True Worship

TRUE WORSHIP Romans 12:1-2 Theme of the Month Worship as a Lifestyle

Ragland Royappan

Seminary Intern, English Congregation Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church, Vancouver, British Columbia

Sunday Sermon for 17 October 2010

Scripture Passage Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship.

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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Introduction I don’t know how many of you read the devotional article in the bulletin each week.

Every week, Pastor Jeff writes a one-page article for us to read and prepare for the Sunday service. This week he begins the article with the question “What is Worship? He writes, “For some people it is the singing; for others it is the prayers and the silence; for others it is the sound of an organ or a piano; for still others it is the preaching or the fellowship.” And he concludes the paragraph saying “But worship can be all of these and none of these.” It is true, worship can be all of these and none of these. This morning I wanted to ask this question to you. “What is worship anyway?”

If you ask me this question, I would say “Man, worship means a lot of things”. Having come from a country where there are numerous religions and expressions of faith, I would say I have seen it ALL. There I have seen a Muslim, go to the Mosque everyday to do prayers. It is worship for him. Lying prostrate on the ground with his head down is worship to him. For some Jains (Jainism is a another major religion in India), gathering in a big group and singing Bajans for hours and hours and hours and sometimes through the whole day is worship. To a Hindu, worship is so many things. If a Hindu comes in front of the temple, he would stop and do his prayers. While doing so, some would hold his ears with fingers and do 10 or 20 sit-ups, that is worship for him. For some others, kissing their hand and bowing before the temple is worship. For even others, lying down prostrate in front of the temple on the street in reverence and submission is worship. It is in the midst of this culture I grew worshiping Christ. As a Pentecostal Christian, worship to me is going to church every Sunday singing songs for 2 hours, listen to a testimony by some of the members and listen to a long sermon. When I saw this culture around me, worshiping, idols, so faithfully and reverently, I felt very sad because these people do no realize they are worshiping idols. They do not have truth or life.

This morning, as I stand before you, I am even more saddened when I look the church and the Christians today. I say I am even more saddened because we have built more idols for our worship and have ignored the reality of true worship. We have built the idol of music, preaching style, location, etc. We have built idols to accommodate our style, our liking and our culture. If you look at the churches today there are worship wars going on between different styles of worship. Among contemporary Protestants we find significant differences in worship. Some forms of worship are filled with formal ceremony and ritual, while others are very casual and informal. Some are noisy and boisterous, while others are quite and contemplative. Some take place in beautiful cathedrals and sanctuaries while some others occur in warehouses, fields and common places. Some traditional Christians believe worship should consist of 3 hymns and a 20 minute sermon, while there is also other latest trends where Christians ignore the Christian worship gatherings TRUEWORSHIP 2

and do service on Sundays. To them, gathering in a common place for community service on a Sunday is worship. Some of the differences over worship seem to have generated some serious debates and worship wars. Questions like, Should we use a song book or an overhead projector? Should we sit on pews or folding chairs? What style of music should we sing? Can we sing hip hop songs? Rap songs? What kind of instrument should we play? Can we play drums loudly? How should we pray? What kind of preaching is appropriate? Should the church service be oriented towards the visitor or the faithful church member? the questions are never ending. The worship war is waging hard in churches today.

I am not completely debunking the post modern church, nor am I being judgmental about the different ways Christians are worshiping, rather I stand before you and lament that we as Christians in this post modern world have completely ignored and forgotten the sense of true worship the scripture teaches us. Then what is true worship? Worship is not about what we sing, or what music we play or who preaches or where we gather, “it is all about God”. No matter what we sing, or what to do, it should ultimately please God. Earlier today, during the praise and worship, we sang this song “Heart of Worship”. In that song the chorus goes like this, “it is all about you, it is all about you Jesus”. My dear friend, this is heart of true worship, “it is all about God”. But still there are some lingering questions which needs more answers. What is true worship? Why should one worship?

What is the significance of worship? What aspects constitute true worship? While searching for answers, I looked up Romans 12 and found the answer that I believe Paul is giving us this morning. In v. 1 Paul writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God this is true worship.”

This morning I would like to share with you three thoughts from this passage as I ponder upon the question of what is true worship?

