Practically Sanctified

Eric Liddell was a missionary in China with the London Missionary Society. He had quite the life getting there. He had been born in China to missionary parents, but from ages 5 – 23 he spent in England and Scotland in school and university. He became quite the sportsman, leading rugby and cricket teams and setting several records as well for racing. In 1923 he set a British record for the 100 yards at 9.7 seconds, a record that stood for 35 years. He twice won the annual Scottish Amateur Athletic Association’s sprint contests in the 100, 220, and the 440 yard, only the 4th runner to win all three in a single year.
At the 1924 Olympics in Paris he won the bronze medallion in the 200 m finals and gold in the 400 m. The 400 was his second choice as he did not run the 100 because it was on Sunday. The day of the 400 metres race came, and as Liddell went to the starting blocks, an American masseur slipped a piece of paper into Liddell’s hand with a quotation from 1 Samuel 2:30, “Those who honour me I will honour.” Liddell ran with that piece of paper in his hand. He not only won the race, but broke the existing world record with a time of 47.6 seconds.By the end of the following year Eric Liddell was in China, teaching as a missionary.
By 1941 things were getting dangerous in China because of the Japanese/Chinese war so he sent his pregnant wife and 2 daughters to Canada to stay with her family. In 1943 he was interned at a Camp with other missionaries as well as some people from the regular population. He gave up an opportunity to leave the camp, letting a pregnant woman take his place. He died of an inoperable brain tumour 5 months before liberation. Everywhere he went he was a leader and a man of integrity. That’s what stands out to me as I read of his life. Whether it was in sports or ministry or a prisoner, the love and light of Jesus was his reputation in life. He was a man of integrity and lived his faith for all to see.

As we look at this Psalm, then, we look at a bigger picture of life. The Psalmist in these 6 verses gives us quite a variety of approaches to praising God, and so we will dwell here for a few minutes.

1) The first phrase we have connected to praise is location. In God’s sanctuary (in our bodies/life, for we are the temple of God). In the Old Testament there was a very specific place to worship – the temple. You hear that in Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan lady at the well. Jesus expanded on that and post resurrection God’s sanctuary became our the hearts and lives of His followers. This can be connected to the purposes of our lives. In the movie based on the life of Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire, we see Eric’s sister challenging him about running and races when there were so many needs in the world around them. Eric Liddell replied, “I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure.” Where in your life do you feel that? Where in your life do you feel that deep down sense of not just God’s presence, but of His pleasure? John 10:10 says that Jesus came to give us abundant life – and that abundance is connected to why we are here; to why we were created.
Sometimes Bonnie asks me the question, “If I could do anything in my life, anything at all, what would it be?” It is a challenge that is answered out of what we do with Jesus every day. If we answer that question from our self (outside of Jesus); out of our wants and desires, we not only miss that connection we have to the eternal, but we misunderstand what is at the heart of happiness. There’s that bumper sticker that says “He who dies with the most toys wins”, and how empty and sad is that? We need to connect to our creation in Jesus, to the purpose that Philippians 3:12 states that we were laid hold of by Christ for. It is out of that purpose, that relationship with our Creator, that we can answer that question and find true contentment and happiness. Praise the Lord in and through your life.

2) The Psalmist then opens up the location of praise to the mighty expanse – in the whole world around us. The second part of this first verse is connected to the first. As we praise God in our life, in who we are, we will begin to praise Him wherever we go. Remember those verses from Psalm 139? Whether heaven or hell, whether light or dark, God is there with us and knows us in those places. His promise again and again in the Scriptures comes forth that He will never leave us nor forsake us. And so we have Eric Liddell reminding us in his own words that which we have come to know as being “missional”. Worship is co-existent with life. He said, “We are all missionaries. Wherever we go, we either bring people nearer to Christ, or we repel them from Christ.” Where is the hope in Christ, if it does not come from us? Who will share Jesus with our neighbour if we do not? Who will help the homeless if we do not join?
Praising God is about recognizing God’s worth, about living within His priorities, His kingdom. His is a Kingdom of Grace, so we extend that Kingdom of Grace wherever we are. Our mission field is the world around us. Our reach is extended through the missions programs of our churches and of our families as they go places we cannot. They become extensions of our faith, of our witness as we pray. God is so great and mighty and what a privilege to be found useful by Him because of His grace. And this is the next point, which is both obvious and mysterious at the same time.

