So That You May Believe and Have Life – The Gospel of John
Part 32 – “True Worship”
John 12:1–19
The song I Can Only Imagine by Bart Millard, the Lead Singer of Mercy Me, invites us to envision what it will be like when we first encounter Jesus face-to-face in eternity. We don’t have to wait until then to free our imagination.
I can only imagine that when I see Jesus I will ________.
Doing this will hopefully help us understand more deeply what Mary of Bethany was feeling in the event John tells us about in John 12:1–11. Mary pours out her heart to Jesus in worship of him. She is extravagant in her worship of him, and she does not hold back in expressing her worship of him.
When we worship Jesus, we don’t calculate the cost of it to us, but like Mary of Bethany, we realize that no gift is too extravagant, and we do not hold back as we worship him.
The story from John 12:12–19…
Thinking about what we learn from Mary’s example, we move into the next event John records, and we see a whole different motivation for why people worship Jesus.
What a difference there is in the way Mary worships Jesus from the way the crowds worship Jesus. Mary is worshipping Jesus for who he is and letting him define who he is and what he is about, while the crowds on that Lamb Selection Sunday, or what we now call Palm Sunday, are worshipping him for who they want him to be.
This is what can make our worship of God a dangerous act. Do you and I realize that worship is one of the most dangerous things we do spiritually, as whenever we move into worship, we enter a realm of risk.
When we worship, we cross over into territory where the primary risk comes, not from God, but from ourselves. When we worship, we run the risk of approaching God in ways which are not pleasing to him.
(See Isaiah 29:13 & Mark 7:6–7)
Dishonest worship… John 12:3 & 4–6…
Calculated worship… John 12:5–6 & 7–9…
We often approach worship as if:
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God is the Director
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The Worship Leaders are the Actors
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The Congregation is the Audience
True Worship is when:
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The Worship Leaders are the Directors
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The Congregation are the Actors
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God is the Audience
Thoughtless worship… John 12:9–11…
We encourage you to take a few minutes today and this week to process this morning’s message. These questions are designed for discussion with your family, a friend, mentor, spouse, and small group. They are also useful for self-reflection.
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What stands out to you in these passages from the Bible? From the message?
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What is difficult for you to understand or accept in these passages from the Bible? From the message?
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What is God saying in these passages and through what we heard in the message about Himself? About people? About you?
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What examples are there to follow, commands to obey, or promises to stand on from these passages in the Bible, and from what we heard in the message?
