Worthy

This week at my church the worship songs were all about how Jesus is worthy of our praise. Whenever I hear a song like that, my mind immediately thinks, sure, God is worthy of praise, but what makes MY praise desirable to a holy God? In Isaiah it says that our sin makes even our righteousness like "filthy rags". What does God want with my filthy rags praise and worship?

 

Years ago the church I was attending had a worship choir. Every Sunday we were up there on the stage, singing along with the worship team. Some Sundays we would perform a choir piece, but regardless, every Sunday we were up there during the worship part. One Sunday a young lady was asking about being in the choir, and I encouraged her to show up for rehearsal and see if she liked it. "Oh, I don't know. I don't think I'm good enough," she told me. "It's okay," I said, "we have people with all skill levels in our choir. You don't have to be an expert singer to participate." "No, you don't understand," she told me. "I don't think I'm good enough."

Have you ever played a game with a very small child? Every kid is different, and things get different as they get older, but usually when I play a game with a really little kid, I want them to win. I want them to succeed. I don't want to beat them! I want them to experience victory! So what do I do? I throw the match. I play like a complete moron. Or I take the deck of cards and stack them so the kid always gets the good cards. Whatever it is, though, I try to give the child a victory. Why? Because I can, and I want them to know that they are a winner. I want to give them success! Did they earn it? Well, they probably played the best they could, but in the end, they couldn't beat an adult. They couldn't win without my help!

This week listening to these songs I remembered and internalized something I already knew in my mind - that our praise and our worship are worthy of God because they are placed there by God in the first place! Our personal goodness is irrelevant. It was a game we couldn't win. We had less of a chance than a toddler winning a chess match against a grand master. The deck wasn't just stacked against us - we didn't even get any cards! There was no way we could be worthy enough to reach to God. There is no way we could ever be "good enough." We were destined to fail.

Then Jesus entered the picture.

Jesus was the only person who was unstained by sin. He was the only one who could ever win the chess match, who could ever beat the house, who could ever hope to get the ball into the basket. Jesus lived a life of righteousness when none of us ever could, and then by dying on the cross, Jesus made that righteousness available to us. He won the Super Bowl, but we get to stand on the stage and receive the trophy! We weren't worthy of anything good - but Jesus made us worthy!

Our praise is worthy of a holy God because it comes from the righteousness placed in us by Him. He's stacked the deck for us! He's worthy of our praise, and we can't help it - our praise is worthy to be offered! Are you still asking yourself "But am I good enough?" Well, the answer is, NO, you're not. Or at least you weren't. But the moment you received Jesus, asked Him to be Lord of your life, His worthiness became yours. So give Him your praise!

Hide and Seek

This morning I was listening to our pastor's message from Resurrection Sunday last week, and I was thinking of all of the appearances of Jesus after He rose from the dead. They are so surreal! For someone who spent His time on Earth revealing Himself and His Father clearly and plainly, after He rose it's like He was playing games with them. First He appeared to a woman at His own tomb, but He seems just fine letting her think He was the gardener at first. He didn't lead with "Hey, check me out, I'm Jesus!" Then He appeared to two of His own disciples who were traveling, and He let them think He was just some random guy the whole time. They're telling Jesus the story of what happened to Jesus, and He never said "Um guys, did you notice that here I am, I'm that guy?" What He does do is explain to them what He had told them before He was crucified, without actually telling them that He is Jesus. Then as soon as they finally recognize Him, does He hang out and visit? Nope... He vanishes!

Then later he reveals Himeself to Thomas by just sort of appearing in a house with all of the doors locked. Then later the guys go fishing, and Jesus just shows up on the shore of the lake, and Jesus is like, "Hey guys! Catch anything?" He doesn't say "Hi, I'm your risen Messiah!" He just acts like He's a guy talking shop with fishermen. This time, though, John recognizes Jesus, and when he tells Peter, Peter recognizes Him too, and jumps in the water to get to Him faster!

Was Jesus just messing with them? That's the question I asked myself this morning. Was this a childish game of hide and seek or something? BOOM I'm here, BOOM I'm gone, hey check out my disguise, haha you didn't know it was Me! Obviously, that's not what Jesus is like. I think what was really happening was that Jesus was showing what it's like for believers between the Resurrection and the Second Coming. It's rare that someone actually visually sees Jesus. Sometimes things happen that are the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we have to recognize them with the eyes of faith because they're not obvious. But Jesus is there, popping up at unexpected times and in unexpected places! We just have to open our eyes, remember what He has told us and what His Word says, and recognize the work of Christ in our lives!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

"My sin was great, Your love was greater!"

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Song Thoughts: "Build My Life"

Worthy of every song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
We live for You

...

Holy, there is no one like You
There is none beside You
Open up my eyes in wonder...

from "Build My Life" as recorded by Housefires

Wait just a sec. Jesus is holy, yes. There is nobody else holy like He is. That includes me. So that means that every song I could ever sing and every breath I could ever breathe are tainted. Everything I do on this plane of existence is just a little bit messed up. Why would God possibly want the messed-up offering I have of imperfect praise from a person who daily has to fight just to keep from committing a new sin, not to mention the number of sins I've committed over the years of my lifetime? That's like saying "You did good work building me this house! You are worthy of payment! Here's ten cents, plus a half-eaten peppermint I found in my pocket! Sorry about the lint." Why would a holy God possibly want to be worthy of the meager, messed up, out of tune and out of whack praise we would be able to offer?

Within ourselves, we cannot offer God anything of high enough value to honor Him. We don't have anything that valuable. That's why we shouldn't live and exist in the context of our own worthiness - we don't have any! Only Jesus is truly worthy. BUT: the amazingly cool and exciting thing about the message of the cross is that when Jesus died, He took all of our unworthiness down with Him. All of the stain, all the guilt before God of every sin we have committed or will commit, when we choose to accept what He has done for us, is paid for and removed from us!

Jesus made us worthy. Because of that, we can offer praise that God accepts as a sweet scent, an offering fit for the only One holy enough to deserve it. With every breath you breathe, live for Him!