Intentional Worship

Background Passages: John 4:23-24; Matthew 5:6

A routine visit with my cardiologist this week ended with his admonition and encouragement to gain some control over my diet. He said it so politely I walked out of his office determined to practice what he preached. His advice, “Don’t approach every meal as if it is your last meal. You always want to be a little hungry.”

I sincerely tried to remember that advice over the past few days even when I found myself wanting more. Then, I stumbled across this French proverb, “A good meal ought to begin with hunger.”

There is a measure of truth in that statement. When was the last time you truly enjoyed a meal when you were not hungry? When we’re hungry, we can savor every mouthful, even when the portions are limited. When you’re hungry, everything tastes good…except broccoli. Broccoli will always taste bad…and cauliflower…and Brussels sprouts.

But, we’re not talking about broccoli or Brussels sprouts today. Instead, let’s talk about worship. The Hebrew and Greek words for worship speak to “bowing down.” “Humbling oneself.” “Paying homage.” “Reverence.” “Adoration.” The words convey the idea that we recognize the eternal holiness of God and that he is, by his very nature, worthy of our worship and praise. Worship by definition is the attitude in which we approach God.

Jesus stood one day on the hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee as he spoke to the crowd gathered around him. Every word a nugget of truth penetrating the heart. The one bless by God will be the one whose heart longs for the right relationship with the Creator.

“Blessed is the man who hungers and thirsts after righteousness for they will be filled.”

The spirit that hungers to be in the right and proper relationship with God will find that hunger completely satisfied. What that tells me is we ought to approach worship with the appetite of a starving man. Meaningful worship begins with a genuine hunger to be in the presence of God. To celebrate in song praises to our Lord. To open our hearts in prayer to his words admonition and encouragement. To walk away changed by the experience of fellowship with the Father Creator. To commit ourselves to the life he calls us to live.

When was the last time you hungered for that kind of worship?

We can learn a great deal from an unexpected encounter at the well in Samaria. Tired from his journey, Jesus sat down on the stone edge of the well, leaning his back against the wooden support for the pulley and pail. He sent his disciples into town to buy bread and fruit for the day’s meal. Needing time to himself.

As he rested his eyes, a woman tentatively approached, carrying a large empty jar on her head. Alone and at mid-day…signs that all was not right in her life.

Jesus eased out of the way, allowing her access to the well and the water within. Jesus engaged her in a conversation. The distrust of a woman abused by men and by life and the natural antipathy between Jews and Samaritans led to an intense discussion and debate about life, faith and worship.

When Jesus hit a little too close to home with his insight into her circumstance, she adeptly changed the subject. Challenged by the woman regarding the differences in where the Jews and Samaritans worshiped, Jesus pointed her away from worship based on location and ritual and toward worship centered in the heart.

“Believe me, woman. A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem… A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

We must worship God in “spirit and truth.” What does that mean?

It think it means that genuine worship is a deep-seated desire for an intimate and worshipful relationship with God. It is not an act. It is an attitude. Worship isn’t just to be physically present in the place designated for praise and adoration. We won’t find true worship by an act of osmosis or absorption simply because we showed up. We find genuine worship when our spirit participates in the moment.

Theologian William Barclay declared that our God-given spirit is the highest, most noble part of us…the source of our greatest dreams and desires. True worship, according to Barclay, comes when our spirit seeks the highest…a personal and proper relationship with the eternal and holy God.

That kind of devotion cannot be a passive act. It is an ever present hunger to honor God in our hearts and with our lives. It is seeking with purpose and intent his wisdom in how we should live.

Intentional worship is the reason Paul and Silas could sing praises to God while locked in chains, battered and beaten, in a dungeon’s darkness (Acts. 16:23-25). Intentional worship is the reason, a woman whose life was shattered by sin, anointed the feet of Jesus with her most expensive perfume (Luke 7:41-50).

Intentional worship is the reason, a poor and destitute woman unselfishly dropped her last penny into the offering in celebration of everything God had given her (Mark 12:41-44). Intentional worship is the reason, Jesus prayed in the garden, “Not my will, but yours.” (Luke 22:41)

I find in those examples men and women who worshiped in spirit and truth. Despite their circumstances, they hungered to be in God’s presence. They hungered to know his will. When we hunger for righteousness, when we hunger for God in our lives, we can worship in any circumstance, in every way, seeking only to subordinate our will to the will of our Father.

The French said, “A good meal ought to begin with hunger.” For my physical health, that is a lesson I need to learn. Yet, it proclaims loudly a lesson for my spiritual health.

When I walk into that sanctuary each Sunday or open my Bible any day of the week, I need to start with a keen hunger for what I can experience in that moment. I need to approach the throne of God’s grace recognizing who he is and what he has done in my life. I need to declare in my heart that he is worthy of my praise. Worthy of my reverence. Worthy of my love.

It’s Saturday. Are you as hungry as I am to experience God tomorrow and in the week to come?