July 16, 2017 - against/for part 1

He kicked off last week and I want to come to remind us that essentially what we were talking about in the series is how to read the Bible thoroughly and accurately and thoughtfully as we are students of the word. I remember and I have shared this before but I read a book in the 80s, which will tell you how old I am if that's when I was in college reading books that I was made to read called how to read a book and the book was a great book and it talked about this this ad that the author saw in the New York Times advertising the same sort of book how to read a book and in the ad there was a young man sitting on a porch light, cartoon drawing there and he was staring at a letter and there was more than one page and he was kind of furiously reading it with all of his emotion and all of his energy and was called how to read a love letter and the young man was just reading every word so carefully so thoroughly because he's gotten this love letter from his girlfriend the first one and it said Dear John and he thought steer John is that good or bad? Could she have said Dearest? Would have been better for her to say dearest John. Maybe she should have he fretted over everything but then the next sentence he thought so she wouldn't write that to anybody. That's it. That's a good sign and so here Edward afterward afterward and just cherish that love letter and the point was to say that we see scripture as a word from God to us. And so the energy and the effort that we put into reading the Bible should at least be like that we would put into reading this love letter as a young person or 4 or if you're a lawyer. What are we going to we read documents with great care? We we read Wheels with great girl. I got to get that out and read every word and make sure I understand what each sentence is sang and make sure I understand how that sentence relates to the next sentence and how each of those relate to the paragraph and how the paragraph relates to the document. We read things very carefully that are important to us until the invitation is to read scripture with that sort of Heart of love and passion and also our minds art Read it thoroughly and thoughtfully and accurately we talked about that a little bit last week scripture commands us to do this 2nd. Timothy. 2:15 says be diligent. Paul says to Timothy to present yourself approved to God as a Workman who does not need to be ashamed accurately handling the word of Truth. And so work we're challenged as as Believers as Brothers and Sisters in Christ who those who call upon the Lord is our savior. We're challenged to be diligent students of scripture. The handle it accurately and so we began this series last week talking about the principal never read a verse and kind of a comic part of that title was the implication is always read contacts never simply read just a verse in scripture only talks about how people can sometimes misunderstand and even abuse scripture by pulling a verse out of context even to justify send in their own life because they just pull this verse out of context or sometimes those who are adversaries for the Christian faith will pull a verse out of context and say look at what Christianity teaches and you and I need to be good enough students to know. Hey, wait a minute that's not really a fair use of that first because you're leaving out what came right before or what came right after you're leaving out the context and so it's being misunderstood. We gave many examples of 1st Corinthians. 14:40 is a verse that says everything should be done properly and in order and in my lifetime, that's most often been quoted to me as a verse saying The way the worship order in the church services should be the way those of us who come regularly. Prefer that kind of made sense until I read the contacts and the context actually says the exact opposite of that what Paul is writing about when you read the whole context he's talking about what if you have unbelievers in your service and he saying don't do things in such a way than unbelievers would say I have no idea what's going on here. This is weird. We're not coming back here. Again. He says instead you should do things in such a way that the unbelievers understand what's going on in hopes that they would hear the gospel and hopes that they would understand the goodness of God and and be called to him. So do things properly and in order is what he says implying that you do it toward those who maybe have not heard the gospel yet or Psalm 133 could be a passage that sometimes get misquoted. Sometimes we take promises or curses that got issued to Israel under the old Covenant and we quote them about ourselves today or even about America as a nation and and that's a mishandling of scripture. That's not Handling the word of God accurately that's handling it in accurately taking a promise to someone else and applying it to ourselves. You know, what are the rules of Cher in the past? And we may revisit this in the future is one simple method whenever you were looking at any passage is to say who are the parties and what are the promises and what are the terms those three phrases parties and terms and promises and so when you're looking at a passage we mention this last week There's a passage in the Old Testament of Malachi where God says to Israel after Israel's been unfaithful. I'm telling you test me and return to faithfulness and be faithful and see if I don't open the store houses of heaven and bless you Israel for for responding to my call for you to be faithful and today preachers on television and other places with full that passage and they will say if you give money if you send it in the envelope, if you give money to us today, then God will open the storehouses of heaven and bless you that same handling inaccurate use of that Passage. Because if you look at inside who are the parties you're mainly forced to say while this is God speaking to Israel through the prophet about his Covenant between himself and Israel and it was in the Old Testament covenants. You do these things and you'll be blessed you do these things and you'll be cursed but the New Covenant is not that way and so we have to be cautious and careful about reaching into the old Covenant and somehow pulling things out into the New Covenant ER into our life as Christians. How do we know the difference just a quick lesson Jesus and the apostles are our guide and so we trust the things that Jesus and the apostles bring forward out of the Old Testament are all the old Covenant are things that we need and the things they leave their we don't need to go resurrect and say well Jesus you missed one. Let me fix you here and do something that deal was really interesting folks, but maybe actually and inaccurate handling a scripture. One that we also talked about was John 12:32 and it's kind of a worst-case scenario. That's what that WCS stands for. John 12:32 is where Jesus says if I be lifted up I draw all men unto me and often worship leaders will quote that verse Aaron's never done it. So I'm not picking on Aaron but they will quote that verse and the worst case scenario. We kind of Miss understand we kind of Define worship as Sunday morning this this 10:30 our kind of gets defined as the full definition of what it means to worship God and then we also kind of a quite worship with evangelism because in there that verse that says that Jesus be lifted up He will draw all men unto him until then we kind of subtly get this assumption that maybe 70 or 90% of our responsibilities to God are fulfilled when we come here for an hour on Sunday morning because that's evangelism. Anyway, and it we're lifting up God and Jesus said if we lift them up all men to be drawn to him. Stop Lexington wants to get saved. They can come to church on Sunday morning. Animal design it for us anyway, because there's that verse that says do things properly no more than once. That means it's we do it the way we like it this way. You see how subtly we kind of drifted off the actual meaning of versus and so again, that's the worst case scenario, but we can slip into that misunderstanding and so this morning I want to look at another passage in the New Testament talks about worship and unpack what that means a little more fully. So in Romans chapter 12, we have a familiar verse 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 your true and proper worship.

