Sunday Morning Worship February 20, 2012
Multiple choice quiz question: our Sunday morning worship gatherings would bebetter if people came more intent on a) giving, b) getting, c) staying awake,d) none of the above. You might be surprised at my answer. I’d say “B:getting.” Our greatest need on Sunday morning is worshipers who come utterly determinedto get more of God.
Common wisdom says we could improve our worshipservices if the people would come with more of a mind to give their bestto God. But I would argue that that’s an entirely wrong-headed approach.When the focus of our worship is giving to God rather than gettingmore of God, the attention shifts, subtly but inevitably, from God and Hisglory to ourselves and our effort. Our worship starts to focus on the qualityof our giving rather than the all-satisfying glory of our God. And so I sayagain, our crying need on Sunday morning is worshipers who are eager, no,desperate to slake their thirst at the fountain of living water that is God.
Consider what Paul says about God in Acts 17:25: “Heis not served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himselfgives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” The King James Versionrenders the opening clause: “Neither is [He] worshipped with men’s hands.”Commenting on this verse, John Piper writes: “The basic movement of worship onSunday morning is not to come with our hands full to give to God, as though heneeded anything, but to come with our hands empty, to receive from God. Andwhat we receive in worship is the fullness of God, not the feelings ofentertainment.” (God’s Passion for His Glory, p 41).
The heart cry I would recommend comes from Psalm63:1-2: “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. SoI have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.”
Is this your mindset as you come on Sunday morning?Come thirsty, and we promise we will do our best to pour a soul-satisfyingdrink of Him.