Sermon Psalm 95:1-2 “Worship”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Presbyterian Church of Easton

Sermon Psalm 95:1-2 “Worship”

January 23, 2022

 

I am continuing with our look at practices which help to grow spiritually.  Last week we looked at the spiritual practice of Bible Study.   Today we are going to talk about worship, as a spiritual practice.   We will get to this,  but first, let’s pray.

          “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

          We are looking at what we do to become more like Jesus.  We are looking at spiritual practices which, when built upon the foundation of what we believe, allows us to spiritually grow and become more and like Jesus.    Today we will look at the spiritual practice of worship.

This is a dollar bill.   It is a piece of paper with some green ink on it.   It has no intrinsic value.   A piece of paper with some ink on it is worthless in itself.   But we do attribute worth to it.   We give it value.   And so I can take this piece of paper with green ink to McDonald's and exchange it for a bag of small fries.   I am happy to receive the fries.   McDonald’s is happy to receive this piece of paper.  So we attribute worth to a piece of paper and it becomes something valuable for us. 

Worship is when we attribute worth to the most valuable thing in our lives.  We worship      

God by attributing supreme worth to him.  We give God all glory and all honor.  We worship.  The psalmist put it this way.

 

Psalm 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

 

          We are gathered to worship our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit who is alive and is here with us.   We glorify this God through Word and Sacrament.  Then we are sent out into the world to glorify this God in our service to others.

          We are worshiping here today because the grace of God has blessed us in many ways.   God has promised to love us generation after generation.   God has blessed us with Jesus Christ who forgives our sins and promises us eternal life.  And so we have come to express our gratitude to God for these amazing blessings.

We express our gratitude for our blessings with the reading and hearing of God’s holy word and with the sacraments of baptism and communion.    We express our thanks for God equipping the church to carry on his mission for the world.  

          The earliest Christians took three ordinary elements of human life, water, bread, and wine, and attributed to them great worth.    They said that water symbolized our baptism into a new life in Jesus Christ.  They said that the bread and wine symbolized the sacrifice of Christ that brings us salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life.  

          In America today there are many ways that people worship God.    One of the most popular is the rock band church.  The rock band church has a praise band, and a sound system turned up to 95-100 decibels.   As the praise band sings of their love for Jesus many young people have intense spiritual experiences that bring them closer to God.   But there are other ways to worship.

When I lived in Washington I worked at the National Cathedral School.   I loved the evensong services in the cathedral when, as the sun set, the choirs of St. Albans and National Cathedral schools would sing music from the Renaissance.   A service of evening prayer would be read from the Book of Common Prayer.   I was overcome by the beauty of these services and they brought me closer to God.

Just before I started at my first church, Grace and I went to Korea.  I had the privilege of preaching at her church in Iksan, South Korea.   Grace was my translator.   Eight hundred people gathered on a Wednesday night.   There were no musicians, so the pastor began worship by pounding rhythmically on the pulpit as people sang old hymns a capella.   The pastor pounded faster and faster until all 800 people were praying in tongues.   When this finished I was invited forward to preach in the church where Grace began her spiritual journey.  So people worship in many different ways.    

You can worship God at any place and at any time.   All you have to do is acknowledge God’s supreme worth in your life.   You can sing in the shower or pray before meals.  I set aside the 8 am hour every day for devotions with Grace.   We read the Bible together, sing and pray.   When I come to church on Sundays, I like to be here before anyone else.   So I get here early to pray.  

In my daily prayers I pray the liturgy for the coming Sunday.  I pray while looking at your pictures in the directory.  I ask God to bless this church.  This is all worship.   I praise God for what he has done in my life and for what he is doing for this church.   

Our worship is based on a vision of heavenly worship as seen by the prophet Isaiah.

 

Isaiah 6:1 … I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

 

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

 

4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

 

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

 

Sunday is a special time for worship because Sunday morning is when we worship together remembering the resurrection of Jesus Christ.   We use a Service for the Lord’s Day.   A Service for the Lord’s Day begins with scripture gently calling us to worship God.

Then we praise God in song by joining our voices with heavenly choirs as we are lifted up into the presence of God.    Since we are coming into the presence of that which we attribute supreme worth we must first humble ourselves and confess our sin. 

Suppose for a moment you are an army general and your king has ordered you into battle.  Suppose also that you lose this battle and your army scatters.   You are alone in the battlefield when the opposing king comes toward you.   What is going to happen to you?   The king will probably kill you so that you will never threaten him again.   But if you discard your weapons and remove your armor, and go face down in the dust as a sign of your complete devotion to the victorious king, then what will happen?  Probably, you will be killed.  Maybe, if the king is merciful, he will graciously spare your life and restore your honor.  

This is worship.  We humble ourselves completely because we have come into the presence of that which we value the most.   We are totally dependent on God’s mercy.  

Our God is merciful.  He graciously forgives our sins.  And so we hear wonderful words of grace and forgiveness.   When we hear these wonderful words we respond again with a song.

As forgiven children of God, we then gather around the word of God which is read and proclaimed.  And then we respond with gifts, tithes, offerings, with prayers for ourselves, our families, our church, our community, and the world, and with singing. 

We worship God with a Service for the Lord’s Day every Sunday morning.    We attribute to God supreme worth because of his value in our lives.  

You are to continue worshiping throughout the week until we return to worship together next Sunday.  I urge you to download the bulletin from the church’s website.   In the bulletin, you have the order of worship we are using today, the scripture we read.   Use these throughout the week as part of your worship for every day. 

In Sunday worship, we attribute supreme worth to our God.    We humbly confess our sins and remember the forgiveness we have received from our merciful God.  We acknowledge all the blessings we have received with gratitude.   We gather to hear the word of God read and proclaimed.  We respond with tithes and prayers.  We use water, bread, and wine to remember what God has done for us.   And we go into the world to glorify God by serving others and by bringing people to Christ.   We are a worshiping people.   Let’s pray.

Lord God thank you for this freedom to worship you.   We give you all honor and praise.   You are our Creator, our Sustainer, and our Redeemer.   You love us, forgive our sins and promise us eternal life.  And so we worship you together every Sunday and continue throughout the week.  We attribute to you supreme worth and you are the most valuable part of our lives.   Amen.