An Act of God

Malachi 1:6, 8, 11, 13

    A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ 8And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the LORD of hosts. For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations,” Says the LORD of hosts. 12“But you profane it, In that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is defiled; And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’  13You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” Says the LORD of hosts. "And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” Says the LORD.

Today we consider the call to worship, the first thing in the actual worship service. The call to worship is an act of God. Yes, you heard me right, God speaks, through His Word, calling us to worship Him. It doesn’t matter if we are reading it responsively ourselves – God is then speaking through us, to us.

            The call to worship is an invitation to enter His presence, but more than that, a summons, a command. We are to assemble and present ourselves before the Lord, and to worship Him. Come, let us worship and bow down. Shout to the Lord, all the earth. Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. Many of these are calls to sing to God, so a two pronged call to confession today. Be not half-hearted in your preparations, or in your singing. If you give little effort to prepare for worship, you will find yourself still getting oriented and tuning in, when God is already speaking to you. We don’t tolerate toddlers only half-listening to their parents. Employers aren’t interested in workers who don’t show up on time. God had to speak 3 times before Eli figured it out. Why should we give God such little honor like that? Be ready to hear God speak the first time. And be prepared to DO what the call to worship calls you to do. Sing a new song. Kneel. Bless the Lord. Give God’s name glory.

5/20/12