Day 16
Author: Bernie Gerstmayr
June 29, 2020
Every
Day that Ends in “Y”
1 Chronicles 16:23-31 (NIV)
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his
marvelous deeds among all peoples.
25 For great is the Lord and most worthy of
praise;
he
is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but
the Lord made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of
nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a]
holiness.
30 Tremble before him, all the earth!
The
world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be
glad;
let
them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
I preached on this topic almost three years
ago in our “Rooted” series and I think now is a good time to bring that idea
back to the present day. Romans 12:2
tells us to not copy the behavior and
customs of this world, but for today’s devotional I am choosing a very
“worldly” topic for the analogy to drive this point home, so bear with me. We can all learn something here from how the
world moved through pop culture and technology.
Do you remember “Must See TV”? Thursday
nights on NBC from 7 to 9 p.m. was the coveted time in the 1980’s to 90’s for
families to gather and watch their favorite shows. Everyone tuned in for lack of a better word
“religiously” to be able to then gather around the proverbial water cooler to
share a favorite quote, situation or in some cases family lesson or social
issue that was discussed. But an
interesting aspect of then that is very different than now, is HOW you had to
watch. You HAD to watch on Thursday
night. When it all started, there was
no way to record your favorite show. You
had to be there in person with family and friends to catch it. But then technology happened and changed the
way we viewed our “must see” show - the VCR, the DVR, and now in the present,
the streaming services. You can now
watch your show whenever you want to and don’t HAVE to be there on the night it
aired. You can connect with friends
about the content whenever you want to, or when you really need to watch it,
it’s at your fingertips.
This is how I feel we continue to treat
Sundays. And in this pandemic, even
more so.
Sunday was the day we gathered together with
family and friends to hear the Good News so that we could then spread it at the
proverbial water cooler the next day. Sunday was where we heard about an important family or social issue. Sunday was where we sang worship songs with a
worship team who connected and engaged us with our holy Father. But what we have been inadvertently doing is
turning Sunday into an idol itself. And right now during this pandemic, it is easy to pick from one of two
options: either because there is no
“building” for me to go to, I can’t worship on Sundays anymore, or I worship
from home on Sunday online, but that’s where it stops.
But what is God trying to tell us countless times throughout his word? That we are to worship day after day as 1 Chronicles 16 tells us. While it is important to gather in a
community of believers in a building made for us, is it not even MORE important
to worship the God we hear about in 1 Chronicles 16 EVERY day that is given to
us?
John Piper says that “the reasons we go to church on Sunday is because we have
been rescued from our sins, united with a risen, living Christ AND with each
other through faith in Jesus. And
because of that union with Jesus and each other, the Word of God, calls us to
regular, weekly expressions of our joy and thankfulness before God in worship,
and not just isolated Christian individuals scattered around, but corporate
gatherings praying and singing and hearing God’s word and celebrating the
Lord’s Supper and Baptism of Jesus.
But what if it stops there? What if you
show up and focus on a Sunday, sing the right words, pray at the right time,
confess when you are told to…..but then you leave Sunday and return to a way of
thinking that is very Monday and not
Sunday. Because of our God's generosity
toward us, God chooses to respond to us through our worship ALL THE TIME. When
we worship God with an extravagant love and full submission, God will come and
commune with us. The promise isn’t that
we will suddenly feel better or that our weight is gone, but that he will come
to us in our time of worship. And when
God comes in his own time as a response to our worship, “then you will learn to
know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Take time every day to lift ourselves up to
Him in worship, giving him full permission to inspect our hearts. We can be transformed, moving towards God’s
likeness because he will reveal the truth about the condition of our hearts as
we worship him. When we worship God
through song, through prayer, through shouts of thanks, through generosity, God
responds to your worship by making your heart more like his. Make yourself available to God every day in the same liturgical way you approach
Him on Sunday - come and sing with praise, offer confession, learn to trust
through assurance, lift up an offering, learn from His Word, and respond again
with song.
And you don’t have to do it alone - use the innovations of this world to reach
out through call or text or FaceTime or Zoom. Always remember: “when two or three are gathered together in My name, I
am there in the midst of them.” Let
every day that ends in “Y” be a day that you proclaim His salvation and
proclaim His glory. Make this your routine
every day and not just on Sunday.
Prayer
Now church, hear this prayer:
God, let us focus on you day after day in
a way that declares who you are to ourselves and those around us. May all of our families and friends gather
together each day to share how You have been found in the moments of our
lives. We confess that at times, we
tend to forget that you are available to us every day and not just on
Sunday. We ask for forgiveness in this,
and look for wisdom as we seek to change our routine from weekly to daily. From a small approach of worship to a big
every day proclamation that you are the God who saves us and is worthy of all
our praises. May we share the Good News
with all who we come in contact with, be it through word or example. We thank you for this day you have given us
to worship You. Amen.
Bernie Gerstmayr
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