Worship

Our series at the moment is on discipline, being a disciple, the same word.

Discipline is about when there are things that we don't feel like doing,

but nevertheless we're called to do.

Now there are times when there are things in Christian life that we do want to do,

we feel quite motivated, but a lot of the time we don't.

And this week we're thinking about worship,

and I think it's really important and actually can be quite helpful

if we understand that there will be times in our lives

when we don't feel like worshipping God.

But as a discipline and as part of our life of being disciples of Jesus,

we're called, especially in those times, to keep on worshipping.

I love this story of Mary and Martha,

because I think there's something in it that we can all relate to.

Just picture that scene.

Jewish hospitality was known to be great.

For anybody.

But this isn't just anybody that Mary and Martha have received into their home.

We don't know what was on the menu that day,

but I think we can assume that it probably wasn't a cup of tea and a sandwich.

Also, we're not told beyond Jesus, Mary and Martha,

who was actually there,

but I think we can probably take a reasonable guess that there were more.

Twelve disciples for a start, we don't know,

but it seems that it could be a strong possibility.

The very fact that Jesus was in another room teaching,

something that within that culture would have been,

something that principally was men that would have been gathered,

certainly you wouldn't expect Jesus to have been there on his own

with another woman in that culture.

It's pretty probable there were a lot of other people there.

And of course, they didn't have a modern kitchen.

So it would have been pretty chaotic.

And so you can kind of relate and identify,

and let's be honest,

be on the side of this poor woman quite easily.

When she is trying to work this whole thing

and make it all happen,

and her sister is there sat at the feet of Jesus,

just soaking it all up.

And yet, it is precisely that

that we have in common.

To sit at the feet of Jesus and soak it all up.

Because that's a pretty good definition of what worship means.

And whilst we might not be in that situation

of being in that scene

where we've got the Son of God dropping in for lunch,

I think we can probably relate to that experience

of when life is full of busyness and chaos

and lists and stuff that we need to do

and something deep within us is saying,

I just need to be doing all this.

Going to church to worship God

or worshipping God in my own home or whatever.

There are so many other things

pulling us in the other direction.

And it's precisely in those times

when we need to hear those words of Jesus

which he says in this scene,

one thing is needed.

Just that one thing.

You see, there will always be lots of other things

always, throughout our whole lives.

There always will be.

But if, as a Christian,

you really are serious about wanting to be

and grow as a Christian,

that one thing we call worship

drops.

Then don't be surprised

if everything else just strangely falls apart very quickly.

We may not feel like worshipping always,

but Jesus says to us here,

it is that one thing that really matters.

And it's not the only place in the Bible

that we find it put that way.

And I want to share with you four other instances

where that same phrase comes up,

that one thing.

Because they each help us to understand

just a little bit more about what's going on here.

That there are those times in our lives

when we will not feel like worshipping God.

But worship is the one thing that's needed.

We may be tempted to think

that there's such a thing as being too heavenly minded

to be of any earthly good,

as the phrase goes.

Where there's so much stuff that needs doing,

there's so much action,

we haven't got time to be doing

all the spiritual stuff,

we just need to get on with it.

But the whole point here that Jesus is making

is that it's actually,

we need to be heavenly minded

in order to be of any earthly good.

So the second,

or rather we need to rewind in history

and go back into the Old Testament,

but the second example of scripture

that I want to share with you

is from Psalm 27,

where King David,

who as a king was very much a man of action,

mentions this one thing.

Psalm 27 verses 1 to 4.

Psalms 27:1–4

We need to bear in mind

that all of these psalms

were written in a context.

None of the psalms were written in a vacuum.

David led his country at a time

when there seemed to be continual crisis.

So these psalms were written

out of an experience of crisis,

a national crisis,

and leading very often at a time

when they were actually living in a war zone.

And so with all that chaos around him,

David wrote this,

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 seek him in his temple.

I am pretty sure

that there would be times

when David did not feel like worshipping God.

He had a country to run.

He had battles to fight.

He had invaders invading.

He had stuff going on.

And yet for all that,

he knew that one thing that mattered

was to worship,

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord

as he puts it.

You know, there's a phrase, isn't there,

that gaze upon God

but just glance at your problems.

And often the issue,

the problem is

we get it the other way around.

We gaze at our problems

and just take your glance at God.