1. Worship flows out of the mercies of God. First and most important aspect of worship that we all should understand is that worship is based on the Mercies of God. Now you might wonder what does this mean. What does it mean when I say, “Worship is based on the mercies of God?” I believe Paul here in this passage is giving us the reason why we should offer our bodies as sacrifice to God as a form of worship. Most often when we read this passage we just ignore the words in the beginning “in view of God’s mercy.” My dear friends, Paul is not an ordinary writer, he is one of the best writers you will come across if you understand his line of thought. He is very systematic in his writings. He is logical. He will not use any words just in vain, every single word he uses and his choice of words and sentence formation are deliberate attempt to make his argument. I believe Paul is making an important statement here by TRUEWORSHIP 3

adding those words, “in view of God’s Mercy”, instead of simply saying “my dear brothers and sisters, I urge you to offer your bodies as living sacrifice…”

To understand the passage well, it is important we study the background and the nature of the argument. Verse 1 in this chapter begins with “therefore” which indicate, Paul is establishing the connection with the preceding chapters. Chapters 9-11 is one of the most studies text in New Testament and it is rich in theology. However, it is also sometimes misunderstood in many ways. In these chapters Paul is making a presentation on the conflict that is going on among the Roman Church. Some Jews believed that only an elect will be saved. And the salvation Christ brings is only for Israel. However Paul argues that God chose Israel out of all the nations because of His divine mercy. Similarly, God chose to give mercy to the gentiles who do not deserve mercy. I believe that is the reason, Paul in chapter 12 verse 1 writes, as recipients of this mercy we need to present ourselves as living sacrifice.

Most often we forget where we come from. Scripture tells us, that we were sinners when God showed us the way and gave his life for our salvation. It was because of his mercy that we are able to sit here and worship God. It is the reason we are gathered here. God gave us mercy that we do not deserve.

I once heard a story of a mother who approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.

“But I don’t ask for justice,” the mother explained. “I plead for mercy.”

“But your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied.

“Sir,” the woman cried, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.”

“Well, then,” the emperor said, “I will have mercy.” And he spared the woman’s son.

To tell you the truth, we are no different than this young man who deserved death. We deserved death because of our sin, but Christ gave us this salvation through his grace and mercy. Everyday we do things that Christ does not want us to do. There is constant battle between the flesh and the spirit. Our human nature is in constant battle against the spiritual nature which Christ gives us. Honestly, we deserve to be condemned but what a great privilege to stand here and say that because of Christ’s sacrifice for us, we are not condemned. Friends, as we think of What true worship is all about, we must remember that “worship is founded on the mercies of God”. Let us worship God because we have received His Mercy.

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Secondly, I would like to state what true worship is all about. Paul writes, since you have received this mercy, present your bodies as living sacrifice, this is true worship. Paul here is succinctly asserting, when we are filled with gratitude for God’s love and for showing his mercy on us, that we will eagerly respond by offering our bodies as a “sacrifice”. This is a very interesting word selection by Paul because the terms “living” sacrifice” and “bodies” confuse people.

This passage probably contains the strongest appeal in the scripture for a complete surrender to God. It involves mind as well as the body. The plea is that the body be made a living sacrifice. The word sacrifice, signifies a change in the ownership for the purpose of being consumed, and that too for the benefit of the new owner. In simple terms a sacrifice is something that is presented by man to God and is something that has real value to the one who offers it. My dear friends, Paul here is asking us to offer everything that is of important to us. He doesn’t want our lips singing. He doesn’t want our extended activities. He doesn’t want our half commitments. He wants the best that you can give. If you are good in leadership, that is what God wants from you. If you are a good singer, that is what God wants from you. If you are an intelligent person, give your intelligence to God by doing things that would please him. My dear friends, true worship is offering up the best you hold in your life.

One more word that is very interesting in this sentence is “living”. It presents a paradox because the Greek word for “sacrifice” implies a burnt offering, the kind of sacrifice that demands death. However Paul adds these two terms to show that by sacrificing yourself we can live gloriously for Him who created us. The mystery of the Christian life is that we can truly offer ourselves to God only if we are willing to give up ourselves. Yet in that death, i.e sacrifice, God uses us in ways that demonstrate powerful life at work within us.