Now let me say an aside. I I said several asides last week because I'm talking about something that could potentially be misunderstood and I want to make sure that I am not one aside. I said last week that I want to reiterate again this week is when I talked about looking at scripture and overly privatizing and personalizing and interpretation that you can't do that. I made it clear. It's when you have an interpretation or meaning that doesn't match the original meeting that that's a mishandling of scripture. I also made it clear and I just want to say this again there are times in which we are personally studying scripture and the correct understanding that passage jumps out at us and convicts us and we say Amen the Lord really speaking to me today that really Prix my heart or that really lift my spirit and that is a good thing. Okay. So there are these personal experiences with a verse that really kind of lights up our heart and our mind and can fix us but it's not accurate when we take a personal private experience that overrides the proper understanding that verse and we say well to me this means and if Paul or the original listeners would have said there's no way it could mean that that we have to be careful about how we understand it. The second decide I want to reiterate is I absolutely Believe In Worship. I believe we should be worshiping I believe worship is good. I'm glad we do it every Sunday. I don't want to be misunderstood in that one of my favorite quotes outside of scripture is a quote about the early church that says and it's it's written by a governor who's not sure what he thinks about Christians, but he says one thing I know is they gather early in the morning and they sing songs to Christ as to a god. That's just one of his observational descriptions about what the early church is doing and I love that because I say, yes. Amen. That's what Christians do they gather and sing to God. The challenge is what I said just a few moments ago when we take passages out of context and we slipped into this sort of misunderstanding that narrowly defines worship as just 10:30 to 11:30 you guess which it was 11:30 till sometime between 11 and 12, you know that we just to find it that way and then we falsely think that's evangelism two and we possibly think that's the essence of what God's asking of me to come to church on Sunday morning. Now that catches up to this verse which is another for passage about worship. 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 your true and proper worship. So when we look at the context of this first one of the first things that stands out is one contacts goes in both directions were used to thinking cuz I said this a lot when you see a there for you ask yourself, what's the therefore therefore the author is referring to what he's been previously discussing it points back to Paul's discussion of God saving Mercy really in the first 11 chapters. So Paul has built this amazing case and Romans chapter 1 through 11 of our sinfulness and broken us climaxing early on in Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and then he continues to say given that status that state as soon as what's our hope for crisis are hoping Romans 5 while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us than impacts and Romans 8 the spirits activity in our life in Romans 7 and 8 Romans 8:1. There is no condemnation. Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and that whole section kind of leads to 12:1. He's looking back and saying therefore and then IV does a good job of saying in view of God's mercy, cuz that's what he's talking about their fourth in view of God's mercy. In light of all that God has done for us in light of Salvation in light of forgiveness and mercy and Grace. Present your bodies present your very self to God and that's your good and acceptable act of worship. Now if we're not careful, we can simply stop right there and say I get it the context is everything that leads up the Romans 12:1 and an ni respond to God's grace and mercy and love to me by presenting myself my very wholesale as a as a service to him as a sacrifice to him and that's worship. But if we add the contact the comes after that verse because you realize context is both before and after a verse that gives us greater Insight. We realize that Paul continues Romans 12:1 is not simply a finale 212 11th. It's a hinge that begins a new section. Do you understand how important? That is because I think often we end up going I get it Romans 12:1 is a nice finale to Romans chapters 1 through 11. We kind of leave it at that present yourselves to God and that's worship. But Paul continues and says now let's unpack he has with general statement about presenting ourselves to God as an act of worship and then he unpacked that statement with the specifics of what that would look like. What is worship

