Scripture: Psalm 145:8-21; Matthew 14:13-21; John 6:32-35; Leviticus 8:3; Deuteronomy 4:10 Series: Praise
Preached on August 6, 2023, this sermon presses the question ‘Why do we worship?’ beyond habit, comfort, or getting one’s cup refilled. Centering on Psalm 145, the pastor finds the why in who God is (gracious, merciful, abounding in steadfast love), the who in all people (not just those already present), and the what in God upholding the falling and raising the bowed-down. Drawing on ecclesia/assembly language from Leviticus and Deuteronomy, he argues the church is a gathered people, not a place. The feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14, with John 6’s bread-of-life discourse) shows a crowd so hungry for the word they forget their bellies, and Jesus offering himself as the true bread. At the Lord’s table worship becomes transformation, not convenience. Closing with Wesley’s rules for singing and words of assurance — you are loved, forgiven, gathered — God meets us where we are but does not leave us there.
Illustrations: cup-refilled-at-church, playoff-elimination-slumped-shoulders, rumbling-bellies-long-sermon, wesley-rules-for-singing
August 6
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. The LORD upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. The LORD is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.
Psalm 145:8-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; as send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Matthew 14:13-21
Why do we worship God? Why even come to church on Sunday? For many people, we are here because it is what we’ve always done. It is our practice. It is our habit. It is what is familiar. Church is a location of comfort and peace, where we see our friends, where we reconnect with God and feel refreshed for the rest of the week. I’ve heard a lot of people over the years talk about how they pour themselves out all during the week and that they need to get their cup refilled at church. It is a good idea, but we should go a little bit deeper with this question of why.
Why gather together? Why assemble as the body of Christ here on Sundays? Why not on Tuesdays? Why together, why not separately? The pandemic made this question more acute. When we’re not gathered together physically, it can be a challenge to start gathering together again. This question of why is really important because it allows us to put in our minds the people who haven’t grown up in the church, who haven’t been a part of this congregation or any congregation, and the questions that they might have. The future of the church is not just found in people who move to the area or in people who are dissatisfied with their own congregations, but in those in our greater community who are hurting or lost, and to whom Jesus sends us out to find. For people who have never experienced Christian worship in any capacity, questions of contemporary or traditional or hymns or guitars or all those things that seem so important are secondary to this question of why: what are we doing here? What is going on?
What I want us to do is to look at this question of why in worship from the perspective of those scriptures. I’m gonna center on this reading from the Psalms 145. We’re gonna come back to Matthew, but I want us to hold on to the Old Testament reading because the God of Jesus Christ is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Old Testament doesn’t mean the passé testament. It’s the the first testimony, the first witness of Jesus Christ. We have these scriptures because they witness to Jesus Christ, and we see that witness in the Psalms. Jesus quotes the Psalms more than any other book of the Bible. The Psalms are the largest book of the Bible. The Psalms are the prayer book of the Bible. The Psalms offer us songs of praise. But in these songs of praise, they offer us this why for worship. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love. This verse begins to get to our why because of who God is. Every single question of worship needs to be sublimated to this question of who God is. God is gracious and God is merciful. God is slow to anger and abounding that steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that He made. The Lord is not just an authority over people who are already here, but over all. We have a why because of who God is. In verse nine, we have our who. God is not just the God of those who are already here, but of all. In verse 14, we have our what. What does God do? What does God do in worship? God upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. This is so important for us to understand. You know what God does. Who is God looking out for? God has care over all, but God lifts up all who are bowed down and upholds all who are falling. Now, bowing down is a sign of worship and offering. We bow our heads in prayer. The bowing down is also a sign of desperation. When you give up, you hang your head. You always see it at the end of play off games when a team is eliminated and the camera pans to fans with slumped shoulders and tearful eyes as hope for victory is lost.
You hang your head when it seems like nothing you do can change the outcome or circumstances of your life. You hang your head, your posture breaks down.
