Sermon: Worship Cotter Pins Summary: In order for our worship to be meaningful at connect with God, it needs to be accompanied with humility, compassion, and ethical living. If worship does not reflect the attitude of daily life, it is empty and hypocritical worship that God does not accept. Know: Worship that is pleasing to God must be part of a lifestyle of Christian virtue Feel: The desire to honor God in all things, not just periods of worship Do: Reflect on that parts of life that are not formal worship, in other words, every time but Sunday morning, and how they should glorify God. Text: Jer 7:1-7 Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:8 Intro: 1. Boys building some homemade go carts and racing them a. Wheel came off, lost and injured b. What happened? Forgot cotter pin 2. Cotter Pin a. Used to keep two pieces of equipment connected b. Remember when pin came off of wheel, wheel came off, all fell apart c. Worship needs cotter pins if it is going to connect d. Without cotter pins, wheels will come off and worship will go nowhere 3. (Jer 7:1-7) Will look this morning at several cotter pins necessary for worship a. Goes on to remind them that he made Shiloh desolate - That is where the Tabernacle was, and the Ark - God says he will do the same to the tabernacle - They needed to stop trusting in deception b. Don't trust in deception - We are the true religion - We worship in correct form - I go to the Church of Christ every Sunday 4. Jeremiah gives us some cotter pins for worship I. Amend Your Ways: Obedience A. (Jer 7:21-23) Sounds very New Testament - Not about sacrifice B. What does God want? 1. God is not after burnt offerings or sacrifice a. He didn't command Israel concerning those things b. First thing he did was call for loyalty, not rituals 2. It is no different with us a. He is not interested in ritual b. Money in plate, communion, attendance, etc. c. God doesn't want your attendance, he wants you 3. Listen to what he is telling you today a. Obey my voice, I will be your God, you will be my child b. Is not saying - Come to church every Sunday c. That is only a demonstration of loyalty d. Loyalty is what he wants C. ILL: Chuck Swindoll tells story about a business owner 1. Was going to go abroad, left company in hands of employees a. I am going to be gone for a long time b. Watch the business closely and tend to it c. I'll write letters to you to know what to do until I return 2. Gone for couple of years, writes his instructions regularly 3. Finally, he returns, but place is in a shambles a. Weeds overgrown out front b. Windows broken, trash inside, secretary dozing c. Loud music from several offices, people horseplaying 4. Call everyone together - "Didn't you get my letters?" a. Oh yes, we did. We even bound them into a book b. We have letter study twice a week, even memorized them c. We even meet once a week to remember and honor you and even read passages from your letters D. God is not merely interested in worship services and Bible study 1. We can study the letters and honor the author once a week 2. If we are not obedient, none of that is acceptable to God 3. He wants obedience, devotion, and love II. Execute Justice: Compassion A. Talking about relationships with other people - If you don't treat others right, God doesn't accept worship B. There is a word in the Bible that expresses what God wants: Hesed 1. (Hos 6:1-6) Here, the prophets quote the attitude of the people a. The have faith that God will relent if they return to God b. They believe that God is reliable and will restore them c. God's response: - Their "loyalty" or lovingkindness, love, mercy, is like morning fog - Sun comes up and burns it away - God delights in "hesed" rather than sacrifice - Knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings d. God doesn't want loyalty, but "hesed" 2. Jesus applies this passage twice, first is Matt 9 a. Matt 9 - Called Matthew, a tax collector, ate with many b. Need to understand Tax Collector's reputation - Seen as dishonest, charged commission - People often at their mercy - Modern day - Like getting chummy with slum lords c. Pharisees questioned this d. (v.12-13) Jesus quotes from Hosea 6:6 3. Matt 12 - Sabbath, disciples hungry, pick heads of grain and eat a. Pharisees challenged Jesus for disciples not doing lawful b. Jesus points out time when David and men hungry - Went to priest, only thing to eat consecrated bread - Only people to eat it were priests - David and his men ate it c. (12:7) Jesus quotes from Hos 6:6 4. Hesed is not about doing the right steps in a ritual a. Hesed is about living a life of loyalty, mercy, and love b. God delights in Hesed, not rituals c. Hesed is about both integrity and compassion c. Can't despise, mistreat, be unscrupulous to other people and be right with God C. ILL: Story about woman seeing a boy standing in alley 1. Standing by hot air register to keep warm a. Boy obviously dirt poor b. Ratty old jacket, toes sticking out shoes 2. Man took him into department store a. Bought him a new coat b. New thick socks and shoes 3. Took him across street and fed him at restaurant 4. Boy asked - "Are you God's wife?" a. Taken aback, she said, "No, I'm just one of his children" b. Boy said, "I figured you must be some relation to him." D. Compassion demonstrates the character of God 1. Its easy to ignore those out on the fringes 2. But Jesus didn't do this, he invited them in 3. Didn't care what people thought, only cared what God thought 4. Worship goes hand in hand with compassion III. Do not oppress, shed blood: Ethics A. People had unscrupulouse business practices B. The prophet Amos gives a picture of this 1. People hated justice a. Didn't want what was right b. They wanted what was profitable 2. Trampled the poor a. If you were rich, could bribe judges at the gate b. If you were poor, you were out of luck c. Probably take away your house and what little you have 3. It was a might makes right world a. Probably considered normal practice b. People ridiculed prophets like Amos who condemned this practice c. Not unlike the world we live in today 4. (Amos 5:21-24) - God rejected their worship a. God wants justice and righteousness to flow like a stream b. He wants ethical people C. ILL: Stuart Briscoe tells of being hired by a bank 1. One day, boss told him, "If ____ calls for me, tell him I'm out." a. Briscoe: "Oh, are you going someplace?" b. "No, I don't want to talk to him, tell him I'm out." 2. Briscoe: "Let me get this straight, you want me to lie for you?" 3. Boss blew up at him, was enraged 4. Briscoe prayed to God for insight and wisdom, then said a. "You should be happy…" b. "If I wont like for you, isn't it safe to assume I wont lie to you?" D. What do you do in situations like this? 1. Perhaps think have to put on a different mask, hat, etc. for job 2. Because everyone else cheats to get ahead, I need to 3. Other people in this business are hard and unscrupulous, so I need to be as well. 4. If that is our thought, God will reject our worship IV. Do not go after other gods: A Clean Heart Ps 24 A. Our loyalty to God should be our love for God B. (Psalm 24:3-6) - Who can approach God? 1. This is basically everything we have been talking about 2. Clean hands, pure heart, no falsehood, no deceitful promises 3. This is obedience, compassion, and ethical living 4. Jesus - "Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God" C. ILL: Imagine what like for God 1. When our boys were babies, a. Get dirty, get them cleaned up b. Used to love to hug them after bath c. Clothes smelt fresh, they smell like baby lotion d. I sometimes wonder if that is how it might be for God 2. Imagine at a wedding, everything is beautiful a. A man comes stumbling in b. Had been working in the sewer, then got drunk c. Didn't bother to change, but showed up at wedding d. They might escort him out of there D. When we are disobedient, uncompassionate, unethical, 1. That is what it is like when we show up for worship 2. But if we approach with pure heart, it is a delight to him Concl: 1. Do you want to connect with God? a. Then you need these cotter pins b. Starts with becoming clean (invitation) 2. Which of these cotter pins are missing from your life? 3. Close with reading of 15th Psalm