Thinking Theologically 2: Which God Do We Worship?
READ: Matthew 9:9-13
DISCUSS:
1. What do you think it would have meant to be a sinner in Matthew 9:9-13? How would it have meant to be a Pharisee? What are the implications on our worship?
2. After reading the quote by Will Willimon (below), how can we miss God in worship? Or worship the wrong God? How does this happen? What God our we worshipping?
3. What does God desire of us in our worship? What do you think God thinks of our churches worship?
REFLECT:
In Matthew 9:9-13 we witness Jesus teaching both the ‘sinners’ and the ‘religious’ people of the day a lesson about worship. In the passage Jesus calls an outsider and sinner, Matthew, to become one of his followers. It is a beautiful occasion, yet it’s tarnished that evening when the ‘religious’ of the day, the Pharisees, crash Matthew’s dinner party and criticize Jesus’ consorting with Matthew and other outcasts and sinners like him. Jesus responds to them with this radical statement: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Imagine being a ‘sinner’ in the room that evening. You are reminded everyday that you are an outsider and ‘unclean’ by everyone around you, but now this Rabbi is proclaiming that you are at the center of God’s heart and the focus of God’s ministry! You would want to worship this God not out of guilt or fear, but out of gratitude for God’s love.
But now put yourself in the Pharisee’s shoes. You have lived your whole life meticulously following the law, as God commanded in the Old Testament. Yet now this Rabbi comes out of nowhere and tells you that you have forgotten who God really is and lost the heart of worship. Jesus even quotes from Hosea 6:6: “for I desire mercy and not sacrifice” to stress the point that in all your religiousness you have missed God. You would be offended!
Throughout gospels Jesus was very concerned that the followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had forgotten who God really is. They read the scriptures and followed God’s law, but their ‘religiousness’ actually led them away from the God who welcomes outsiders and calls sinners home. They missed God in worship.
And this is our danger as well in the church of Jesus Christ 2000 years later. In a sense, we as Christians are the new ‘Pharisees’, and we need to be vigilant to not worship religion or our culture in place of the triune God revealed in Jesus Christ. As William Willimon writes in Worship As Pastoral Care:
“To ask the theological question is simply to ask, What does our worship say about God?, or the corollary, What does God say to us about our worship? Surely this is the toughest and most basic question to be asked, but curiously, it is often the last question we ask. If we think about our worship at all, usually we think in terms of ‘what do I want from our worship?” or, ‘what do my people want from worship?’ without being so daring as to ask , ‘what does God want from worship?’ Is our worship the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or is it the worship of Baal, Aphrodite, and Cupid? Does our worship have integrity measured by the Biblical standards for what our prayer and praise should be? So much of our worship is self-centered, mundane, and tame. How are we to be faithful to the gospel; how do we know the difference between secular idolatry and Christian liturgy, unless we ask, and in some means, answer, the theological question?”
God is both the source and the object of our worship, so it is essential for us to know WHO we are worshipping. As Kevin Navarro writes in his excellent book, The Complete Worship Leader: “Our theology must be accurate if our worship is to be accurate. An intentional neglect of the God who has revealed Himself will degenerate into idolatry.” Thinking theologically then is a critically important skill to develop as we lead worship. But just as important, is for us to give ourselves space to worship. We always talk about not just being ‘worship leaders’ but being ‘lead worshippers’, and though this is sometimes overused, it is true. As we develop our mind as theologians we need to develop our heart as worshippers. We need to focus on growing in the Grace of God and striving to spend time growing in relationship with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. We want to wrap both our head and heart around the gospel and to give space for others to do that as well in our worship services.
Do you think theologically about our worship service weekly and about your playing and presence in worship? Do you take time to worship during the week through prayer, scripture study, and meditation? These are disciplines that we can develop throughout our lives, so don’t be discouraged if your answers to those questions weren’t extremely positive. Just take small steps, In thinking theologically challenge yourself by reading a book about worship and asking questions about what your are portraying theologically in your worship services. To develop your heart worship plan on carving out 20 minutes a day to pray, read, and meditate. If you have done that and it is old or dry, try different disciplines of listening to God in scripture and prayer. I have included a couple exercises for you to try here. Enjoy!
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
1 Samuel 15:22-23, Psalm 51:17, Hosea 6:6, John 6:28-29, 1 Corinthians 8:1-6
REFERENCES (for further reading)
Worship As Pastoral Care by William Willimon
READ: Matthew 9:9-13
DISCUSS:
1. What do you think it would have meant to be a sinner in Matthew 9:9-13? How would it have meant to be a Pharisee? What are the implications on our worship?
