by Pastor Gordon Kaneda
Genesis 4:1-7
1. Abel’s offering was accepted while Cain’s was rejected.
i) God is pleased only with certain offerings.
ii) Here, Abel brought “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock” which shows that he brought what was the most valuable to him. On the other hand, Abel brought “some of the fruits of the soil.” Although it is not clearly written, we can assume that he didn’t bring the most valuable part of the crop. Some says that Abel’s offering did not shed blood, but according to Leviticus God accepts grain offerings, so offering grain itself is not an issue here. It’s about offering the very best to God. (Cf. Hebrews 11:4)
2. Note God’s word on v.7. “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” He didn’t say “will your offerings not be accepted?” Instead He said, “will YOU not be accepted?” When we offer worship, it’s not the worship itself that God accepts or rejects. It’s the worshiper.
Psalms 96 (and many other psalms)
1. Worship should always be “about God” and “to God.”
i) This psalm is all about who He is and what He has done. “I” “me” has no place here.
ii) Note the repetition, “to the Lord.” In worship, everything should be directed toward God. It’s not about me. It’s about God. If I am seeking to feel satisfied, then it’s about me. If I am seeking to feel good, then it’s about me. Worshipers should always seek to please God, not myself. Worshipers should always seek to make God feel good, not myself.
1 Samuel 15:1-23, Isaiah 1:11-17, Hosea 6:6, Amos 5:21-24
1. 1 Samuel 15:1-23
God’s instruction was to “totally destroy the Amalekites and all that belongs to them” (v.3). However, Saul kept “the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs – everything that was good” (v.9). His intention was “to sacrifice to the Lord” (v.15). His intention (if he was being honest) seems legitimate, but God said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams” (v.22). God wanted Saul to be obedient to His word instead of offering good sacrifice.
2. Isaiah 1:11-17
People were offering sacrifices. They did it the right way…as instructed from the Lord. They even gave fat portions, which was the best part of the animals. However, God was not pleased at all. People went before the Lord to worship Him. They were keeping the feasts and gatherings as instructed from the Lord (New Moon, Sabbath, etc.) but God says that they are “trampling my court” and their gathering was “meaningless.” In v.16-17, God clearly mentions that what He wants to see is their repentance and obedience.
3. Hosea 6:6
Israel has been unfaithful to the Lord by worshiping Baal. But they were offering sacrifice to the Lord, very likely in the way God had instructed them in Leviticus. However, God was not pleased at all because no matter how well they offered sacrifice, their lifestyle was not faithful. He wanted people to be faithful and loyal to God, and seek to know Him (in a relational manner). Without their faithful lifestyle, sacrifice meant nothing to God.
4. Amos 5:21-24
In chapter 4, God repeatedly says, “yet you have not returned to me.” It shows that the Israelites’ heart was not with the Lord. They were not living in faith. However like their ancestors did, they were offering sacrifice to the Lord and kept the traditional festivals where they gathered and offered burnt offerings and grain offerings. Did it please God? No. God says, “I hate, I despise,” “I will not accept them (offerings),” “I will have no regard for them (offerings),” “I will not listen to the music of your harps.” What does God wants? “Justice and righteousness” (v.24).
So what do these things tell us about worship?
1. The purpose of worship is to please and satisfy God, not the worshipers.
Many of today’s worship misunderstand this very important truth. I hear people saying, “It was great worship.” What do they mean by that? Do they mean that God was totally satisfied and glorified? If so, how would they know that? Did God tell them that He was satisfied? Did fire come down from heaven and burnt their offering? Or they said it because they were satisfied? Most likely the latter. We can produce great music, lighting, sound, atmosphere, sermon, etc. and be satisfied or feel good about our worship as much as we like, but that doesn’t necessarily mean God was satisfied. Many times in the Old Testament, people thought they were offering the “right” sacrifice, and yet God was not satisfied. Far from it. When we feel good about what we do, we are glorifying ourselves, not God.
Music is a big thing in today’s worship. But although it’s a great tool of worship, it can be a distraction as well. So many people “enjoy music” in worship. But when we start to “enjoy music” as we sing, who’s been entertained? God or me? Are we thinking about music as we sing, or about God? Or maybe we aren’t thinking about anything because we are immersed in this great “atmosphere” (some people call it “spiritual” for some reason…or no reason).
2. We “offer” worship. In worship, the direction is always ME to GOD, not vice versa.
Many people come to worship service to “receive.” They seek to receive “good feeling” through singing. So when they didn’t like the song or the style of music (or quality of music), they feel like it wasn’t a “good service.” They seek to receive “blessing/ grace/encouragement” from God. So when they didn’t like what the pastor preached, or when the preaching was dull and boring, they feel like it wasn’t a “good service.” However, as seen in Psalm 96, what we do in worship should be directed from ME to GOD. Nowhere in the Old Testament we find God preparing altar for people to offer a sacrifice. It is clear that they must bring their own sacrifice, and do all the work to offer the sacrifice. They come to the altar with their sacrifice, they offer the sacrifice, and then they go home empty handed. That’s what worship is all about – to give to the Lord instead of receiving from the Lord. So we sing TO the Lord, pray TO the Lord, give offering TO the Lord, and…what about the sermon? We listen…and we respond TO the Lord (many forget this).
3. Worship is more than a “service.” It’s a “lifestyle.”
We worship God on Sunday. We put so much energy into preparing for this “program.” People gather, raise their hands and sing, shed tears in prayer, touched by the sermon, and go home feeling like they had a “great worship service.” The next worship experience is one week later. No. Actually that’s only the beginning of real worship. No matter how well you do during Sunday worship service, God will not be pleased unless your “lifestyle” is pleasing to Him. This is not anything special when we think about faith as “relationship.”