3) For His deeds – He has done mighty things! As we read the OT stories we see God at work down through the ages. One of the 2 courses offered this fall which we are facilitating here is Tracing the Story of God in the Bible. You can see God at work in history, His love and grace at every turn. You also see righteous judgement which flows out of His holiness. Those deeds are obvious, and the people God used, well, there’s the mystery. Abraham founded a nation, but told Pharaoh Sarah was his sister because he was afraid. David’s sins are legendary. Moses was prevented from entering the Promised Land because of his sins. Ananias and Sapphira were struck down dead when caught in a lie. The mystery is that God uses ordinary people, people who struggle not just with small things, but big things. God chose to use a person to help found two world-wide charismatic movements back in the late 60’s even though he struggled with homosexuality. Nobody could deny God’s power was there, but why him? A Campus Crusade for Christ worker struggled with that, because he did all the right things and said all the right things, and went to all the right places, but he didn’t receive the same kind of power from God. God is Sovereign, and His grace unfathomable.
Never compare yourself to another, but look to God for who you are and where you are going. That is the truth that comes out of this. It also helps us to understand perhaps God’s greatest work – Salvation. God has done a work in you that is better than any of us deserved. That is grace, and He offered it while we were yet sinners. And God is still doing that work – whether you are 6 or 86. Praise God for saving us from our sins, for deliverance from our bondage to sin. Ezekiel 36:26 talks about God removing our heart of stone, and replacing it with a heart of flesh. Romans 6:20 talks about us being slaves to sin, and it is from this bondage we are saved. Salvation is not just eternal life – it is much bigger than that. Our salvation is to result in sanctification; to be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the likeness of Jesus Christ; to be changed so that we may love more completely. For those who think love is mamby-pamby, you couldn’t be more wrong. Have another look at the tough love in the life of Jesus; of the tough love of God as He bared His holy arm in the Old Testament. Stand up, take a stand, love, and praise the Lord.

4) With instruments – stuff at hand. Lastly, we are encouraged to make some noise; a joyful noise about our faith. Half the Psalm (3 verses) focuses on this. It is ironic that probably more churches have split over the issue of music than any other thing in the last 50 years. Look at the words: trumpet, harp and lyre, timbrel and dancing, stringed instruments and pipe, and cymbals… twice. How can we allow the differences of culture break our fellowship? It ultimately doesn’t matter what we use, as long as in sincerity we give it to God. Practically anything can be an instrument, a tool in praise to god. Eric Liddell used his ability to run as a means of both worship and outreach. My twin brother Dan uses his fondness of remote control planes to connect with unbelievers so that he may be a bit of spiritual salt in their lives. Whenever we come against differences we need to find what is most important. God has said it is not the sacrifices nor the offerings, nor the buildings or programs that pleases Him. It is the heart that is after Him. Let’s make it our goal this year to echo that verse that challenges us in whatever we do, in word or deed, to do all to the glory of God. Whatever it is we are involved with, do it to reveal who God is. Do it to reveal God’s character in you. Speak with blessings to those around you  that you may glorify His name.
Whatever your circumstances, whatever your situation, praise the Lord.
Listen to this encouragement from James 1: 2 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials…” Know that God is sovereign; that He who began a good work in you will finish it. Know that God is in control. Live your life within those parameters and God will use you greatly. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

John 4:20-26 “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

It is hard to pull together the barrage of media and news from around the world. This morning there could be a coup in Nigeria and we would hear about it by tonight. Hindus in Orissa attacked Christians, killing several and causing the rest to flee into the jungles. You can read Time magazine online and find out the top 25 people to blame for the America’s and the world’s financial crisis. You read about thousands laid off in countries all around the world. I spent time this week trying to help two brothers who hitch-hiked into town from Nova Scotia with nothing but the clothes on their back. It begs the question—”What are we doing here? Who am I in the midst of this?”

