Monday, March 21, 2016

Out of Order

Submitted by Sam Nobles
And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." Luke 19:39-40 ESV

When Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem he had gathered quite a large, crowd, but there were others standing around who were not His crowd – the Pharisees. The Pharisees wanted Jesus to rebuke his disciples for praising him. The Pharisees were telling Jesus that the crowd was out of order, but in reality the Pharisees were the ones out of order – out of order with creation.
His Own did not Receive Him
The only part of God’s creation that is out of order is mankind. John 1:11, speaking of Jesus’ incarnation says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” The first time the Greek word translated “his own” is used in this verse, it is in a neuter form, referring to creation. The second time, it is masculine, referring to humanity. In other words, Jesus came into this world, and all of creation acknowledged him: the winds obeyed him, the water supported him, and the stones were ready to cry out to him. There was only one segment of creation that received him not: mankind. Man is innately a worshiper, he does indeed worship, but it’s misdirected toward movie stars or athletes rather than to the only One to whom worship is truly due. Humanity worships with reckless abandon, but when it comes to worshiping Jesus, arms fold, and voices hush. Our culture has a hard time accepting the worship of Jesus.
There is great flexibility in the churches today. Some are very reserved while others are highly emotional. Some are very liturgical while others are informal. It must be noted that the Bible does not give to us any direct teaching on how many songs we should sing, when prayer should be offered, or if the offertory should be in the middle or at the end of a service. There is only truly one way we can be “out of order” and that is when we fail to worship God period.
2 Samuel 6:20-23 tells the story of King David being confronted by his wife for dancing and worshiping the Lord as the ark of God entered the city. David defended his worship and God saw to it that Michal bore no children - she would never bear fruit. So too, the person, family, or church that doesn’t praise or that rejects worship will be fruitless. I pray that the Lord would help us to be people who would be expanded, not only in our forms of worship, but in our desire to worship.


Scripture to Claim:

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 34:1 ESV

Devotional Archive