During the worship service we sing and say, “I love You,” “I believe in You,” “You are awesome,” “I will follow You.” We pray as if we trust Him and depend on Him. We listen to sermon and gain knowledge about who He is and what He requires. We feel like we are one step closer to God because we’ve learned more about Him. When someone tells me, “I love you, and I trust in you,” I would expect that person to act accordingly after he/she tells me so. But if the person won’t contact me during the week, or if the person won’t listen to me, or if the person acts as if he/she had nothing to do with me, will I still feel good about what he/she said to me before? No way.
What we do and say at a worship service is happening IN the church during 1.5 hours of the entire week. That’s only 0.8% of the entire week. Looking at this percentage, it’s almost comical that we feel like we are pleasing God just by worshiping Him on Sunday.
God wants to see “consistency” in how we relate with Him. If we sing, “I love You,” on Sunday, then He wants to see the lifestyle that shows our love for Him throughout the week. If we say, “I believe in You,” that’s what He wants to see during the 99.2% of the week. God wants to see us obeying Him and living (at least try to live) righteous life. God wants to see us seeking His Word (meaning, read and study and obey the Word), His will, His calling. God wants to see us putting as much energy into 99.2% of the week as we do into 0.8%. What we do during 0.8 of the week will never please God more than what we do during 99.2% of the week. Worship that pleases God never takes place only in the church on Sunday morning. It takes place in our life. Our lifestyle should be our worship to God.
Music and Worship
Today, music is a vital part of worship. Many churches have worship leaders and worship teams. Music can be a great tool of music, but at the same time, it can distract us from true worship.
Many people, including myself, enjoy singing with “nicely played instruments” through “good sound system.” Singing with a piano and singing with a full band is so different. But what’s so different? Lyrics are the same. Basic melody is the same. God, to whom we sing, is, of course, the same. So what is so different when singing with a full band? ‘How I feel’ is different. This is nothing but Satan’s trick.
It seems so natural that when we ‘feel’ good about our singing, we feel like we are truly worshiping. When we enjoy ‘singing to the Lord’, we feel like we are worshiping in the way that is pleasing to God. But is that true?
Think again. The lyrics are the same. We are saying the same thing to the Lord either with a piano, or with a full band. One might say, “Well, it’s about saying the same thing with or without our heart.” That’s understandable. But we want to remember who determines the value of worship, and on what basis it is determined.
As I mentioned above, God is the one who determines the value of our worship. We may feel good about the music, but that doesn’t mean God is feeling the same way. We say “I love you” to the Lord. But today, many people are saying, “I can’t really say that with a piano. I need a full band with a great sound system to tell God that I love Him.” Seriously?
Music helps. But we shouldn’t let music and atmosphere determine what we say and how we say to the Lord. We shouldn’t depend on music and atmosphere to express our faith to the Lord. It should simply come out of our faith. We have to admit, that we are determining the value of our worship by how WE feel about it.
When I was in Bible school, one day at the chapel, a young college student was in front of me. She was so into singing to the Lord, eyes closed, face towards heaven, both hands lifted up high. If you had seen her that moment, you would believe that she was truly worshiping the Lord. However, when we finished singing and sat down, she opened a fashion magazine and started to read. During the sermon, she was deep asleep. But I’m sure she felt good about her singing. I could tell she was into it…so it seemed.
Music helps to lift our hearts up. But it is our faith, not feelings, that worship the Lord. And as the passages above clearly mention over and over again, it is our lifestyle…how we live for the Lord during the week…that is important. We can sing to the Lord in great atmosphere with great music, but if we are not being obedient to the Lord and striving to live a righteous life for the Lord during the week, our Sunday singing is nothing but “noise” in God’s ears.
What is the role of worship leaders and teams? It is very important to practice in order not to make mistakes and distract the congregation. But is it so important to brush up the techniques more than necessary? The role of worship leaders and the teams is to help the congregation sing to the Lord, not to impress the congregation or enjoy your own techniques. As long as they are not distracting with careless mistakes…as long as the congregation is singing along with the worship team to the Lord, they are doing what they are supposed to do. After all, if they are so into musical skills and techniques, what are they thinking about while ‘leading worship’? God or music?
We don’t have to enjoy music as we praise the Lord. We don’t have to feel good about the music and atmosphere in order to glorify God. What’s most important in singing praises is to think what we’re singing…the lyrics. The lyrics are written by someone else…often someone whom we don’t even know. And as we sing, we must transform those lyrics into “MY praise.” In order to do this, I have to really think about what I am singing, take it into my heart, agree with it, remember what God has done for me, and deliver my praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. Worship leaders’ role is to remind the congregation to do this as they sing. They don’t need a full band to do this. They don’t need harmony to do this. Simple instruction, maybe a moment of silence to reflect on God’s goodness, yes…it’s probably okay to have a piano playing during the moment of silence to help people think…but it is almost wrong to assume that ‘music’ and ‘sound system’ will do this for them because they don’t.
Music helps. But we have to remember what worship is all about. God determines the heart of worshipers, and it is less likely that He would care about how we’re feeling. He would rather look into our heart and mind to see what’s going on while we’re singing, “I love You.” He would rather look into our everyday life to see if our “I love You” is consistent with what we are doing in our room, at work, at home, with our friends, etc..
May God be glorified in everything we do.
Staff writer for ExperiencingWorship.com.