Worship

All posts tagged Worship

The Crumbs of Faith and Hope

Posted by Jim Thornber on March 26, 2020
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments

“Jesus said to the woman, ‘I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.’ But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, ‘Lord, help me!’”­ Matthew 15:24-25

 

As I write this, the world is in turmoil because of coronavirus, or COVID-19. In response to this pandemic, prayers all over the world are ascending to God’s throne, and many pastors, like myself, are searching for ways to comfort and guide our people. Is God judging the world? Is He trying to remind us there is only one race on earth, the human race, and we need to work together as companions instead of apart as competitors?

I’ll let better minds than my own try to figure out what God is doing on a global scale, for I’ve got my hands full praying for and touching (not literally!) the lives I come in contact with (not literally!) every day. What I do know is God is not the silent type, and even when He is, He is leading us into a life of faith and hope.

All of this has me thinking about the very persistent mother in Matthew 15:21-28. The story finds Jesus leaving Galilee and going north into Tyre and Sidon, which was Gentile territory. A Canaanite (enemies of the Jews) woman who lived there came to Him and pleaded for Jesus to heal her daughter, who was being tormented by a demon. As a response to this request, Jesus remained silent.

Today, silence is a most hated concept. With smartphones, the internet, radio and television blaring everywhere we go, we’ve learned to distrust the sound of silence. Silence is wrong. Silence means something is broke. Silence from our political leaders means they are not working on our behalf. Silence from our religious leaders means they don’t have the comforting answers we seek. Silence makes us nervous. Silence makes us wonder if we’re still alive if all we hear is the sound of our own breathing.

Add to that silence of Jesus the complete lack of compassion from the Disciples. Sure, they want Jesus to heal her, but only because “she is bothering us with all her begging” (15:23). In other words, if healing her daughter will get her to shut up, then DO IT! So, couple the silence of Jesus with the fact the people hanging out with Jesus urge Him to send her away, in most instances you’d have an emotional breakdown in the making. This woman is facing rejection on all sides and she knows it, but she still doesn’t go away. She just stands there and waits for the Son of David to answer her request, and when Jesus does speak, it is not as the meek and mild Jesus we sing about in church. Continue Reading

Would I Worship Or Would I Whine?

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 18, 2017
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Worship. Tagged: , , , , , . 3 Comments

“Jesus said to the woman, ‘I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.’ But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, ‘Lord, help me!’”­ Matthew 15:24-25

 

A few weeks ago a pastor in my town brought this passage to my attention. It is the story of Jesus leaving Galilee and going north into Tyre and Sidon, which was Gentile territory. A woman who lived there came to Him and pleaded for Jesus to heal her daughter, who was tormented by a demon. As a response to this request, Jesus remained silent.

Today, silence is a most hated concept. With smartphones, the internet, radio and television blaring everywhere we go, we’ve learned to distrust the sound of silence. Silence is wrong. Silence means something is broke. Silence makes us wonder if we’re still alive if all we hear is our own breathing.

Add to that silence the fact the people hanging out with Jesus urge Him to send her away and you have an emotional breakdown in the making. But she doesn’t go away. She just stands there and waits for the Son of David to answer her request. And when Jesus does speak, it is not as the meek and mild Jesus we sing about in church.

“I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel,” He says. Great. Not only is Jesus treating her with silence, now He says he wasn’t sent for her. Apparently, there are people whose needs are greater or better or more deserving than a mother with a child possessed by a demon.

At this point in the story, I’d be ready to tell the Son of David what He can do with His Messiah complex. I mean, if God is going to be so callused as to tell me that others are more deserving of His mercy and grace, then it’s time to find another god.

But what this woman does next just astounds me. Verse 25 says, “But she came and worshiped him.” Is that what I would do? Would I worship God after He has been silent, after the church folk have suggested He send me away and finally after God says He’s not here for me? I’d be more tempted to whine about how life is all against me than to worship a God who intends to ignore me.

But now this woman challenges me again, for in her humility she acknowledges that everything Jesus said was true. She was not an Israelite, Jesus was not here for her first, and she shouldn’t get the meat from the table. All true. It is only the proud people like me who think Jesus’ arrival on earth was all about meeting my personal needs according to my personal timing. When will I learn that even the scraps from God’s table are richer fare than any five-star meal the world has to offer? Isn’t it better to be a dog in God’s kingdom than a king in the realm of Satan? This woman has seen how the demons treat people like her daughter, and she knows there’s more compassion in the crumbs of God than in the lies of the loftiest fallen angel.

