Sunday's Message: Spiritual Growth for the Height Challenged - Worship

When it comes to spiritual growth, have you ever felt “height challenged”? If you’ve ever felt somewhat short in the spirituality department, this sermon series is for you. For five Sundays, we’ll discuss how we might grow in our faith and in our relationship with God. Specifically, we cover the following growth-related topics:

• January 15 – Study
• January 22 – Prayer
• January 29 – Stewardship
• February 5 – Worship
• February 12 – Evangelism

There's no reason to feel like a dandelion in the midst of spiritual sequoias. Join with us at Sligo Cove Presbyterian Church and grow into everything God created you to be.

During the fourth message in this series, we looked at the importance of worship for spiritual growth. Below is a copy and recording of the sermon. You can stream the series by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m.

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Now I’m sure all of y’all know that last Thursday was extremely important, and I’m not talking about how it was the day my daughter Maggie should have been born, but I don’t want to talk about it. No, as everyone knows, Thursday, February 2, was Groundhog Day, a date that’s even noted on the free Pest Management calendar there on my desk. Of course, we all know why Groundhog Day is important; it’s when we take that leap of faith and trust that a large rodent can predict the end of Winter based on whether or not he sees his shadow. And if you don’t already know, Phil saw it, which probably explains why it was so cold yesterday. Anyway, as I was watching the highlights on television, I was taken by how it really never changes from year to year. I mean, it’s always at the same place, Gobbler’s Knob. And it always involves the same characters, both human and marmot. And they always do the same thing. In other words, there’s this Groundhog Day ritual that’s followed every year. And it really doesn’t matter that Phil’s prediction has only been right about 40% of the time.

And I’ll tell you, I think that’s the perfect way to set up our focus this morning. As y’all know, over the last three weeks, we’ve been talking about some of the ways folks who are spiritually height challenged might experience some spiritual growth. And to develop this point we’ve talked about study and prayer and stewardship. And we’ve focused on why studying and praying and being a good steward is important and on how we might actually do it. 

And this morning, we’re going to move to what I believe is the fourth way we can grow, and now I’m talking about worship. And like I said just a minute ago, I think what happened on Thursday is really how a lot of Christians tend to view worship. You see, when you look underneath some of the words they might use, for them worship is really about structure, isn’t it? I mean, it should be done on a specific day, right? And it should be done at a specific place, by specific people, in a very specific way. You see, for them, following the rituals and the rules, well, that’s the key to worship; therefore, if you deviate just a little bit, I mean, if you decide to change the order or the music or the prayers, you’re just not worshiping anymore and should go back to the way it was. At least, in my experience, that’s what a lot of very dedicated Christians seem to believe. And I’ll tell you, there was a point in my life when I believed it too.

But of course, that’s really not how worship is described in the Bible; therefore, having this kind of perspective is probably not going to result in a whole lot of spiritual growth. And you know, I think that’s a real shame, because I believe our willingness to worship God can change us in a profound way, enabling us to become the men and women God created us to be. And so, for the next ten minutes, we’re going to talk about worship as a way we might grow. And as we’ve done before, we’ll answer two questions: first, why is worship important for those who want to grow spiritually; and then second, how might we all be more effective worshipers. Now that’s the plan. And I’ll tell you, as we answer these questions, not only will we get a handle on the why and the how, I think we’ll also leave with a better understanding of what worship actually is.

And for me, it all starts with question number one: why is worship important for the spiritually height challenged? I mean, why is it important for us to take worship seriously as we look to grow as Christians? Now that’s the question. And as I look at scripture, I think there are at least two pretty good answers.

You see, first, I think worship connects us with God. In other words, it moves us into his presence so that we can better understand and appreciate who he was, is and will be as well as what he’s done, does and will do. And even though there are all kinds of examples of worship doing this kind of thing in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, I think the psalmist illustrated what I’m talking about in this little poem ancient worshipers would recite as they went to the Temple in Jerusalem. Together they would say, 

Shout praises to the Lord,

    everyone on this earth.

Be joyful and sing

as you come in

    to worship the Lord!

You know the Lord is God!

He created us,

    and we belong to him;

we are his people,

    the sheep in his pasture.

Be thankful and praise the Lord

    as you enter his temple.

The Lord is good!

His love and faithfulness

    will last forever. [Psalm 100, CEV]

Of course, as I said, this is just one example, but I think it illustrates really well how worship connects us to God. You see, it’s in and through worship that we can acknowledge who God was, is and will be and what God’s done, does and will do in the future. For example, he’s the eternal Lord, the shepherd to his sheep, the one who by his very nature is good and faithful. Now, that’s who he is; therefore, he really is worthy of our praise. And when we worship like the psalmist, we’re also acknowledging that God created us and that, even though his creatures are not always the sharpest knives in the draw or the most dependable members of the team, he still cares for us and he still loves us. He always has, and he always will. And for that reason, he’s definitely worthy of our thanks. And for me, that’s the first reason why worship is important; it connects us with God.

And second, I believe it also connects us with one another. You see, it draws us together as a community of believers and as the Body of Christ. That’s what worship does. And I’ll tell you, I think we see this kind of thing happening in the early church, as described by the Evangelist Luke in the Book of Acts:

Everyone was amazed by the many miracles and wonders that the apostles worked. All the Lord’s followers often met together, and they shared everything they had. They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever was in need. Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved. [Acts 2:43-47]

Now that’s how Luke described the church during what I think he believed was its golden age, you know, when it was new and innocent and fresh. And for him, worship was sort of like the glue that held it together. But the worship he envisioned wasn’t about going to a specific place at a specific time or following a specific structure, led by specific people. No, it was bigger than just that, because it involved more than just the songs they sang and the prayers they prayed, although I believe songs and prayer were and are important. You see, for them and for us, worship can also be a life-style, drawing us together as a community of believers within which we can help one another and as the Body of Christ that can reach out and change the world. You see, along with connecting us in a very profound way with God, worship can also connect us with one another, and for me, that’s why it’s important for those who want to grow, the answer to our first question. 