2. After reading the quote by Will Willimon (below), how can we miss God in worship? Or worship the wrong God? How does this happen? What God our we worshipping?
3. What does God desire of us in our worship? What do you think God thinks of our churches worship?
REFLECT:
In Matthew 9:9-13 we witness Jesus teaching both the ‘sinners’ and the ‘religious’ people of the day a lesson about worship. In the passage Jesus calls an outsider and sinner, Matthew, to become one of his followers. It is a beautiful occasion, yet it’s tarnished that evening when the ‘religious’ of the day, the Pharisees, crash Matthew’s dinner party and criticize Jesus’ consorting with Matthew and other outcasts and sinners like him. Jesus responds to them with this radical statement: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Imagine being a ‘sinner’ in the room that evening. You are reminded everyday that you are an outsider and ‘unclean’ by everyone around you, but now this Rabbi is proclaiming that you are at the center of God’s heart and the focus of God’s ministry! You would want to worship this God not out of guilt or fear, but out of gratitude for God’s love.
But now put yourself in the Pharisee’s shoes. You have lived your whole life meticulously following the law, as God commanded in the Old Testament. Yet now this Rabbi comes out of nowhere and tells you that you have forgotten who God really is and lost the heart of worship. Jesus even quotes from Hosea 6:6: “for I desire mercy and not sacrifice” to stress the point that in all your religiousness you have missed God. You would be offended!
Throughout gospels Jesus was very concerned that the followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had forgotten who God really is. They read the scriptures and followed God’s law, but their ‘religiousness’ actually led them away from the God who welcomes outsiders and calls sinners home. They missed God in worship.
And this is our danger as well in the church of Jesus Christ 2000 years later. In a sense, we as Christians are the new ‘Pharisees’, and we need to be vigilant to not worship religion or our culture in place of the triune God revealed in Jesus Christ. As William Willimon writes in Worship As Pastoral Care:
“To ask the theological question is simply to ask, What does our worship say about God?, or the corollary, What does God say to us about our worship? Surely this is the toughest and most basic question to be asked, but curiously, it is often the last question we ask. If we think about our worship at all, usually we think in terms of ‘what do I want from our worship?” or, ‘what do my people want from worship?’ without being so daring as to ask , ‘what does God want from worship?’ Is our worship the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or is it the worship of Baal, Aphrodite, and Cupid? Does our worship have integrity measured by the Biblical standards for what our prayer and praise should be? So much of our worship is self-centered, mundane, and tame. How are we to be faithful to the gospel; how do we know the difference between secular idolatry and Christian liturgy, unless we ask, and in some means, answer, the theological question?”
God is both the source and the object of our worship, so it is essential for us to know WHO we are worshipping. As Kevin Navarro writes in his excellent book, The Complete Worship Leader: “Our theology must be accurate if our worship is to be accurate. An intentional neglect of the God who has revealed Himself will degenerate into idolatry.” Thinking theologically then is a critically important skill to develop as we lead worship. But just as important, is for us to give ourselves space to worship. We always talk about not just being ‘worship leaders’ but being ‘lead worshippers’, and though this is sometimes overused, it is true. As we develop our mind as theologians we need to develop our heart as worshippers. We need to focus on growing in the Grace of God and striving to spend time growing in relationship with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. We want to wrap both our head and heart around the gospel and to give space for others to do that as well in our worship services.
Do you think theologically about our worship service weekly and about your playing and presence in worship? Do you take time to worship during the week through prayer, scripture study, and meditation? These are disciplines that we can develop throughout our lives, so don’t be discouraged if your answers to those questions weren’t extremely positive. Just take small steps, In thinking theologically challenge yourself by reading a book about worship and asking questions about what your are portraying theologically in your worship services. To develop your heart worship plan on carving out 20 minutes a day to pray, read, and meditate. If you have done that and it is old or dry, try different disciplines of listening to God in scripture and prayer. I have included a couple exercises for you to try here. Enjoy!
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
1 Samuel 15:22-23, Psalm 51:17, Hosea 6:6, John 6:28-29, 1 Corinthians 8:1-6
REFERENCES (for further reading)
Worship As Pastoral Care by William Willimon
1 comment:
Thank you for the potent call to worship God beyond my neoPharisee identity.
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