Now, let’s look at this passage from another angle. Yes, Jesus was silent, but He was there. He was in her presence and He didn’t leave. In fact, He came to her town; she didn’t travel to him. There is always hope when God is present.

Next, we see that silence isn’t a refusal. He was silent but He didn’t say no. In silence there also is hope. Don’t let the silence of God or the quick answers of the critics send you away from what you need most.

When Jesus replied He was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel, there is still hope. If there wasn’t, what was Jesus doing in Gentile territory? Sometimes we think God is only going to help the good people who are worthy. But this scene reminds us that God came to save the world, because the entire world is as unworthy as this Gentile woman. God is increasing her faith – and we could all use a bit more faith.

Therefore, the next time God is silent regarding my requests, I need to remember that His silence doesn’t mean “No.” I need to remember that Jesus came to me before I came to Jesus, for that reminds me how important I am to Him. I need to remember that the critics who want me to disappear have forgotten that Jesus chose to be with me, and I’ll stand in His presence as long as He’ll have me.

Finally, when God tells me the truth about who I am, I need to remember that even a mutt like me has a place at the Banquet table of God. Sure, life may not always go as I’d like it, but Jesus has entered the room and where He is, there is hope.

 

 

 

 

Would I Worship or Would I Whine?

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 12, 2015
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

“Jesus said to the woman, ‘I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.’ But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, ‘Lord, help me!’”­ Matthew 15:24-25

 

Taize-SilenceA few weeks ago a pastor in my town brought this passage to my attention. It is the story of Jesus leaving Galilee and going north into Tyre and Sidon, which was Gentile territory. A woman who lived there came to Him and pleaded for Jesus to heal her daughter, who was tormented by a demon. As a response to this request, Jesus remained silent.

Today, silence is a most hated concept. With iPods, the internet, radio and television blaring everywhere we go, we’ve learned to distrust the sound of silence. Silence is wrong. Silence means something is broke. Silence makes us wonder if we’re still alive if all we hear is our own breathing.

Add to that silence the fact the people hanging out with Jesus urge Him to send her away and you have an emotional breakdown in the making. But she doesn’t go away. She just stands there and waits for the Son of David to answer her request. And when Jesus does speak, it is not as the meek and mild Jesus we sing about in church.

“I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel,” He says. Great. Not only is Jesus treating her with silence, now He says he wasn’t sent for her. Apparently, there are people whose needs are greater or better or more deserving than a mother with a child possessed by a demon.

At this point in the story, I’d be ready to tell the Son of David what He can do with His Messiah complex. I mean, if God is going to be so callused as to tell me that others are more deserving of His mercy and grace, then it’s time to find another god.

But what this woman does next just astounds me. Verse 25 says, “But she came and worshiped him.” Is that what I would do? Would I worship God after He has been silent, after the church folk have suggested He send me away and finally after God says He’s not here for me? I’d be more tempted to whine about how life is all against me than to worship a God who intends to ignore me.

But now this woman challenges me again, for in her humility she acknowledges that everything Jesus said was true. She was not an Israelite, Jesus was not here for her first, and she shouldn’t get the meat from the table. All true. It is only the proud people like me who think Jesus’ arrival on earth was all about meeting my personal needs according to my personal timing. When will I learn that even the scraps from God’s table are richer fare than any five-star meal the world has to offer? Isn’t it better to be a dog in God’s kingdom than a king in the realm of Satan? This woman has seen how the demons treat people like her daughter, and she knows there’s more compassion in the crumbs of God than in the lies of the loftiest fallen angel.

Now, let’s look at this passage from another angle. Yes, Jesus was silent, but He was there. He was in her presence and He didn’t leave. In fact, He came to her town; she didn’t travel to him. There is always hope when God is present.

Next, we see that silence isn’t a refusal. He was silent but He didn’t say no. In silence there also is hope. Don’t let the silence of God or the quick answers of the critics send you away from what you need most.

When Jesus replied He was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel, there is still hope. For if that was true, what was Jesus doing in Gentile territory? Sometimes we think God is only going to help the good people who are worthy. But this scene reminds us that God came to save the world, because the entire world is as unworthy as this Gentile woman. God is increasing her faith – and that is something we could all use a bit more of.

