Ingleside Presbyterian Church A

HOME	ABOUT US	MINISTRIES	NEWS/EVENTS	CALENDAR	PHOTOS	CONTACT US	MEMBERS

“Coming Before God” (Part 4)
John 12:1-22
IPC, February 1, 2009

Diversity education in America teaches us that all viewpoints are not only to be tolerated and expected, but should be embraced. An atheist complained to a friend, because Christians had their special holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, and the Jews celebrated Passover and Yom Kippur. "But we atheists have no recognized national holidays. It’s unfair discrimination." His friend replied, "Why don’t you celebrate April first? Because ‘the fool has said in his heart, there is no God.’"

We are here to worship this morning. Worship is more than singing… it is a way of life. John 12 gives us three different examples of worship that we can apply to our lives. When we understand worship in its truest sense, we can practice the presence of God in our daily lives. Worship is more than simply coming together on Sunday mornings… it is putting God first in your life and loving Him daily with all your "heart, soul, mind & strength." Worship is God-consciousness, no matter where you are or what you are doing.

However, we are guilty of compartmentalizing our lives, aren’t we? We have family time, work time, play time, sleep time, school time, eat time, reading time…and oh, yes, and God time. I’m not downgrading the necessity of schedules or of having a time alone with God… just you and your Bible. That is essential for your growth as a Christian. But, do we often live portions of our day without a thought of God and His presence and purpose for our lives? We may miss those moments when we could be worshiping the Lord. You can worship the Lord at work, in the car, doing housework…special moments when you can stop and thank the Lord. Don’t wait until Sunday morning to give praise to God. Make it a habit and a way of life daily.

John 12 gives us three different worship experiences…different ways we can worship God. Verses 1-8 "Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, & Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, & anointed the feet of Jesus & wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii & given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, & having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.’"

Mary teaches us three things about worship. (Vs. 1-8)

It’s right to risk in our worship. True worship involves a certain amount of risk. When you worship God, you are becoming vulnerable—you are relinquishing control. When you become vulnerable, eyebrows may become raised. Worship should lift us up to where we want to express love in tangible ways. And you may even step "out of character" when you worship. Have you ever driven down the interstate, singing along to Christian music and maybe you’ve been moved by a song and you begin to cry and the person in the car in the next lane looks over your way with one of those, ‘What have we got in this car over here’ looks? When we come into the presence of God, there is a vulnerability to it. Mary risked her image by her act of worship.

She was extravagant in her expression of worship. Mary didn’t hold back…this worship was worth one year’s salary. When she opened this bottle, everyone in the room realized that she dumped a year’s salary on the Lord. Worship allows us to become extravagant in our expressions of love to the Lord.

She gave generously as an act of worship. Worship is more than simply an emotional experience. Worship is stewardship, commitment, surrender, Lordship, putting God in control of your life. There is much more than sentimentality in worship. WORSHIP IS ACTION!

Worship is more than verbiage…I heard a charismatic preacher tell a congregation, "I don’t care how high you jump in worship, and it’s how straight you walk after you come down." The masked bandit lined up all the customers in the small store against the wall, demanding their money. When he reached the last man, the intended victim said, "You wouldn’t rob a minister, would you?" The bandit asked, "What church do you preach in?" The pastor said, "I’m a Presbyterian." Placing his gun in his left hand, the bandit stuck out his right hand and said, "Put it there, brother, I’m a Presbyterian too." True worship should make a difference in our lives.

Remember when the Pharisee asked Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar? They brought a coin to Jesus and Jesus asked them, "Whose image is on that coin?" They replied, "Caesar’s." Jesus told them, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s & unto God what is God’s." After that, the passage tells us that the Pharisees asked Jesus no more questions. Folks, if Caesar’s image was on the coin, whose image is on our lives? The Bible tells us that we are made in God’s image, so we should render unto God what is God’s. Worship is giving ownership and Lordship to God. The first part of John 12 tells us that worship is being vulnerable before God.

The crowds teach us four things about worship. (Vs. 12-19)

Vs. 12-19 "The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees, & went out to meet him, crying out, and ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young donkey & sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, and then they remembered that these things had been written about him & had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb & raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.’" Four observations about the worship from the crowds:

We cannot remain private in our worship.

The crowds were active worshipers. These folks were demonstrative…they were singing. They weren’t passively watching Jesus pass by, like you would watch a parade.

They personalized their worship of Jesus. They called Him "King." They gave personal adoration to Him.

