Preparing For Worship

 

FRI EP Reflection 060421 (Luke 18: 9-14)

We live in a world that encourages us to be confident, assertive and forward looking, all of which are great assets to have. As it turns out, we can not export this same thinking into holiness. How would one respond to the question: Are you holy? Without being defensive, and look at the question objectively from a pure heart as non-accusing and unassuming, we quickly realize that in our response, we all tend to look into our past… It surprises me that something in us reacts strongly to a possible accusation even if accusation is not intended. I would say this is really not a bad thing because, this introspection can help us reach the turning point in our life, something is happening/beginning. Introspection can be a great ally for those considering change. Jesus saw the hearts of those who were entering the temple to pray. He told a parable in response to those who trusted themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.

We recognize that there is a standard of holiness that is expected. Could it be that we know for sure that we fall short of this standard? Jesus mentions in his parable the case of the Pharisee: “standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector.” It is in our nature to rate ourselves better. J.C Ryle wrote: “We are all naturally self-righteous. It is the family disease of all the children of Adam.” Father, forgive us with all our filthy rags! Someone wrote recently in response to the quote. [Isaiah 64: 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags] Again often we try to put ourselves in the better category and deny that we have never been in this position before. But the truth is that when we put others down, we are demonstrating in fact, that we are better than them. Deep down we think we are pure, righteous and others are just the opposite. We couldn’t be further from the truth. Our facts are hardly on our side: The Pharisee listed what he did to qualify as righteous. Jesus demonstrated that this position (featuring the Pharisee) is exactly where we should not be.

But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Wherever he was, he recognized that he fell short of God’s standards. He had faith in God’s mercy, even if he stood far off, demonstrating that he felt unworthy to even be in God’s house. Jesus’ comment was: “I tell you; this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

This whole idea of exalting ourselves is not appreciated in heavenly places whereas in today’s world, you have to advocate for yourself, plump up your resume in such a way that you elaborate all the impressive parts of it that makes you a distinct candidate. It shows the importance of knowing the distinction between the ways of the world and the Kingdom of God. We need to prepare before going to worship, what do you do? Ecclesiastes 5: 1 offers some wisdom: “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near and listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.” We need to prepare our hearts to worship him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

We need to prepare our confession from the heart as we admit that we have sinned “in thought, word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone” because sin is much broader than we think. We can always pray something as simple as: “Lord forgive me for every spot that I tarnished my heart and my soul with.” Jesus said that the Tax collector went home justified. This makes me think that we can actually kid ourselves that all is well when in fact, it isn’t. In the parable, it is possible to think that the Pharisee might also have gone home thinking he is justified. But Jesus tells us otherwise. The danger here is in the attitude of our hearts. We need to seriously consider an overhaul/revamp of the way we prepare our hearts for worship.

Be blessed!