LAUGH 'N LEARN

An Encouragement Ministry of Verde Valley Christian Church Of Cottonwood Arizona
http://vvchristianchurch.net

Issue # 365    March 7,  2010

LAUGH

LEARN

Jim's Manuscript

March 7, 2010

"Acceptable Worship"

Better In Every Way--Hebrews Series (Part 13)

Text:  Hebrews 13

Pastor Lee Strobel tells this story:

Shortly after the Korean War, a Korean woman had an affair with an American soldier, and she got pregnant. He went back to the United States, and she never saw him again. She gave birth to a little girl, and this little girl looked different than the other Korean children. She had light-colored, curly hair. In that culture, children of mixed race were ostracized by the community. In fact, many women would kill their children because they didn't want them to face such rejection.

But this woman didn't do that. She tried to raise her little girl as best she could. For seven years she tried to do that, until the rejection was too much. She did something that probably nobody in this room could imagine ever doing. She abandoned her little girl to the streets.

This little girl was ruthlessly taunted by people. They called her the ugliest word in the Korean language, tooki, alien devil. It didn't take long for this little girl to draw conclusions about herself based on the way people treated her.

For two years she lived in the streets, until finally she made her way to an orphanage. One day, word came that a couple from America was going to adopt a little boy. All the children in the orphanage got excited, because at least one little boy was going to have hope. He was going to have a family. So this little girl spent the day cleaning up the little boys giving them baths and combing their hair and wondering which one would be adopted by the American couple.

The next day the couple came, and this is what the girl recalled: "It was like Goliath had come back to life. I saw the man with his huge hands lift up each and every baby. I knew he loved every one of them as if they were his own. I saw tears running down his face, and I knew if they could, they would have taken the whole lot home with them.

"He saw me out of the corner of his eye. Now let me tell you. I was nine years old, but I didn't even weigh 30 pounds. I was a scrawny thing. I had worms in my body. I had lice in my hair. I had boils all over me. I was full of scars. I was not a pretty sight. But the man came over to me, and he began rattling away something in English, and I looked up at him. Then he took this huge hand and laid it on my face. What was he saying? He was saying, 'I want this child. This is the child for me.'"

...Then something shocking happened with that little 9-year-old girl.  As that man reached out to her, she said later, "The hand on my face felt so good, and inside I said, 'Oh, keep that up.  Don't let your hand go.'  But nobody had ever shown that kind of affection for me before.  I didn't know how to respond.  So I hanged his hand off my face, and I looked up at him and spit on him.  I turned around and ran away."  Can you imagine?  Her window of opportunity is open.  Here is hope.  What does she do?  She spits in his face.

When she said that about herself, I thought, how is that possible? Then I stopped.  Wait a minute.  I've done the same thing with God.  You probably have too.

Lee Strobel, "Meet the Jesus I Know," Preaching Today Audio #211

Focus:  At the price of his rejection, Christ purchased our acceptance, so that we can worship God acceptably. 

A.      How Do I Offer Acceptable Worship To God?

First I want to show you that it is the author's intent through Hebrews 13 to show us how to worship God acceptably.  This theme sets up chapter 13, it is the heart of chapter 13,  and the conclusion of the whole book.

The Setup for Hebrews 13

Hebrews 12:28 (NIV) Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe...

The Heart of Hebrews 13

Hebrews 13:15-16 (NIV) ¹⁵ Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. ¹⁶ And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

The Conclusion of the Entire Epistle

Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV) ²⁰ May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
²¹ equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Now that you see that this is the theme, we connect the dots, and realize that everything he mentions in what seems like a list of nearly unrelated to do's are practical illustrations of acceptable worship.  This surprising list answers the question, "How do I offer acceptable worship to God?" 

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

1.  Love each other (1)

¹ Keep on loving each other as brothers.

The New Covenant created a New Community.  And worshipping God is not just a solo activity.  How do we worship God?  The illustrations start with the need to allow the New Covenant Life of God to be expressed in community. 

There are many things that might make this difficult for the New Covenant Community.   You might think that the more we take our faith seriously, the easier it would be to love each other.  But there are some dangers even for those of us who take our faith very seriously.  1) There is the danger of being too harsh with those who don't see truth exactly the way we do.  The more serious the orthodoxy, the greater the danger of being too harsh or even hateful toward those who are unorthodox.  This makes it more difficult to keep on loving each other.  2)  The second danger, is accentuated during times of persecution, that of being too harsh with those who have "drifted" or failed to remain faithful and loyal.  When these areas are tested, we are urged again to keep on loving each other, through the failures, and through the shortcomings.   

