Drawing closer to God

In Worship

Theological Obstacles to Worship

 

This morning I want to begin by recounting an episode in the life of Peter.  The best description of this episode is found in Luke's Gospel; chapter 5.

 

Luke 5:1-3 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, (Jesus later changed his name to Peter) and asked him to put out a little from shore.  Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 

 

This is exciting already.  Jesus is teaching the people who are crowding around to hear him.  I would have loved to have been there; listening to this teacher who spoke like no one else.  But, this is odd from Peter's perspective.  He was working on cleaning his nets.  He had worked all night; fishing.  His partners, James and John, are a bit irritated.  They're still working.  Peter left them with the cleaning chores.  But who can argue with Jesus?  Jesus asks.  You do.  Peter did what Jesus requested rowed the boat a bit from the shore.

 

Luke 5:4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." 

 

"You've got to be kidding me."  Peter is thinking to himself. "I just got the nets clean.  I worked all night.  I didn't catch a thing.  So, you're not only a teacher, you're a fisherman too!  Come on."  But what he says is…

 

Luke 5:5-7 "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything.  But because you say so, (Who can say no to Jesus?)  I will let down the nets."  When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 

 

All the fish in Lake Gennesaret jump into Peter's net.  The fish know the voice of the one who created them.  Jesus says, "Here fishy, fishy".  Jesus asks.  The fish do.  The nets are breaking.  The other boat is scrambling.  Both boats are full of wriggling fish.  It is like Peter and partners hit the jackpot on a slot machine and all the fish pour out into their boats. 

 

Then Simon Peter realizes what the fish already knew.

 

Luke 5:8-10 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"  For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken.

 

Peter's response to who Jesus is… is the proper response.  In the presence of the Creator of the Universe; the one who made the fish on Day Five and humans on Day Six, the only authentic response is to fall on your knees, "Go away from me, LORD; I am a sinful man!"

 

In the presence of the Divine, our sinfulness is so egregious we should fall on our faces. 

 

This summer we are talking about drawing closer to God in the Thin Space which is created in worship. 

"Really, you want to draw closer to the God of holiness with your sinful self?"  Peter is right.  We should not be flippantly drawing closer to God.  We should be on our knees scooting backwards out of his presence.  I am a sinful man.  I have no right to be in his presence.  It is audacious to contemplate drawing closer to God.

 

=======

There was another man of God who discovered the same thing; the prophet Isaiah.  Listen as Isaiah describes the same experience.

=======

 

Isaiah 6:1-5 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."  At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.  "Woe to me!"  I cried.  "I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

 

Isaiah did the same thing Peter did.  He fell on his face realizing his on sinfulness.  "I am a man whose lips cannot say anything holy.  I live among a people whose words are unholy. "   The only proper acknowledgement, upon seeing King Yahweh the Almighty, is to admit you are ruined.  "Drawing closer to God?"  Isaiah would say, "You have got to be kidding.  You're a sinner.  You should want to be anywhere, but close to God!"

 

But then something strange happened which changed everything.  God commanded a ritual which allowed Isaiah to be in his presence.

 

Isaiah 6:6-7 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for".

 

Isaiah knew he was ruined.  So, he let an angel touch a burning coal to his lips.  The burning coal, taken from the altar in the heavenly temple, touched his lips and removed his sins.  This is strange.  But it worked.  Isaiah could then stand in the presence of Yahweh.

 

The coal to the lips is no stranger than the ritual we believe in.  We believe baptism allows us to stand in the presence of God.

 

Acts 2:38  Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

When we repent; when our hearts are changed; when we are baptized into Christ; the Holy Spirit moves in, to make us holy.  The ritual of baptism, just like the coal on Isaiah's lips, allows us to be in the presence of God.  This is marvelous.  We, who are sinful, can be forgiven.  God, through the Spirit, moves into us.  It is not so much us in the presence of God.  Now, it is God in the presence of us!  Through the indwelling of the Spirit we are allowed to draw closer to God in worship.  Is that cool or what?

 

=======

This summer we are in the Thin Place called worship.  Wade and I are advocating the Thin Space Spiral. 

=======

 

We have been attempting to convince you that, through our worship, we create a Thin Space where we can worship God in his presence.  This worship, then, moves us to serve God; every day.  This service then creates more of a desire to worship God… which in turn makes us more like Jesus and that leads to more worship and that to Christ incarnate in us.  We have been preaching worship together leads to living on the altar.  Worship ignites the Thin Space Spiral.

