Worship and Sin

Many people are failing to worship God because of their sin.How many times have you invited a friend to church and they say i will come to church after i have worked on myself. They usually say ‘ let me first work on myself then i will come to church’

The challenge is there have been preachers that have said for you to come to Christ you have to first deal with yourself first, let go of your sins then come to Christ. This is so messed up because by ourselves we have no ability to deal with sin!

God wants us to come to him in spite of ourselves, in spite of our sin, in spite of our shortcomings. God is not looking for perfect people because there is none good, no not one as Romans 3:23 lets us know.Jesus was always derided by the Pharisees because of his association with people who were sinners, but in his defense he said he came to seek and save the lost. God has no problem with sin, he dealt with it on the cross. Why then do we let our sin come between us and God.

Now one might be wondering where i am going with this. One of the greatest deceptions is to think that you can sort out your righteousness and then come and worship God. The fallacy of this is that when you come to God it is no longer about what Christ did on the cross but about what you have done in making yourself a better person. Remember the case of the self righteous pharisee and the sinner in the temple- you can check out a previous post i did about self righteousness by clicking here. Just hang in there as i build my case on worship and sin.

In Luke 7:37-48

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

It is interesting that the writer of the texts firsts points out that the woman was a sinner. And yet when this sinner heard of the presence of Jesus she came and poured an alabaster box of ointment. She basically came and worshiped Jesus. And when the others were angry because Jesus was being worshiped by a sinner the response of Jesus is that of one who did not care about the sins that this woman had committed. She applauds the woman for her act of worship then says her sins are forgiven. Amazing hey. Especially since everyone in that room had sins but because they did not worship there is no mention of the forgiveness of their sins.

It is not our sins that cause us to fail to worship but it is our failure to worship that cause us not to be forgiven of our sins. Worship is submission to God and the devil has deceived us so much that we do not submit to God in worship so he can deal with our sinful nature but we seek our own righteousness and in so doing fail to submit to the lordship of Jesus. That is why Jesus in Mathew 21:31 tells the pharisees that harlots and tax collectors will enter the kingdom of heaven before them.

This is why worship is so important and the devil has been trying for millenniums to get people to worship him. His main aim is that people worship and serve the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever! When we truly worship God our lives are changed, when we truly worship God the desire to sin is replaced by a desire to please God. It is the grace of God that leads man to repentance. And that grace is accessed as we worship!

We know the story of Zacchaeus

And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.  ( Luke 19:2-10 )

Zacchaeus sought to see who Jesus was, i call this the wonder in worship. If we can allow whoever to come and see Jesus glorified in worship, i promise you Jesus will speak to the sinner just like he did with Zacchaeus. Can you note that Jesus never told Zacchaeus to return what he had stolen. If it was today that would have been the first port of call for the preacher. It was just the presence of Jesus that convicted Zacchaeus and led him to want to re-compensate from all those he had stolen from. It is only the presence of Jesus that can change the sinner into the saint. It cannot work in reverse, you cant be trying to deal with your sin then you come to Jesus. You come to Jesus in worship and he deals with your sin!