It is a great thing to strive for the ideal.   But we will always have those who fail in these ideals.  Somehow we must combine our earnestness for the faith with a kindness still, towards those who failed in some way.   Grace and love are required in these situations, not just the hammer or sword of   truth.  Truth is needed, but we must be careful to maintain grace and love and kindness with the truth we are administering. 

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

2.  Extend Hospitality (2)

² Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

3.  Visit Prisoners (3)

³ Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

We are to have empathy for those in prison, especially for (but not limited to) Christians imprisoned for their faith.

-- Life Application Bible Notes

Matthew 25:36 (NIV) I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

4.  Guard Your Sexual Purity (4)

⁴ Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

The phrase "sexually immoral" translates the Greek word, "pornos".  We get our word for "porn" from this word.  "Pornos" is a general term for any kind of sexual conduct outside of the covenant relationship of marriage between Husband and Wife.  Sex before marriage is pornos.  Viewing naked pictures for sexual arousal is pornos.  And God will judge.  We are to commit ourselves to sexual purity.  Sex is for marriage.  This is God's protective design. 

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

5.  Be Content NOT Greedy (5)

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

The antidote to the Love of money is Contentment.  The popular definition of contentment goes something like this.  Contentment is being happy with what we have rather than being focused on what we do not have.  But even that definition can fail us.  What if what we have is taken away.  Can we still be content?  Paul gave a secret of contentment that went beyond stuff which passes away. 

Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Contentment has nothing to do with the amount of money you currently have or do not have.  Why?

• Because God Is Enough (5-6)
• I'd just turned 19, my brother was approaching 16.  I was in pain and my brother knew it.  My high school girl friend had broken up with me shortly after I went off to college and upon my return visit home, I learned she was with another guy.  I was trying to deal with my emotions by staying busy.  I played basketball with my friends but I sprained my ankle, so even basketball now was out of the question.  Several other things seemed to be going all wrong all at the same time.  I got in a car accident that wasn't my fault.  I went with friends to the ocean, just to try to regroup.  I set my new pair of Nike high top basketball shoes up on a rock on the shoreline.  A big wave knocked them down, and I was only able to recover one shoe.  For a very long time I wore one Nike, and one Puma.   A pet chip monk died!  What was happening.  It was after a particularly hard moment that I walked into our bedroom and my brother knew I was hurting.  I never expected such a big statement to come out of my little brother.  God spoke to me through my little brother.  "It's in times like these when you feel like you have lost everything that you discover God is enough."  Then something else happened to make sure that I got it.   The phone rang.  It was the pastor, asking for me.  He had heard I was home from college.  This is what he asked me.  Something like this.  "Jim, I was wondering if you could share with the church this Sunday how God has been blessing you."  This was too much.  For me, this call was not a coincidence, but a divine appointment.   All of these things piled up into a life lesson that I was not supposed to forget.  I did share that Sunday, something like the story I'm sharing with you now.  Retelling how these very things were from God.  He was blessing me.  I think I shared some verses from James 1 that day.  One life was impacted by what I shared that day....mine!  I  doubt it changed anybody else's life.  But I will never forget one of my first deeper lessons to learn.   I went back to school and with a friend began working on memorizing James chapter 1.

• "...It is in times like these when you know God is enough.
• Illustration:  The first time I learned this.

If we learn that God is really all we need and we can trust him.  We won't be so insecure to hoard and hang on to money, or anything materialistic.  We can give when there is a need knowing God will meet our needs.  We can use our money for a need without regret and express gratitude that God provided what we needed.  That's what it was for.  So we are content rather than griping over a surprisingly large bill.  It is all about trusting God.  God is enough. 

Content or Discontent, which tent do you live in?  Are you ready to move?  What do you need to move out of the tent of discontent?

By the way this reminds me of a joke Dr. Shillington told me at our men's breakfast.  A man comes to the Dr. and says, "Doc, I keep having these alternating recurring dreams. First I'm a teepee, then I'm a wigwam, then I'm a teepee, and then I'm a wigwam. It's driving me crazy. What's wrong with me?"

