The Heart Of Worship Matthew 15:1-20

Theme: No matter how important all of the external elements are in our worship, the biggest obstacle in worship is what God has to deal with in us. The biggest problem in worship is our heart.

            Church life can be one filled with numerous setbacks, endless committee meetings, and drawn out business meetings. In a similar fashion Sunday mornings, the time we set aside to gather for corporate worship, can take on a drawn out, dull, highly traditional and or legalistic appearance. While there is nothing wrong per say with a “traditional” worship service; at times the areas so steeped in tradition can be elevated to a place of worship. When any tradition begins to undermine the authority of the Word of God it must be done away with!

            So as we prepare ourselves for corporate worship on Sunday mornings let us listen ever so closely to the words of Jesus in Matthew 15 starting in verse 1:

Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”³ And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to ^[a]be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been ^[b]given to God,” ⁶ he is not to honor his father or his mother^[c].’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

⁸ ‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
⁹ ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹ It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

¹² Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were ^[d]offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³ But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone; they are blind guides ^[e]of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵ Peter ^[f]said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” ^16 [g]Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is ^[h]eliminated? ¹⁸ But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,^[i]fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. ²⁰ These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

            Let me ask us all a question, when you are getting ready to go out some place, to meet a good friend, to meet friends for dinner, or to attend a social gathering, how do you prepare? We would all like to be able to arrive on time and in style, gracefully slide into the occasion.

            However, in reality there are numerous obstacles that get in the way of that carefree experience we desire. Be it an argument you had with your spouse, the babysitter cancels, the kids run out and play in the mud, the car won’t start, you have a headache, all of these things are interfering with your “wonderful” evening plans. Let’s say that you have finally got out the door running late, still arguing with your spouse or kids, now you get stuck in traffic.

It seems that the more important something is, the more things can get in the way of having it work out well and so it shouldn't surprise us that worship is full of obstacles. Is it any wonder that all kinds of things get in the way of our experience of worship? Sometimes it can be so difficult to clear our minds and simply be still and know that he is God. Some common complaints I’ve heard regarding worship are:

·  "The biggest obstacle is the little dramas that go on or the little relational dramas."

·  "Sleeping in"

·  "I have a pretty scheduled life during the week. I am committed to being 5-10 minutes late. I find it harder to stick to a schedule on the weekends."

·  "Sunday becomes a workday."

·  "To worship with four kids, you know it's a challenge each week."

·  "Sometimes we're very easily distracted. If we are sitting there doing a song sometimes I feel like wow its really nice outside and I am like what do I have to do today and then there is like, oh I've got this paper I got to do."

·  "Part of the worship service isn't like I like it."

·  "I think the main obstacle to worship is me."

·  "Often times my biggest obstacle is myself and sometimes worrying that they are not sitting still or whatever."

·  "I failed in stuff over the past week or I failed in stuff, you know had an argument with my wife on the way to church that day."

·  "Sometimes you just don't feel like going in."

·  "I think learning more and more to just let them be who they are before God and not have it just be sort of a role or a duty."

·  "Focus too much on the sentimentality on the fun things and we don't deal with the hard realities of coming into Gods presence."

·         "There is a little voice that says you know you don't belong here. You can't worship God."

Certainly there are seasons in life when we would rather ask God what is he doing rather than speaking of how great he is. Often times when we gather together in worship our minds are elsewhere. We get hung up on the use of certain types of musical instruments. Churches split over the usage of electric guitars, drums, or not using a hymnal. People fuss about the sanctuary being too bright, too dim, too hot, or too cold. We become distracted by the roast in the oven at home or by our afternoon plans. We become more concerned with the way that certain person looks than with the nature of our own hearts.

All of these things make it easier or harder for us to worship and can be real obstacles, but I think as we think about this issue of worship, one of the things that we have to be reminded of right up front is that none of these obstacles that we talked about are the fundamental barriers that can enter this issue of worship. What is of fundamental importance is not what gets in the way of our feelings. No matter what we do, no matter what we feel, the most fundamental question in worship is whether God accepts it. That is the fundamental question.

God does not have to accept our worship simply because we attend church and sing pre-selected hymns! Paul tells us in romans that the type of worship, the only type of worship that God accepts is one of willing obedience. He urges us to present our bodies as a “living Sacrifice.” He then adds that we are to live a life “not conformed to the patterns of this world” rather we are called to live a life that is governed by the spirit of God and be “transformed by the renewing of our mind.” This is the kind of worship God accepts one who is willing to lay before God on his altar and not get off.

      If we are more concerned with the externals of “worship” (ie types of instruments and conditions of the building and other worshipers) rather than our hearts are not in worship with God. Because the fundamental question is does God accept our worship?

So I ask you what is your mindset regarding worship?

Do you find that you’re more consumed by the type of worship rather than the object of that “worship”? When was the last time you sat under the power of God and simply listened to him?

Are there things in your life distract you from the heart of worship?

Let us return to the heart of worship where everything else fades and it’s no longer about you and me but only about Jesus Christ!

Will you join me?