We Worship an Awesome God

Introduction

What brings a sense of awe and wonder to your life? When was the last time that you were so impressed and affected by something that you were speechless? When was the last time that you saw something that took your breath away?

Have you ever watched a 2 year old with a puppy? That puppy is all over the child. Jumping, licking, wagging its tail—and that’s the child. Unless the child has a fear of the dog, there is a sense of wonder about this animal. The child plays, tugs, pulls, and generally wants to discover what this creature is all about. Have you ever watched a two year old stand in the breeze as he watches the leaves fall from the trees? Or have you seen a child experience a snowfall? (Granted it would be rare in this part of the country.) Have you watched a child take an object and turn it over and over trying to figure out what makes it work?

Have you ever felt the arms of a child wrap around your neck, squeezing with all their might because they have just received the best surprise? A surprise so big and good that they just can’t believe it. Have you ever watched the light sparkle in your spouse’s eyes when you have gone the extra mile to honor them? Have you ever stood at the top of a mountain and looked out at a scene that no photo could properly capture? Have you ever stood at the base of a waterfall and felt the pounding water and experienced the frighteningly cold breeze? Take any of those examples and describe them even more and you will find at the base of all those things you will discover a sense of wonder.

Wonder is the “I never saw that before” response to everyday occurrences and commonplace things. Wonder is a spiritual response to the things in this world. Go to a new city and the sights and sounds capture your attention. You look around noticing the signs, the advertisements, the sounds of people. Go down to Eastgate Shopping Center and you will notice very little. Why? Because the longer we are in a place the more accustomed we become to the sights and sounds. We lose our sense of wonder. And when we lose our sense of wonder, life can become boring and routine. Without wonder we have the tendency to go through the motions without thinking about our surroundings.

Worship is about wonder but it too often turns into boring routine. Why? Today we want to talk about worshiping the God who leaves us speechless. I am confident that if we could actually see the spiritual realm that even now surrounds us, we would be quick to respond with a sense of awe, wonder, and absolute joy. Let’s sing together.

It’s the Heart

From the beginning, the importance of having the right motivation and attitude about worship has been fundamental. In Genesis 4, we have two offerings brought by the two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain brings some of the fruits of the land as an offering. Abel brought fat portions from the firstborn of the flocks. The text says that God looked with favor on Abel and his sacrifice but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. Some have suggested that the problem was in what was brought for the sacrifice. God wanted animal not grain sacrifice. But the wording of the text doesn’t lead to that conclusion. The problem was with the individual. Cain’s heart wasn’t in it. From the beginning, one’s motivation and attitude matters.

The prophets noted the importance of the heart in worship. In Micah 6, the prophet is examining the people’s relationship with God. God has a charge or accusation against the people. God has been faithful but the people have been unfaithful. In verse 6, this hypothetical conversation supposes that worship will make things better. The people will bring year old calves; thousands of rams; and rivers of oil. The people will show their faithfulness by their worship. But God rejects their worship. Why? Because their motives and attitudes are not consistent with the externals. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Going through the motions of worship without the proper heart is not worship. The heart and the externals must be in agreement.

In Jeremiah 9:23-26, in one of the many judgment declarations against Israel, God warns the people not to boast about their wisdom, strength, or wealth. All such boasting will not bring safety and protection. Instead, if one is to boast then let him boast about who God is and one’s relationship with God. And then in a note of finality, God says he will punish those who are circumcised only in the flesh. And God declares that Israel is uncircumcised in heart. It isn’t only the externals that matter. Unless one’s heart is consistent with the actions, then the externals are meaningless.

In Romans 2:28-29, Paul demonstrates that being Jewish does not secure a relationship with God. Only if one is circumcised in the heart is there a relationship. One’s ability to keep the written code does not secure relationship with God but when one’s motives and attitudes are consistent with the Spirit.

So What?

Since attitude matters and since having a heart filled with wonder matters, let me ask a couple of questions. Do you think Moses ever forgot his experience of the burning bush? Do you think Isaiah ever forgot the vision that he describes in chapter 6? Do you think Israel forgot what God had done for them in their deliverance from Egypt? Do you think Paul ever forgot meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus?

