"The Dangerous Journey"
Sermon Transcript for January 9, 2005
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:12
By Rev. Dan Sinkhorn
The Scripture Reading for today acknowledges the fact that Christmas has passed and we are now back to studying the life and ministry of Jesus as an adult. And it is good that we stopped and examined His birth and consider that seriously every year, but it is also good to get back to what Jesus has to say to us about life, worship, the service. This reading comes from the Gospel of Mark. It is just one verse, Mark, Chapter 1, Verse 12. You can remain seated since it is so short but listen reverently now to God’s Word. “At once the Spirit sent Him out into the desert. And He was in the desert forty days being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals; and angels defended Him.” Now this short passage is the briefest version of this particular story that the Gospels give us. After John baptized Jesus, then God said clearly, “This is my beloved Son.” Though Jesus is driven, it says, by the Spirit into the wilderness. That’s what’s pictured above here--the very wilderness where Jesus was sent. And a wilderness that seven of us from Grace Church will be standing in just a couple of weeks. So we are excited about that but it also gives us a sense of what Jesus endured in that time.
I want to use this little short passage as a way of illustrating a sort of recipe that we see repeated throughout the Bible. And it is significant that Mark has given us such a succinct version of it because he’s helped us see that this is Jesus living out the same pattern that the Old Testament patriarchs and fathers had lived out. Laura, put that back up for just a moment please. Let’s look together. There are some elements here that I want us to see. Jesus was spirit-sent. He went into the desert—a hostile place. He was tempted by Satan. And He was with wild animals, which I think is simply an indication that it was a fearful thing and there were dangers. But then, He was attended by angels. Thank you, Laura.
That is a formula that you see repeated throughout the Bible. It is a formula that speaks pretty clearly to us about our lives and our worship. It’s a formula, if you recall, that we talked a little bit about last week when we were discussing how the Magi came to be where Jesus was born. You remember that they had journeyed a long time over a great many miles following that star. And they wound up in Jerusalem at Harod’s Palace. And we can pretty logically assume that they went to this palace that was near the place, very near the place, where the star seemed to be shining. And so they figured that this newborn king would be there in the palace. And they were shocked, I think probably dismayed, to find out that Harod didn’t even know what they were talking about. But when he talked to his advisors, he realized that this newborn king could be a real threat. And so not only did he not know who they were talking about but he considered him a real threat to his own monarchy. And it was after they realized where the star was actually pointing, which was a humble place in Bethlehem where shepherds lived in a little town not so far from the palace. And when they saw that star there, Scripture says, “They were overjoyed. And upon coming to the house they saw the child with His mother, Mary. They saw the child with His mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. And they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, and with incense and myrrh.”
They also experienced this pattern that we’ve seen. They were spirit-led. Something made them choose to give up everything they were doing, probably comfort above all else, and to follow this star wherever it led them. And so they crossed dangerous lands. And sure they were well provisioned and well equipped, but still it is a risky business. And there were dangers. And I suspect temptations to turn back. There must have been moments when they thought to themselves, “This is folly following a star.” And they certainly must have been tempted to turn back when they got to the palace of Harod and realized that there was no king born there and that Harod didn’t even know what they were talking about. And since we have a little additional knowledge about Harod, I’m sure that we can assume that they encountered a little bit of a character and when they talked to Harod they must have really been discouraged. But then they looked again at the star and they saw where it really pointed and they went to a place where they worshiped, a place where they sacrificed. They accepted who they found and they worshiped Jesus for whom He is.
And that is what we really want to talk about today—is worship. As we enter this new year I want to spend some time reflecting together on what worship is and how we might better worship our Lord. The opening hymn today I have to admit coincidentally was by a particular favorite pastor of mine, a preacher, Jack Hayford, who is the pastor of the Church on the Way in California. He wrote the hymn that we sang at the start of the service. And he wrote these words that I want to share with you now. He said, “In my experience, theological discussions about worship tend to focus on the cerebral and not the visceral. That is, on the mind; not on the heart. True worship, we are taught, is more about the mind thinking right about God; that is—using theologically correct language and liturgy—rather than the heart’s hunger for Him.” And he goes on to say, “But the words of our Savior resound the undeniable call to worship that transcends the intellect.” And he quotes Jesus in the Gospel of John who said, “God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in a spirit of truth.”