They audibly declared their allegiance in worship. I’ve had people tell me, "Preacher, my relationship with God is a very personal thing." Any relationship with God must be personal. I agree with that. We don’t want an "institutional" relationship with God. All great relationships start personally. But there is a difference in having a PERSONAL relationship with God and a PRIVATE relationship with God. It must be personal, but it cannot be continually private. Matt. 10:32-33 "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." Jesus sees a correlation between our confessing God before men & Jesus’ confessing us before the heavenly Father. He is saying, "You can know Me and love Me and serve Me personally, but you can’t keep it private. You cannot be a Secret Service Christian." Some folks want to sneak into church…they sit quietly…they want to grab a little Jesus and sneak back out. I wouldn’t call them "sneaky Christians," I would merely label them as private. And they need to cut that out. (That is Greek for "stop it.") Quit trying to keep your relationship with God private. Jesus told the people, "If you don’t praise Me, the rocks are going to cry out ‘glory & honor.’" (Luke 19:40) Jesus is saying, "I’m going to have someone lift Me up and give Me the glory that is due Me. My preference is you, but if you won’t do it at Ingleside, then I’ll get a bunch of rocks to praise me." (It would be pretty demeaning to be replaced by rocks, wouldn’t it?) What if you came to church one Sunday and we say, "You can’t come in today. We’ve got a bunch of rocks in your chair." You may have received Jesus as your Savior and Lord, but you are private about it. You may not have even shared it with your spouse. Worship cannot always remain in that private chamber…it must become public.

I read this about worship. It says, "My praise to God needs to be: Personal. All praise begins with my deep feelings about God. It is Reverent. It begins with humble hearts. It understands God’s strength and our weakness. It is Appreciative, full of thanks to God. It is Illuminating. When we worship God, we learn a lot about ourselves. It is to be Sincere, honest and meaningful. It is Enthusiastic. There is energy in worship, because we are giving Him glory.

There is one last group in our passage today. Verses 20-22: "Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee & asked him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ And Philip went & told Andrew; Andrew & Philip went & told Jesus." Now the Greeks were not the chosen people, but they came seeking Jesus.

The Greeks teach us four things about worship. (Vs. 20-22)

They were willing to seek Jesus.

They specifically found Him.

They were teachable.

They were unashamed & became public in their search for God.

When we come to worship the Lord, God knows if we are preoccupied with other things when we come into His house. Think of a surprise birthday party. You’re the birthday boy or girl and you enter the room and we all jump out and shout, "Surprise." Then after we say, "surprise" we go back and talk to each other and we totally ignore you. We didn’t bring any gifts or cards. We didn’t tell you how well you look, even though you’re a year older. We just talked among ourselves while you’re waiting for a cake or something, but we just left and there you were. What kind of party was that? Now relate that to worship. This is the Lord’s Day! Some of us, while we’re singing, are just kind of looking around. There are times I want to be a bean shooter, just to get your attention. You may be preoccupied with what everyone else is wearing. You’re thinking about what is going on this afternoon…your mind is in another place. When we’re at the Lord’s House, we are here to give Him praise and to focus on Him! This is the most important part of this morning’s message: GOD NOTICES WHEN YOU DON’T WORSHIP HIM. Folks, are you "with it" in worship.

In Luke 7 there is another story of Jesus having His feet washed by a woman. This time it was a prostitute who was wonderfully changed by the Lord. She anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive oil. This time, it wasn’t Judas who got upset, it was Pharisee named Simon. Jesus said, (Luke 7:44-45) "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears & wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet." Jesus was saying, "Simon, I don’t know about you, but this woman worships." What would Jesus say about your worship? As we leave church today, will God look down from heaven and say, "Wow, they really worshiped me this morning at Ingleside." Or did we back off from worship because we don’t have a good singing voice? You don’t have to audition in the Bible…it tells us to "make a joyful noise." Some of you can’t sing a lick, but you can make a joyful noise.

Let’s apply as we close:

Sometimes we come serving, like Mary.

Sometimes we come singing, like the crowds.

Sometimes we come seeking, like the Greeks.

When we come with all our hearts, focusing on Him, it’s worth it. Think of someone you love this morning. When you love a person, you can’t hide it. When you love, it will show. Let Ingleside be a church that really loves God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. That means we worship with wholehearted abandon and exuberance. Let us not be ashamed of our love for God. Let’s let the whole world know that we are a people who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. And we are a thankful people who give glory and honor and praise to Him! Let’s pray.

Please visit us at our next worship service.

We offer "An Unchanging Word To A Changing World"

In Christ,
Bill Bratley - Pastor