Worship isn’t for us. This is kind of a weird idea in our modern world. For us, when the lights go down, when those chords are played, when we’re driving in the car and there’s that line about God being there for us in hard times in that one worship song, our hearts are moved. There’s nothing wrong with our hearts being moved in worship. That’s great! But worship isn’t done to move our hearts. When we worship, we’re not the object of that moment: God is.

       Worship isn’t for us. When we come to worship, we’re coming to worship God. Our direction is pointed headward, not inward. Things may happen inside of us as a byproduct of coming before God and offering our worship to Him. We may feel peace, conviction, joy, sorrow, comfort, and love, but it’s a byproduct of what we’re actually doing: standing before God and praising Him. You can actually worship God, even when you’re doubting or struggling. Just because you don’t feel “good” doesn’t mean you didn’t worship. Worship is about praising God, not how we feel.

       Worship isn’t for us. The Psalms direct worship over and over again to God. When angels are bowed before in Scripture, the angel is always quick to tell the individual that God alone is to be worshiped. In the book of Revelation, in heaven, when we can finally worship as we’re supposed to, truly without sin or blemish, our worship is directed solely to God, Jesus, and the Spirit. Worship is all about God.

       Worship isn’t for us. Which means, at times, worship can be work. Because it isn’t about me, but about bringing glory to God, there are times when the activity of worshiping God might not be exactly what I want to do. I might not want to worship. My heart might not be in it. I might have to work at it some. But that’s ok. It’s not about me anyway. It’s about God.

       Worship isn’t for us. Which means, at times, worship can be work. The other side of this is that it takes people putting in work to make worship possible. It takes leaders, musicians, tech operators, door greeters, communion preparers, and nursery attendants to make worship a reality. That’s work! Worship takes work here on earth, where everything is not as it should be. Thank you so much for volunteering this week, for working, so that this church can worship. Because of you, we can direct our praise to God where it belongs. Because you have chosen to take the spotlight off yourself, to work, and put it on God instead, we all can worship. Thank you!