I guess whether or not someone can bow or does bow isn’t all that matters.

                      No, there’s more to worship than a bow.

                      There’s the direction we bow.

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

I want to worship in spirit and in truth, don’t you? Jesus said that’s a must – an essential.

           So, we have to grasp what that means.

           This morning, I want us to consider how to make sure we are worshiping in truth,

in other words, that we’re not just bowing, but that we’re bowing in the right direction.

The reason for this message is simple:

                      We too easily get misdirected in our worship of God.

                      We too easily end up bowing in the wrong direction,

                                 so our worship gets out of sync with the way God wants it.

How can we be sure?

           I want to offer some helps this morning.

Worship in Spirit and Truth…

I. Is Always Directed to God

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. NIV

What are some of the created things that people sometimes worship instead of God?

           What shouldn’t I be worshiping?
Not idols

Now, that’s easy, isn’t it? At least, in our culture it’s easy.

           There are many religions in the world today, caught up in the worship of idols.

Everyday, millions are bowing down and praying and making sacrifices to images of gold and stone and wood.

           We don’t have idols.

                      We don’t have images or things that we would actually place ahead of God,

                                 or devote our time or resources or adoration to. Right?

                                            (pictures of some of our “idols” showing while saying this)

           Boy, I’m glad we don’t, because that would just be the height of foolishness, wouldn’t it?

I love how the OT views the foolishness of idolatry.

Jeremiah 10:3-5 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. 5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good."

But, since, you know, we don’t have any idols,

           I really don’t need to say much about our worship being misdirected to idols –

                      our time, our money, our emotions, our energy, our thoughts, our loyalty –

                                 pretty much we don’t have to worry about that, right?

Not People

I also shouldn’t be directing my worship to people.
Not to preachers, teachers, authors, musicians, celebrities, or even your perfect spouse.

                      That’s not where worship belongs.

           Do we ever do it?

                      We’re at least capable of it.

A man named Cornelius asked God for help.

           God sent that help in the form of Simon Peter.

                      He came to Cornelius’ house.
Acts 10:25-26 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself."

Cornelius wasn’t trying to do anything wrong.

                      He just needed to learn about where to direct his worship.

           We need to be careful to not put people in a position that humans don’t deserve.

                      Only God is to be revered.

                                 Only God is to be worshiped.

Not Angels

A few years back, the subject of angels became very popular.

           People liked the idea of heavenly interaction here on earth.

                      Christian bookstores had shelves full of books about angels.

           Why not?

After all, they’re powerful, they’re good, and the Bible cites the way they’re used by God to help us.

                      They’re awe-inspiring.

They must be, because the words most often spoken by them when they appear to someone are “Fear not!”

What’s wrong with special attention to angels?

           Let me direct you to a scene in Revelation.

                      It happens twice.

John is being shown the scene in heaven, and it becomes more than he can handle at times. There’s an angel showing him around.

           Here’s what happens at one point:
Revelation 19:10 - At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

                      The same thing, almost exactly, happens in ch 22.

           John wasn’t intending to mess up.

                      He just temporarily misdirected his worship.

                                 When John’s worship was directed to an angel, the angel said, “Don’t do it!”

           Interestingly, there are a number of times that people directed worship to Jesus,

                      but He never once tried to stop them.

                      He never said, “Don’t do it!’

                                 That’s because worship given to Jesus isn’t misdirected!

Not Nature

Another misdirected, feel-good form of worship gives adoration to nature itself.

            It sounds very environmental, very green, very tolerant…and it’s very wrong.

                      It’s a choice to worship created things rather than the Creator.

           We can misdirect our worship to nature by simply letting our appreciation for nature

                      replace our love for the One Who created it and sustains it.

           The Bible points to creation as a way that God’s glory is declared.

                      I’ll be the first to tell you that everyone needs to spend some time in it and to wonder at it.

                      But if you love the God who made green grass and beautiful bodies of water,

                                 then be consistent in your worship of Him.

                      Let nature inspire your worship of God,

                                 not hinder you from joining with others in your worship of God.

                      Worship should be directed to God, not nature.

Not Stuff

Maybe you’ve seen a bumper sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys wins.”

           I’d like to make an answer to that: He who dies with the most toys…is in big trouble.

           God warns us that greed is actually a form of misdirected worship.
Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

           Do you realize that living your life for stuff,

                      is just as foolish as the person who bows down to a block of wood and worships it?

                      That’s because they’re both worshiping the created thing rather than the Creator.

God didn’t give us gold, or silver or colors or sounds or technology so that we’d place them ahead of Him.

                      Exodus 20:3 - “You shall have no other gods before me.”

           We need to make sure we are bowing in the right direction.

II. Is Not Directed at ME

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

It’s possible to be in this place today, go through all the right motions,

           to have all the appearances of rightly-directed worship,

and all along the way to be completely self-absorbed, self-serving, and wrong?

This is the very thing that Jesus condemned in the Pharisees.

                      They had all the outer trappings, but in the end,

                                 their worship was really misdirected to themselves instead of to God.

                      Their prayers were for show;

                                 their giving to the poor was for show;

                                            their dress was for show;

                                                       they fasted for show.

                      In the end, their worship was misdirected

                                 because it all pointed attention to themselves and not to God.

Matthew 23:27-28 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Right worship doesn’t point people to ME.

