Monthly Archives: March 2020

The Sacrifice of the Life of Worship

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And he [Jesus] said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24 ESV)

Control. We like to have it. It gives us security and pleasure. In these current days, it seems we have little or none at all. We have lost all control over our lives because of a microscopic virus.  The loss of control can be frightening, frustrating, angering, and saddening. We think we must possess it in order to have happiness and accomplish the things we want in this world. The world itself tells us that we need it. And yet, Jesus tells us that the only way to truly live is to relinquish control. There is a lot packed into those two sentences from Jesus.

Deny myself. This means that I give up ultimate control of my life to Christ. It is far more than making resolutions or giving up certain things a few times a year. It is more than trying to be a good person and follow the teachings of Jesus. This is a complete turning over of my life to God. It is yielding my wants, desires, and dreams to the perfect plan of the sovereign God.

Take up my cross. Taking up my cross implies that I must die. I must die to my will for my life, and take hold of God’s will for my life, my family, my church, my community, and my world. I must be willing to face the rejection that comes with identifying with Jesus Christ.

Follow Jesus. I must follow Jesus wherever He leads. During His earthly life, Jesus’ path often led Him into suffering and sacrifice. As His follower, I must expect that my path will lead there as well. Today, if I truly follow Jesus, the world will not stand up and cheer. If I truly follow Jesus, I will sacrifice many things in this life.

Losing my life to save it. As I deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Jesus, I will find that I have lost nothing. In losing my life, I will actually save it. I may lose temporary, earthly things that the world clamors after, but I will gain the riches of eternity. In denying myself, yielding control of my life to God, I actually find freedom and joy in the richness and wonders of God. In taking up my cross, I might lose the favor and rewards this world has to offer, but I gain the favor and rewards of God Himself. And in following Jesus, while I may experience suffering and loss of worldly gain, I gain Christ and become co-heirs with Him.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” (Philippians 3:12 ESV) As the apostle Paul says in this verse, I have not yet arrived. I have a long way to go. I want to be abandoned to God, but I get in my own way and I let other things turn my gaze away from the greater purposes and glory of God.

Several years ago, our pastor spoke from the book of Malachi. It was a call to abandon mediocre living in every area of our lives. My selfish desires and fixation on temporary things are what keep me from living beyond the mediocre and experiencing the wonder of being in the center of God’s will. This is because moving from mediocre to extraordinary requires me to lose my life. It means giving up my rights to my time, my possessions, my money, and my life. It means putting it all at feet of God.

This is the sacrifice of the life of worship. It is yielding, dying, and suffering loss. And in turn, it is freedom, living, and gaining the riches of eternity.  In losing my life, I find it, in abundance from the very hand of God, through Jesus Christ. For all the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).

This is an unprecedented time for most of us. We have never experienced something like we are going through right now. Our city, country, and world have been turned upside down by a virus that we cannot see with our eyes. During these days of isolation, rather than focus on ourselves and the things that we have lost, the Word of God directs us to turn our gaze to all that we have gained in Christ, both now and eternity. Many in our church and community may be suffering, whether physically, financially, or spiritually. Though we maybe can’t go to them directly, how might God use us to bless others with what He has given to us, both in resources and spiritually? How can this time of loss draw us closer to God and turning our focus to what is eternal?

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV)

Together for His glory…

The Struggle of the Life of Worship

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I don’t get to go fishing as much as I would like. I love to get away from the city, especially in the Fall, when the weather is cooler, and listen to the sound of the wind, water, and leaves. It is very refreshing. I am not a great fisherman, but I still love it. Most of the time, the bait we buy is not the best. The worms have probably been in the container for quite a while. When you pull them out of the dirt, they don’t put up much of a fight.

However, on those rare occasions when the worms are lively, it can be a challenge to get those things on the hook. And once the hook goes through the first time, they really start to fight, thrashing wildly. In these cases, it is not uncommon for the hook to end up in my finger instead of the worm.

When we decide to follow Jesus Christ, we embark on a journey where we will experience victories and defeats. As we grow in our faith, we find new freedom and strength. However, we also find struggle and conflict. In Romans 12:1-2, the apostle Paul implores us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, this being our spiritual worship. The problem with living sacrifices is that they are not dead. We can squirm around and fight back, much like a worm trying to be put on a hook. Pain is not pleasant. We don’t like it and we often resist it. But Paul is not just talking about pain here. I think he is talking about dying. This refers to the dying that takes place when we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.

The writers of Scripture speak about death, but many times they are not referring to physical death. They are speaking of sacrifice and death to self. Think of Jesus, on the night He was betrayed. The brutality and suffering that awaited Him were immense. He was sitting at a table with His closest earthly friends. Every single one of them would abandon Him. One of them would betray Him. He knew this and, yet, He served them. He washed their feet. He continued to teach them. He prayed for them. He prayed for us. He showed us the way of true worship.

True worship is the abandoning of ourselves to God, giving our lives to Him as a living sacrifice. It means living in the manner that Jesus lived. Jesus was willing to endure suffering for the sake of others and the glory of God. Jesus was willing to be wronged for the sake of others and the glory of God. Jesus was willing to give up His rights for the sake of others and the glory of God. How quickly do we rush to our own defense, standing up for our own rights, harboring the bitterness of wrongs done to us? How often do we pick up our toys and go home when we don’t get our own way or when others don’t do things exactly the way we think they should be done?