Now you might remember that back at the beginning of Advent we talked about the shepherds who were called to be at Jesus’ birth and how they were, well, unsophisticated people. Perhaps that’s why they responded so wholeheartedly. Now this is not a tirade against intellect but let us agree that our intellect can enhance our worship but it can also detract from our worship. And so our intellect should be managed as we come before God because as we were told by the Word of God in Psalm 51, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, oh God, you will not despise,” the psalmist says. So the calisthenics of our enlightened minds don’t impress God nearly as much as our brokenness. That as we seek to know God and to better deduce who God is, we must always revert back to the raw, heartfelt brokenness that made us step out in faith before Him.
Now I want to give you some specifics. And I take these four points from Jack Hayford again but with my own explanations. So I want to look at four keys to true worship now.
1. True worship treasures God’s presence. Now please don’t raise your hands or respond visibly. I want us all to be on equal ground here. But I want to ask a question right now and I want you to honestly reflect on this. Do you believe God is present now? I mean really present in our midst? And if so, how should we respond? What is our experience of God’s presence? And if we really experience God’s presence in all of its fullness, could we even stand it? The truth is that our worship should be a hunger for God’s presence, a desire to be in a constant dialogue with God. You know, our dearest companion, perhaps our husbands, our wives, our beloved in any shape or form, they are with us most of the time and yet their presence isn’t as constant as the presence of God. And how do we experience and express worship in the constant presence of God? Do we talk to Him? Do we expect Him to answer? Do we hear the tenderness of His voice? Do we hear His loving correction?
I want to share an example with you that I think illustrates this well. Moses was not the most perfect person you would ever meet and he certainly was open about his weaknesses to the point where he tested God’s patience. And yet still God did through him amazing things. Through him the very nation of Israel was born. And there must have been something in him that God saw beyond his intellect, his gift of words, and his leadership skills. It must have been his heart that God was so impressed with because God never gave up on Him. The Scripture seems to tell us pretty plainly that there were times that God may have been tempted. There is a kind of mysterious and obscure Scripture that says that at one point, if not for the faith of his wife, God may have stricken Moses down. But Zipporah, Moses’ wife, took the step of faith that saved Him. And so listen now as Moses has fulfilled this experience of leading the people into the wilderness and leading them to the place where they would receive the law that would guide them for generations. And Moses has gone to the mountaintop again to be near God. And Moses says in this face-to-face encounter the words of a true worshipper who is cherishing the presence of God and says, “Now, therefore I pray, if I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way that I may know you and I may find grace in your sight.” To which God replies, “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” And then shortly after Moses experiences the glory of God’s presence as a sort of gift for his words of faith. And you may remember this story better if I tell you that this was the time, when after experience God’s presence in this way, Moses went back to the people and he had such a glow, he had sort of a holy spirit sunburn or something going on, and the people couldn’t stand the sight of him. They were afraid; and they made him wear a veil until the glow wore off. But this was God’s response to Moses’ humble act of worship to seek God’s presence and to not fear Him.
One last word about that, perhaps our problem with treasuring the presence of God is that we are not so sure we want God to watch or to know or to see. And remember, Moses said that he sought God’s grace, expected with God’s presence, God’s grace. And God said, “You are going to get that and much more”. And God showed him his glory.
2. True worship humbles the heart. Now the next key to true worship, I think then, should be that true worship involves a humble heart. This humility issue is tricky because sometimes we are not sure exactly how to take it when it is brought to our attention. Isaiah wrote these simple words that explain what it would be like to be in the true presence of God knowing our sinful nature. He said very plainly, ”Woe is me for I am undone.” And this he said in the presence of God. He said that he had seen the Lord and he knew that he was unworthy. That kind of humility is hard to come by. Most of us in the face of something like a tsunami wave or some sort of incredible force that we can’t resist and can’t protect ourselves from, we could be pretty humble at times like that. But when we live under the illusion that we are in control of something, humility is a lot harder to come by.
I’ll give you an example of what I mean. When we worship together in this place, we call what we do “worship”. But if there is an absence of humility, then a key element of our worship is missing. Jesus said that unless you are converted and become like little children---well, it just means you are not going to get it. I want to tell you a little secret and I hope Stacey is not here right now because I don’t want to spoil a good thing. But do you know that when we have a children’s sermon up here, it’s for you? Now don’t tell Stacey I told you that. She does a really great job, but this children’s sermon is for you, me because if we want to know the true way to worship Christ it is to watch them experience God’s Word and do what they do. Most of my life I try to live by this little motto that if you want to do something well, find somebody who does it well and then watch what they do and then do what they do. Well, Jesus says if you want to worship well, watch the children and do what they do.
