Worship 11 Minor Moments Are Major Opportunities

[HKHaugan]

“Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only (Mt.4:10).”

We're going to look at this verse as we dig deeper into the subject of worship. This is the bottom line answer to the three temptations the devil throws at Jesus (Mt.4). Those temptations sum up all the daily invasions that are launched against us as believers. If you'll notice it's not the huge circumstances that face us every day. It's the seemingly small nuisance variety that get to us. These are the ones that point to Jesus' saying that being trusted in little things enables us to be trusted with bigger things (Lk.16:10). It just may be that the little ones are the big ones.

Case in point, some life experiences come in small sleights intended to cut someone down. Some years back several of us were on our way to a Christian Conference at a big church in Orlando, Florida. One of the group was a lady from a prestigious family and a like prestigious neighborhood church in Jacksonville. She was a friend of the driver and not all that happy to be riding along with us who were from, let us say, less prestigious circumstances and churches (especially liturgical churches with contemporary music and instruments). The reason soon became apparent. As we rode along she shared that her BMW was old and she was looking for a new car. I had recently gotten a deal on a new inexpensive Oldsmobile model that was known for its long engine life, gas mileage and design. I excitedly told her about my find and encouraged her to try one out. She quickly turned to me and said with an attitudinal smirk, “Oh, that's interesting. I'll tell my gardener. He is looking for a car.” Ouch. I caught her immediate message. She let me know where I stood in her eyes. The driver, a good friend, was quietly embarrassed, I could tell. And zounds!, we were on our way to a Christian gathering! Christian or not, some people just can't seem to let go of their past pain, religious preferences or their present position and subtly let you know.

While this may seem minor it is real and part of the makeup of those whose dependency on world standards leads them to react in terms of a presumed social superiority. What has to be understood here is that this is really a spiritually charged moment and one speck in an ocean of divisive strategies some use to secure themselves apart from God. The question is how do we as disciples of Jesus react in these unexpected 'out of the blue' moments? If all of them were as harmless as this one, fine. But there are far more serious attacks aimed at upsetting our spiritual equilibrium. Gossip, false witness, group attitudes, arguments, disagreements, insults and persecution can arise at any given moment. There is a real temptation here because we can return the attack or quietly wait for a chance for revenge, chalk up and nurse another resentment or accept it or forget about it and move on.

We can also try a spiritual principle, taking up our cross (Lk.9:23). Spiritually count to ten which is to pause in the name of Jesus, block your immediate reaction, toss it out, pray to be patient, see the person as an image of God, pray for the person, consider Scripture, think of what would be pleasing to the Lord, ponder a proper response, and trust the Holy Spirit for the next step (By the way, that happens to be 10). It could be to carry on with the gardener's need. Perhaps the Spirit leads you to ask quite 'matter of factly,' what did you mean? Perhaps it is to quietly digest it and wait for an opportune moment when you can pull the person aside to talk about it. It's training ourselves to be in the Spirit at that moment, discerning the attitude and waiting on the Spirit. Believe it is a temptation, give the heart trust time and then respond faithfully. Mind, heart and spirit working to be a forgiving image of God.

Life in this world is a series of spiritual moments calling for spiritual discernment, evaluation and action. These are worship moments, time for worship witness, occasion for worship testimony. They describe why the initial calling for mankind is to worship God. Worship conditions us in the moment by moment responses that can give God glory.
A totally unrelated moment came during a church service I attended in Connecticut. Discussion of a local issue during the sermon in which the pastor invited comment brought a mildly heated exchange between two of the elders. At one precise moment there was a pause. The pastor looked at both as they looked to him and he calmly said, “Praise the Lord,” not loudly or ministerially but with a sense of compassion and power. It was one of those moments that every one there sensed the Lord's presence and a murmured 'Amen' came from the congregation. Everyone knew the resolution was going to come from the Lord. It did. It was in the Spirit that the sermon and discussion finished. Everyone there knew the Lord had His hand on the congregation. It was a worship moment and God got the glory.

There are millions of these anonymous moments. One came when a friend was pulled over for speeding along a four lane boulevard in town. He said he was almost 10 miles an hour over the limit for that area and no one usually did less. When the officer came to his car and asked for his license he admitted he was over the limit. He said he felt led to let the officer know he was right in stopping him and calmly told him “You are God's authority and I want to thank you for your work.” Even though he got the ticket he said the officer's expression changed from cold duty to a friendly handshake. He knew the officer had been touched by the Lord. Another worship moment and three blessings occurred---first, for the officer, second, for the driver and third, for the Lord.

Moments like these are spontaneous, moments the Holy Spirit is telling us the Lord is in charge and to “worship Him and serve Him only.” You don't log them down as liturgies to repeat every time you are in a similar situation. Every moment of life is unique and will demand a different response. Worship opens them to the work of the Holy Spirit to exercise them in faith. It is faith that opens us to experiencing the Lord of eternity acting in the present moment and the uniqueness of every next moment. It's these moments we want to share in our small groups and celebrate in our gathered worship services. They are faith builders to encourage each of us in our need for faith in every next moment.