It was November 1982. I found myself sitting on a hard church pew wondering why I had to miss my favorite TV show. It was not going to be a fun night. The church sanctuary was packed and the smell of musty carpet and old oak paneling filled the air. Up until that night I was a casual observer of a faith, which was demonstrated by my parents and grandparents. Countless Sundays had passed filled with flannel graph images of Jesus and little baskets of fish and loaves of bread. But this night was going to be very different. The pastor took the podium and quickly began reading
Matthew 27:27-31
The Soldiers Mock Jesus 27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters[f] and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
Somewhere in the conversation I felt this amazing emotion begin to well up inside my little 11-year-old body. I was picturing the flannel graph Jesus come to life and determined to take the hatred of men upon his body. As sweat mixed with tears dripped down the face of the pastor I was ignited. The flame of my life was ignited. A force started my spiritual engine greater than anything I had ever known. Jesus was taking upon himself my all my sins past present and future. He was bearing the ultimate humiliation. As I sat in my seat I wanted to stand up and shout Stop!!!! Stop hurting my Jesus! What did he ever do to you?!
The message ended with an invitation to worship, an invitation to Worship God by placing my life, my will, my hopes and dreams in the hands of my personal creator God. A God who sent his most precious gift to humankind. A gift that would be totally rejected by many but received by a few. And those few would receive the precious gift of eternal relationship with Him.
I then found myself on my knees at the altar. Shedding many tears and crying with such force that it shook my being deep down in my gut. Then came the feeling, one that has increased and decreased and in creased over these past 29 years. I was free and I was his. He wanted me and I wanted and needed him. I belonged.
So why must we live a life of worship? Its kind of simple yet very difficult. God has given us a gift and we are simply thankful for that gift so we respond to that gift with gratitude. This gratitude should affect every part of our lives. Our families, our jobs, our communities, and even the strangers we come into the presence of every day. Jesus said in…
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Jesus tells us that we are to show his love for us by how we worship him. By how we tell others about him, about how we share that love with others. I saw a bumper sticker this morning that said more wagging and less barking. I interpreted it as we should demonstrate our love to one another instead of speaking out criticism or anger to others. A simple reminder of what it means to worship. So back to the 12 year old knees on the hard wooden church floor. God changed me that day. And I believe that he longs to change you. To demonstrate to you his great love for you. So you can respond in all that you do as a worshipper of the one true God. He is your protector, redeemer, lover, and friend.
