"You Were Planned for God's Pleasure"
Week 2, 40 Days of Purpose -- March 7, 2004
RRSP: The Best Investment??
Last week, as we began our 40 Days of Purpose, we discovered that it's not about us, it's all about God. We begin to find true purpose and meaning when we come to accept God's view of life1. This view is founded on the truth of God's revelation to us in the Bible, summarized in four basic teachings of Christianity that have been handed down through the centuries in the oldest creeds: 1) God made heaven and earth; 2) this life is not all there is -- there will come a resurrection and life everlasting; 3) Jesus shall judge the living and the dead; 4) the Good News is that by God's mercy and Jesus' sacrifice, our sins can be forgiven, so we can be re-born through the Holy Spirit. These are the cornerposts, the pillars of the Christian worldview.
When we trust in Christ and adapt our minds to God's way of looking at things, what comes next? What has God made us and regenerated us for? The key thing Christians do is worship. As The Purpose-Driven Life (or PDL) by Rick Warren puts it, "You were planned for God's pleasure." God designed humans to be capable of friendship with Him, communicating and appreciating and obeying Him: that's summed up in the word, WORSHIP.
We commonly refer to what we gather to do on Sunday morning as "worship", but worship is far broader than that. Worship comes from the root "worth-ship", that to which we ascribe value or importance. What do Canadians ascribe value to these days? The news this week reported that February was the best month in 4 years for Registered Retirement Savings Plan sales; we've been pouring billions of dollars into RRSPs. Everybody's trying to save up a "nest egg" for their old age. But PDL Week 1 reminded us that this life is not the end; some day we will die, and at that moment our savings won't be able to do a thing for us. Is there a better investment the dividends of which will last beyond our funeral?
The Bible tells us the most important or valuable thing in the universe is God. Valuing and treasuring Him is a far better investment than temporary RRSPs. Prizing or appreciating the Lord is what worship is all about. Let's look at it today using the headings RRSP: Relate, Resonate, Surrender, and Pray.
RELATE
Worship is about relationship, God created us to be able to relate to Him and enjoy friendship with Him. We were planned for God's pleasure. Ps.149(4a) says "The Lord takes pleasure in His people." Rev.4(11) adds, "You created everything, and it is for Your pleasure that they exist and were created." God designed humans in particular with heart, soul, mind, and strength having the potential to love and enjoy relationship with Him. Ephesians 1(5) says "Because of His love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us His children -- this was His pleasure and purpose."
A chief way God intends for us to relate to Him is through worship. Ps.147(11) says, "The Lord is pleased only with those who worship Him and trust His love." Jesus said, "The Father seeks worshipers." (Jn.4:23) There was a problem, though: our sins had separated us from God and made us disgusting to His sense of pure holiness. You wouldn't want to stop after you'd just cleaned and vacuumed your car and take a freshly dead skunk from the side of the road and put it on the seat beside you. And that's not even an iota of how abominable sin is to the Almighty. That's why Jesus came: He became sin for us, smashing down the dividing barrier that separated us from God. When we receive Him and realize the forgiveness His blood offers, our Heavenly Father imputes or accounts or transfers the Son's righteousness and purity to us, so suddenly we're acceptable in heaven.
Faith or trust is what makes Jesus' offer become our possession. Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." PDL notes, "Trusting is an act of worship. Just as parents are pleased when children trust their love and wisdom, your faith makes God happy." Rick Warren points to the life of Noah as a man of faith who gave pleasure to the Lord, "made God smile" so to speak, and thus enjoyed relationship with God. Noah's faith in God led Him to act on what was invisible. Heb.11(7) says, "By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn't see, and acted on what he was told...As a result, Noah became intimate with God." There were at least 3 problems that would have challenged Noah: he'd never seen rain; he lived hundreds of miles from the ocean; and it seemed an impossible task to round up and care for all the animals. But he trusted God completely.
Noah also obeyed God exactly. He didn't keep putting God off by saying, "I'll pray about it." He got busy building. James 2(24) notes, "We please God by what we do and not only by what we believe." Faith acts. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey My commandments." (Jn.14:15)
Noah also related to God by offering sacrifices and giving thanks (Gen.8:20). The Bible talks about the sacrifice of "praise" and "thanksgiving" which we can still give today, even after Jesus made animal sacrifices redundant. Ps.69(30-31) says, "I will praise God's name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving.This will please the Lord."
God seeks our worship, our relating to Him, even when He seems distant. David complained in the Psalms several times that God was "standing aloof and far away", "distant", had "abandoned" him (Ps.10:1; 22:1; 43:2). But God is more concerned that we trust Him than feel Him; faith is what keeps us relying on Him and searching for Him when times are tough. When Job lost all his possessions and his children, "Then he fell to the ground in worship and said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.'" (Job.1:20f) Even in grief we can keep on relating to our Creator. Another example is David who cried out (Ps.116:10), "I believed, so I said, 'I am completely ruined!'" His frankness reveals deep faith; he believed God would let him say what he felt and still love him. In such times of testing, we need to rely on God's promises rather than our emotions. His Word becomes the link for relating when His presence can't be felt.
