Cliff Loesch
September 23, 2012
What Is an Act of Worship?
[Topic: Financial Stewardship]
“What is at stake in worship?” This is a question that was posed by Mark Labberton in an article for Christianity Today a little over a year ago. What’s at stake in worship? Here is the answer he gives: “everything.” Everything is at stake. Everything that matters is at stake in worship. What he means is that worship changes us. He says, “Worship turns out to be the dangerous act of waking up to God and to the purposes of God in the world, and then living lives that actually show it.” [http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/articles/theology/dangerousact.html] I love that imagery–the idea of “waking up to God” and “waking up to the purposes of God in the world.” Who among us does not need more “waking up” to what God wants to do all around us?
But I want to consider today, what constitutes an act of worship–or more generally, what is worship?
In preparation for Consecration Sunday next week, the Finance Committee has asked me to address the topic of financial stewardship in my message today. Sometimes I feel like I come to this task of talking about money through kicking and screaming. It’s not something I particularly relish doing. On the other hand, it ought to be. Money is sometimes called filthy lucre and sometimes thought of as a necessary evil. And the love of money, we understand, is the root of all evil. We tend not to see anything holy about money. Yet money is a great blessing. And money can be used for God’s glory. Also, the need for money is so critical that how we use it certainly could be a window to our values and a spotlight on our souls.
Now back to the question: what is an act of worship? I googled that question the other day to see what would pop up. The first article that appeared offered a dictionary definition of worship, and then listed several things as acts of worship: all of them were basically things that you would do in a Sunday morning worship service: singing, prayer, Scripture reading, etc. All of those things could be done at other times and places, of course. But it seemed clear to me that this particular author was thinking of worship only as something that you do on Sunday morning at a specific place and time.
The article also listed “the collection” as an act of worship–and that’s a good thing–because that is basically the point that I want to make: that the giving of money should be for us an act of worship.
I looked through some of my older sermons about giving–and I noticed a common theme. I always apologize for bringing up the subject of money. And I always express my discomfort in talking about it. Why is that?
Maybe the time has come to stop apologizing for talking about money. I don’t think there is much danger of my ever turning into one of those preachers who simply always asks for money. So why shy away from the topic completely? Actually, one of the books that the Stewardship Goal Group is promoting this fall asks the same question: why are we afraid to talk about money?
Let me just ask you a few questions: Do you have a rough idea of how much money you have in the bank right now? Chances are that almost everyone in the room has a rough idea of their bank balance. Some of you may know right to the penny how much is there.
Do you have a rough idea of how much money you have put away in savings accounts and retirement accounts right now? Again, I suspect that almost everyone has a rough idea of what that amount might be.
Do you know how much your expenses will yet be for this month and how that compares to your bank balance? Yes, you probably do know that. Do you know what some of your future expenses might be that you need to save up for? And do you have a plan for how to meet those expenses? Once again, things like this are on the minds of many of you. Some of you were probably thinking about them even before I brought up the subject.
I am not trying to make the point that we are all obsessed with money. I do not think that is the case. Yet it is the case that thoughts of income and expenses and bank balances are often on everyone’s mind. Money is part of the fabric of our lives.
Jesus was not shy about talking about money. I have often heard that Jesus talked about money more than any other topic. I googled that, too. Wiki.answers.com states four points in response to the query, “How many times did Jesus talk about money?” The article said, “Jesus talked about money more than He did Heaven and Hell combined. Jesus talked about money more than anything else except the Kingdom of God. Eleven of thirty-nine parables talk about money. One of every seven verses in the Gospel of Luke talk about money.” [http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_times_did_Jesus_talk_about_money#ixzz27FlywSJQ
Why did Jesus spend so much time talking about money and possessions? Simply because these things were always on everyone’s mind. Virtually everyone keeps somewhere close at hand in their conscious mind their financial resources compared to their projected needs. We think about money a lot. It is part of being human. It’s a big part of it. And money can exert a kind of power over a person, and it’s possible for anyone to become obsessed by it. All of these things, I am sure, are reasons why Jesus spoke about money so much.
Because if you are going to talk about transformation–real transformation that reaches to every part of our being–and complete transformation is what Christ wants for each one of us–so if you are going to talk about transformation, you cannot leave out money and possessions. That part of our lives needs transformation, too. That’s why Jesus talked about it so much.
Sometimes singing is just singing and it is not an act of worship. Sometimes reading Scripture is just reading and it is not an act of worship. Sometimes serving others is helpful and nice but it is not done as an act of worship. Likewise, giving money is not necessarily an act of worship. But all of these things can be worship. And worship should never be seen as something that is only done inside these walls on Sunday mornings.
What is at stake in worship? Everything is at stake–because in worship, through real worship, we risk transformation. Transformation that reaches every part of our being.
Yes, at this time of year we focus not just on financial stewardship but on the good stewardship of every part of our lives–our time, our talents, everything.
May every part of our lives and all of our giving become transformed into acts of worship–that express our love, our devotion and our thanks to God.
Cliff Loesch 