James Merritt - Here I Am to Worship
It’s one thing that everybody does. Everybody—Agnostics do it, Atheists do it, Religious people do it, Non-religious people do it, Liberals do it, Conservatives do it, Democrats do it, Republicans do it, Libertarians do it. In fact, everybody from the first person who’s ever been born to the last person who will ever be born has done it and does it. I’m going to shock you when I tell you what it is because you would never guess what it is. It’s not eating, it’s not drinking, it’s not sleeping, it’s not breathing, it’s not even living. But there is one thing everyone who has ever lived or ever will live does, and that is worship. Everybody worships. Everyone in this world worships something.
There was a novelist; he was a postmodern novelist, very well-respected. His name was David Foster Wallace. He gave a commencement speech at Kenyon College, and he said something—I don’t know if the guy was a believer or not; probably was not—but I said, «That’s one of the wisest things I’ve ever heard in my life.» Here’s what he said: In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everyone worships; the only choice we get is what to worship. I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
Some people worship money, some people worship their families, some people worship their business, some people worship their politics, some people worship sex, some people worship fame, some people worship success, and some people even worship something they call God, even if it’s a false god. But whatever the driving force is in your life—whatever it is that determines your emotions, drives your will, dominates your thoughts, and directs your behavior—that is what you worship. So today, we’re going to begin a series we’re calling «Who We Are,» and it’s primarily not just for those of us who usually attend this church. It’s really as much, if anything, for people who will be visiting our church and for those who are watching, maybe for the first time online.
Whenever I go visit another church, which I don’t get to do very often, but when I do, I’ve never been to before and I don’t know much about it—that’s the question I’m asking when I walk in the door: So who are you? Not what are you; I know the name of your church, but who are you? I love to read books on leadership; I read one kind of book I’m going to read about every week of the year, and I’m reading two right now. In fact, I’ll tell you one that may surprise you. I got it last week and I’m almost finished with it; couldn’t put it down. It’s called «The Leadership Lessons of Nick Saban.»
I’m a Georgia fan, but I respect anyone who’s a great leader, and Nick Saban may be the greatest college football coach of all time. To read how he built that great organization called Alabama Football is just absolutely fascinating. But as I’ve read books on leadership, there’s one central thing I’ve learned: Any institution, any business, any organization, any individual—if you’re really going to make an impact in this world, if you’re really going to make any kind of difference in this world—you better figure out three things. Number one: Who are we? Who are we? Maybe you work for AT&T, or maybe you work for IBM, or maybe you work for Amazon, but who is your company? Who would—I asked the head of Amazon, «Who are you?» What would he say? Who are we? The second question: Where are we trying to go?
Nobody stands still. No individual stands still. No business stands still. No church stands still. You’re either progressing or digressing. There’s no in-between. You’re going forward, or you’re going backward. You never stand still. Where are we trying to go? The third question you better answer is, how are we going to get there? Who am I? Where am I going? How am I going to get there? Now, our church’s mission statement clearly declares all that. For those of you who may not know what it is or have forgotten, this is our mission statement: We are here to point people to Jesus and inspire them to live the cross-shaped life. That’s who we are; that’s what we do.
Now, we define the cross-shaped life in four ways: worshiping, discipling, serving, and sending. When we put that mission statement together many years ago, we did something on purpose. We put worship at the top. That’s at the head of the line; that is at the top of the pyramid. That’s not coincidental; that’s fundamental because that’s exactly where it belongs. I’m going to say something to you right now that’s going to shock a lot of you: I’ve heard people say that the primary responsibility of the church is evangelism. Now, if you know anything about me as your pastor, you know that is my heartbeat. I believe we ought to be telling people about Jesus. I believe in sharing the gospel. We’ve got little tracts we call «The Best News.»
I believe we should be about sharing the best news. I don’t ever want to go a year in my life without leading as many people to Christ as I possibly can. I got my PhD in evangelism, so I understand the passion for evangelism. But as much as I talk about it, as much as I practice it, and as much as I believe in it, I’ve come to realize that is not the primary responsibility of the church. It’s not even the primary responsibility of the Christian. I’m going to give you two reasons why I know that has to be true.