RESONATE
RRSP: Relate - Resonate...Spouses or best friends may discover that, the more you hang around with someone, you start to be able to know what they're thinking, how they'll respond. Close relationship makes it possible to resonate, to think and act similarly. Worshipping God likewise tunes us into His agenda, His purposes, understanding and taking to heart what the Kingdom is all about.
If we truly worship God, we will choose to value what God values; to prize what He prizes and holds dear; and to grieve over the things He grieves over. Our heart will be resonating with His, vibrating in tune with His passions. PDL says, "This is what friends do -- they care about what is important to the other person." The Bible calls David "a man after God's own heart" (Ac.13:22); he wrote, "Passion for Your house burns within me, so those who insult You are also insulting me." (Ps.69:9) He cared about God's house so much he became identified with God, taking personally the taunts and sarcasms of those who maligned the Lord.
A worshipper desires to know God above all else; the Psalms use words like longing, yearning, thirsting, hungering. (That's why Jesus offers living water!) David wrote in Ps.27(4), "The thing I seek most of all is the privilege of meditating in His Temple, living in His presence every day of my life, delighting in His incomparable perfections and glory." Jacob refused to let go, wrestling with the angel until God's messenger blessed him (Gen.32:26). God's not afraid of us "wrestling" with Him; He welcomes such passionate activity. Paul expressed his desire to resonate with Christ this way in the Amplified translation of Php.3:10: "My determined purpose is that I may know Him -- that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly."
Meditating on God's Word is helpful in learning His mind and approach on matters, teaching our mind to resonate with His wisdom. Josh.1:8 advises, "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." God "revealed Himself to Samuel through His word", and still does today (1Sam.3:21). PDL notes, "While you cannot spend all day studying the Bible, you can think about it throughout the day, recalling verses you have read or memorized and mulling them over in your mind...When you think about a problem over and over in your mind, that's called worry. When you think about God's Word over and over in your mind, that's meditation. If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate! You just need to switch your attention from your problems to Bible verses."
SURRENDER
If we truly worship and honour and revere God, we'll yield to Him, give in to His guidance. This is SURRENDER. But rather than giving up the fort, God puts us in charge of it, on behalf of Him! Rom.6(13) says, "Give yourselves to God...Surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes." Rom.12(1) adds, "So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us...offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer." True worship happens when we give ourselves completely to God. PDL urges, "Give it all to God: your past regrets, your present problems, your future ambitions, your fears, dreams, weaknesses, habits, hurts, and hang-ups. Put Jesus Christ in the driver's seat of your life and take your hands off the steering wheel. Don't be afraid; nothing under His control can ever be out of control. Mastered by Christ, you can handle anything."
There's a blessing that comes with surrender; it's actually a freeing sensation. Rom.6:17 says, "Offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits...[His] commands set you free to live openly in His freedom!" Suddenly I'm not in charge any more (as if I ever was!); my destiny is God's business, not mine. That relieves our shoulders of a devilish responsibility they were never designed for in the first place. Surrender strengthens us because now we're pulling in tandem with God, we've stepped into yoke with Christ. William Booth once said, "The greatness of a man's power is in the measure of his surrender."
PDL points out three barriers that can get in the way of surrender. One barrier is FEAR, which can be driven out by perfect love. How do we know God loves us? There's one proof that's most obvious. Did you know God was a demonstrator? Carrying a sign? And that sign is in a particular shape? The shape of a cross. Rom.5:8 says, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." PDL says, "God is not a cruel slave driver or a bully who uses brute force to coerce us into submission. He doesn't try to break our will, but woos us to Himself so that we might offer ourselves freely to Him. God is a lover and a liberator..."
A second barrier to surrender is PRIDE. The oldest temptation is what the serpent hissed in Eve's ear: "You'll be like God!" (Gen.3:5) We don't want to admit that we're just creatures and not in charge of everything. The symptom of pride is how hard it is to let go of the remote control of our lives -- we like pushing the buttons. AW Tozer observed, "The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us."
Another barrier to surrender is CONFUSION, not being clear about its true meaning. It's not laziness, it's not giving up rational thinking, it's not repressing your personality; CS Lewis argued that it's when we turn to Christ that we being to have a real personality of our own. What surrender really IS is obedience and trust. Obedience, saying, "Yes, Lord" to whatever He asks of you; like Peter after a tiring night with no catch, saying, "But because You say so, I will let down the nets." (Lk.5:5) Trust, like Abraham not knowing where, Hannah not knowing when, Mary not knowing how, Joseph not knowing why. As PDL puts it, "You let go and let God work...The Bible says, 'Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.'" (Ps.37:7a)
Money is one of the hardest areas for us to surrender. We suppose it guarantees us some security. We noted at the start how last month set a record for RRSP contributions. PDL says, "Many have thought, 'I want to life for God but I also want to earn enough money to live comfortably and retire someday.' Retirement is not the goal of a surrendered life, because it competes with God for the primary attention of our lives. Jesus said, 'You cannot serve both God and money...'" (Mt.6:24)
The supreme example of surrender is Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. The eve of His crucifixion, He could have walked away from it all, the torture and taunts and terror. But He prayed, with tears, "Father, everything is possible for You. Please take this cup of suffering away form me. Yet I want Your will, not mine." (Mk.14:36) Surrender says, "Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed to fulfill Your purpose and glory in my life or in another's, please don't take it away."