Jesus died to His desires. Jesus died to His rights. Jesus died that we might live. Jesus embraced the will of the Father, despite the knowledge that He would bear the full weight of God’s wrath for our sin. Even when He knew He would be abandoned, betrayed, and sacrificed, He continued to love and serve those who would dish out the rejection and send Him to the cross.

How different would our marriages, families, friendships, churches, and communities be if we would simply be willing to suffer rather than take offense and tenaciously hold onto our desire for our preferences and rights to be fully acknowledged and satisfied? Even more, to realize that these afflictions and “thorns” could very well be God’s discipline in our lives, to bring transformation in our lives and make us more like Christ (Hebrews 12:3-17).

What relationships would be transformed and reconciled if I was willing to die to my preferences? I am not talking about denying our convictions that are grounded in the Word of God. I am referring to those things, not essential, that divide us in our relationships. What if I was willing to die to my pride and serve, even if I am rejected or humiliated? What if I humbled myself instead of trying to be vindicated or acknowledged? What if I loved and served those people who drive me crazy and just get under my skin? What if I saw irritating circumstances and people as one of God’s means to make me more like Jesus?

So many people just view worship as an experience or something that we participate in. However, true worship is lived every moment. True is worship is a complete giving of our lives to God. It is living life in the trenches, pressing on to be transformed into the image of Christ in midst of life, not in spite of it. The life of worship is not a cakewalk. It can be filled with many difficulties and struggles, victories and failures. I know I have a long way to go. But God has promised that these struggles are momentary and light, in view of eternity and the glory that awaits and the joy we find in Him. Jesus died so that reconciliation could take place. We are called to follow in His steps. Are we following, or are we seeking an easier way through?

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” James 4:10

Together for His glory…

The Invitation to the Life of Worship

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I can remember when my boys were younger, I would be working on a task or job and they would sometimes come along with me. On some of those occasions, they would want to help out. Now, depending on their age, the amount that they were able to do was limited. However, I enjoyed spending time with them and wanted them to feel like they were helping out. So, if we were moving a table or something like that, they would help carry it. However, I would position myself towards the middle of the table, so that I was carrying the majority of the weight while they helped and “carried” their end of the table.

In many ways, I think this provides a good picture of living the life of worship. In Matthew 11:25-30, Jesus offers us an invitation. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). It is the invitation to come and follow Him and to live a life of worship. But it is unlike any invitation offered by the world and by other religions.

The wisdom of God is revealed to the child at heart. In Matthew 11:25-26, Jesus says that the Father has hidden things from those who think they are wise and important, and He has revealed them to little children. In another passage, Jesus says that unless we become like a child, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:1-4). I believe this says that God reveals Himself to those who know that they need Him. To those who are self-sufficient and confident in themselves, God hides His wisdom from them. God wisdom is provided for those that come as a child.

Religion is a heavy load to bear. Jesus does not offer us religion. Jesus does not invite us to come and prove ourselves to Him. But for most who are involved in religious activities, it is a labor of proving their worth or earning the favor of whatever god or system they are following. Even many people who call themselves Christians live their lives this way. It is often perpetuated by leaders and organizations who pile up burdens on people, telling them that they have to live a certain way to earn God’s favor and get into heaven. They create their own systems of righteousness that have nothing to do with God’s Word. This is what the Pharisees of Jesus’ day did, and this was the load that the people were trying to carry in order to please God.

Jesus offers rest for the weary. Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law and Prophets, not to abolish them (Matthew 5:17-18). But the burden that was being piled on the people was beyond the Law of God. It was a system of manmade rules and laws. Jesus is offering freedom from that heavy burden. He is saying to take His yoke and follow Him. It is a simple call to follow Jesus and live a life of commitment to Him. It is about loving God with all that we are, and allowing Him to work in us to change us and transform us to be more like Christ. We don’t have to prove anything. In fact, we can’t. We just have to follow. This is the yoke of Jesus.

Jesus carries the load. The reason His burden is light is because Jesus has born the full weight of God’s requirement Himself. He has lived up to the standard of holiness required of us. He has taken upon Himself the full penalty of the wrath of God against our sins, failings, and the consequences of sin in this fallen world. Jesus has paid the complete price so that we can receive His righteousness and be declared holy before God (2 Corinthians 5:21). It is the gift of God for all who will receive it and for all who will give themselves to Jesus.

This does not mean that the road will be easy. There are going to be many trials and challenges along the way. As in the story I shared at the beginning, when my boys would help carry that table, they were working hard, huffing and puffing as they worked. They would be tired afterwards and would occasionally get a pinched finger or scraped knee. But I was always there to meet their needs and they were actually carrying very little of the actual burden during the work. I was carrying most of the load, but they had fun “helping Dad.”

The life of worship is the invitation to come and follow Jesus and to delight in Him. Life can be hard. It can be really hard. But we can have joy in Christ, as we delight in Him and in doing His will. And we can be confident that, as we walk with Him, He has put Himself in the middle of the table and has carried the heavy load.

Together for His glory…