that's what Paul unpacked here in these coming verses. Inverse to he says it means not being conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mine, then he continues to the next level section. It means having a humble attitude about our self and humility humbly using our gifts to serve others, and then he talks about that gift list and then he continues If you summarize the next little block of Romans chapter 12, he talks about loving Brothers and Sisters in Christ. And he says you love your brothers and sisters in Christ deeply without pretense or favoritism and with humility and joy and hope and perseverance and sharing your resources and weeping together and laughing together. And that's really just three or four verses where he first starts to unpack what it means to present yourself to God what it means to present yourself as an act of worship to God. It means to give your self to his bidding to his agenda. to his virtues So he starts to unpack that one the first things he says besides not conforming to this world and renewing our minds through God's teaching God's understanding. He said that his looks like loving Brothers and Sisters in Christ now, honestly when I when I summarize those verses and chapter 12, I thought we could stop right here couldn't we? I mean in that enough on your plate for this week. I mean think about what it's saying. We are to love Brothers and Sisters in Christ deeply without pretense.

or favoritism

How much does that exist already in our lives where we can say there are Brothers and Sisters in Christ? Whom I love deeply with no pretense. It's not just hey, it's so good to see you on Sunday morning. You're looking good. I can do that for 5 or 10 minutes any of us can get my hour and 20 minutes done on Sunday morning, and then I can go back to my life. If we're not careful. It can be this isolated type thing where it'd be hard to really say that it's something that were doing deeply in our life. So that alone it is challenging to love Brothers and Sisters in Christ deeply without pretense or without favoritism. That comes at the end of that section of verses we talked about don't look down on some people and don't only associate with some people. Doesn't that lesson get caught in Acts that God shows no favoritism, even though Peter was tempted to say wedding at those are proper people those I can't eat with those people. I can't eat that kind of food. I can't get that kind of table. Look at what's on it and God opens heaven and speak to Peter and says you got to learn a lesson about the New Covenant. There is no favoritism with God none what so ever and so we love our Brothers and Sisters in Christ deeply without pretense with humility with joy. Hope perseverance. We share our resources anybody who has need. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we we find out somebody has needed we figure out how can we help meet that need? How can we care for them? How can how can we share with them? How can we build them up? It says we share in Weeping and then laughing that's it. That's a deep sharing of Life pendant. It means you know when somebody's got something going on.

That requires sweeping.

That you're the kind of friend who can just go to them and you guys can just sit down together and cry. Because sometimes that's all you can do for somebody in it.

And we should have that sort of relationship among the body of Christ among ourselves that we can weave with each other and also that were the kind of friends that we get the phone call when somebody says guess what job we can celebrate with them. We have that sort of closeness that goes beyond kind of bee activities that occur in this building and many of us have that deep and loving relationship already in the body of Christ. And if you're hearing me say these things and you don't then hear it as an invitation that God invites you to grow deeper in your relationship to Brothers and Sisters in Christ that that's part of what it means to Worship You continues in this section and talks about what about those who persecute us never retaliate against our persecutors instead show respect live at peace and care for them feed them when they're hungry offered drink when they're thirsty in order that you might lead them to God.

