Make every effort to live in peace with every one;
without holiness no-one shall see the Lord.
See to it that no-one misses the grace of God
and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
(Hebrews 12.14-29)
you have come to Mount Zion
to the heavenly Jerusalem the city of the living God.
You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly
to the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven.
You have come to God, the judge of all people,
to the sprits of the righteous made perfect
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant
and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12.22-24)
..since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken let us be thankful and worship God acceptably with worship and awe, for our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12.28-29)
Colossians 3.16-17
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom
and as you sings psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God
and whatever you do, whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
giving thanks to God the Father through him
I wonder how you feel after attending church:
Cold? Sore after a long sit? Tired?
Maybe sometimes in a good mood, encouraged,
prepared for the week ahead.
But how often do we leave here with the sense that we have met God?
How often with emotions of awe and of joy?
Meeting God is not in our power to work up or control
but 2 Samuel 6 is a story
which challenges many of our approaches to worship and to God
It's a story about how the ark of the covenant was brought into Jerusalem
The ark of the covenant ark was a box of acacia wood
about 4 x 2.5 x 2.5 feet covered with gold
and designed to be carried on special poles
It symbolised God's presence with his people.
Inside were the two tablets on which were written the 10 commandments
and other reminders of God's deliverance of his people.
It was the meeting place between God and his people
and had always been treated with great care and reverence.
It had been a huge disaster
when it had been captured decades earlier by the Philistines.
Now that David had captured Israel and controlled the whole country
he wanted to bring the ark into his new capital
to show that the Lord was the true King
So he sent 30 000 men to escort the ark on the journey.
3 'They set the ark of God on a new cart. '
Uzzah and Ahio, sons of the priest, were guiding the new cart
but on the journey, as they celebrated with great gusto -- disaster.
The oxen stumble, Uzzah puts his hand out to steady the ark.
7 'The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act;
therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.
The celebration ends.
David has the ark parked on the property of Obed Edom
and goes home, angry and fearful.
What are we to make of this appalling tragedy?
Surely this, that worship is dangerous: we must not treat God lightly.
It looks as if Uzzah was doing his best to help but it was an 'irreverent act'
Eugene Peterson describes him as someone 'who has God in a box
and officiously assumes responsibility
for keeping him safe from the mud and the dust of the world.
... we can guess that Uzzah's reflexive act
reaching out to steady the Ark as the oxen stumbled -
wasn't the mistake of a moment;
it was a piece of his lifelong obsession with managing the Ark.
Uzzah ignored (defied!) the Mosaic directions to carry the ark and substituted the latest Philistine technological innovation -- an ox cart.
Uzzah was in charge (he thought) of God and meant to stay in charge.
Uzzah had God where he wanted him and intended to keep him there.
The eventual consequence of this kind of life is death,
for God will not be managed. God will not be put and kept in a box,
whether the box is constructed of crafted wood or hewn stone
or brilliant ideas or fine feelings.
We don't take care of God. God takes care of us.'
Really Uzzah should have been carrying the ark with the poles prescribed
not walking alongside to steady it on the rough bits
I see two mistakes here:
one is following the practice of the Philistines against what God's law said;
looking at what others do in worship rather than at what God says
the other one (linked to it) is an attitude to worship
which is uncommitted, walking beside rather than taking the weight.
Compare what happens at funerals,
the honour and responsibility it is to be asked to carry a coffin;
it's difficult and demanding work, but if you do that
somehow you feel you have participated more closely in the event.
What God asks of us all in worship
is to get involved in ways that he sets out in his word
and to remember the danger of worship.
We may feel that what happened to Uzzah is unfair;
maybe what is more unfair
is that the same thing did not happen to David and the others
and to us also in our desire for worship that will be convenient
and not make too many demands upon us.
Of course we live and worship in the freedom of Jesus
who has made a perfect atonement and cleansing
turning away God's wrath against us
but remember in the New Testament
what happened to Ananias & Sapphira who lied to the Holy Spirit ?
They died suddenly.
Remember those people at Corinth who got drunk at the Lord's Supper
and discriminated against the poor people who came in from work hungry and found nothing for them at the love feast
'some of you have become sick and some have died' Paul concluded.
