OK, so this sermon didn’t cover a single day in the life of Hezekiah, king of Judah. But this short season at the beginning of his 29 year reign never the less focused on the one thing Hezekiah thought most important- worship. From the repairing of the temple doors (2 Chronicles 29:3) to the reinstitution of the Passover celebration, worship was the one thing Hezekiah wanted the people of God to get right. This sermon pointed out four dynamics of “right worship” that I discovered in these two texts (2 Chronicles 30:1-9, 2 Chronicles 31:1-10).
First, right worship is God centered. Hezekiah’s implementation of Passover was not just a celebration of a meal or a memory. It was lived-out dramatized theology. It was reliving the story of redemption- from slavery through freedom by way of the blood of the lamb. The centrality of Christ, our paschal lamb, in Christian worship is a necessity. Each worship service should be a re-telling of the story of human redemption from slavery to sin and death to freedom and new life in Christ! But we make it less than that each time a style of music or a carpet color makes us lose focus on the story our worship tells.
Second, right worship costs us something. In 31:3-7 we see the length that the people of God went to ensure that worship happened, Hezekiah included. They tithed their lives for four months straight! When we bring a consumer mindset into our life with the body of Christ, asking what “church” can bring to us, then our worship, our experience of God will be thin.
Worship that is God centered, that we invest our lives in, produces fruit. My third and fourth observations about worship in these passages are the results of right worship. Third, right worship unifies the people of God. From Dan (the northern tip of the northern kingdom) to Beersheba (the southern tip of the southern kingdom) Hezekiah’s decree went out. These people who had been divided since Solomon’s reign were united in their worship. One indictment of the fact that Christian worship in our culture is less than right is our lack of unity. Socioeconomic, racial, and denominational segregation testifies to the fact that our worship is less than God-centered and costly.
Fourth, right worship results in holy living. When these people left this Passover worship they tore down idols that were not fitting for the people of God. When the greatness and grace of God are explored in right worship, when we encounter the holiness of The Almighty, we cannot help but be discontent with that which is not fitting to the people of God. Holiness issues in one’s personal life are the result of worship issues in their communal life.
The challenge in these passages is to do the hard work of Hezekiah by making worship central to our way of life. Abundant living begins with abundant worship.
Pastor Scott
First, right worship is God centered. Hezekiah’s implementation of Passover was not just a celebration of a meal or a memory. It was lived-out dramatized theology. It was reliving the story of redemption- from slavery through freedom by way of the blood of the lamb. The centrality of Christ, our paschal lamb, in Christian worship is a necessity. Each worship service should be a re-telling of the story of human redemption from slavery to sin and death to freedom and new life in Christ! But we make it less than that each time a style of music or a carpet color makes us lose focus on the story our worship tells.
Second, right worship costs us something. In 31:3-7 we see the length that the people of God went to ensure that worship happened, Hezekiah included. They tithed their lives for four months straight! When we bring a consumer mindset into our life with the body of Christ, asking what “church” can bring to us, then our worship, our experience of God will be thin.
Worship that is God centered, that we invest our lives in, produces fruit. My third and fourth observations about worship in these passages are the results of right worship. Third, right worship unifies the people of God. From Dan (the northern tip of the northern kingdom) to Beersheba (the southern tip of the southern kingdom) Hezekiah’s decree went out. These people who had been divided since Solomon’s reign were united in their worship. One indictment of the fact that Christian worship in our culture is less than right is our lack of unity. Socioeconomic, racial, and denominational segregation testifies to the fact that our worship is less than God-centered and costly.
Fourth, right worship results in holy living. When these people left this Passover worship they tore down idols that were not fitting for the people of God. When the greatness and grace of God are explored in right worship, when we encounter the holiness of The Almighty, we cannot help but be discontent with that which is not fitting to the people of God. Holiness issues in one’s personal life are the result of worship issues in their communal life.
The challenge in these passages is to do the hard work of Hezekiah by making worship central to our way of life. Abundant living begins with abundant worship.
Pastor Scott
(If you click on the link below to listen to the sermon you will need to turn the volume on your computer up. The recording is pretty quiet.)
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