First of all, evangelism is my duty to my neighbor; worship is my duty to God. My duty to God always has to come before my duty to my neighbor. The second reason I know that’s true is this: evangelism is temporary. I’ve told you many times, one day you’re going to die, and one day I’m going to die—unless Jesus comes back first. We’re going to draw our last breath one day, and the moment you do, here are two things to remember. One of you will be really happy about this, you ready? Number one: you will never get the chance to share the gospel with a lost person ever again. If you’re ever going to tell people about Jesus, you better do it now; you won’t need to do it up there. There are no lost people in heaven.
Now, here’s what will make a lot of you happy. You ready? There are no offering plates in heaven. No offerings are ever taken in heaven. Nobody’s going to ask you to give any money in heaven. You’ll never get another chance to give to the work of God in heaven. So I realize now that evangelism, even though it’s wonderful and great and we must do it, is temporary. One day it will stop, but our worship will continue forever and ever. Now that raises a big question. If I’m right in what I just said, that our number one responsibility, both corporately and individually, is to worship God, well, that raises a whole lot of questions. For example, what is worship? I could go through this building right now with a microphone and just randomly pick out 25 people and ask you, what is worship? I’d get 25 different answers.
Well, what is worship? What do we mean by worship? Once you answer that, you have to ask the next question: Who should we worship? We are in a world today that is very divided about that because not everybody worships the God we worship. Not everyone even celebrated the holiday we just observed because they don’t buy what we’re selling. Then you have to ask a third question: Well, why should we worship? Even if I know what it is and who I should be worshiping, why should I even worship? When you answer that question, the big one is: Well, how should we worship? How do you do it?
Here’s the great news: 2,000 years ago, Jesus answered every single one of those questions in one of the strangest situations you could ever imagine. He did not answer that question while teaching in the church. He did not answer that question while talking to his disciples. He didn’t even answer that question in response to a question about worship. Of all things you could ever imagine, 2,000 years ago he met the Samaritan woman at a well. A woman did something men weren’t supposed to do: talk to a woman in public, and no Jew should talk to a Samaritan woman. He meets this woman at the well, and of all people to talk to about worship, he makes one statement to this woman that changed the concept of what real worship is forever. Here’s what he said in John 4:24, that’s where we are today: «God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.»
In that one statement, Jesus says something about worship that nobody had ever thought about before, nobody had ever said before, and nobody has ever said or thought about since then. What fascinates me is who he was talking to. He was not talking to a deacon, a Sunday school teacher, a pastor, or someone who at least went to church. He was talking to a woman, and let me be as nice as I can: she was not a Girl Scout. Now, she would have made a great Hollywood actress because she had been married five times and was living with a guy she wasn’t even married to. She didn’t know that Jesus knew that because she didn’t know Jesus, but Jesus knew it and he never even met this woman because he said to her, «I know all about your life. You’ve been married five times and it didn’t work five times. Now you’re living with a guy you’re not even married to.»
Now at that point, you would have thought Jesus was going to say to her, «You need to get your act together. You need to get right. You need to get your life cleaned up.» Instead, he doesn’t even mention her lifestyle. The whole conversation is dominated by this one word: worship. He uses the word eight times in this conversation and says one thing about worship that tells us all we need to know about how important worship is to God and how important it ought to be to us. Here’s what Jesus said about true worship and true worshipers. Are you ready? They are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. I’m going to give you a little pop quiz: Does anybody know what it is about what Jesus just said that is so unique? Does anyone have a clue about what Jesus just said that is so different from anything else you find from Genesis to Revelation? You don’t find this concept; you don’t find this thought anywhere else in the Bible.
Now, I know you don’t know, so I’m going to tell you what it is. This is amazing! This is the only time in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, that we are told that God seeks anything from us. It’s the only time he seeks worshipers. Why? Because worship is the one thing that God does not have unless you give it to him. He’s not going to force it; he’s not going to make you do it; he’s not going to put a gun to your head. You have to voluntarily come to the Lord and offer it to him. And Jesus said, above everything else, this will make you feel good! God’s not primarily looking for people who will tithe. Can I get an amen to that?
He’s not looking for people who will tithe. He’s not looking for people who will be at church every single Sunday, though we will talk about that. He’s not looking for people who will dress a certain way. He’s looking for one thing: Will you worship me? Will you worship me in the right way? Will you give me the worship that I ought to have? Because above everything else, God is seeking people who will worship him. He deserves it, he desires it, he demands it. So the point of the message is simply this: We’re here to get right with God so we can worship the right God the right way. That’s why you’re here. That’s why I’m here. That’s why the church is here. That’s why everybody is here.