Certainly the sacrifice of Christ replaces all need for an ark
and the detailed regulations for carrying it
but God still looks for worship which is pure and true and not tainted
by lying or snobbery or contempt for others and for holy things.
God is still looking for people who will put their whole selves in
like those who some months later patiently and slowly carried the ark
and like David who danced with joyful abandon
and God is looking for people whose hearts are right and reverent
I am not trying to frighten you into faith
not everyone who dies suddenly is under a particular judgement -
but here is a God who deserves our whole worship
who might rightly deal with us
as he dealt with Uzzah and Ananias and Sapphira
and yet he has given up his own son to take away our sin
and suffer the consequences of his wrath upon sin
Should we not worship God as David eventually did
joyfully, even with abandon?
He took off his kingly clothes, and wore the white garment of a priest
and expressed his delight at God's blessing coming to him and his people,
blessing so undeserved.
14 'David, wearing a linen ephod,
danced before the LORD with all his might,
while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD
with shouts and the sound of trumpets. '
But there is still more to learn about worship or how not to worship
again from somebody who was not fully entering into the celebration
16 'As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David,
Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window.
And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD,
she despised him in her heart.
You wonder if Michal had Irish blood in her
because what she says shows the spirit of a bitter begrudger
someone who is always around to put down
and belittle and give you an inside story
20 'When David returned home to bless his household,
Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said,
"How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today,
disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants
as any vulgar fellow would!"
Michal had been brought up in a royal family;
perhaps she had been taught that kings should not get near the people,
perhaps she had been taught that
worship should always be dignified, restrained
for whatever reason she despised her husband's common touch.
But David answered very directly and his opening words set out
what is the one basic principle of all worship
21 "It was before the LORD,
who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house
when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel-
I will celebrate before the LORD.
I will become even more undignified than this,
and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.
But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honour."
If there is one thing which cripples and sours so much of our worship
it is to put what other people might think over what God thinks,
it is to direct our worship to make an impression of how good we are
how talented, how correct, how proper
something which has bedevilled our largely middle class churches.
That is not to say that we all have to dance as David did. Not at all.
It is to say that we are to have an attitude to the worship of others
which is open and affirming and welcoming
because we ourselves only seek as David did and as Colossians 3 directs
to offer worship to the Lord.
It is great temptation is to write off the worship of other Christians
because it is not the way we like to do things.
'We need to get the balance right in worship
between reverent restraint and realistic self expression
but we also need to keep a check on our critical spirit
when we judge the worship of others.
It is before their Master that they stand or fall or kneel or dance!
What ultimately matters is not what it means to us but what it means to him'
(Peter Barber)
Remember the dangers of worship
Uzzah died and 23
'Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.'
Michal was barren
this may not have been the direct judgement of God (as it was with Uzzah);
it may have been the natural outcome of a strained relationship with David
but it is also a solemn warning about a critical spirit
looking down on the worship of others.
God will not bless fellowships where the attitude of Michal prevails,
people looking down from a window and despising
those who dare to be disgraceful in their delight for the Lord.
True worship involves wholehearted commitment
carrying the ark or dancing before it,
not walking beside it to steady it
or watching from a window passing negative remarks.
Here are some relevant questions about how we approach worship
(from a Baptist minister in Columbus, Mississippi)
on the difference between evaluating worship and experiencing it."
1 Is worship about God or is it about what I like?
2. Do I seek God's presence
or the comfort of being with friends and doing what is familiar?
3. When is the last time God surprised me
and spoke in a way I did not expect?
4. Am I so contemporary I lose the transcendence of God?
5. Am I so traditional that I forget God's relevance?
6. Do I see myself as part of an audience
giving approval/ disapproval to worship leaders?
7. Can God use what I don't like?
8. Am I more into music than the spoken word?
9. Do I ignore the command to sing just to get to the "message"?
10. Do I leave worship with a clear sense of what I'm supposed to do?
11. Is the style of worship more important to me than the object of worship?
12. Do I love His presence as much as the songs I sing and play?
13. Can I worship Him when it's hard work and my joy is running low?
We have heard God's word;
we have worshipped him with praise and prayer.
Now may the Holy Spirit go on writing God's law in your hearts;
may the mind of Christ be truly in you as you go into all the world
and love the Lord your God
with all your heart and soul and mind and strength
and your neighbour as yourself.
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