The analogy I like to draw

is if you imagine

if you're driving in a car,

your eyes will probably be doing broadly

two things

if you're driving safely.

Firstly, you'll be,

I don't know if gazing is the right word,

but you'll be looking forward

most of the time.

But also,

you'll be glancing in the mirror

from time to time.

That's important.

But imagine what would happen

if you reversed it.

Gazing in that mirror

would be like gazing in your troubles.

We need to gaze

upon God

and glance

at those problems.

David knew

that that was the one thing

that mattered.

So,

what might be

a third example?

Well, we move back

into the Gospels now

and we're in Mark chapter 10.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

Another famous story of Jesus.

Reading from Mark chapter 10.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

As Jesus started on his way,

a man ran up to him

and fell on his knees before him.

Good teacher, he asked.

What must I do

to inherit eternal life?

Why do you call me good?

Jesus answered.

No one is good

except God alone.

You know the commandments.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You should not give false testimony.

You should not defraud.

Honor your father and mother.

Teacher, he declared.

All these I've kept

since I was a boy.

Jesus looked at him

and loved him.

One thing

you lack.

I love this

because here is the man

who apparently has everything.

Perhaps Jesus knew

that that was something

that was going to make

the lights come on.

When somebody would actually

look at him and say,

yeah, but

you haven't got this.

There's one thing

you haven't got.

Jesus says,

one thing you lack.

Go and sell everything

you have

and give to the poor.

And then you'll have

treasure in heaven.

Then come and follow me.

this,

the man's face fell.

He went away sad

because he had great wealth.

I think that's key there,

his response.

Jesus is not somebody

that you'd really want

to walk away from,

but he does.

And he does so

in a state of sadness

because it exposes

a fundamental truth

that Jesus preached.

You can't be slave

of two masters.

You can't serve money

and God.

You've ultimately

got to take the choice.

In some parts of the world,

there is a way,

apparently,

of catching monkeys.

They take a coconut,

they split it in half

and they empty it.

Then they take an orange

and they put it

inside the coconut.

Then they make a hole

in one of the halves

of the shell

that's big enough

to see the orange,

but big enough

for a monkey

to fit its hand through,

but not big enough

for the orange

inside the monkey's hand

to come out of.

So they take the orange,

they put it inside

the shells,

they fasten the shells

back together.

So what you've got

is an empty coconut shell

with a hole

in one side

and an orange

in the middle.

And then they attach it

to a tree

and they leave it.

The monkey comes along,

catches the smell

of the orange,

likes what he smells,

looks inside this shell,

sees the orange,

hand goes in,

grabs hold of it.

Then the problem occurs.

Wants the orange.

He's got the orange

but he can't get his hand out.

Not as long as he's

holding on to the orange.

Just think,

I want to be free though.

I want to be free.

I want my hand back.

But I want the orange.

Yeah, but I want to be free.

Yeah, but I want the orange.

Yeah, but I want to be free.

Yeah, but,

and tugs away.

Yeah, but I want the orange.

It's a tension

that is not reconcilable.

It's one or other.

You take the choice.

Jesus said,

you must choose

between whether you serve money

or whether you serve God.

You may think

you can somehow

find a way of doing both

but you can't.

Meanwhile,

monkey won't let hold,

let go of this thing

and the hunters come up

behind him

and throw a net

and he's caught.

Jesus knew

when he looked at this man

that he had to take a choice.

one thing,

he says,

is needed.

He knew

that there was a limit

to how this man

felt

like expressing

that worship.

He seemed to lead

a morally squeaky clean life.

He kept

the code of conduct

since he was a boy.

But the one thing

that matters

is that letting go

and letting go.

putting him first

and that relationship

with him.

Knowing Christ.

That is the one thing,

the one and only thing

that matters.

To know him,

to love him,

to worship him.

Moving on

through the Gospels,

we find a fourth example

of that one thing

that is mentioned.

And John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

now we're in the,

sorry,

John chapter 9,

John 9 · chapter mention

we're in this story,

Jesus healed many people,

but on this occasion

he healed a man

who was blind.

And

the

religious leaders

are feeling threatened

by

this upstart

called Jesus

who goes around

proclaiming forgiveness.

Only God can do that.

They don't like that.

And they feel threatened

by that and the things

he's doing.