We’re here to get right with God so we can worship the right God the right way. Now how do you do that? Well, thank you, Lord; he tells us in three simple steps. Step one: we are to express proper worship. We are to express proper worship. Now, let’s go back and listen to what Jesus said very carefully. Jesus said, «A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.» So here’s what Jesus said: Hey, God is looking for people who worship him, but will worship him the right way. You can worship the right God the wrong way, and you can worship the wrong God the wrong way, but God is looking for people to worship him the right way, the way he wants to be worshiped. He’s looking for true worshipers.
Now let me just stop right there. Think about this. Put your thinking cap on. If there are true worshipers, then there must be false worshipers. If there is such a thing as true worship, there must be such a thing as false worship. So the question is, what is true worship, and what makes someone a true worshiper? Well, Jesus said, let’s go back to Worship 101. The first thing you have to understand is true worship begins with worshiping the right God. He says this: true worshipers will worship the Father, and he’s obviously talking about his own Father. In other words, here’s what Jesus said: it makes sense. If you’re going to worship God the right way, you better make sure you’re worshiping the right God.
What I’m about to say right now, let me just be honest with you, it is intolerant, it is politically incorrect, it is unwoke, and it will never get me elected to public office. And I’m not running anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. But if the God you worship is not the Father of Jesus Christ, you’re not worshiping God. If the God you worship is not the Father of Jesus Christ, you are not worshiping God. You’re not a true worshiper, nor is your worship true. Now, if you think that sounds harsh, listen to what Jesus said to this Samaritan woman, because she thought she was worshiping God. Listen to this: He said, «You Samaritans worship what you do not know.» I mean, what an insult! What a slap in the face! Ma’am, I hate to put it to you: you’ve been wasting your time going to your synagogue because you are worshiping what you do not know.
Now, what was true of the Samaritans is true of billions of people in the world today. Because if what Jesus said is true, that means there are billions of people who are worshiping a god they don’t know. So let me connect the dots. Muslims don’t really worship God. Buddhists don’t really worship God. Hindus do not really worship God. If you worship any god other than the Father of Jesus Christ, you are not worshiping God. You may be saying, «Well, thank God I know I’m here to worship the right God,» but wait a minute. You can worship the right God, but the question is: are you worshiping Him the right way? You say, «Well, what does that mean?» Well, Jesus said there are two requirements to worship God the right way. And before I get there, let me just kind of warn you: He doesn’t say a word about style, he doesn’t say a word about music, he doesn’t say a word about dress. He just says this: God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in the Spirit. So requirement number one is this: he said real worship is spiritual worship. You worship him in the Spirit.
Now, some people say this refers to the Holy Spirit, while others say it refers to the human spirit. What do I say? I say yes; it refers to both. Because when you give your life to Jesus Christ, guess what? The Holy Spirit comes into your human spirit, so you can worship God with the right spirit. I’m going to say that again: when you give your life to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes into your human spirit, so you can worship God with the right spirit. True worship is when your spirit connects with God’s Spirit through the Holy Spirit.
Let me tell you why that’s such a big deal. The prophet Isaiah said something I want you to hear very carefully. The Lord said, «These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.» So I’m going to ask every one of you a question, and just be honest with yourself: during the last 20 minutes that we worshiped, did you just do it with your mouth? Did you just do it with your lips? Were you just kind of mouthing the words that were up on the screen? Or did you worship God with your heart? Did you really put your heart into it? Did you really put your soul into it? I want you to listen carefully: real worship is not primarily about the external; it’s really about the internal.
Now, having said that, worship ought to be physical. I know some of you are uncomfortable when I say this; we don’t make anybody do it. But can I be honest? There are times I don’t understand how people can’t help but raise their hands. I don’t understand how that’s just not my style. When you read the book of Revelation, we’re going to be getting caught up there. I don’t understand sometimes how we can’t clap our hands and really sing with a loud voice. That’s the way we physically express our worship. It’s physical. It’s also emotional. When you worship, you ought to put your heart and your soul into it. I’m going to get into the weeds here just a little bit. It doesn’t matter what the style of worship is. It doesn’t matter what the style of music is because I know I’ve heard it from all of you since we started this church.
