Tag Archives: Service

Everyday acts of worship

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[Here’s another bulletin article from a few years ago. Love to hear your thoughts on the subject…]

We can learn a lot by looking at worship in the Old Testament, especially those passages in which God’s prophets told the people what they were doing wrong. Since we don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past, we do well to find out what mistakes were made.

One of the biggest mistakes made by God’s people was the mistake of ritualistic religion. That is, they thought that religion was made up of doing certain things during a time of worship. God tried to tell them that more than “religiosity,” he wanted a people that dedicated themselves to doing good. A good example is this passage from Isaiah 1:

11 “The multitude of your sacrifices — what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations — I cannot bear your evil assemblies. 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; 16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

It’s not that God was against sacrifices and such. he merely wanted the people to realize that our religious acts must be accompanied by compassion toward our fellow man.

We see in the New Testament that things haven’t changed. Look at what the Hebrew writer says in Hebrews 13:16: “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Our good deeds toward others are “sacrifices” that we offer to God. Remember James’ words in James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Paul said, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:10)

When people come to us looking for help, we can often see that as a distraction from the “true work of the church.” Yet nothing could be further from the truth. We are to be about helping people. We should be grateful when people present us with an opportunity to help. Jesus, in his ministry, spent much time helping people. Remember how Peter, when preaching to Cornelius, described Jesus’ ministry: “…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” (Acts 10:38) Jesus went about doing good and expects the same from his followers. Remember how he described Judgment Day in Matthew 25. He doesn’t speak of doctrinal correctness or church attendance. He speaks of helping those in need. And he says, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:40)

In fact, Paul says that God’s plan for us is that we do good. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul writes: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Paul told Timothy what to teach the rich people: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” (I Timothy 6:18)

We, as Christians, are supposed to be helping people. It’s what we were made for. It’s what Jesus modeled for us and what he expects of us. Every time that someone presents us with an opportunity to help, we should be grateful. Otherwise we would have to go out looking for those who need our help.

For some, it’s second nature. They are constantly aware of people who have needs and are constantly meeting needs. For others of us, we need to depend more on God and his Holy Spirit to help us develop a heart of compassion for our fellow man.

It’s not a small thing. It’s central to who we are as Christians. It’s a critical part of our worship of God. May God help us do it better.

The offensive cross

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We saw yesterday that our ministry must be performed in the shadow of the cross. The problem is, of course, is that the cross, when truly understood, is offensive. That’s what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1, and it’s still true.

Shane Claiborne, in his book Irresistible Revolution, tells of interning at a megachurch. He noticed that there were no crosses in the sanctuary. When he asked, he was told that crosses aren’t “seeker friendly.”

Isn’t that why so many want to reduce Christianity to random acts of service? Let’s go build houses. Feed people. Do anything except talk to them about Jesus.

We need to be about service. But that’s only a part of our mission as Christians. In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Serve and give his life. Our service needs the cross to make sense. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, Christian service is no different than the acts of philanthropy done by other groups.

The cross may not be seeker friendly. It may be a stumbling block and an offense. But Christianity without the cross is no longer Christianity.

Leadership vs. followship

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chargeDr. John Willis was one of my major professors at ACU. I can’t say enough about his scholarship and his servant heart. He has begun writing regularly on his blog recently. I don’t know if he’ll keep it up, but I’m enjoying it for now.

He had a great post this weekend on leadership in the Bible. The whole post is worth reading, but I especially found the following quote interesting.

It is very revealing that the New Testament NEVER uses the word LEADER in a positive sense. The Greek word LEADER {odegos} in the New Testament occurs only 5 times, and they are ALWAYS opponents of God and his people. Matthew 15:14; 23:16, 24; Acts 1:16; Romans 2:19.

You hear a lot today about the need for leadership in the church. Maybe we need more followers, rather than more leaders.

Dr. Willis closes with these words:

The CRAZE of LEADERSHIP is a human invention, destined for corruption and failure. History has demonstrated this throughout the centuries, and it is still true today. God through Christ is the ONLY HEAD, the ONLY LEADER. Let us strive to be FOLLOWERS.

Wise words.

What would Jesus do at a wedding?

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We went to a wedding on Saturday. “How should I dress?” I asked my wise and beautiful wife. “I’m not sure,” she said, “but I’m going to dress up.” So I went with the mock turtleneck (it was cool in the morning) and the sports coat.
We knew that the wedding was, how should I say it, not a model of planning. The bilingual group at church was going to help out with the meal that was to be served at the reception. They were expecting a crowd somewhere between 100 and 500. Did I mention that planning was not the strong point of this occasion?
We arrived early and went to the reception hall to see if any help was needed. No one was there. We walked over to the main building, then a few minutes later saw someone we know go into the reception hall. We decided to go back and check on preparations. Now things were in full swing, although there were basically only 3 ladies working there. My wife and I pitched in, along with our teenage daughter. Carolina, my wife, worked in the kitchen, while Andrea, my daughter, and I helped set up tables and decorate them. I also did some troubleshooting on a Dell computer. (Ha! Did I mention I’m a Mac guy? It’s a bit like me raising the hood on my car and trying to find something wrong)
It soon became clear that we weren’t going to make the ceremony. There was way too much to be done and not nearly enough people to do it. We were setting up for 300 people. I quickly realized that: (1) the wool sports coat was too much with the sweater; (2) a white sweater was a really bad idea. But I hadn’t known I was going to be working; I thought we were just attending.
I was a bit frustrated. I’ve done weddings and would have loved to be up in front, with everybody looking at me. (as I’ve mentioned before) Didn’t we have people who could set up tables, serve drinks, take out trash, etc.? Yes, I was feeling quite put upon, especially since much of this was due to a lack of planning on the family’s part.
Then I remembered another wedding, a wedding in John 2. A couple hadn’t planned well and was at risk of being embarrassed. Jesus quietly did a miracle, noticed by his followers but not by the crowd. He stepped up, resolved the crisis, yet never called attention to himself.
My situation was much different of course. For one thing, many people did much more than I to make sure this went well; if I had volunteered earlier to help out, I would have dressed for the occasion and known what to expect. Also, I did no miracle; I just moved some tables and poured some tea.
But I also realized that all of us who helped this young couple have a smooth reception (and the crowd was only 150, so things were well under control) did the same sort of thing that Jesus did on that day. It’s the quiet acts of service that mark the lives of believers, not the sermons preached nor the money given. It’s when we take up a towel that people can see our Lord in us.