What was it Jesus said? “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and tell you you’re a great guy or lady; that they may see your good works and give you the recognition you deserve; that they may see your worship and wish they were as good as you”?

           No! It’s to be done so that they may see your good works

and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

We can’t be bowing in the right direction, and inwardly be making ourselves the center of it all.

There’s another way this can happen, and that’s when my concern about worship is what I want.

           We have heard the following said many times when it comes to our worship services:

                      Its to hot, or its to cold in here.

                      The lights are too bright, or they are to dim.

                      The sound is way to loud, or it to soft.

                      The songs were way to fast, or they were way to slow.

                      The hymns were to old fashioned, the choruses were to modern.

                      The music was too traditional, the music was to contemporary.

                      The sermon was way to long, the sermon was too short.

                      The sermon was to intellectual, it was to shallow.

                      The people are really friendly, the people are to stuffy.

                      The preacher needs to wear a suit, he needs to dress more casually.

           When did worship become about what I like, what makes me feel good, what I enjoy,

                      Instead of what brings glory to God?

           Are we worshiping God or our self and our wants and wishes?

                                 Finally, worship in the right direction…

III. Has the Right Amount of Concern for Other Worshipers

Let’s read it one more time:

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

Jesus told a parable in Mt 20 about a man who owned a vineyard.

           He went out early in the morning to hire men to pick grapes.

                      He promised to pay them the standard day’s wages, and sent them out.

           A few hours later, he found some more guys and hired them too.

                      “I’ll pay you whatever’s right.”

           2 more times, he went out and found some more guys.

So, the long day was over, and the workers were all lined up to be paid.

           Some had worked all day, and some had worked just a few hours.

           The guys who had worked just a few hours were paid first.

                      They were all given a whole day’s wages.

           The guys who’d worked all day were watching.

                      They figured they’d be paid more, but they got the same thing – standard day’s wages.

           You can imagine how they felt.

                      So, they complained.

“Hey! These last guys worked one hour, and you’ve made them equal to us. We worked all day! That’s not fair!”

                                 The owner basically told him to stop complaining.

                                            He wanted to be generous, and that’s his business if he wants to.

The point of the story is, God will be generous with people who don’t deserve it, because He chooses to be generous.

           I’ll tell you as a person whom God has forgiven, that I’m one of those undeserving people.

Now, am I in any position to get jealous about God’s goodness to someone else?

Let’s not be distracted in our worship of God, by being concerned about who has received more blessings from God.

                      Instead, we need to be happy for them and thankful to God for blessing them so greatly.

It’s the end of the gospel of John – ch 21.

           Jesus has just finished reassuring Peter, telling Peter that he will become great servant for Him.

                      But in doing so, his service would one day cost Peter his life.

           Then, with the same words He had used to first call Peter to join Him, Jesus said, “Follow Me!”

In verse 20 it says, that Peter turned and saw that John was following them.

           “What about him?” Peter asked Jesus.

                      Peter has just been told that one day he’ll be suffering for Jesus.

                                 What about John?

                                 What does he get?

                                 Will he get by with something less difficult?

John 21:20-21-22 When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."
Loosely paraphrased, Jesus looks at Peter and says, “So?”

Now, put this all in the context of worship.
Is it possible that we could come into the presence of Jesus and

                      somehow have our eyes on the people around us, instead of God?

           Are we more worried about what is going on in their life, than how we are worshiping God?

           Are we jealous of their talents or blessings?

                      Are we resentful of the attention they receive?

                                 Are we focusing on others or on God?

           Do you really think that God wants us to worship Him with that kind of an attitude?

I’ll tell you, if we can all just get this straight,

           if we can all get our worship pointed in the right direction,

                      it has the potential, to make us all concerned with the right things,

                                 when we worship together.

           Like:

                      What can we change, or improve upon, in our worship service,

                                 that might help others to want to come and worship with us?

                      How might my presence here,

                                 my being on board,

                                 paying attention,

                                 being sincere,

                                 participating,

                                            encourage someone else to worship?

What am I doing that is distracting others who are seeking to worship God?

           I remember a lady back in Florida, Ina Mae Jarrett.

                      She was the wife of one of our elders.

           She sang in the choir, which sit in the middle of the stage facing the audience.

                      She sit in the middle of the front row.

Every Sunday, right after she had been served communion, and the choir received communion first, she would get out a piece of candy, that was wrapped in some kind of foil, and open it up and put it in her mouth.

           Now, at this moment everything was quiet in the church, as communion was being served.

                      Everything but her!

                      You could hear that wrapper being opened and then crumpled up all over the church.

                                 It was annoying and very distracting, and totally self-fish.

           What am I doing that is distracting others who are seeking to worship God?

We also need to ask another question:

           What can I do that will encourage others in their worship of God?

           How might the way I focus on God in worship, help the people around me do the same?

           That concern for our fellow worshipers, is how we bow in the right direction.

Conclusion:

There’s some more about bowing in:
Philippians 2:10-11 (NIV) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

           One day, every person is going to bow in the right direction.

                      Every knee is going to bow in worship to Jesus Christ.

                                 Did you hear that?

           For some, that’s simply going to be the great performance we’re practicing for right now.

                      For others, it’s going to be a moment of terror.

           It doesn’t have to be a moment of terror, but bowing before Jesus, the King of all creation,

                      is going to be done by every one of us. Why not be prepared?