«Well, I like gospel music.» That’s fine. «I like contemporary music.» That’s fine. «I like traditional music.» Good. «I like praise choruses.» Yeah. «I want hymns.» Okay. «I love anthems.» All that’s great. But hear me: we’re not here to worship the music; we are here to worship the God of the music. So it doesn’t matter to me whether the song was written by a quartet in 1920 or by somebody a year ago or 150 years ago. When we’re singing, I want to throw my heart and soul into it because I’m worshiping the God of the music. Real worship is spiritual worship. When you worship God from your heart, you put your heart into the worship; you give God your heart in worship. Jesus said it must be spiritual worship. But that’s where a lot of our friends stop, who know how to really worship emotionally and physically. I thank God for them, and we ought to do a better job of it, to be honest with you. But Jesus said it’s not just spiritual worship; He said real worship is scriptural worship because He goes on to say that worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.
Well, what does that mean? In other words, we’re to worship the God of truth according to the truth of God. So here are the real two keys to whether or not your worship is real: What you just did the last 20 minutes, was it real or not? Well, let me ask you a couple of questions. Is my worship being given to the one true God? And you may say yes. Here’s the second one: Is it faithful to the truth that this God has spoken? Let me tell you why I know; Jesus said this, and we need to hear this word today. A lot of people, even some of you who come into this church on Sunday morning, want to worship your own personal custom-built God. And let me tell you something: when I hear somebody make this statement, my skin crawls. I’ve heard it so many times in the last 10 years. You ready for this?
Here’s the statement: «Well, the God that I worship.» Put your guard up when you hear that. «Well, the God that I worship…» and then you’ll hear things like this: «Well, the God I worship would never allow anyone to go to hell. That’s the God I worship. I don’t know about your God; that’s the God I worship.» The God I worship doesn’t care whether it’s a man marrying a woman, a man marrying a man, or a woman marrying a woman as long as they love each other and are committed to each other. Now that’s the God that I worship. The God I worship doesn’t care what you do as long as you don’t hurt anybody else. Now that’s the God that I worship. The God I worship accepts anybody into heaven if they’re good enough or sincere in what they believe. That’s the God I worship. And here’s one of their favorites: «The God I worship is about mercy, not judgment.»
I had some people get up and leave in the first service. I’m not saying this is why they left, but I have a feeling it’s why, and that’s okay; it didn’t bother me. That’s not the God I worship. That’s not the God I find in this book. God is a God of mercy, but He’s also a God of judgment. There you go. God says there are two genders, not 30. God says a man should marry a woman. End of discussion. God says, «I’m not just a God of love; I’m a God of holiness.» And God says, «It’s not you’re okay; I’m okay; we’re all okay.» Nobody’s okay until they come to God through Jesus Christ. That’s the God that I worship because this is the God who says, «This is who I am.»
So let me be clear, please: you are free to worship any god you choose to worship, but it will not be real worship, and it will not be true worship if you’re not worshiping the God found in His Word. Real worship is spiritual worship; you give all that you are to all that He is. Real worship is scriptural worship; you’re worshiping the true God according to the truth of His Word. You can worship the wrong God, or you can worship the right God the wrong way. But true worship is when we worship the true God in spirit and in truth. We must express proper worship, but it doesn’t stop there.
Number two: we are to experience private worship. Yes, when Jesus was talking about worship, let me remind you of something. Who was He talking to when He spoke of worship? He wasn’t talking to the disciples; He wasn’t talking to a church; He wasn’t talking to a congregation; He wasn’t talking to a crowd; He wasn’t talking to a community. He was talking to one woman, one individual. He said, «Ma’am, this is how you ought to worship. You, as an individual.» And I say that to say this: worship is not a one-hour, one-week deal. That’s right; worship is 24/7. Worship is every day. Call it whatever you want to call it: having a quiet time, having a walk with God, having a devotional life. And I’m going to speak very frankly: there are many of you right now streaming this service online and watching us, and I’m glad you are. You’re watching maybe by television, or maybe you’re even sitting in this building, but the only worship you experience is what we’re doing right now.
This is it for you. The only time you open the Bible is here; the only time you hear the Word of God is here. The only time you spend praying to God, praising God, and worshiping God is here. Now let me help you with something: today’s worship is for today. It won’t cut it tomorrow, and tomorrow’s worship won’t cut it on Tuesday. You need to hear the Word of God today, but you also need to hear the Word of God tomorrow. You need to praise God today; you need to praise God tomorrow. You need to bless God today; you need to bless God tomorrow. You need to love God today; you need to love God tomorrow. You may have heard of the famous, renowned Polish pianist; his name was Paderewski. If you know anything about music, you probably know he is still considered one of the greatest concert pianists of all time. He was Polish.