So, the next time God is silent to my requests, I need to remember that His silence doesn’t always mean “No.” I need to remember that Jesus came to me before I came to Jesus, for that reminds me how important I am to Him. I need to remember that the critics who want me to disappear have forgotten that Jesus chose to be with me, and I’ll stand in His presence as long as He’ll have me.

Finally, when God tells me the truth about who I am, I need to remember that even a mutt like me has a place at the Banquet table of God. Sure, life may not always go as I’d like it, but Jesus has entered the room and where He is, there is hope.

 

 

You Are The Man

Posted by Jim Thornber on March 9, 2014
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The following is the last point of the sermon I will teach today called “You Are The Man.”

“Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and Davidnamed him Solomon. The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.” – 2 Samuel 12:24-25

You-are-the-manThis is the part of the story that tells me God is full of endless grace and mercy. It shows us a God who sees a bad situation, knows He’s been sinned against, punishes the sin but then – and here’s the challenging part – God doesn’t hold it over their head. Unfortunately we, mere fallen humans, can still tell stories about how we were wronged, and feel the pain in that wrong, years and years later. We hold it over people’s heads in the way we speak or don’t speak to them. We don’t ever completely let it go. But God does, and He makes sure we know it. It is one of those character traits of God that we have the most trouble imitating.

After their baby dies – the baby conceived in sin – David comforts Bathsheba, let’s her mourn, and then resumes relations with her. She conceives and gives birth to a son, whom they call Solomon, which means “God is his peace.”  The name Solomon and the word Shalom (peace), both share in the name Jerusalem, the City of Peace.

But God instructs Nathan to tell David and Bathsheba to call the child Jedidiah, which means “Loved by the Lord.”  God was saying, “David, you sinned greatly. But My grace and mercy will make sure that your family will have My love and compassion. I will show you how much I love you by the way I love your children.” And by this, David knew God loved him.

I remember a story told by Dick Foth, the president of Bethany Bible College while I was a student there. One day President Foth came home from work and, while his wife Ruth was in the kitchen preparing dinner, he did what dads do best: he got down on the floor and starting playing with the kids. There was wrestling and roughhousing and noise and peals of laughter. Ruth came out and stood in the doorway, watching the shenanigans until it was over. Then she said to Dick, “Thank you for loving me.”

“Loving you?” Dick replied. “I was only playing with the kids.”

“Yes,” she said. “But when you love my kids you love me.”

How many ladies completely and immediately understand this? I must admit that as a man, it took me a while but I finally caught on. And I think something like that is taking place here. God is showing how much He loves David and Bathsheba, despite their recent despicable sins, by showing how much He loves their children. God isn’t holding it over their heads. He isn’t using their past as leverage against them. True, there will still be consequences and reverberations from David’s choices, but that doesn’t take away God’s love for David. Or for us. Continue Reading

I’m Still Calling The Shots

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 26, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. 1 Cor. 6:19-20.

 

sold outA while back I used to meet at a local coffee shop with a group of men from First Baptist Church. We’d spend about an hour and a half studying, praying for needs, challenging each other in our relationship with Christ and generally drinking too much coffee. It is one of the highlights of my week.

One morning as we were studying Crazy Love by Francis Chan, someone asked if we knew anyone who was totally in love with God. You know, a completely sold-out, every fiber of their being doing little more than living, breathing, talking, thinking about and obeying Christ.

We all got silent for a few moments while we racked our brains trying to think of someone we knew who was totally and completely sold out and in love with God. As the silence lingered, I thought it rather humorous that none of us at the meeting thought anyone at the table fit that description. Even the two pastors who were there, yours truly being one of them, weren’t named by anyone else in the group as being totally in love with Christ. Well, that was humbling!

The first person who came to my mind was Mark Buntain, who visited my Bible college in the early 80’s. A missionary to India, Mark founded Calcutta Mercy Ministries, which reaches the poorest in India through schools, a homeless shelter, a church, massive feeding programs, an orphanage and a large church. I remember hearing him teach in the chapel, and I was struck with his sincerity, complete humility, and absolute dedication to the work Christ called him to. When he finished speaking, instead of coming down front and meeting the students like every other every other speaker did, listening to their compliments and signing autographs, Mark turned around and dropped to his knees at the choir pew and engaged in prayer. That image is still burned in my mind. Continue Reading

Giving it Back to God

Posted by Jim Thornber on March 3, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 Comment

“O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you.” – 1 Samuel 1:11

Hannah presenting Samuel to Eli, by Jan Victors, 1645

Hannah presenting Samuel to Eli, by Jan Victors, 1645

This prayer of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is a big challenge to me because she is the picture of someone who wants something all her life, and when she gets it, she gives it away. Who does that? Not me, apparently, which is why God is on my case about this story.