He continues this all the way through chapter 15 verse 13 and chapter 15. So 12 one gets unpacked all the way through 15:13. If you just read the whole section you follow Paul's flow of thought and what he saying cuz it yourself the gods. Here's what it looks like loving one another deeply without favoritism without pretense sharing life together. And those who persecute you it means not taking matters into your own hands not saying vengeance is mine. But knowing that the Lord is the one who settles his account instead blessing those who persecute you some translations say and if your enemy he says, it's Thursday get him something to drink if if they're hungry give them something to eat. So that that might that might prick their conscience that might turn them back to God your kindness.

sometimes don't we instead feel like our job is to confront those who criticize the church or persecute the church, even if it's just verbally sometimes we want to say the first thing I'm going to do take out a full-page ad and say this person is a heretic or this person is wrong or publish a book or start a seminar or gather a website and we spent all this energy kind of condemning those who attacked the church who attacked us. We want to make sure people know they're wrong that week. We spend that kind of energy, but we don't find that in Scripture. I don't miss your mate. We're told when we're asked a question to be ready to give an answer and they give that answer without hesitation without fear. And so we speak the truth about God we speak scripture we defend. We don't go looking for the fight. Sometimes we kind of develop that sort of reaction to the world around us where we kind of circle the wagons and and several our job is to keep the wagons circled and to make sure nobody breaks that circle into that misunderstanding and hear God says worship is loving one another deeply and worship is blessing those who persecute you.

Because at its heart worship is revealing the goodness of God.

Do you understand that? That's what we do when we sing. The reason singing is worship is because what we're doing is we're revealing the goodness of God when we sing about how wonderful is about how Faithful is only thing you don't want I remember one thing but God is always faithful. We're revealing his goodness by singing the song that's worship to make known to reveal the goodness of God and that's why in our relationship when we love one another deeply without pretense and people say, how can you love Robbie that way because he's sometimes really hard to love sometimes he's You know, I'm a Janar treasure says a little better with paperwork at all sometimes, you know just a little bit less, you know this week. When we love one another deeply without pretense, even when there's plenty good reason to say yeah, but that person bugs me or that person. They're not like me. They're very different than me. I love to be outdoors and they want to sit in front of the TV or I love the setting from the TV show that when we cross those natural boundaries at times or dare. I even say politics could we love others who are completely different politically than I When we love deeply without pretense and without favoritism, we are worshipping God because we're revealing his goodness. When we bless those who persecute us listen when somebody attacks me or tax you it is not impressive. It is not the revelation of God's Great goodness. Her character for me to retaliate is it that's just human nature or anybody can do that. You just talked about that in the gospel. Anybody can love those who love them. I'm talking to you people of God about loving those who are your enemies I'm talking about you to you about doing something that says there's got to be something bigger than Cindy in this moment because you said she's loving those who persecute her you realize that why that's worship because it's revealing the goodness of God that somebody could hurt me or text me or do something wrong and instead I would respond with kindness. I would respond with respecting those who are persecuted as he says that in chapter 12. Living at peace with someone any way that I can if it's at all possible live at peace live at peace with them. Feeding them if they're hungry. Give them water if they're thirsty not taking matters into my own hands. That's the human way to do things. The Superhuman way to do things. The Divine way to do things is to love your enemies to bless those who persecute you to pray for them. You see how this is worship. now

I just want draw a couple simple conclusions. Worship is more than singing songs. All those singing songs is certainly part of worship. That sound okay. I don't want anyone to say Robbie said we're not supposed to any songs or I'll be there in like the worship service not saying any of that whatsoever. Worship is more than singing songs. When you look at the New Testament and the way and understands worship. It's more than singing songs. Although it certainly does include that again. If you want to read the whole context of Romans As Romans 12 1 through 15 13, will you continue he goes to different categories? He starts out saying Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Love them without pretense with authenticity without favoritism deeply from your heart do with humility and joy and hope in person and share your resources with one another week with one another laugh with one another and those were persecuting the church bless those who persecute you don't take matters into your own hands and drink if they need food. I bet he starts to continue to unpack the way in which we will worship God by talking about different categories As Romans 13 He talks about government. Here's how you interact with the government. Here's how you continue to show God's goodness in this world that will at times stand against you. So worship is more than singing songs all those singing songs of starting a part of it and secondly this a very large portion of following God's is how our relationships with the found and the lost are marked with authentic time-consuming love.

Now that's convicting for me. Cuz I asked myself. How much of my time in a given week is consumed?

In loving those who are found Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and those who are lost.