In World War II, they were in the middle of fighting for their lives. The president of Poland called him into his office and said, «We need to raise money for the war effort. I just wondered, would you be willing to play concerts to help us raise money to defend the country?» Well, he was a patriot, and he loved his country, so he said, «Yes, sir, I’ll be glad to do it under one condition.» The president asked, «Okay, what’s that?» He replied, «You have to allow me to play scales for three hours every day. Now you’re going to pay me for eight hours, but I’m going to practice scales for three of those eight. But you’re going to pay me for eight; that’s my request.» The president said, «Okay.» Why did he do that? Concert pianists know there is one thing they must do every single day. Every day they have to play scales, hour after hour, a minimum of three hours. They are not playing music; they are just playing scales. Why do they do that? Because they know that is the only way they can maintain their skill.
Here’s what he said: I want you to listen to this. He said, «If I skip one day of scales when I play in concert, I’ll notice it. If I skip two days of scales, my coach will notice it. If I skip three days of scales, the world will notice it because he knows I’ve got to play these scales to ensure that my fingers have the dexterity and strength to play everything perfectly. Every single day of your life, you ought to be reading the Word of God. Every day of your life, you ought to be playing scales spiritually.
See, if I miss reading my Bible one day, I know it. If I miss reading my Bible two days, she knows it. If I miss reading my Bible three days, everybody would know it. You’ve got to do it every day. You don’t just come hear the Word of God one day a week. You don’t just come to worship God one day a week. You need to do it every single day. Every day, read God’s Word, hear God’s voice, enter God’s presence, and give God the worship He desires; give Him what He deserves. See, here’s our problem: a lot of people go to church to worship. Matter of fact, I thought about this this morning. When you pulled up into the parking lot, if someone had said to you before you walked into this building, „So, why did you come today?“ and you said, „Well, I came to worship.“ Okay, I’d like to ask you a second question before you walk into that building: „Are you ready to worship?“
What do you mean? Am I ready to worship? I’m not fussing at you when I say this. Please hear me. I’m trying to help you and grow you just like I try to help me and grow me. But the reason why a lot of people come into church and they just check off a box—nothing moves them, nothing stirs them, nothing excites them—they walk out the same way they walked in. They came to worship, but they never got there because they were not ready to worship. And let me tell you why: listen to this next statement. You don’t come to church to worship; you bring your worship with you. That’s right! Did you spend any time yesterday, any time at all, reading your Bible? Any time? Did you spend any time yesterday talking to the Lord? Did you spend any time giving God praise and thanksgiving? Did you spend any time at all?
Nope! You weren’t ready to worship today. You don’t come to church to worship; you bring it with you. What we ought to be doing this morning is what we’ve done every day of the week. You’re not ready to worship God on Sunday if you’ve not worshiped God Monday through Saturday. We are to experience private worship, and then Jesus said one last thing. Yeah, we must engage in public worship. We must engage in public worship. Now, Jesus was talking to an individual, but He was also talking about communities, crowds, and congregations. Say, „How do you know?“ Listen to what He says in verses 23 and 24. He said, „A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers"—plural, that’s us—"will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers"—plural, not singular, that’s us. «The Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers"—plural—"must worship in spirit and in truth.»
Jesus made it very plain: we are to be in corporate worship. Just as there’s going to be corporate worship in heaven, there ought to be corporate worship on earth. And by the way, the same Holy Spirit that inspired John to write the words we’ve been reading today also inspired the author of Hebrews to write these words: «Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together.» The Greek word for that phrase «meeting together» gives us the word ecclesiastes or ecclesia, which means church. In other words, not giving up coming to church as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more, as you see the day approaching. Please hear me. There are people right now, and you’re watching me on an iPad, cell phone, or computer, and you live in this area.
You’re not sick. You don’t have COVID. You’re healthy. And to be very honest, there’s no reason why you ought to be out there looking at me rather than in here listening to me with other believers. By the way, so many of you listening, if you’re honest right now—I’m just being honest—I’m talking to you right now. You’ve been disconnected from God’s church too long. And I know what some of you are saying right now. «Well, I read a devotional every morning.» Well, that’s okay. And some of you say, «Well, I am in a small group. I do meet with a group of ladies or men for Bible study.» That’s fine. And you know, I listen to spiritual podcasts every day, and it really helps me. That’s okay. Listen to me: there is no substitute for doing what we’re doing right now. There is no substitute for meeting together.
