Worship -- Part I

The world has forgotten who God is -- not the existence of God (necessarily), but the nature of God. As the Christian community brings its worship to God, it must start with a recognition of who we bring our worship to. In fact, our "acts" of worship will only be meaningful if we know who we are performing them for.

Do you know the God of 1 Kings? In the 18th chapter we read of the prophet Elijah's showdown with a king and his nation. Elijah says, "I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left." Meanwhile, King Ahab has rejected God, and the nation of Israel is teetering between worship of God and the worship of the false god Baal. To show the world that God is God and Baal is not, Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a barbeque duel -- first oxen to be consumed by the heavenly fire of team God or team Baal is the winner. To raise the stakes, the oxen are drenched in water.

Of course, Baal's prophets beg their god in vain. But the almighty God responds to Elijah's prayer, and the fire of the Lord consumes the oxen, the wood, the stones of the alter, the water that had been poured -- everything.

When the people saw this, they fell prostrate (face down) and declared, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!

A similar reaction to God's sungular power is recorded in Matthew 14. Jesus sends his disciples out into a boat while he goes off to pray. On the lake, the wind is blowing and the boat drifts out from shore. Sometime in the evening, Jesus is ready to join his men, and to do so, walks out on the water to the boat. Just as you and I would be, the guys in the boat were a little nervous, thinking Jesus was a ghost. The disciple Peter cries out, "Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water." Peter jumps out of the boat, and just as Jesus is walking on the water, so too does Peter. But Peter sees the waves around him and begins to doubt. Jesus reaches out, saves Peter, and climbs into the boat with him. Immediately the wind calms, and Jesus disciples see Jesus for who He really is:

"Truly You are the Son of God!"

The God of 1 Kings and the Jesus of Matthew 14 are the same Father and Son today. They are powerful, majestic, and unique among all the people and things that vie for our attention. When we keep this perspective about God, our worship can not help but be more genuine, more filled with love, more pleasing to the God who deserves and demands this kind of worship.