If I asked you when your greatest moment of worship took place, what would your mind run to? Would you think of a particularly powerful moment in a song service when you felt your soul flooded with love for God? That wouldn’t be surprising, since “worship” in the western church is nearly synonymous with music. This is an unfortunate development, and I want to suggest that your greatest moment of worship did not happen while the lights were dimmed and the chords of modern Christianity were being stroked. I might even go farther and suggest that your greatest moment of worship had no concurrent emotional ecstasy. It might have felt downright horrible.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (spiritual worship). And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:1-2
What is worship? Romans 12 tells us that it is sacrifice. Not the sacrifice of a dead animal, because that was all done away with when Christ came. It is a living sacrifice. It is your sacrifice. Worship is the sacrifice of something dear and precious to you for the sake and for the love of Christ. On a regular basis, it is the daily habit of dying to self and living for God. But on occasion, the offering springs from some deep desire or ambition that drives and motivates you at your core, and the giving up of that thing is like Abraham’s offering of Isaac: it is nearly unthinkable.
When you offer that dream, or that ambition, or that choice, up to God, you are slaying any rival to God that lives in your heart. You are declaring that you do not serve God so that He can enable your deepest desires, but you are serving God because He is worthy. Worthy, from the same root as worth-ship.
Often times this turning away from self comes not only at great personal cost, but at the consternation of those around you. Even those who genuinely love you will probably misunderstand what you are doing. You won’t be surrounded by a myriad of other Christ-followers lifting their voices and hands in praise; you will be alone. It’s possible a close friend or a spouse or a pastor who understands the nature of worship will get it. But the majority won’t. They will not applaud. And God has done this on purpose, so that you will not do it for their applause, but for His.
Your greatest moment of worship came when you turned away from your own feelings, desires, and dreams and made a choice to live for God in a very specific way. You sacrificed personal fulfillment in favor of being pleasing to God. Maybe you told the truth and it cost you your career. Maybe you led your family and your wife left you for the world. Maybe you gave up a blossoming ministry to become and anonymous missionary. It could be something that if told in a story would be utterly banal, but in your soul it was as dramatic as Elijah’s battle with the false god on Carmel. And when you did that, you might not have felt the glory roll through your soul. But glorious it was to your God. These are the great worship moments in the life of the believer.
I am not discouraging you from attending the gathering of your local church this morning and lifting your voice in praise to our great God and Savior. That is good and right and He is worthy. But if your life is not a living sacrifice, stirred up feelings on Sunday morning don’t mean much to God. He is looking for those who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, not in feelings. He wants your life on the altar. He wants your living sacrifice.
Nathan Writes 