Holy Habits (Part 6): Worship

Let us pray. Living God, help us so to hear your

holy word, that we may truly understand, and

that in understanding we may believe, and in

believing we may follow in all faithfulness and

obedience, seeking your honor and glory in all

that we do, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Our

scripture reading comes from Luke chapter 4,

Luke 4 · chapter mention

and we're beginning in verse 14. Jesus has already

met the woman at the well, Samaritan woman at

Jacob's well, and the reading begins in the middle

of their discussion. Jesus has asked her for

a drink, and he's already introduced the idea

of living water to her. Here are the good news

of the gospel. The woman said to Jesus, Sir,

I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped

on this mountain, but you say that the place

where people must worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus

said to her, Women, believe me. The hour is coming

when you will worship the Father neither on this

mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you

do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation

is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and

is now here when true worshipers will worship

the Father in spirit and truth. God is spirit,

and those who worship him must worship in spirit

and truth. The woman said to him, I know the

Messiah is coming, who is called the Christ.

When he comes, he will proclaim all things to

us. Jesus said to her, I am he, the one who is

speaking to you. The word of the Lord. Thanks

be to God. As Halloween is quickly approaching,

I am looking forward to this year being a year

that I do not have to worry about whether it

will snow or not when we are out trick -or -treating.

That was definitely not the case back in Michigan.

Our old house up north was in the neighborhood

in town. Well, to be fair, it was one of two

in town where other parents from all over would

come, bring their kids to our neighborhood to

go trick -or -treating. So naturally, it was

our house where friends would gather for Halloween.

We'd have all sorts of different kind of weather

there. Sometimes it would rain, and sometimes

that rain would turn to sleet and then to snow.

And one year, it was actually so hot that my

kids ended up discarding their costumes about

halfway through. Not only did the weather influence

what they wore, but so did friends. The year

was 2023. And... There was a blizzard. Us moms,

we were bundled up. We had our snow boots on.

We had the big puffy jackets, the ones that went

all the way down to our knees. Our hats, our

mittens, and of course, our travel mugs full

of hot cocoa or hot coffee as we went to walk.

But not so for the fifth graders among us. Peer

pressure on full alert. They were outside in

the freezing cold that night with their costumes

on to look cute. Heaven forbid, they wore a coat.

As we were walking, we could see them get colder

and colder and still pretend they were just fine.

And one of the moms decided to share this key

phrase that she had with her family, with us,

and it stuck with me. year after year. It's what

she would say whenever a child would make a questionable

decision. She shared that if a child didn't bring

something to do when they knew they were going

to attend a sibling's game, or if they wore sandals

outside when there was three foot of snow, or

in this case, not bring a coat when it was 30

degrees, she'd simply proclaim, Choices were

made. We didn't last long outside that year.

Choices were made. Today, you could have been

anywhere else. You could have been doing anything

else. But you didn't. Choices were made. And

you chose to come and worship. Responding to

God's invitation on your heart, you chose, I'm

not going to ignore. God's command to love the

Lord. You chose not to ignore what Jesus said

in Matthew 4, 10, that you shall worship the

Lord your God. You chose not to fill your plate

with other priorities and obligations, but today

you chose this time in your day, either here

in person or those who are worshiping online

with us or those who are going to worship on

later on this week. You set aside this space

in your life for the worship. And worship, it

is a discipline. It's a spiritual discipline

that we choose. It's a practice we choose again

and again. But just getting here, just coming

here and of itself is not worship. Richard Foster

shares, singing and praying and praising may

all lead to worship, but worship is more. than

any of these. That is to say, worship is more

than just making the choice to show up. It was

my first day of my introductory to Christianity

class at Michigan State University. I specifically

remember our professor getting up in front of

the class and he introduced what we were going

to do as a class. and how we were going to look

at Christianity from the point of view of this

experience that he just had, the riveting experience

of going to a monster track rally. When he got

there to the stadium, he shared he found his

seats, and there right in front of him was this

couple. Now, picture in your mind, whatever stereotypical

picture you have, of what a couple who would

center their whole lives around going to a monster

truck show would look like. And he said, that

is how they were. They were dressed for the event.

They had the gear. They had the souvenirs. They

had all the concessions. They were in there ready

for what was about to happen. They were excited.

And then the music started. And they were full

on immersed into what was going to happen. The

emcee came on. They were on their feet shouting

with the crowd. This ridiculously large truck,

he explained, rolled on to the middle of the

stadium with tires that are, why do we really

need tires that big on it? And they just lost

it. This couple lost it. They were fully into

what was happening. He shared that while he was

there as a spectator, they were devoted insiders.