Can I be very honest? Just as the pastor, I’m going to speak selfishly. I hope you listen to the podcast during the week. If you’re in a small group studying, if you have a Bible study in your home at night or whatever, that’s fine. And if you happen to listen to somebody, you know, if you’re driving to work and you’re listening to preaching on the radio, that’s okay. Can I be honest? That doesn’t encourage me. That doesn’t help me. That doesn’t bless me. That doesn’t move me. That doesn’t inspire me. That doesn’t motivate me. You know what does? When I see you get up out of your bed, get ready, and come to this church, that inspires me. That encourages me. That blesses me. That tells me, «Well, at least you wanted to hear me preach the word of God. At least you wanted to greet your fellow believers. At least you wanted to hear other people praise God just like you do.»
That’s why it’s so important. There is no substitute for gathering together for public worship. The problem is when you deprive yourself of church, when you deprive yourself of corporate worship, which is something God demands and deserves, but something you also ought to desire because you want to be spiritually healthy. You know, I think about this so often with so many Christians who don’t go to church anymore, and I’ve heard so-called believers say, «I don’t need the church; I can worship God in the woods.»
I’ve heard all that stuff before. My question is this: If you say you’re a believer, and you say you’re a Christian, and you have no desire to be a part of a church, why do you want to go to heaven? Can you please help me? Why do you want to spend eternity with other believers, forever and ever worshiping God in heaven, but you don’t even want to do it one hour a week in this building? I’m not trying to fuss. I’m just trying to get you to help me. You know, I had a call today from a buddy of mine in Dallas, Texas. I was on the way to church, and he said, «Hey James, how was your Christmas?» Man, it was great! I had all my family together. My happiest time in my life is when I’ve got all my family together, and it was awesome. Everybody— I mean, everybody. All the grandkids were all together because I love my family. When you truly love your family, you want to be with your family. That’s right.
Listen, my folks, my sweet people, we are more than just a church; we’re a family. We’re part of the family of God. We’re going to spend eternity together. That may depress some of you; it’s just a fact. We are going to spend eternity together. If you truly love your family, you want to be with your family. Let me tell you something: I’ve been a pastor for almost five decades. Almost five decades I’ve been a pastor. Let me tell you something: I’ve never met one believer in my life who was healthier, happier, holier, more spiritually mature, and more in tune with the will of God who was not actively involved in church. I’ve never met one yet. I’ll tell you what I have found: the more you reject the church, the weaker you will be as a believer. There’s a pastor I love to read; his name is Kevin DeYoung. Anything he writes, I love it. He’s just a great guy. I want you to listen to what he said: «The man who attempts Christianity without the church shoots himself in the foot, shoots his children in the leg, and shoots his grandchildren in the heart.»
I have kids; some of you have kids. I have grandkids; some of you have grandkids. I’ve got a simple question: Do you want your kids to just occasionally go to church or would you rather your kids be involved in the church? Well, I’d want them involved in the church. Well, how about your grandkids? You want your grandkids just to show up at church every now and then, or do you want your kids really involved in the church? Well, I want my grandkids involved in church. Well, then it starts with you. You get involved in the church. You get active in the church. You show your kids and your grandkids that church is a big, important priority. It was Palm Sunday, and 5-year-old Johnny had a sore throat and a fever, so he couldn’t go to church. So the family got a babysitter to stay with him, and they went to church. When they got home, they were carrying these palm branches, and the little boy said, «What are those palm branches for?» His older brother said, «Well, people held them over Jesus’s head as he walked by.» The little boy said, «Wouldn’t you know it? The one Sunday I don’t go, he shows up.»
Can I tell you something? Jesus shows up every Sunday in our church. He said, «Where two or more are gathered together in my name,» what did He say? «I’m smack dab in the middle of them.» So why don’t you want to go where Jesus is going to be? No sir, He won’t be at the ballgame, He won’t be at the beach, He won’t be at the condo, He won’t be at the lake. He won’t be doing this and that or the other; He will be at church. I want to be where Jesus is on Sunday. He shows up every single Sunday. One of the things I love doing while working on a sermon is I love trivia, and I love to take a different twist on things. This is crazy; I get some of the craziest thoughts in my study, and most of them are from the Lord—I hope they are.
