Sunday September 14, 2008 | Greg Boyd
One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple
Why do we worship God? Why is it so central to the life of Christians? This sermon addresses how worship is about ascribing worth to God and communing with him. Worship can transform our lives if we’re willing to get “caught up” in it.
In the writing of Psalm 27:4, David expressed that the one thing he wants is to “gaze on the Lord’s beauty” Worship is like this. It’s beholding the One who is the source of all beauty, goodness, and truth. It’s NOT bowing in humiliation before a megalomaniac in the sky saying “remind me of how great I am or I’ll squish you.” When we say, “You’re beautiful,” “awesome” ect., we’re simply saying what is true.
God created the world to acquire a bride and He became a man and died on a cross to rescue this bride “who was hell bent on self-destruction.” God is a ROMANTIC. He wants a bride with whom He can share endless passionate love. There are a lot of things this bride is called to do as we partner with God to expand His kingdom and take back the earth, but God didn’t create and save us primarily to do things, but to enjoy each other. Worship is our enjoying God enjoying us.
Our goal is to make every moment of our life an act of worship, but we need time to get alone and be intimate with God and we need time to join with others—small groups and larger groups—to worship God. There’s a special dimension to encountering God when in unity with others. God is present in a unique way when a community is united in worship. Here transformation can take place.
What we see determines what we become. As we look at the “glory” (shining beauty) of God, we take on this beauty. Paul makes this point in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 which reads,
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
Paul is referring to the use of our imagination. We must allow the Holy Spirit to “give us a vision” of Christ as we worship. We do this as we imagine who we are worshipping, and what we are singing about.
Ultimately worship is a choice. We express God’s worth by how much focus we give in the moment. We choose to put aside everything else and pour our whole being into worship. When we do this we see the beauty of God.