God is there for all who hang their head, whether because of life or prayer. God saves us in ourselves but God also gathers us together.
This is what God offers us in worship. The word the church, comes from the Greek word ecclesia, which means assembly. The earliest or use in the Bible of Ecclesia is in the Old Testament is in the book of Leviticus, when God says, assemble all the congregation at the door of the tent of meeting Assemble, we need to gather together. The assembly is not a place. A Temple is a place. An assembly is a people. In Deuteronomy, God says to Moses, assemble the people before me and let them hear my words. The people need to be gathered together in order to hear the word of God together. There is an added benefit to listening together. In Matthew, we have the story of the feeding of the 5,000. It’s a one of the few stories of Jesus that take place in all four gospels. The people have gathered together to hear the word of God. They’re hungry for the word of God. They’re so hungry for the word of God that they don’t notice the hunger in their bellies. Now, this is something I’ve never experienced. I’ve been in churches all my life and everybody notices the hunger in their bellies. There’s not many things that would get people up in arms as fast as missing lunch. A preacher goes on too long and the bellies start to rumble. But specifically here, it was evening and nobody in the crowd has noticed that they haven’t eaten. You know, verse 14, there’s a great crowd and Jesus has compassion for them, and he cures them.
It’s not the people who are complaining, “feed us, feed us” The disciples notice that nobody has left. and say, this is a deserted place. That means there’s not a community around to support the people. There are no services for the people to use so they think to send them away, Send them away so that they can eat. I mean, they also have to relieve themselves. It’s a lot of people. But then Jesus says, they need not go away. You give them something to eat. The disciples say, we have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. In another version, it is the boy who brings it forth. But then in this one, Jesus says, bring them to me. And he offers himself to them. He breaks the bread, he prays for the fish, and he gives it to the people. In the Gospel of John, the feeding of the 5,000 takes place much earlier in the story. Jesus also relates the miracle more directly to himself, worship, and communion. He first connects it to the manna that the Hebrew people received in the wilderness. Jesus says,
“Jesus told them, “I assure you, it wasn’t Moses who gave the bread from heaven to you, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”” “They said, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!” Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:34-35 CEB
The people in Matthew weren’t hungry for food but for the bread of life. They didn’t ask for food. They had gathered together to hear Jesus.
At the table of the Lord today, we will receive food. We will also receive the bread of life. It is not just a matter of convenience but transformation. The God who created everything offers himself to us as we gather here; as we assemble.
The why is because of who God is, because of God’s love for us. The who is all the people, the what is the downtrodden, the broken, the bowed. That is us here today on Sunday morning, the Lord’s day. We worship on Sunday because on Sunday Jesus rose again. Every Sunday is a little Easter, a little reminder of resurrection. As a church, we need to be a place where transformation not only happens, but is expected on Sunday morning. Where we come humbly to the table, where we come humbly as a gathered body, where we welcome those who are unfamiliar with our practices and draw them in with our excitement and our energy, our desperation for God. If you have forgotten what that desperation is like, think back this day to a moment in your life of desperation, of absolute need.
This desperation is true for how we pray in worship. How we listen to the scriptures and the sermon. How we come to the table. And also how we sing.
At the front of your hymnal is a list of John Wesley’s rules for singing.
Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan. V. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your Heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.
We gather together because of who God is and what God has done and what God is still doing.
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. The LORD upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.
May we gather together with full hearts. May you meet God here. May we be a place where others meet God. You are loved. Before you knew God, God knew you and loved you and made a place for you. You are loved.
You are forgiven. Your past is not your future. Your mistakes are not your identity. You are offered life. And you are gathered together. The church is not a gathering of perfect people. Jesus didn’t come to save the righteous but the unrighteous. God meets us where we are, but God does not leave us there.
May we have mercy on those around us as God has mercy on us all.
Let us pray,
Heavenly Father, you gather us together out of love for us. Your triune life overflows so that we might have life. Help us to worship with full hearts and see worship not just as a date on a calendar but a date with you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.