worship requires sacrifice

September 4, 2011

A third facet of worship is that of sacrifice. Central in the worship of Israel in the Tabernacle and in the Temple was the practice of sacrifice. When Abraham worshiped God in Genesis chapter 22, the offering was termed worship. The presentation of the first-fruits was also regarded as an act of worship (Deuteronomy 26:10). When the wise men came to worship the baby Who was the Savior of the world, they came with gifts to give. When David sinned by numbering the people of Israel and God stretched forth His hand with the plague, judgment was stayed when David built an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan. Ornan offered to give the land to David, but David responded,
No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, or offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing (1 Chronicles 21:24).
In the New Testament the idea of sacrifice is still prominent in worship, but rather than the sacrifice of offerings it is the sacrifice of self which is essential.
I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1).
The book of Hebrews adds to this the sacrifice of praise, of doing good and of sharing (Hebrews 13:15,16).

The above is from an article I was reading this morning on the importance of corporal worship of God (Sunday worship).  I wholeheartedly agree that sacrifice is an aspect and requirement of worship, an aspect that we in America today have forgotten.  We tend to party all Saturday night and hang out with friends late all Saturday night, and wake up late (if we wake up at all) for church the next morning.  Church has become the 'next item on the list of all the things I have to do'.  It should not be so. When did worship of God become so much like going to class - you go and come as you want and in whatever physical state you happen to be in? Sacrifice is required. Sacrifice of our time - our Saturday nights so that we can prepare our heart, mind, soul, and body for worship of God the next morning. Sacrifice of our priorities - do we prioritize worship? Or would it come secondary to big tests, to sleep, to a football game, to convenience (new to an area?), or to an immature and irresponsible attitude of 'I don't feel like it.'  The worship of God shown throughout the Bible is one that drew godly men and women to their knees in adoration, it is one that changed lives and hence changed their neighbors' lives, it is one where there is complete and uttermost surrender to the Most High God.  

God is first interested in our worship and only then in our service (Habits of the Mind)

Worship and service are vastly different. True worship of God naturally leads to true serving of God, but service of God does not imply worship of God. I believe what we most easily want to get into is service of God: small group leading, Bible studies, giving to the poor, providing the church financially, pastoring, leading, etc.; all very good desires in and of themselves, but we must ask ourselves what our service is truly stemming from. Do we serve out of a genuine heart to honor and worship God? Do we worship God? Or do we get so caught in all the doing that we have overlooked the ways we ourselves are called to first worship God?  Do we serve in all the aforementioned ways and overlook/lack in our worship of God on Sundays and throughout the week? Then how much does your service to God really mean? Is it not by your convenience and your preference that you are serving/'worshiping' God?

I recently heard quite a few stories of people relatively close to me in connections who have had or currently have relatives imprisoned in China for worshiping our God. Wow, hearing about such instances makes me realize how much I've taken for granted the privilege of going to a church to worship God and enjoy fellowship with others.

It has caused me to reflect on what it means to really honor and worship God particularly in terms of Sunday service (though the principles should apply to our everyday lives and not just Sundays). When I consider job interviews, I think about the ways we prepare the night before, the way we lay out our formal dress, and sleep early to get a good night's sleep. Is not Sunday worship of God much more important than job interviews? Then why do we so often choose to sleep late on Saturdays, and wake up in a rush to get to church, and then struggle to stay awake during the sermon? Why do we not take Saturday nights to prepare our hearts to meet our God the next day, hear His word, and fellowship with His people?

May we who serve God, whether it be in leading fellowship, leading Bible studies, Sunday school teaching, doing missions, giving financial aid to those in need, etc. seek first to worship God with our hearts in this simple and most well known way of worship: Sunday worship. Missing out on Sunday worship of God for some sleep is a lot bigger than missing out on meeting Obama (picked because he's the president of the US), and yet we often don't see it as such. May we who have been called to serve God, to minister to His people, to take leadership roles in the church, first learn to truly honor God by honoring Sunday worship that we may truly serve God and live out what it is we teach others. If we teach others that God is an amazing, omnipotent, loving, just, holy, miraculous, and merciful God, if we claim Him to be our great Savior and Lord, then may we start living our lives and days by that claim first, before we go out to tell others. May we live what it is we teach first, otherwise our words are nothing and hold no weight. When others see that we've really come to believe in a God worth honoring, and we do honor Him in every thing, even in the seemingly small and insignificant action such as not hanging with friends to catch a movie late Saturday night, our lives will draw others in more than our mere words.

And don't think that 'oh, but they'll find me to be such a kill joy, and they'll see Christians as so boring and legalistic in things that aren't even specifically laid out in the Bible' (I've thought these thoughts before) for they are all false thoughts and they reflect a desire and an inclination to live to please others and present our beliefs in a certain way that seems acceptable to others rather than a reflection of a true knowledge and experience of a God who does not need us to worry about how others will perceive our actions when we set out to wholly honor Him in every little thing we do. He will take care of results, we are called first and foremost to live for the worship, honor, and glory of Him, not to make Christianity approachable and acceptable for others.

13“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the LORD’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14then you will find your joy in the LORD,

and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”

The mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 58: 13-14)

To gather with God's people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer. (Martin Luther)