And that leaves us with question number two: how might we be more effective worshipers? I mean, if we accept that it’s important for us to do, how might we actually do it? Now, in my opinion, that’s also a good question. And even though we could answer it by looking at elements and structures and rituals, I’m going to take a step back and suggest two things that I believe can change the way we worship regardless of the elements we claim or the structures we follow or the rituals we choose to use. Let me explain. 

Personally, I believe our ability to worship God in the way he wants to be worshiped improves when we clear our minds, and I’m talking about, clear our minds of some of the stuff that we think is crucial to worship but that may actually get in the way of connecting with God and one another. Of course, this isn’t rocket science. Man, we see this kind of thing in other aspects of our lives. For example, if we want to appreciate the majesty of nature, we may need to look past the individual trees so that we might see the entire forest. And if we want to understand the quality of a person, we may need to look past all the stuff he does when the cameras are rolling so that we can see how he acts when no one is looking. And I’ll tell you right here and now, if we’re serious about experiencing that reality of God, we might need to look pass the specific kinds of hymns we sing and the specific kind of prayers we pray and the specific kind of order we follow so that we see can the one who is greater than we can imagine and who couldn’t love us more than he does right now. You see, to worship God, we may need to clear our minds of some of the stuff that just might get in the way. 

And you know, it’s interesting, I think Jesus faced this same kind of situation when he was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. You see, Jews and Samaritans just didn’t like one another, not unlike those who cheer for West Virginia University feel about that university in Pittsburgh, the name escapes me. You see, back in the day, both sides had been carrying around a lot of stuff that made it virtually impossible for them to ever worship together. Now that was the situation. And after talking to the woman about living water and her background, this was what happened:

The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. My ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say Jerusalem is the only place to worship.”

Jesus said to her:

Believe me, the time is coming when you won’t worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans don’t really know the one you worship. But we Jews do know the God we worship, and by using us, God will save the world. But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth. [John 4:19-24, CEV]

Now that’s what happened. You see, Jesus challenged her to set aside some of her assumptions so that she could be “led by the Spirit to worship [God] according to the truth.” [John 4:24b, CEV] But it wasn’t just for her; it extended to both the Jews and the Samaritans. And I’ll tell you something else, I believe it also extends to us right here and right now. Unless we put aside some of the details and the distractions, we may never be able to worship God in spirit and in truth. We really need to clear our minds, and that’s the first thing we can do, but that’s not all.

Because second, after our minds are clear, for us to worship effectively, I think we also need to focus our attention, and I’m talking about setting our minds on God and on one another. Of course, how we do that, man, that may be different. For example, for some of us, it may be through services that are really formal and structured and detailed, while, for others, how we worship may be more casual and easy and simple. It may be singing the old favorites or the new and contemporary. My gosh, it may be in a building at 11:00 or online and on demand. I’m telling you, there are a lot of ways we can worship God. And I don’t believe that one way, by it’s nature, is better than any other, much less that one way is right and all the others are wrong, so long as we’re worshiping the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and we’re doing it together. As a matter of fact, if it connects us with God, who he is and what he does, and with one another, within a community of believers and the Body of Christ, then I believe it’s probably right, at least for us. But since that may not be the case for others, I think it’s sad if we allow those differences to distract us from our focus. 

And you know, I think Paul addressed this sort of thing when he wrote his letter to the Romans. You see, this was a good church made up of dedicated believers who were actually dividing over whether a Christian should eat meat or only vegetables and whether or not certain days were more spiritually important than others. In other words, these details were distracting them from their focus. They were being separated from God and from one another. And because of that, this was what Paul wrote:

Welcome all the Lord’s followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don’t criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours. Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables. But you should not criticize others for eating or for not eating. After all, God welcomes everyone. What right do you have to criticize someone else’s servants? Only their Lord can decide if they are doing right, and the Lord will make sure that they do right.

Some of the Lord’s followers think one day is more important than another. Others think all days are the same. But each of you should make up your own mind. Any followers who count one day more important than another day do it to honor their Lord. And any followers who eat meat give thanks to God, just like the ones who don’t eat meat.

Whether we live or die, it must be for God, rather than for ourselves. Whether we live or die, it must be for the Lord. Alive or dead, we still belong to the Lord. [Romans 14:1-8, CEV]

You see, in the face of the very real temptation to judge or to look down on another Christian based on details, Paul challenged them and he challenges us to be intentional and deliberate in keeping our focus on God and on one another. And for me, after clearing our mind of the junk that may get in the way, that’s the second thing we can do. You see, I believe this is how the spiritually height challenged should worship, if they want to grow.

Now, I have no doubt that next year, Groundhog Day will be celebrated at the exact same place by the exact same people in the exact same way it was this past Thursday. And when you get right down to it, that’s fine, especially since it’s all about an oversized rodent predicting the end of winter correctly about 40% of the time. But as to worship, well, I think that’s a whole lot more important, because it really does connect us with God, with who he was, is and will be and what he’s done, does and will continue to do, and it really does connect with one another, both as a community of believers and the Body of Christ. Man, worship is important. And I’ll tell you, I think we can be more effective worshipers when we clear our minds of those things that might get in the way of us experiencing God and when we focus our attention on the one we’re worshiping and on all those who are here with us. And even though this may just scratch the surface of what it can be, for me, this is the kind of worship that will help the spiritually height challenged grow.