And so, we’re going to have to admit that the hardest thing for us to bring to our worship experience then is to surrender our pride. Surrendering our pride—that’s hard! And the truth is it is easier to give lots of money to the church, it is easier to help fix things at the church, and it is easier to do a lot of things than it is to give up our pride at church. And sometimes we see people who are willing to do that and we are not sure how to react because during a particular hymn like the one we sang at the opening of the service, someone might raise their hands in praise and we might look at them and say, “Weirdo!” We might look at them and say, “Oh, they are just doing that for show.” And certainly there are people who do. I won’t deny that there are people who do these things for the wrong reason. But I wonder, dear beloved child of Christ, if your arms aren’t occasionally tempted to rise? And God is saying, “Go ahead, praise me. Be like the little children. Just go ahead.” And you resist because you don’t want to be the only one.
You’ve been called to the rail to pray. And I’m not saying that you have to do any of these things, but perhaps you feel your legs drawing you out to this place. And then your pride kicks in and says, “I don’t want to be the only one.” Let me suggest that this is a safe and secure place where we are all seeking the same place and perhaps at that moment it needs to be a very private thing between you and your Lord. And if you need to worship in whatever way you feel led, don’t let your pride get in the way because it may be that the greatest gift you give, the greatest act of worship that you perform during this hour together, could be that moment when you surrender your pride and you just let go of whatever it is that you feel called to do. And it maybe that your worship was the most meaningful because you gave something hard to give like your pride.
3. True worship sacrifices and then expects something from God. Now that isn’t to say that we rub our Bible and make wishes like a genie. No, it means that once you’ve done this humble act of sacrifice, you’ve given yourself wholeheartedly into God’s hands and you’ve worshipped with all of your heart, then you can know and believe just as Moses did that in the very presence of God you can experience his gift of presence in return. And I don’t mean presents like under your Christmas tree--His presence, His nearness to you. When we pray humbly before God believing in His nearness at trusting that He wants only what is best for us, then we can count on Him to respond. And the better we get at that the more likely we are to not even place expectations on God. To simply say to ourselves, “I wonder what God’s going to do?” And to rejoice in that! We just experienced Christmas, and if you are honest as you watch children at Christmas, you realize that part of the wonder and joy of Christmas is that they don’t know what’s coming. They only know that it is going to be good and they just can’t wait to find out. And I believe that is exactly the way we should respond to God—to give Him what we care about, to pray and to seek Him earnestly, to surrender it all to Him. And then, like little children at Christmas time, just wait with joy and anticipation of what He is going to do without knowing for sure.
We could go back to the Magi for our example because when they found out they were wrong about what they thought it was going to be like, they looked again, found the answer. It was certainly different from what they expected but they knew it was of God and so they were overjoyed and they worshiped. And these were called wise men so my guess is that they had the wisdom of little children in this particular case.
4. True worship extends God’s love. (Some of transcript lost due to tape change) …to the church during our corporate worship, to bear witness to the truth that God loves us unconditionally. And how do you do that? Well you can say it—but a more powerful witness is to do it. You know, you accept God’s presence and expected His grace and received His grace and so now you go into the world that you know and extend His grace to others. You live a gracious lifestyle where you are willing, no matter how difficult it may be, to forgive others and willing to recognize that you have things to be forgiven for as well. You go, like Jesus, into the world unselfish thinking more as you are able about their needs than your own. This is the witness of a Christian who seeks to be like Christ. Our worship extends throughout the week and we come back here to get refueled and revived again.
So this is a dangerous journey that we are on because it causes us to do things that we are uncomfortable with. And that formula that we talked about earlier, it is a formula for us. We can be sure that as we worship together here in this place that we reach that high point where we hear God’s voice saying, “This is my beloved.” But we can also know that as we leave that place of joy that we will go into the desert again and we will be tempted by Satan and we will experience the fear of wild animals hiding in dark places. But the angels will attend to us as surely as they did for Jesus and we will come again to this place and worship Him with joy and gifts again. This is true worship and this is why we can say that “it is well with our souls.” And so I invite you now, in response to God’s Word, please stand and sing this closing hymn.
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