He was there to watch. They were there to participate.

He was using this picture to explain how we were

going to learn about Christianity in the class

at our secular school as spectators, looking

into a devoted faith tradition of worshipers.

But this isn't that class. Worship is not meant...

to be a spectator sport. Worshiping God is more

than just making that choice to show up and watch.

It's to participate. Jesus proclaims in John

4, 23, the hour is coming and is now is here

when true worshipers will worship the Father

in spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such

as these to worship him, claiming worship as

a spiritual discipline, that we will regularly

commit to. It's more than just showing up. It's

devoting this time to truly immense our spirit

and to responding to who our God is and what

our God has done for us. The late Archbishop

of Canterbury, William Temple, said, To worship

is to quicken the conscience by the holiness

of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God.

To purge the imagination by the beauty of God.

To open the heart to the love of God. And to

devote the will to the purpose of God. And since

worship is not about us, but it's for God, we're

called to worship not only when we feel like

it, but also when we just don't really want to.

I remember a specific time in my past. when I

had that feeling. I didn't want to get up. I

didn't want to get out and go out and worship.

It was a Tuesday night, and it was the spring

of 2006. I had already made plans with a friend

to attend Spartan Christian Fellowship, which

was the place where she liked to worship. But

earlier that day, I got a letter in the mail,

and it was one of those not -so -fun letters.

opened it up to read that I was rejected. I was

rejected from a summer job that I was applying

for. And this one hit hard. Having been called

to ministry in this time in my life when that

happened, and still trying to figure out what

that meant, I applied to a company that ended

up doing summer mission trips all over the country.

A couple of my more musically talented friends

had previously worked at this place in past years,

and in future years, I did end up taking youth

to one of their mission trips. The summer job

that I applied to as a student was to be a part

of a team of five at a mission site for youth

groups all over the world to come to. The team

had different roles you could apply for, and

I chose worship leadership. It seemed like a

fun way to spend my summer, but also a way that

I could explore my call. But after my interview,

the answer in that letter was no. And that hit

deep. I mean, looking back, it was probably because

I didn't have much experience at all with worship

leadership at that time. And I didn't have the

very highly recommended, you really need to know

skill of knowing how to play the guitar. But

nevertheless, I was devastated. Rejection, it

hurts. But that's when Lisa reached out. She

didn't let me wallow. She called me up. And when

I told her, no, I was not feeling like worship

that night, she said, you're coming, Kathy. And

she showed up at my dorm room and invited me

to come, and we went to worship that night. I'm

so glad that she did, that she embodied that

truth that we're called to worship God even when

we're not feeling like it, even when we're not

in the mood. That night, Much to my surprise,

her faith community invited a group to come and

speak to them, much like we have Minutes for

Mission here in the church. And that night, it

was the very same Christian camp that I went

to year after year as a child. They were coming

to worship to share about the opportunity to

become and be summer staff at camp. And because

of that, because God closing the window on one

opportunity and working through Lisa to open

the door to another, and her not just letting

me wallow, but going to worship. That next summer,

I had the incredible experience I wouldn't change

for the world of getting to serve Christ as a

camp counselor at the same camp that gave me

so much. Oh yeah, it was very underpaid. as camp

counselors all are. But it was an immensely rewarding

experience. I don't know when you woke up and

came here if you felt like worshiping or not.

I'm not sure if Isaiah felt like worshiping when

God spoke to him, for it was the year that one

of the most more decent kings of Judah had just

died. But worship isn't about how we're feeling.

It's not about us. And it's not for us. It is

instead our response to the awe of who God is

and what God has done for us. As we proclaim

in baptism, and we remembered this morning, that

God chose us and bestows grace upon us even before

we are able to respond. God initiates and invites

us also to worship. God initiates and invites,

but it's us. up to us to make that choice and

make that choice not just to show up, but to

participate when we feel like it, but also when

we don't. We never know what new door God will

open our lives when we are faithful to God's

invitation to us. Let us pray. Lord, you invited

us into this beautiful and awe -inspiring spiritual

discipline of worship. There are times when we

argue about worship, as evident in the discussion

you had with the woman at the well. There are

times when we just don't feel like worshiping

you. There are times when we want to just show

up and not participate. There are times when

we make other choices, forgive our unfaithfulness,

inspire in us a new desire, help us to make the

commitment not just to show up to but to devote

ourselves to giving you glory each time we gather.

You are deserving of all our praise, not only

for what you have done for us, but for who you

are in your very being, our almighty and loving

God. Guide us as we seek to live for you until

the day we get to worship you with all the saints

and all your glory in your unending kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.