So when they find out

that he's healing people,

they're even more threatened.

But they find a way

to catch him out

because it transpires.

This blind man

that Jesus has healed,

he was healed

on the Sabbath.

So they bring him in

and they start to ask him

all sorts of questions.

And they say to him,

we know

that this man,

Jesus,

who claims

to have healed you

is a sinner

because he healed you

on the Sabbath.

He must be a sinner.

John 9,

John 9:25

verse 25

says,

and the man replied

to them,

whether he is a sinner

or not,

I don't know.

One thing

I do know.

I was blind.

But now I see.

I expect this man

knew more than just one thing.

I'm sure he knew

lots of things.

But right now,

there is only one thing

he can think of.

He is consumed

by this one thing

and nothing else.

He has been healed.

He holds fast

to what God has done for him.

You see,

that's what happens

when you worship God.

You might not feel like it.

You may be overwhelmed.

Your focus can be detracted

by all the other stuff

that's going wrong.

But that discipline

of worship

is about actually

knowing what God

has done.

Knowing the story

that matters.

Yes,

there may be other things

that are unresolved.

There may be other stuff

going on in life

that's not that great.

But the one thing

that matters

is to keep the focus

where it belongs

and to remember

what God is doing

for you.

You know,

cultivating that

attitude of gratitude

is a really fundamental

part of Christian discipleship.

But it is a discipline.

Sometimes we have to

dig deep to do it.

It's one of the things

we actually look at

on the living life

to the full

mental health course.

Sorry to mention that again,

but

if you haven't signed up,

sign up for it

and do it.

You can still join us

this time,

meets tomorrow

or join us

next time

in the autumn.

But one of the things

we look at

in that

is the importance

of actually

thinking positive thoughts.

This isn't just

a kind of trendy piece

of pop psychology.

It transforms us

if we can

focus

on those things

that we need

to focus on

to be thankful for.

One of the things

that we talk about

is actually one of the

struggles we can have

sometimes in sleeping

at night.

There's no easy answer

to that.

But, you know,

it doesn't help

when we hit the pillow

late at night

and the one thing

that's on our minds

or many things

on our minds

is everything

that's going wrong.

Now, it may not

change those things

but it can make

a huge difference

if we can cultivate

that habit

of hitting the pillow

at night

thinking about

something good

that's happened.

And so what we're

going to try

and encourage people

to do is keep

a notebook

by the bedside

and actually write

down something

that day

to be thankful for.

It might be

something really small.

It might not be

like this man

who was healed

of blindness.

But if we dip

deep enough

we can normally

find something

to be thankful for.

And the act

of actually writing

it down

so that we go

to bed

with that thought

in our head

is far more

than just

positive thinking.

It's actually

cultivating,

nurturing that sense

of thankfulness.

Being thankful

of what God

has done.

This one thing

I know

says the man

I was blind

but now I'm healed.

What's your one thing?

Sometimes we have

to dig deep

to get there

but it's there.

Worship

even though

we don't feel like it

is something

we need to do

if we're serious

about growing

and flourishing

and living life

to the full

as Christian disciples.

Just that one thing.

One thing

is needed.

The last one

that I want to mention

the fifth example

we're in Paul now

is a short passage

from Paul writing

in Philippians

because Paul

was a man

who continually

was plagued

with troubles

who continually

I'm sure

when he was in prison

he didn't exactly

feel like worshipping God.

When he was arrested

for preaching Christ

he probably didn't

feel like

worshipping God

and yet

he did.

And so he writes

in Philippians

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

Brothers and sisters

I do not consider

myself yet

to have taken

hold of it

but one thing

one thing I do

forgetting what is

behind

and straining

towards what is

ahead

I press on

towards the goal

to win the prize

for which God

has called me

heavenward

in Christ Jesus.

Paul was a previous

killer of Christians

he did it

systematically

but even Paul

says I've got to

forget the past

I can't dwell on that

and with

with that

dogged determination

he has this

relentless pursuit

of doing God's will

worship does that.

