Episode 1456: Worship with Rejoicing

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1, 456 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:07] Chip Baker: I'm Chip Baker. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence, and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to find inspiration, to find success in your life, is is key.

[00:00:26] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Mader. Go get it.

[00:00:37] Scott Maderer: But God is inviting us into a partnership where we can see through God's eyes, see the vision that God has for our lives and for the world. And when we're gathered, we're called into a new way of being a new way of worship. And that is what it means to be called to worship. [00:01:00] Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:01:04] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence.

[00:01:32] In today's Spiritual Foundation episode, I talk about 2 Samuel, chapter 7, verses 1 through 14. I share how sometimes we confuse what we do and what we are called to do, and I also share how sometimes we need to be reminded who is God in our lives. Second Samuel chapter seven verses one through 14 says Now, when the king was settled in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies [00:02:00] around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, see now I'm living in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God stays in a tent.

[00:02:07] And Nathan said to the king, go do all that you have in mind, for the Lord is with you. But that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan. Go and tell my servant David, thus say us the Lord. Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving around in a tent and in a tabernacle.

[00:02:31] Wherever I have moved out among all of the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel, and I've been with you wherever you went.

[00:02:57] And have cut off all your enemies from [00:03:00] before you, and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more. And evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel.

[00:03:19] And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. Amen. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with the ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

[00:03:40] I will be father to him, and he shall be as a son to me. You have to picture as this passage in Samuel begins, David is there sitting on the deck of his new wooden home, or Maybe he's thinking to himself. No, I'm the king. I'm sitting on the parapet of my new [00:04:00] palace. That seems to be a better way of thinking of it.

[00:04:04] He's no longer David the warrior. He's not David the singer of songs. He's not David the David, the tinder of sheep. No, he's the king. Now, you have to imagine that there's got to be a little bit of disbelief going on a little bit of how did I get here going on? And here he is sitting on his balcony and overlooking and seeing his people, all of his people, all of them.

[00:04:33] And they're different kinds. They're different beauties. They're different. procure your nature, they're spread out before him and now they're all looking to him for guidance. Looking for him to be the king. That has to be both terrifying and strengthening at the same time. How can you ever live up to what it means to be the king of your people?[00:05:00]

[00:05:00] Think about that. Your people, his people. And then he looks over at the other end of the balcony and he looks over into the corner of the palace court and there in what looks to be a tent thrown in the corner, like a homeless encampment, there's a tattered canvas leaned to, a flickering flame there paying tributes and prayers written there left scattered about, and cluttered, and all of this as it appears there, abandoned in the corner, and yet this is the true source of his strength.

[00:05:41] And though he thinks to himself, I should do something about this. I should give honor to this. So he calls Nathan. that prophet of the Lord to tell him that, Hey, I want to do something for the Lord of hosts as the king. I want to do something and I want to make this [00:06:00] expansive temple. And he describes it to Nathan.

[00:06:02] And you have to imagine that Nathan looks at him and says, this is a great idea. And yet the thought of this ever present God that they want to bring honor to brings the prophet up short. Ever present. And the voice of God speaks into Nathan's prayers and says, Who asked for a new house? Was it me?

[00:06:27] I haven't had a house for a long time. I brought these people up from Egypt, from slavery, and I haven't had a house the whole time. I brought Lifted David up, from following behind sheep to being in front of the people. I did that. Now maybe sometimes David thinks he did it, but he sometimes gets confused between who's God and who's the king.

[00:06:53] Tell him no, he's not gonna build me a house. Instead, tell him that I will make a house out of [00:07:00] him. Go tell him that. So Nathan turns around and goes to tell David the bad news, or the good news, or whatever news it is, and you have to imagine he's not sure how the king's going to take it. So far this king hasn't flown off the handle like sometimes kings do, but he is a passionate soul.

[00:07:22] He's a singer of songs. He's a musician king. He's a musician king. This shepherd boy is now the ruler of God's people. Many look at him and are amazed at what he has done, what he's made of himself, except God is reminding us that he didn't make it of himself. Instead, Nathan steps back and tells the king the news, maybe sped up a little bit.

[00:07:49] Maybe he leaves a little bit of it out, but the prophet has a way to present the word to the king And he would invite the king to join him in worship. [00:08:00] If you think about that, inviting someone to join into worship. That's what we do on Sunday. We have a portion of worship called the Call to Prayer. And a lot of times we think of that as like the ringing of the bell before a class or the whistle before a train comes.

[00:08:17] That sort of action that just comes along and lets us know, hey, something's happening. It's the referee's whistle. It's a knock to get your attention. It's the clinking on the glass before you make a toast. It's the noise, the words, or the music that says hey, everyone be quiet, settle down, it's about time to start.

[00:08:41] And yes, that is actually part of the function of the call to worship. It's to let people know that we're beginning. But there's more to it. If we actually listen to the words that we say or the songs that we sing, When we gather for worship, there's all sorts of stories [00:09:00] and experiences and backgrounds and motives that people have when they gather together for worship.

[00:09:07] They gather there with certainties and with doubt, with faith and with questions, with hopes and with fears, and this messy wholeness, that's how we gather. And the call to worship is an invitation to worship. To look at things differently, to get a new perspective, a new way of seeing the world. It's not an expectation that we leave.

[00:09:34] all of the world behind when we gather. It's not about leaving it or setting it down so that we can pick it back up again when we leave the worship. We don't honestly leave anything outside when we come to worship or put it aside. We carry all of our baggage with us, all of the sins and the fears and the hopes and the angers and the joys.

[00:09:56] All of that comes into worship with us, [00:10:00] but we're invited or called into a new or renewed way of seeing ourselves and our connection and relationship with God and our connection and our relationship with the wider community, both the community that we're worshiping with and the community in which we live that may not be worshiping with us.

[00:10:22] We're invited into a relationship of support, of acceptance. and worship is where we experience it first. See, David wanted to do something for God. He wanted to build God a house and declare this city, Jerusalem, as the spiritual as well as the political heart of Israel. And that sounds like a good thing, and you can't help but wonder why God was against it. Part of it may be a timing issue. God wanted a house, a temple, but says David's not the one that's going to build it. He also hints a little bit in the story that maybe David likes to do things that [00:11:00] make himself look good and maybe there's a little bit of mixed motive here and he's pushing back against that.

[00:11:06] Maybe David is using a temple of God to actually cement himself. in a good place. Notice that God doesn't say, even through Nathan, no or even not yet. What God says is, look at it from my perspective. Look at it from my point of view. What have I been doing and what will I do with my people? God invites David to shift his perspective and move from I'm the center, David is I'm the center, to God is the center of my life.

[00:11:39] That's the same invitation where we're given in worship. We're reminded that we're not in charge, God is in charge. But God is inviting us into a partnership where we can see through God's eyes, see the vision that God has for our lives and for the world. [00:12:00] And when we're gathered, we're called into a new way of being a new way of worship.

[00:12:05] And that is what it means to be called to worship. Thanks for listening.

[00:12:12] Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor, go over to facebook. com slash inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and market that you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our abilities with time and tips there.

[00:12:55] Until next time, invest your time. Your talent and your [00:13:00] treasures develop your influence and impact the world.