 

This is what happened to Peter and to Isaiah.  Let me read the last verses of each of our two stories.

 

Luke 5:10-11 Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men".  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. 

 

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?"  And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

 

Jesus moved Peter from fear to following.  Isaiah went from sinner to servant.  They were moved by the presence of God to live for God.  That is the Thin Space Spiral.   That should be what happens to us.  Our praise-synergy should move us to Thin Space encounters of service.  That is how it is supposed to work.  The Thin Space spiral is a glorious thing when it works.

 

But, that leads to an obvious question; "Well, why hasn't it worked… already… or more… or visibly?  I am not really seeing that, Tim.  Most of us have been going to church every Sunday for years, but we haven't experienced this Thin Thingy."  In the next couple of sermons Wade and I are going to wrestle with some obstacles to the Thin Space Spiral.  Why haven't we soared into the stratosphere of worship… yet?  Well, maybe there are some problems that need solving before we take off.

 

=======

The first obstacle is sin.  That is why I told you the story of Peter and the story of Isaiah.

=======

 

Peter and Isaiah are exactly right.  Sin keeps us from worship.  Sin destroys the Thin Space Spiral.  We cannot be immersed in sin on Saturday night and then be immersed in God on Sunday morning.  Our hearts cannot go in both directions; simultaneously.  Sin keeps us from drawing closer to God.

 

James 4:4-6 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?  But he gives us more grace.  That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

 

Our love of the stuff of this world destroys the Thin Space Spiral.  If we love the bobbles of the world; the money, the things, the activities, the mindset; our worship will fail.  Our pride in all we have become - "Hey, look at me."  - destroys the Thin Space Spiral.  We cannot come together on Sunday, expecting to create a Thin Space, when we are full of arrogance.  God opposes the proud… but gives grace to the humble.

 

Listen to the next couple verses in James 4…

 

James 4:7-10 Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and wail.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

 

Gloom… Grieve… Mourn… Wail… Wash… Resist… Submit…   I don't think James could make it much more poignant.  We must turn from sin to be able to come near to God.  In our hearts we know our obsessions are keeping us at a distance.

 

But the good news is when we humble ourselves before God, he does what Jesus did to Peter and what the angel did to Isaiah.  God lifts us up and embraces us.  When we are humble, he lifts us up.  When we repent we experience joy in worship.  The Thin Space Spiral is ignited.

 

=======

I have a new favorite Psalm.  I read part of it at Sarah and Nathan's wedding.  Here is the entire Psalm.  It makes the same point as James 4. 

=======

 

Psalm 34:1-3  I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.  Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. 

 

This is a wonderful description of worship.  Extol, praise, boast, glorify, and exalt his name… together.  That is what I want for us.  This is praise-synergy .

 

Psalm 34:4-10 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.  This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.  The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.  Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.  Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.  The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 

 

Here is the Spiral escalating.  From worship faces are radiant which leads to angels encamping around us.  Then we lack nothing which could help us seek the LORD.  This is worship spiraling into the stratosphere. 

 

But now listen to the repent point.

 

Psalm 34:11-18  Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.  Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.  Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.  The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; (but) the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 

 

What a terrifying image; God's face is against those who do evil.  It is not a happy face with those who do evil.  God is going to erase even their memory from the earth.  I think it would be safe to assume that evil doers are not going to be able to draw close to God.   Sin keeps us from drawing closer to God.

 

Watch how Psalm 34 ends and where repentance leads.

 

Psalm 34:19-22 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.  Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.  The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

 

The brokenhearted get to take refuge in the LORD.  Isn't that what you want?  To be drawn into the loving refuge of God.  The crushed in spirit get close to God. 

 

=======

"Make it real, Tim.  What are you saying?"

=======

 

Before we can create the Thin Space Spiral we must repent.  Our sinfulness keeps us from drawing closer to God.  We must turn from evil.  Our arrogance keeps us out of the Thin Space of worship.  But the wonderful reality is…  God is merciful.  When we repent… When Jesus speaks and we do… he will forgive.  When we are humble… he will lift up.  When we are brokenhearted... we find refuge.  Repentance is the entrance to worship.

 

Tim Stidham

Los Alamos Church of Christ

June 19, 2011