How many relationships do I have where others would say man? Robbie just blesses me all the time. And he's always just being aware of some need. I have her giving me water when I'm thirsty or food. I'm hungry or He's always just doing these acts of kindness.

another great question ask yourself because again I I can do this. I'm not trying to be hard on you guys that which is most personal is most universal. So I personally know how easy it is for me to think. You know, what I discharge 70 80 90 per-cent of my responsibilities of following God by showing up at church on Sunday morning, and I even go to Sunday school. I haven't come to Wednesday nights. I'm not your love. It's so easy to slip into that and then I look at scripture thoroughly and thoughtfully and in context and I realize that God is saying hey a large part of what it means to be my follower. Shows up in your relationships with the found and the Lost. How much authentic time-consuming love are you giving to them? How many folks would stand up and say all Robbie? He's always seems like he's always got time for me seems like he's always able to bless me or help me or do something for me and would it be for outside the church? What the folks who would say he knows I'm not even a Christian and I was I don't even really care about Christianity. I'm not even sure I like the church and yet he's still my friend. He still does things with me and inform and it's not like an agenda. He's not saying when you going to convert cuz if you're not I got better things to do with my time instead. He's just kind of. I mean didn't you just get approached and asked a Jesus? Look my busy person can be related to anybody here. Feel busy. Write anybody like to say to Jesus? Look Jesus. I'm busy. So boil it all down for me boy. Let some up the law for me is what a lawyer came and said to him. I'm busy I'll have to do okay. I got five kids. broken down minivan

I'm busy. Could you just sum it up son up for me? And Jesus actually says, okay.

All of the law can be summed up in this. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart soul mind and strength. But it doesn't stop there. And interesting that he wouldn't let it stop there. And love your neighbor. as yourself

so a large part of my relationship with God is measured. By my relationship to others not my relationship with church attendance. Dare, I say that.

But my relationship with people who worship team can come come forward now. so I'm going to stop here and we're going to continue to talk about this next Sunday and we're going to look at Hebrews really. It's 13 15 and 16. But to be fair to what the author saying in those verses in Hebrews 13, if you want to you're welcome to read 10, 11 and 12 and 13 to get a sense of that entire argument of what's going on. And Hebrews is a bear. So if you read it and you can't go that's okay because it's written to a group the author assumes. I'm riding the people who are immersed in the Old Testament. They've read the Old Testament a million times and they have all these images in their head of the Old Testament all these metaphor all these pictures. They know it inside and out. And so I'm just going to liberally pull from those images and just write this book it so he says all kinds of stuff that you say, why would he what does that mean? So it's okay. If you re part 2 Bieber John, I don't know immediately. If you've got a good study by What might explain in the notes but just trace the flow of the author's argument what makes him get 2 verses 14 and 15 and 16 in Hebrews 13 with the energy that he gets there. What makes him stay there for that little reset but you can see it between the lines because of everything that said up to that moment impacts again, what worship looks like for us. I want to continue to look at that and if you want to read ahead of time, you can read those chapters.

I hear ringing right is that just me or my ears or something like that? No, thank you least we know where it's running, right?

Listen, when when when God invites you to follow him. He's not inviting you to religion. He's not inviting you to church attendance. It is not inviting you to join some sort of system and say hey if I give this much of my money and I get this list here 10 Things. I can't do in 10 things. I can do then. I'm good with you god. He's not inviting you to that sort of thing. What is inviting you to is a relationship with him? And it is so much more than religion so much more than understanding a system and trying to to beat the system or work the system so that you got salvation checked off your to-do list. He's inviting you to offer yourself to him as Lord fully and completely to give him control to give him every part of your life to look description and trust and faith what he says in scripture and then to a band to believe that weird mystery that Jesus for peace again. And again that says I'm telling you if you give your life away, you will find it. If you if you lose your life and serving others. It'll actually be richer than if you hold onto your life and serving yourself invite you to trust him as the one who walked out of the grave.

And said, hey, guess what? I know a little bit about life. and death and Eternity

Somebody walked out of the Grave I suspect I'm ready to listen to him about you and you do that to walk out of the Grave one day tell me more about that. Just go into the grave and stay there. What did you Jesus said yeah, I want to give you the words of life. I want to teach you how to build your life on the Rock on the foundation that will not be shaken that will last if you've never made that decision. I invite you during this song to make that decision to make Christ the center of your life. If you made that decision already, we all need it. Just a firm it just sing sing to God this morning Lord. You are the center of my life. I'll be in the back. If you have a decision to make our prayer concerns and also be folks in the front in the back for prayer concerns. If you just want us to pray with you, please stand as we sing.