Paul makes this point in Galatians: 2:20 where he writes “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself up for me.”

I have to admit, I am not a swimmer or a water rescue personnel. However, this is what I read and I believe it is true. In water safety courses, one of the most important rules is never to swim out to a drowning man and try to him as long as he is thrashing about. If anyone does that it is equal to committing suicide. As long as the drowning man thinks he can help himself, he is dangerous to anyone who tries to help him. He will grab the one trying to aid him and take them both down in the process. The right way to do it is to stay just far enough away so that he can’t grab you. Then you wait. And when he finally gives up, you make your move. At that point the one drowning is easily workable. He won’t work against you. Rather he will let you help you.

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It is true in the same sense with our relationship to Christ and the Holy spirit. Until we totally surrender ourselves the Holy Spirit cannot work in our lives. Most often we try to act on our own through our selfish nature. That is because we have not completely surrendered to the creator. There are still aspects of our life that are still in our control.

Sometimes We tend to keep to our control the things which we think we are good at. But God is asking especially for those ones where we are good at. When we completely submit to the one who created us. He will fill us with his Holy Spirit and will lead us. This is the holy and pleasing gift to God from us. That will be our true worship.

3. Worship results in Transformed Life Style The third aspect which I would like to emphasis here this morning is that worship results in Transformation. After a plea to total surrender Paul immediately turns to the result of this worship..i.e. The outcome of a true worship. He says “Do not Conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” In the previous section we found that when we completely surrender to God to ask him to take control of our lives, it is pleasing to him. The result of this complete surrender is that we have the strength and support to not to conform this world. We are able to resist the pressure from this world and stand against this world because God’s merciful actions in Christ have provided us with basis of resistance. Therefore we continually resist the process of being moulded and fashioned according to the patterns of this present age with its conventions and the standards of values. Paul not only says be “transformed” but he also adds the phrase “by the renewing of the mind.” This phrase is intended to explain the preceding. The transformation to which Christians are exhorted is not a mere external change but one which results from a change of heart, an entire alteration of the state of the mind. It is not just the change in the things we do or change in just some aspects of your lives but rather the change in the whole attitude, our mind set. My dear friends, this is the same teaching Paul teaches using the same Greek term in Ephesians 4 verses 17 and 23, to call for a higher living as Christians. In v. 23 he calls for a change in the attitude. My dear friends, true worship will eventually result not only in transformation of some aspects of life but transformation of life style. And that is the reason Paul continues to write about how a Christian should act in the following chapters. In Romans chapters 12 and onwards we see Paul’s teaching: ❖ Chapter 12:3-8 How one should serve in the body of Christ. ❖ Chapter 12:9-21 Paul talks about the Christian conduct. How love should be in action, controlling everything. ❖ Chapter 13:1-7 Submission to civil authority. ❖ Chapter 14 How brothers and sisters should refrain from judging one another.

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Friends, true worship that leads to total surrender will see a transformed heart and mind and lifestyle. This is the very reason Paul first demands for a complete surrender. Â

Conclusion As I conclude I would like to state clearly that these two verses should not be considered just as a transitional verse for the next major section. It is the verse which connects the doctrinal part of the epistle to the practical part of the book. I believe that these verses contain the three important principles of a true worship. First, for Paul, worship is founded on the mercies of God through the works of Christ on the cross for everyone.

Second, complete surrender is the mark of true worship and it is the ultimate offering a believer can offer to Christ as gratitude for his unmerited mercies. Third, true worship results in transformation of the heart, mind and lifestyle. It is the complete surrender to the Holy spirit which will enable us to resist the world and receive the new life in him.

Let me as I ask you the question again, what is the true worship? Here is my definition to the question: True worship is something that is founded on the mercy and grace that God has been given to the believers and with that as a basis, it appeals for a total surrender of the believer which results in complete transformation of the hears, mind, and life.Â

Reflection Questions 1. What are things in your life that is holding you back from a complete surrender to God? 2. What aspects of your life is still in your control?

3. List 5 things you are good at. Can you think of ways in which you can offer these to God either through ministries, volunteering, committing in church or deliberately making efforts to please God?

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