Hannah is childless, which is a point of great fun and taunting by her family, but she bears it in stride. Then she tells the Lord that if He gives her a son, she’ll dedicate him back to God. And, unlike the guy on the plane that is going down who tells the Lord He’ll give him half his fortune if he survives, and then after it lands tells God if He wants it He can come get it, Hannah actually follows up on her promise.

Furthermore, Hannah doesn’t give up Samuel immediately. She actually waits until she weans Samuel, probably two or three years (1:26), before she takes him to Shiloh and leaves him there for Eli to raise.  If I was going to give something big to the Lord, like my firstborn son, I’d try to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible, the way Abraham got up and obeyed when told to sacrifice Isaac. I wouldn’t keep my promise around and get attached to it. But this is exactly what Hannah does. Continue Reading

Got Character?

Posted by Jim Thornber on January 11, 2012
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Leadership, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3)

A few years ago, a church I attended in Arkansas hosted a Thanksgiving service to raise money for the ministerial alliance. The alliance asked our church to lead in the praise and worship, and I played the piano on the worship team. Looking over the congregation, I noted a pastor from another church who, no matter what we sang, refused to either clap his hands or raise them in worship. He simply sat in his pew with his arms folded.  That struck me as strange, because outside of church he was a happy, vivacious, demonstrative man.

I have never been known for my extreme subtly or bashfulness, so as we gathered for refreshments after the service, I questioned him his about posture. “Why, when Scripture instructs you to lift up holy hands to the Lord, and you have a chance to do so in a public service, did you sit with your arms folded across your chest?”

“Well, you see,” he began to stammer and laugh, “I’m a . . . .” and he named his denomination. I cut him off and said, “Are you a denomination first or a Christian first?”

At this point, he began to look around for help from the people who had gathered, including my pastor. He asked, “Is he always like this?” to which my pastor replied, “Hey, he’s going easy on you.” Everybody gathered around laughed.

It is sad that many church members (or goers) around the world are more concerned with offending their denomination and the people in the next pew than they are in obeying the Word of God. The congregation led by the pastor in my story will have trouble obeying Scripture because he was not setting an obedient example. In a simple sense of the word, this pastor lacked character.

Regarding His eternal relationship to God, Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the “exact representation of his being” (1:3). James Moffat says He was “stamped with God’s own character.” The phrase “exact representation” translates the Greek word charaktēr, which gives us our English word “character.”

Originally, this word meant to cut, to scratch, to mark. It indicated the tool or agent that did the marking, and eventually came to mean the mark or the impression that was made. It also indicated an impression made in a wax seal. Or, think of a coin: its image, numbers and letters bear the exact image of the raised numbers and letters of the original die from which the coin was cast. To see a dime or a quarter is to know exactly what the original die or stamp looked like.

Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the father” (John 14:9). This is true, because He was the “exact representation” of God, “stamped with God’s own character.” To see Jesus is to see God, for He is the exact image of God, the perfectly engraved representation of the very nature of God.

This brings up a very difficult question, especially for me: “If to see Jesus is to see the Father, then, when people see me, do they see Jesus?” As I was looking for the Christ-like qualities in that pastor, I began to wonder:

  • When I am at my church, what do people first see in me —   ­­­­­­­­­the Kingdom of God or a denominational version of God?
  • Am I stamped with the very character of God?
  • Do people see Jim or Jesus?
  • As a disciple of Jesus, am I exhibiting the character of Christ the way that Jesus the Son bore the character of God the Father?
  • When people see the church out working in the world, whose character do they perceive? Are they seeing the compassion, mercy, patience, and love of God, or do they see the values of MTV, ABC, Wall Street, Hollywood, Cosmopolitan, and Men’s Health?