Place of Worship – in you
As God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, freeing them from bondage, He revealed to them that His dwelling place would be the tabernacle. On Wednesday I was doing an Outcome Inventory as part of my educational requirements for the District and I sat in an unused office in Rock of Ages Church. On a side counter there sat a little model about 2 feet long of the tabernacle. As a kid I had a Sunday school teacher who specialized in explaining how the elements contained in the tabernacle and temple were types or symbols that ultimately led to Jesus. The tabernacle was replaced by Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Wrecked in the Babylonian invasion the Jews appreciated grudgingly the work Herod was doing in the time of Jesus on the new temple. It would be completed in 63 AD, and destroyed 7 years later when Rome overran Jerusalem. Because the Samaritans were considered impure and not true Jews, they could not worship in Jerusalem. So they set up their own rival temple on Mt Gerazim. Jesus, though, talked of a fundamental change. The grace of God through the death of Jesus was offered to all, both Jew and Gentile. The location was no longer physical, but spiritual.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:17; 6:19; and 2 Corinthians 6:16 that we are the temple of God, that God dwells within us. You are the repository of the Creator of the ends of the earth. We don’t need to put gold on our ceilings or marble on our floors. What we do need to do is use these bodies we have for God’s honour and glory. This is why we Nazarenes ask our members to be sober and stay away from entertainment practices that can lead us away from worshipping God with our minds and bodies. These things become idols all too easily. They take our eyes off Jesus, off the holiness of God. They draw us in pursuit of our own pleasure and quickly become a distraction from keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. In the middle of the book of Acts a church council sends a letter to all the churches saying, “Stay away from eating meat offered to idols.” A while later we see Paul in a letter saying it is okay to eat meat offered to idols. The fact is there are many things in life that just aren’t worth the effort it takes to do them. They are distracting to our faith, our families, our integrity. You have to live within the context of Christ in you. It doesn’t start with what you do. It starts with the fact that God is in you and goes from there. What does go from there? Well…

Method of Worship – in your heart
This is something that should be self-evident, but often is not. We come to church, or go to work or school or just sit in the privacy of our homes. We think we are alone, or at least, our thoughts and hearts are well guarded. Don’t fool yourself. It isn’t about clothes or location; it isn’t even about action to begin with, that comes later. Jesus said it is about worshiping in spirit. It is about intention, about agendas. God knows our inner thoughts. He knew in the Old Testament when the Priests would offer up sacrifices, but were robbing the people. He knew when Achan had in private stolen treasure when he was forbidden. He knows, as Jeremiah states, that our hearts are deceitful and wicked. He knows how often we fail and fall short. But you know what? His grace is bigger than our failures and He asks us to come back to Him. He knows when we don’t and just go through the motions. Jonathon Edwards preached a sermon in 1741 called “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”. He talked about the end result of living a life running against or away from God. He said it is only in Jesus that you can find peace and assurance of the future. So don’t get caught up in the sense that you are somehow escaping the notice of God. This is good news and bad news. Good if you are pursuing Jesus, bad if you are running your own life. There is probably 30 different reasons why we came here this morning. Most of us came to meet God. Rest in His love, in His grace. If you are far from Him, listen to Him calling to you.
When we worship in Spirit, we worship in intention. We purposely do things for God, because He leads us. The incarnation is a prime example of that. Jesus intentionally left heaven to accomplish the will of the Father. It was an act of service. One of the last things Jesus did for the disciples was to wash their feet. Remember that story? Peter said, “No- not me. That is a job for the servants.” When Jesus rebuked him Peter said then wash all of me because I want to be all I can be in you. Worshipping God in Spirit is intention played out in action. In Bible College I had a professor say that “service is the highest form of worship”. Almost everything you do can be worship when you do it in the attitude of service to God and one another. You can do the same thing and it could mean nothing because your intention was not for God, but for yourself. The challenge is live your life as an act of worship, moving from one thing to the next with the continuing sense of the presence of God in your life.

Focus of Worship – Christ in us
Jesus said to worship in spirit and in truth. The ultimate truth is reality. One can talk about homes and food and love, but if we lived in many, many places in the world it would not be reality. As we watched gas prices go up and down, as we watch the stock markets bottom out, we begin to ask what lasts? I read another article yesterday on how they need to look at climate change happening sooner than later because it can get into a self serving circle with the melting of the northern tundra and how that could release 3 times the amount of CO2 than we have released since the dawn of the industrial age in a matter of decades. What will the world look like for our children’s children? The only unchanging thing I know is the character of God. It is what He bases His promises in – His unchanging character of love and holiness. That is why the Old Testament has the rules it does. It reflects His holiness and the seriousness of sin. It also reflects His love and striving with us, His patience. Is it any wonder that these two things are what God calls us to? Love and holiness. Christianity isn’t rules for rules sake. It is about reflecting the life of Jesus in us.
One would think it would be easier to live by rules. It’s not. You would always be waiting for judgement, always wondering how far short you missed the mark, no assurance of God’s love; just Damacle’s sword of judgement hanging above us while we struggle and keep falling short. How much better it is to live in grace. Unmerited favour. Letting our behaviour flow out of who we are in Christ. And if we fall short, there is forgiveness and the grace to go on. There is assurance based on love and promises of salvation.

So go from today with a sense of the presence of God in your life, for you are the temple of God. Take the time throughout your week to keep short accounts. God is closer than a text message or a tweet. He is with you always. Just make the choice to live in His power and direction, and He will come and lead you on, in spirit and truth.