May 19th, 2025
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Why Do You Go To Church?
One Sunday a visitor showed up in a more formal, liturgical church than he was used to attending. The church was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. That made it all the more obvious when this visitor got excited about something the minister said and he shouted out “Praise the Lord!”
What was second nature to this newcomer was behavior that shocked and even scared the faithful in this setting where they were not used to such exuberant expressions of worship. Nobody had ever done anything like that before.
One of the regular attenders leaned forward and tapped the man on the shoulder and whispered, “We don’t praise the Lord around here.”
Someone seated nearby heard this exchange and they said, “Yes we do. It’s on page 15 of the Lectionary.” (From Steve Greene, a Nazarene Pastor)
In the second chapter of John, we learn of Jesus going into the Temple just before Passover and seeing the detestable acts of the religious leaders buying and selling the animals for personal profit from the people who had gone there to worship God and make sacrifices for their sins. These leaders racket involved taking advantage of the greatest spiritual act God’s people could perform. They were dependent upon this exercise of faith to have their sins forgiven by bringing the best animals they had and giving them to God. The people came to pray while the religious leaders came to prey on their faith by rejecting their animals, selling them “better ones” and offering to take the rejected ones off their hands so they didn’t have to deal with the troublesome issue of herding them back home over the miles. Then, they would turn around and sell the rejected beast to some other unsuspecting worshiper of God.
Jesus, in his anger, overturned the tables used for commerce, took a whip and drove the animals (their merchandise) out of the Temple declaring, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” Matthew’s account (21:13) has Jesus saying, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers (or thieves).
Why do you go to church? Is it to perform a religious duty? Is it to make business connections from the community? Is it just to see your friends? Is it to show off your new threads? Is it to make other people and God think you are better than you are? It appears that Jesus and the faithful people who came to the Temple in our text were there to pray and seek a relationship with God while the religious leaders were there to fleece the flock of God.
Hebrews 10:22-25 (NIV) gives us an example of what should be on our hearts when we gather to worship God, “…let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
When we go to worship in our church services, we must be first and foremost seeking closeness with our loving God who has saved us through the blood of His Son, Jesus. Second, we should come to share in the encouragement back and forth with our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we can love each other and God more. Third, we should come together to perform the kind works that glorify God and encourage each other to cling to our hope in him.
Everyone should go to church! We should not give up meeting together as verse 25 commands, but when we go, we must ask ourselves the riveting question, “Why am I going to church?”
This Sunday we will continue our series, Holy Stories, with a message taken from Luke 18:1-8 titled, Endless Prayer Meeting. Jesus’ parable of the woman seeking justice from an unrighteous judge guides us to never give up on our prayers. Come and be encouraged.
For all the right reasons,
Jon
Why Do You Go To Church?
One Sunday a visitor showed up in a more formal, liturgical church than he was used to attending. The church was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. That made it all the more obvious when this visitor got excited about something the minister said and he shouted out “Praise the Lord!”
What was second nature to this newcomer was behavior that shocked and even scared the faithful in this setting where they were not used to such exuberant expressions of worship. Nobody had ever done anything like that before.
One of the regular attenders leaned forward and tapped the man on the shoulder and whispered, “We don’t praise the Lord around here.”
Someone seated nearby heard this exchange and they said, “Yes we do. It’s on page 15 of the Lectionary.” (From Steve Greene, a Nazarene Pastor)
In the second chapter of John, we learn of Jesus going into the Temple just before Passover and seeing the detestable acts of the religious leaders buying and selling the animals for personal profit from the people who had gone there to worship God and make sacrifices for their sins. These leaders racket involved taking advantage of the greatest spiritual act God’s people could perform. They were dependent upon this exercise of faith to have their sins forgiven by bringing the best animals they had and giving them to God. The people came to pray while the religious leaders came to prey on their faith by rejecting their animals, selling them “better ones” and offering to take the rejected ones off their hands so they didn’t have to deal with the troublesome issue of herding them back home over the miles. Then, they would turn around and sell the rejected beast to some other unsuspecting worshiper of God.
Jesus, in his anger, overturned the tables used for commerce, took a whip and drove the animals (their merchandise) out of the Temple declaring, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” Matthew’s account (21:13) has Jesus saying, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers (or thieves).
Why do you go to church? Is it to perform a religious duty? Is it to make business connections from the community? Is it just to see your friends? Is it to show off your new threads? Is it to make other people and God think you are better than you are? It appears that Jesus and the faithful people who came to the Temple in our text were there to pray and seek a relationship with God while the religious leaders were there to fleece the flock of God.
Hebrews 10:22-25 (NIV) gives us an example of what should be on our hearts when we gather to worship God, “…let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
When we go to worship in our church services, we must be first and foremost seeking closeness with our loving God who has saved us through the blood of His Son, Jesus. Second, we should come to share in the encouragement back and forth with our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we can love each other and God more. Third, we should come together to perform the kind works that glorify God and encourage each other to cling to our hope in him.
Everyone should go to church! We should not give up meeting together as verse 25 commands, but when we go, we must ask ourselves the riveting question, “Why am I going to church?”
This Sunday we will continue our series, Holy Stories, with a message taken from Luke 18:1-8 titled, Endless Prayer Meeting. Jesus’ parable of the woman seeking justice from an unrighteous judge guides us to never give up on our prayers. Come and be encouraged.
For all the right reasons,
Jon
Recent
Archive
2025
April
2024
January
September
November
2023
Categories
no categories
Tags
no tags
No Comments