So I’m working on this sermon, and this thought came to my mind. I don’t know—just literally, I was thinking about how I am going to close my sermon, and this thought literally—I’m not joking when I say this—came out of the blue to me. It just did. Here’s a thought that hit me: what is the most powerful, most valuable pen in the world? Now that’s a crazy thought. I thought, I’m going to look that up. What is the most valuable pen? The most expensive pen in the world? Well, I found out, and I’m reading this. It is the Fulgor Nocturnus, designed by a man named Tibaldi. All right, I’m going to put this pen up on the screen right here. This is the pen. Okay, that pen is the most expensive pen in the world. What makes that pen so expensive? All those black things you see, those are black diamonds; it’s all one solid piece of bling.
Do you know how much that pen has sold for? $8 million. I know the name of the man who bought it; his last name is Fool. That pen has one purpose. Somebody tell me, what is the purpose of that pen? To write. That may be worth a lot of money, but when it comes to the purpose for which that pen was made, it’s got one purpose. If that pen won’t write, it is worthless in the grand scheme of things. Now you say, «Well, I like the style; I like the shape; I like the feel; I like the way it looks.» That’s all right, but it’s got one purpose: to write. If it can’t write, it is absolutely worthless.
Now listen to me carefully, and we’re going to be finished: you were put on this planet for one primary purpose—one. Not to see how much money you could make, not to see how big of a house you could build, not to see what kind of car you could drive, not to see how famous you could make your name. You were put on this earth for one purpose. No matter what else you do, we were put on this earth to promote God, praise God, preach God, please God, and give God our worship. Because the one who died on the cross and came back from the grave, who can save you from all your sin and take you to heaven, deserves nothing less and nothing else. And He deserves it every moment of your life. We are here to worship because that’s what we’re going to be doing for all eternity. Let me tell you something. Listen to me. Look at me. The moment you draw your last breath, you will hit the door of heaven worshiping, so you better start now. You better get ready now.
I’ve been working on something I don’t do very often. Sometimes I’ll preach and say, «Okay, amen.» I’ll say, «You know what? There are two questions you ought to answer.» I’ve tried to address that, but now what? Let me tell you two things I’m going to ask you to do, two things I’m going to say to you. If you’re not planning to walk out the door like some of you do after hearing the message and thinking, «Got it! Not going to do anything you said; I don’t care what you say; I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing the way I’m doing it,» then you’re saying, «No, no, no. Alright, Pastor, what should I do in light of the message?»
Two quick things: Number one, publicly get involved in this church. Did you hear what I just said? I didn’t say show up; I didn’t say take a seat; I didn’t say fill a pew or a row. Get involved! Get involved in a small group, get discipled, and start discipling others. Find a place to serve, start being sent, and tell people about Jesus. Then privately, worship God every day. Listen to me; since I was nine years old, I have read my Bible every single day of my life unless I was too sick to hold my head up. I do this every day, not because I’m a pastor but because I’m a Christian.
You might ask, «Well, why do you do that?» I’ll tell you why. I don’t know about you, but maybe you can manage to live your life on your own. I can’t do it. I need to hear from God every day. I need God to speak to me daily; I need Him to rebuke me, cleanse me, encourage me, and exhort me every single day. Read your Bible every day. You can have your own worship service every day; you can praise God every single day. And I’ll tell you what I’ve learned: the daily worship of God will make your daily walk with Him better than ever.
With that said, you cannot worship the God you do not know. You can’t. You’ll never worship that God correctly or rightly, or even the right God, until you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you’re watching online right now, or if you’re in this room and you’ve never trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I invite you right now to do that in your heart. You can do it while looking at me. Right now, while looking at me, if you know you don’t know Jesus and have never been saved, you can say in your heart right now, if you were lying on your deathbed and couldn’t even talk out loud, you could do this:
Lord Jesus, I believe You’re the Savior. I believe You died for my sins. I believe God raised You from the dead. I believe You’re alive right now. You’re the only one worthy of my worship, so I worship You today in spirit and in truth. I give all that I am to all that You are. Save me, Lord Jesus. Forgive me. Send Your spirit into my life. Make me a new man, a new woman, a new creature.