The doctor replied, "It's very simple. You're two tents."

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

6.  Express Confidence Not Fear (6)

⁶ So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

Say it with Confidence:  "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid."

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

7.  Imitate and Follow Godly Leaders (7, 17-19)

⁷ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

• What was the outcome we are supposed to consider?  Some of these Apostles may already have been killed.  Yet they did not die victims but victors who ran the race and crossed the finish line victoriously. 

¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. ¹⁸ Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. ¹⁹ I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

• Make it easy on your leaders by submitting to their authority, and obey them.  Follow Godly Leaders.  Submit to their authority. 

B.      It Is All About Jesus!  (8-16)

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

We often think of this verse out of context.  But within context, we realize that Jesus and acceptable worship through HIM was in the Old Covenant shadow pictures.  Jesus is the same then, as now.  The Old and New Covenants are all about Jesus!  

How do I offer acceptable worship to God?  Through Jesus!

Next.  How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

8.  Be Strengthened by Grace and Truth (9)

⁹ Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.

Now that the New Covenant is established, the old ceremonial things have been fulfilled and superseded by Jesus who is better in every way.  The old ceremonial laws have no value any more.    We must be careful not to be side tracked by strange teachings that may put external forms again from the old way.  There is a new and living way, and we much continually allow ourselves to be centered by Grace and Truth and strengthened by the grace and truth of the New Covenant.  He continues his thought from there.

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

9.  Come to the Better ALTAR (10)

¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

• The priests at the Tabernacle although honored in the old system have no right to eat in the New Covenant, the Bread and the Wine of communion, the meal of the new covenant, which commemorates and celebrates Jesus Sacrifice on the better than Day of Atonement OT Altar. 
• Jesus is the same yesterday, today, forever, and the Old Covenant shadow pictures told of him, but they do not believe in him.  We do.  So we have the right.  And Our Altar is better.  Jesus was the once and for all sacrifice and He fulfills all.
• Hebrews continues the parallels and shows how Jesus is the fulfillment and provides us with a better altar than the entire Old Covenant system.  The altar of the cross.  Jesus was the voluntary sacrifice in our place.  And unlike the offering of the Day of Atonement which was taken outside the city and burned, and nobody ate.  We "partake" of Jesus sacrifice.  And the priests of the Tabernacle are not allowed, because they do not believe in Jesus.  We do.

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

10.     Bear His Disgrace (11-14)

¹¹ The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹² And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. ¹³ Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. ¹⁴ For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

• Follow Jesus Outside The Camp (11-14) and Decide to Bear "His Disgrace." For the Hebrew believers, this meant walking away from their strong desires to keep the approval of their fellow Jews who were not yet Christian.  By implication, it catches all of us.  We must sometimes consciously walk away from the approval of the world if that approval would require a compromise on our part.  We must be willing to stand against any negative peer pressure of any kind.  When we do this we cross the line with people.  We must be willing to cross that line and be recipients of their reproach rather than approval.  That is what it means to be willing to bear the disgrace he was willing to bear.  He hung in abject humiliation for our sins.  He hung between two criminals and was crucified as a criminal.  Hanging, humiliated, naked, shamed, disgraced, mocked, spit upon, and all this for us.  He accepted the hatred and rejection for us.  We too, in our loyalty to him, follow him there.  That is what denying ourselves, and taking up our crosses means.  We are willing to accept reproach instead of approval.  We will stick with Jesus.  We will not deny him.  We stand with him come what may, because we know it is right, and we stand with him ALSO for the Hope that comes from him. 

Here is another section that convinces me that Hebrews was written before the destruction of the temple.  It was written early in Christian history, some time before AD 70.  Eye witnesses of Jesus are still alive.  The first generation teachers have taught the way, and demonstrated the way, some of them even giving their lives for the way.  Jewish believers will be urged in this chapter to follow these teachers, and their lifestyle (13:7 and 13:17).

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

11.  Worship "Through Jesus"(15)

Hebrews 13:15 (NIV) Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Jesus is OUR High Priest.  He is the one that makes any of our worship, and offerings, and sacrifices acceptable.  He makes them acceptable first, by taking our sins away and making us acceptable, then we bring our little gifts to him, and THROUGH HIM, they are sanctified and made acceptable to God.  This is not a self help technique.  The help does not come from self, but from Jesus.  When self is the problem, self is not the solution.  Jesus is the answer, our savior, the solution to our problems.