We must all ask those tough questions if we are going to live the character of Christ and represent God in all we say and do. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” Now I want to be able to say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen Jesus.” Maybe one day, at my funeral, some kind soul will say, “Jim was the most Christ-like person I’ve ever met.”  Then I’ll know I got character.

The Aroma of Tears

Posted by Jim Thornber on October 12, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Scripture, Worship. Tagged: , , , , , , . 3 Comments

 “Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went…When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume…she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.” – Luke 7:36-38

Every Friday morning I get together with a couple of other pastors in my town for coffee and conversation. One is a Word of Faith pastor, the other is a Quaker pastor, and sometimes a youth pastor from a Baptist church shows up. I’m still badgering the Nazarene pastor to join us, but it’s his day off and a seven am meeting is tough for most pastors to rise for, especially on their day off.

At our last meeting, we were talking about the difficulty of leading people in praise and worship. Some Sunday’s are just amazing. People are lifting their voices and their hearts, they seem to want to linger in the presence of God, and you can sense a special presence of God in the sanctuary.

Other Sunday’s make you wonder why you even got out of bed. Everything seems to fall flat, few people seem interested, and we’re counting the minutes until the singing is over and we can move onto something else.

As we mulled over this strange phenomenon, I recalled the story about the woman who anointed Jesus with an alabaster jar of perfume and her tears. She heard that Jesus was going to be at Simon the Pharisee’s house, and she went there with one purpose in mind: anoint the Savior of her soul.

What intrigues me about this scene is that Simon is oblivious to the important presence of Jesus. Although he invited Jesus into his house, he proceeded to ignore Him, forgoing the usual courtesies granted a guest (Luke 7:44-46).

Now we have Jesus present in a house with two opposing reactions. One person came into the house prepared to worship, while the other was prepared to ignore their guest. Continue Reading

Heavenly Songs VS. Earthly Noise

Posted by Jim Thornber on October 4, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 7 Comments

 “In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures. . . . Day and night they never stop saying: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” – Revelation 4:6, 8

Try as I might, I just don’t get heaven.

For example, in chapter 4 of Revelation, the Apostle John has a vision of the throne in heaven. He sees Someone sitting on the throne with the “appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne” (vs.3). I’m not exactly sure what jasper and carnelian look like (they are colorful types of quartz), and I’m not sure how to envision a rainbow that looks like an emerald, but I think that is the point. Our minds cannot comprehend the beauty and magnificence of the throne while we remain on the earth side of heaven. But then, who is to say we’ll be able to wrap our minds around it when we finally see it?

However, that is not what REALLY bothers me. What bothers me is the day and night singing of the cherubim.

Cherubim, like us, are created beings. They are not all powerful and all knowing, but they do pre-exist mankind. Although most of us think of cherubim as supernatural angelic beings covered with eyes and having four faces, who protect the throne of God and may even have tremendous power, there is one thing we have that they do not: an experience of the saving mercy and grace of Jesus.

And yet, without this unique relationship and reason to praise the name of the Lord God Almighty, they still sing His praise and worship at His throne twenty-four hours a day.

I have trouble remembering to worship Him for five minutes in the morning before I go to work. That’s why this passage bothers me. Continue Reading

Why I Cannot Be Happy

Posted by Jim Thornber on July 24, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 9 Comments

Why I Cannot Be Happy

Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble. For the LORD will be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them – Prov. 24:17-18

When I read about the death of Amy Winehouse, and my first thoughts were, “She was so young.” My next thoughts were, “She died at twenty-seven? So did Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain. I hope this is just a tragic coincidence.”

As the postings about her death circulated the internet, I was a bit dismayed to read the comments from a variety of people. Some expressed sadness, while others replied, “Who cares?” and “Why does this affect me?” I’m sure others felt she had it coming since she was known for her substance abuse. After reading these comments, I felt confused and hurt at the callousness of some people—even those who say they are Christians.

I found myself confused and hurt in the same way when O.J. Simpson was running from the police on the highways of Southern California. It wasn’t fun to watch him evade capture, and I didn’t hope he “get what he had coming to him.”  I didn’t, and still don’t, have enough knowledge of his situation to make a judgment.

The same is true for Casey Anthony. Many people are so absolutely sure of her guilt, they walk around mad that she got off. Would they feel better if Casey got the electric chair? Would they sleep better at night knowing justice was served? Are they so good at being judge and jury that they can condemn without knowing all the evidence? Continue Reading