In this next week

it will be the 24th of May

it's a big day

in the Methodist calendar

it's a day that's celebrated

because in

1738

the

John Wesley

the founder

of the Methodist

movement

was the day

that he had

that turning

experience

where he wrote

in his diary

that he felt

his heart

strangely warmed

as he realised

the truth

that Christ

died for him

and he was set

free

and so it

continues to be

celebrated in

Methodism throughout

the world

but what's not

so often

quoted

are other

moments in his

diary

particularly leading

up to May

the 24th

1738

1838

you see

Wesley

although he

was an

enormous figure

in the face

of Christianity

in Great Britain

and we hear

so many stories

of how he preached

to thousands

and thousands

and thousands

how healings

took place

how

people came

to Christ

in their droves

he faced

an awful lot

of opposition

when he would

not have felt

like worshipping

in fact

we read in his

diary

and I'm going

to read to you

just a couple

of quotations

that happened

just in those

days

before May

the 24th

which just to

give you

a hint

of the sort

of stuff

he was up

against

that every time

he actually

stepped up

to the mark

and tried to do

what he thought

God was doing

he was faced

with opposition

and got banned

from preaching

here we go

this is 1738

Sunday the 7th

of May

it was in London

I preached

at St Lawrence's

in the morning

and afterwards

at St Catherine

Cree's church

I was enabled

to speak

strong words

at both

and was therefore

the less surprised

at being informed

that I was not

to preach

anymore

in either

of those churches

Sunday the 14th

of May

I preached

in the morning

at St Anne's

Aldersgate

and in the afternoon

at the Savoy

Chapel

free salvation

by faith

in the blood

of Christ

I was quickly

apprised

that at St Anne's

likewise

I am to preach

no more

Friday the 19th

of May

I preached

at St John's

whopping

at 3

and St Bennett's

Paul's Wharf

in the evening

at these churches

likewise

I am to preach

no more

Monday

Tuesday

and Wednesday

I had

continual sorrow

and heaviness

in my heart

here was a man

who knew

what it was like

to face rejection

and criticism

radical criticism

to the extent

that he was told

you're not allowed

to preach here anymore

we just find

your message

too much

it's too strong

and yet

as Paul

reminds us

that one thing

that matters

is to worship

God

even when we

do not feel

like it

I press on

towards the goal

says Paul

it's not about

being too

heavenly minded

to be of any

earthly good

it is precisely

Paul says

in order to be

of any earthly

God

we have to be

heavenly minded

to press on

that is the one

thing

of course

we won't always

feel like worship

and that brings us

back to Mary

and Martha

because let's

remember what

Jesus says here

when he says

that one thing

is needed

he says

Mary

Mary has

chosen

what is better

that's what

discipline is

it's choosing

it's making

a choice

God does not

impose

anything on us

discipline

is when

we don't

feel like

doing

da da da da da

but we

choose to

one thing

says Jesus

is needed

we may not

feel like

worship

but it's the

one thing

that matters

and he calls

us and invites

us to do

just like

to do just

that

to sit at

his feet

and to soak

it all up

let's pray

together

as Jesus

said

that there

are

in that

passage

there are

many things

he said to

Martha

you are

worried and

upset about

many things

as we think

about our

own lives

the probability

is there are

many things

going on in

our lives

and many

things that

may make

us feel

worried and

upset

let's bring

those before

God

now

Lord thank

you that you

know of these

many things

before we even

name them

before we even

think of them

in this prayer

Lord we bring

these many

things to you

now

and as we

do so

we ask

for that

one thing

that matters

to shine

through

Lord as we

sit at your

feet

be our

gaze

be our

focus

as we

look ahead

going into

this coming

week

whilst there

will be

many things

that will

confront us

that will

challenge us

keep us

focused

on you

as the

one thing

that matters

Lord if

like David

we face

battles and

challenges of

all different

kinds

may that

one thing

be that we

gaze

upon you

Lord as we

live our

lives in a

culture which

pulls us

always in the

direction of

material things

and the

securities of

wealth

help us to

remember that

the one thing

that is needed

is you

Lord as we

think of

many other

things going

on in our

lives

help us

like that

blind man

that was

healed

to remember

that one

thing

whatever that

may be

that you've

done for

us

indeed there

were probably

many things

but Lord be

that focus

help us to

be thankful

and grateful

for what you

have done

and Lord help

us like

Paul

to know

that that

one thing

is to be

focused on

your eternal

promises

to be

heavenly minded

so that we

can be of

earthly good

Lord be our

focus now as

we continue to

worship

and remain our

focus in these

coming days

in Jesus

name

Amen