Taking on the New Year in Worship

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” (Psalm 122:1, CSB).[1] For many years this verse has been stuck in my heart. I can remember learning it in Mission Friends when I was 4 years old. I remember Miss Penny and Mr. Tim celebrating with us as we learned the verse together over a few Wednesday nights. It is the sentiment of the verse that resonates so well in my heart over 30 years later.

Often we are not prone to rejoice when someone says, “Hey, let’s go to church.” Unfortunately, the idea of going to church drums up too many other thoughts and emotions. From “I don’t have time” to “I don’t want to be asked to…” to “Already? We just went” and even “Every time I go I have to…” Even worse is the idea that comes up when we have conflict with someone. You know the idea of “I can’t be there with them!”

Why is it that rejoicing is not the first response we make to going to church? I believe the answer is simple and complex. We do not rejoice because we have substituted the worship of God with going to church. The statement seems simplistic, but the reasons for it are complex and routing around them back to the Gospel may prove to be difficult. I believe that we can get there together and, in doing so, draw others with us to rejoice at going to the house of the Lord!

1. Remember creation. Our starting point must be our created purpose. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks the question of why we were created (Actual wording is “what is the chief end of man?”, but who really talks like that?). Its answer is : “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”[2] The reason you and I were made in God’s image and in His likeness was to rejoice in His presence. We, unlike anything else that was made, have the ability to know God! Worship is the natural response to remembering that God made us especially for Himself.
2. Remember Redemption. Just because you were created in God’s image does not give you unfettered access to Him. That only comes through the regenerated heart given by the Holy Spirit through faith in the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. That is redemption. When you and I place our redemption in the forefront of our minds, we see the unrivaled love of God displayed on Christ’s cross. This changes things. As John Piper says, “Christian conversion… is a supernatural, radical thing. The heart is changed. And the evidence of it is not just new decisions, but new affections, new feelings.”[3] Look at it this way: because of Christ Jesus you CAN rejoice at the prospect of worshiping with others!
   
3. Understand what worship truly is. We tend to think of worship as a church gathering at 11 am on Sunday. We get up on Sunday and decide if we are going to go worship. We drive to church and get in our pew before worship. Once worship is over, we go eat. Many times we are conscious of the shorthand language we are using, that we are going to a special gathering of the church where we will worship together. One of the unfortunate by-products of this shorthand is we get in our mind that that is all worship is! Worship is living in the relationship we have with God as Father. JI Packer said it this way: “Adoption is higher [than justification], because of the richer relationship with God that it involves…Closeness, affection and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater.”[4] To put it another way: it is not an hour of your week, but the full scope of your identity in Christ!
4. Let Church take the backseat. Seems illogical in a post about going to church, right? This is where you expect me to put Hebrews 10:24-25 in your face. And while it is imperative that we do not neglect gathering as a body and that we do press one another towards godliness. However, that places the focus on church and not on worship. When we gather on Sunday, we are present to worship God, not be at church. Worship can be defined this way: “the God-centered focus and response of the inner man; it is being preoccupied with God.”[5] Satan does not care that you come to church. Actually, he would rather you come to church and be focused on everything else…the cleanliness, the places you have to be, the people who annoy you, the song selection, whether or not I have on a tie, and so on and so on…just as long as you are not preoccupied with God. If you put church on the backseat and focus solely on praising God through Jesus Christ, the rejoicing will erupt!
5. Overflow. Ephesians 5:18 commands us to “be filled with the Spirit.” One of the reasons that David rejoiced at the idea of going to worship God with others is because his life was mostly lived on the overflow. This is why we start with Bible intake and prayer in Spiritual disciplines and building a different 2018. If you and I take time each day to seek God’s face in prayer and in His Word, by the time Sunday arrives, we are ready to join with others because we are full of the Spirit and want to rejoice with others! If we come empty, we place the expectation on the church service to fill us and leave disappointed when it doesn’t. At least, when it isn’t up to our desires. Church was not made to fill you. Only the Spirit can do that. Be filled by the Spirit and rejoice at the gathering on Sunday!
   

I want you to experience joy when we talk about worshiping together at church.

I want you to experience joy when you walk in worship with God.

I want you to experience the fullness of the Spirit of God TODAY, not just on Sunday.

I want you to see how the church enhances your worship, not to be the basis for it.

You and I have a great opportunity each week to see God’s power displayed through His people. Don’t allow the messiness of the world and the people who surround to steal your focus in worshiping God together. Make the commitment today to make corporate worship in the local church a priority as you grow in Him today. Decide now to worship as the church, not just go to church.

See you Sunday!

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[1]     Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible ® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

[2] Westminster Shorter Catechism, www.reformed.org, accessed 2.6.18.

[3] John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Sisters, Ore: Multnomah Publishers, 2003), 89.

[4] JI Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 207.

[5] Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1991), 88-89.