from the Lord, Abram set out on his journey. Verses 4-5 tell us that Abram followed the Lord and that he and his family began the journey to the land which God would show him, the land of Canaan. There is a reminder here that God's call is not only to heaven, but to an experience of his saving promises and love right here on earth. Our faith is lived out on the ground, in the dirt and the dust of everyday life. This reality is mirrored in our worship. We must refuse to disconnect the worship hour from the rest of the hours of our week. If our connection with the Lord, nurtured in corporate worship, is severed from everything else in our lives, we will find ourselves in bondage to whatever other deities are out there trying to hold power over us. Human beings are by nature worshipers. Abram could not have been faithful to the Lord and simultaneously remained where he was in Haran. Had he done so, he would have soon found that he was worshiping some other god altogether. Likewise, our connection to the Lord demands that we go out into the land to which he has called us by embracing the places, the situations, and the people of which he has made us a part.

The act of worship. In verses 6-9, we find Abram taking a tour of the land. We are explicitly told that he spends time in each of the three major divisions of the land. First, he stops in the region of Shechem in the north. Then, he journeys to the central hill country, in the area of what would one day be Jerusalem. Finally, he heads to the Negev in the south. But it is very important to notice what he does in at least two of these locations. Abram builds altars to the Lord. Some explorers have been known to claim territory by planting the flag of their country. Abram claims territory through worship. In both Shechem and the hill country, he takes time to be with the Lord who called him to new life. Worship is a necessary commitment flowing out of God's call. But we must also notice that Abram's worship is not simply a “religious” thing which happens every once and a while and is otherwise detached from his life. Verse six tells us that the Canaanite was then in the land. In other words, Abram had an audience for this journey of faith and worship. Every altar he built was observable. Every step he took in the land was shaped by his faith. And his worship was public. The application here is simple but pointed – Do your neighbors know that you are going to worship? Do your co-workers know that you are a Christian? Is your faith public and observable? This is the example given to us by Abram.

Our missional identity teaches us that we have found the joy of new life in Christ, and are now seeking to live together faithfully. And the first big step in that path of faithful living is our Reverent Worship. And just like Abram, our worship is not just for one hour a week but for every square inch of our lives. Before we conclude this morning, I would like to give some practical suggestions for engaging worship on both Sunday mornings and every other day of the week.

There is a flow to our worship services, an embedded theological narrative which is easy to forget through over-familiarity. Let us take a few moments to note the features of that narrative and then see how they serve as a guide for building altars wherever we go. It would be helpful to look at your bulletin in order to follow along.

Gathering. The first several parts of worship, beginning with the prelude and ending with the singing of “Glory be to the Father,” together form the gathering time. In these moments we are reminded who we are and to whom we belong. We learn of our community, hear God's word of welcome, sing his praise, and confess our sin. In all of these things we are taking our proper place before our King. Likewise, every day we must remind ourselves of who God is and who we are. When we wake in the morning, it is important to take the time to remember God in prayer or to sing a song of praise or to recall a simple verse of Scripture. Even something as simple as a “Good Morning, Lord” or a “Thank you for rest” can get us ready to spend the day in worship.

Hearing. The next section of our service logically flows from our gathering. God has called us together and now he shares his Word with us. The first lesson, musical meditation, second lesson, sermon, and hymn are all designed to help us encounter the living God who reveals himself to his people. In our daily lives, our recollection of God should also lead us to hear God's Word. Christian people must be Bible people. Somehow, someway you must find the opportunity to make the reading and study of God's Word a part of your daily life.

Responding. Having heard God's Word in Scripture, we now respond to that Word in our service by affirming our faith, receiving the sacraments, installing officers, reflecting on mission, engaging intercessory prayer, and taking up the offering. James says that we are not to be hearers of the word only but doers of the word (James 1:22). In daily life, as we build our altars, we should find many opportunities to make response to our Lord. We respond to God by praying for others, by serving others, by doing our jobs responsibly and well, by talking to others about Jesus, and many other such things. A vibrant active faith trusts God to provide each of us opportunities to make response to what he has shown us in his Word.

Sending. Our service ends with a time of sending. This includes the final song of praise, the receiving of God's blessing, and the postlude. The last ringing notes of the postlude are intended to propel us forward to journey with God in confidence and joy. It is good to end our days by reflecting on what God has done in and through us. To know that God was with us each day lets us lay our heads on our pillows and rest, excited for what the Lord could yet do the next day.

So, in all of these things, it is important to observe that the Reverent Worship of Sunday morning is actually training us to worship God with our whole lives. We are being formed to be the kind of people who build altars before the watching eyes of our friends and neighbors. Instead of being conformed to the patterns of worship which surround us, we are transformed by the Lord who loves us. May we learn to say with Paul, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

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