Practical application:  Are my lips OFTEN offering the Sacrifice of Praise to God?  Is praise just a going through the motions on Sunday?  How are you doing with that one word "continually"?

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

12.  Confess His Name (15)

 "THROUGH JESUS, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise..."  

The temptation of the Hebrew believers is to be quiet about the Name of Jesus.  All these sacrifices are acknowledged on the basis of Jesus, Through Jesus, and Confessing Jesus as our savior, our Lord, and our source of Life.  We are Christians. Our lives bear his name.  Our lives confess his name.  Are you confessing the name of Jesus?  Do you offer the sacrifice of speaking about Jesus?  Let your life magnify the name of Jesus.  Let your lips speak praises about him because your life recognizes his goodness in everything.

How do I offer acceptable worship to God? 

13.  Do Good and Share (15-16)

¹⁵ Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. ¹⁶ And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

• Doing good deeds and the sharing of needs is acceptable worship when it is because of our love for JESUS! 
• Confessing Jesus isn't just something we do with our LIPS we do it with our LIVES.   Confess with your LIPS and LIVES.   It isn't just our minds and mouths that we confess, but with our feet, our hands, and our pocket books also that we confess either his name or fail to confess his name.    We are to confess Jesus in everything.  Do you confess Jesus with your life?  It is with such practical teaching we are taught how to offer acceptable worship to God. 

C.  How Pleasing God Is Possible (20-25)

²⁰ May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ²² Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter. ²³ I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. ²⁴ Greet all your leaders and all God's people. Those from Italy send you their greetings. ²⁵ Grace be with you all.

I see 7 Glorious Truths in these closing remarks, mostly packed in the powerful two verse benediction in 13:20-21.  Don't try to write them down.  They are all right there already written for you here. 

1.     Pleasing God is possible "through the blood" (20) which cleanses us and makes us acceptable

2.     Pleasing God is possible by his resurrection POWER (v. 20 "brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus)

3.     Pleasing God is possible because we have the help of our Great Shepherd (20)

4.     Pleasing God is possible because by resurrection power He "equips you with everything good for doing his will"(21)

5.     Pleasing God is possible because He "works in us what is pleasing to him"

6.     Pleasing God is possible because all this is "Through Jesus"(21)

7.     Pleasing God is Possible because of Grace!  Grace be with you all! (25)

THE GNAT ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER:

This morning as I was preparing all these thoughts for you, I took a break for my second cup of tea.  As is my usual Sunday morning habit, while my tea mug was heating up for 2 minutes 40 seconds in the microwave, I rested my elbows on the kitchen counter and continued my prayer, asking God to help me get these truths across.  I usually pray with my eyes open.  Something caught my eye on the counter.  A speck moved.  It was something like a gnat. It was jumping, tiny jumps, moving then jumping.  I felt like I was watching a parable.  I'm the gnat!  Here I was, addressing the ALMIGHTY.  I felt like the Psalmist who asked, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?..." I'm so small, so tiny.  What are my little jumps to you?  All my little acts of worship are nothing but the acrobatics of a gnat.  What do you care?  Then it hits me, the analogy breaks down here.  I don't care about the gnat.  Why?  I know nothing about the gnat.  What is a gnat to me?   But think of the wonder of the tiny gnat.  God designed him.  Even the gnat is filled with his glory.  What scientist can reproduce a living gnat?  Nobody can.  Though, I might snuff out the life of that gnat effortlessly because I don't know the gnat, Jesus sees the gnat differently than I do.  He understands us because he made us.  He understands because he entered our world.  He came to us little gnats to save us!  Why would he do such a thing?  So that God would be glorified...in the great glory of grace that descends to redeem the likes of us--gnats!   Redeeming grace magnifies God's greatness.  This benediction calls Jesus our GREAT SHEPHERD.   WOW...UNDERLINE GREAT!  He makes it possible for our tiny gnat acrobatics to be a pleasing offering of worship before him.  And he understands the glory of it.  He reclaimed our love.

Let me pray God's benediction over you.

²⁰ May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. .... Grace be with you all!

(C) Jim Hammond

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