How do you account for some never forgetting and some that do forget? It appears that those who never forget have their hearts changed by the experience and those who forget did not really have changed hearts as a result of the experience. Someone says “I’ve never had a vision or an experience like Moses or Isaiah or Paul. How could you expect me to have the depth of wonder and awe that they did?” Let me push a little more.

Are you aware of your sin? Are you aware that it is God through Jesus who has forgiven you? Is there a part of you than wonders how could God forgive me? Do you think it didn’t take much of God’s grace to bring about your forgiveness? I suggest that the more aware we are of the depth of God’s forgiveness and grace the more likely we are to be filled with wonder and awe. Filled with awe and wonder we worship the God who has brought us into relationship with him.

We worship the God who declares us to be holy when we know we are not.

We worship the God who declares us to be righteous when we have no righteousness on our own.

We worship the God who adopted us as his sons and daughters when we had no spiritual family.

We worship the God who is faithful when we are not.

We worship the God who declares that we are forgiven when we are painfully aware of our sin.

So how do we make sure that our heart is in worship? My basketball coach used to say, “you play the way you practice.” In other words, if you do not have enthusiasm for practice, you will not have enthusiasm for the game. If you don’t put your heart into practice, then you will not have much heart for the game. Let me ask you some hard questions.

What time did you go to bed last night?

What did you do to prepare for our assembly time?

Did you worship during the week or just wait till today?

What have you let your eyes see and your mind absorb this week that pulled you away from God?

Conversely, what have you let your eyes see and your mind absorb this week that brought you closer to God?

If our heart is going to be in worship, then we must prepare ourselves for our time together. Unfortunately, too many times we walk in here thinking we will sing some songs, listen to a sermon, say a few prayers, have the Lord’s Supper and then we leave and our heart was never here. Because we didn’t get ready. Second, we recognize that God is doing something in our hearts so that we anticipate worship. This is Paul’s point in Romans 2. The circumcision of the heart is done by the Holy Spirit. Trying to do all the right things leads us to evaluate worship on the basis of our emotional reaction to the events that take place. But when the Spirit has circumcised our hearts, then worship is a result of our relationship with God. The focus then is on God who has brought us into relationship with him rather than on our response to the externals. It was the belief from the beginning that only God could circumcise the heart (Deut. 30:6). We talk about how we must love God with all of our heart, and all of our soul, and all of our strength and that is right. Jesus talked about that. But we must recognize that it is God who is cutting away that part of our heart which separates us from him. But when we focus on the externals then we make our preferences God and that is idolatry. So let me ask you some hard questions.

Do you find yourself leaving here evaluating the songs, sermon, and prayers?

Do you leave celebrating your relationship with God or believing you have done all that is necessary to worship?

Do you find yourself losing focus on the words of songs because you are trying to make sure you get the notes right?

Do you check the worship outline to see what is next so that you can keep up or to see how much more is to come?

How’s your heart? Did you prepare to come in here today? Did you come today with a full heart? Is your heart in our assembly time today? Maybe some of you come week after week and you think well the song leader did pretty good today. Or the preacher really did a good job today. From the beginning worship isn’t just about the externals, it’s about the heart. We all have days when we are having a hard time staying focused. I mean I listen to myself and think “that’s pretty boring.” I know it’s hard to have your heart in it every Sunday. But our sense of wonder comes from seeing the God who is worthy of our praise. Did you get up this morning, put on your clothes prepared for our assembly or did you come here with the attitude let’s see what the preacher can do today? I sure hope the song leader sings a song I like today. If it’s the latter than it isn’t worship. You can go through the motions and it isn’t worship.

Never was Jesus’ sense of wonder seen more than at the cross. In my mind at Gethsemane, I see Jesus after that last round of praying turning to the disciples and saying, “Let’s go boys. It’s time to do God’s will.” Only God can give you a circumcised heart. Maybe God needs to give you a new heart. That is what Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 31. God will give his people a new heart. Invitation.

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