I understand in Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ the devil is personified as a ghoulish being with a pale face that follows the proceedings at a distance, delighting in the apparent destruction that is about to befall the Son of God. But it's Jesus' perfect submission and surrender that mysteriously changes the plot from demonic destruction to the Suffering Servant's salvation. Because He surrendered in every detail, He provided the perfect sacrifice that was prophesied centuries before, the divine plan to redeem mankind; for us, the Destroyer was defeated.
How genuine is our surrender? Are we ready to give up everything? Will we let our faith get practical? Real worship costs. David said, "I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing." Are we willing to surrender even our dearest worship routines? Mike Pilavachi, Matt Redman's pastor in England, once banned all singing in their services for a period of time so that the people might learn to worship in other ways besides music. A daring initiative! Out of that experience came Matt Redman's song, "Heart of Worship": it talks of the worshipper bringing more than a song because God looks past appearances, "You're looking into my heart." Looking for real surrender.
PRAY
RRSP: Relate, Resonate, Surrender -- Pray. What would a relationship be without communication? Best friends can tell each other anything. So 1Thess.5:17 commands us to "pray continually", "pray without ceasing". Prov.15(8) adds that the prayer of the upright delights God, your prayer pleases Him. PDL notes that God "wants to be included in every activity, every conversation, every problem, and even every thought.You can carry on a continuous, open-ended conversation with Him throughout your day, talking with Him about whatever you are doing or thinking at that moment." Brother Lawrence was a lay brother in an order of Carmelites in Paris, where he served in the kitchen as a lowly cook for the monastery. Brother Lawrence found he was able to turn even the most commonplace and menial tasks, such as preparing meals and washing dishes, into acts of praise and communion with God. He said the key to friendship with God is changing your attitude toward what you do: what you normally do for yourself, begin doing for God, whether it is eating, relaxing, or taking out the trash.
In prayer, it's important to be honest with God. When Jeremiah claimed that God had tricked him, he wasn't killed on the spot. Job vented his bitterness during his ordeal, and in the end, God defended Job for being honest, while the Lord rebuked Job's friends for being flaky. God said, "You haven't been honest wither with me or about me -- not the way my friend Job has...My friend Job will now pray for you and I will accept his prayer." (Job.42:7b) When Moses prayed in Exodus 22(12-17), what borders on audacity God accepts as authenticity: "If I'm so special, let me in on Your plans...If Your presence doesn't take the lead here, call this trip off right now!"
If we have felt cheated or disappointed in certain areas of our life, we may need to confess some hidden anger and resentment at God. We harbour resentment toward God over past hurts and unanswered prayers until we mature enough to understand God uses everything for good in our lives. People often blame God for hurts caused by other; this creates what William Backus calls "your hidden rift with God". Instead, develop candid honesty like the book of Psalms in which we find ranting, raving, doubts, fears, and resentments (along with a lot of good stuff) all poured out to God in passionate prayer. Get real with the Lord -- He can take it!
Worship is a lifestyle, it's not just for church services. Martin Luther maintained that "A dairymaid can milk cows to the glory of God." The secret to doing everything for God's glory is to do it as if you were doing it for Jesus and by carrying on a continual conversation with Him while you do it. Rick Warren recalls that when he first fell in love with his wife, he thought about her constantly; "I could not stop thinking about this woman! I often talked to myself about her and thought about all the things I loved about her...This is what real worship is all about -- falling in love with Jesus."
Francois Fenelon was a French archbishop who died in 1715, nearly 300 years ago. But his comments in a sermon titled "The Saints Converse with God" echo Rick Warren's on the subject of prayer. Fenelon said, "The Christian life is a long and continual tendency of our hearts toward that eternal goodness which we desire on earth. All our happiness consists in thirsting for it. Now this thirst is prayer. Ever desire to approach your Creator and you will never cease to pray. Do not think that it is necessary to pronounce many words. To pray is to say, Let Thy will be done. It is to form a good purpose; to raise your heart to God; to lament your weakness; to sigh at the recollection of your frequent disobedience. This prayer demands neither method, nor science, nor reasoning; it is a simple movement of the heart toward its Creator, and a desire that whatever you are doing you may do it to His glory. The best of all prayers is to act with a pure intention, and with a continual reference to the will of God."
When Brother Lawrence lay on his deathbed, rapidly losing physical strength, he said to those around him, "I am not dying. I am just doing what I have been doing for the past 40 years, and doing what I expect to be doing for all eternity." They asked, "What is that?" He replied: "I am worshipping the God I love!" Let's pray.