The Focus of Worship

Tonight at Watershed's Thursday Gathering I will be starting a series on the values that Watershed holds as a young adult ministry. The first value we'll be discussing this evening is Worship.

In my personal reading times, I've been going through the Old Testament (or my new word choice - "The Hebrew Scriptures"). Recently I came across a story in 2 Kings that I really wanted to use in tonight's talk, but for the sake of time and clarity, I'm not using the passage. So I thought I'd blog it! :o)

Worshipping Saving Snakes
Perhaps you are familiar with the story of the serpent on the pole in Numbers 21. It's a bit of an odd story - God has commanded the Israelites NOT to worship idols (I'm thinking specifically of the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20), but in this passage he has Moses craft a bronze snack, put it high on a pole, and have the people look at it whenever they get bitten by a poisonous snake. Jesus refers to this story in John 3:14-15 when he says that like the snake, he too must be lifted up (meaning that when people look on the crucified Christ to save them, they will be healed from their sin and separation from God).

(Interesting side note: I've been reading "The Gospel According to Moses" by Athol Dickson. Athol talks about this paradox (no idols, but look upon a bronze snake), and mentions that the Hebrew word used in this passage for "pole" is used elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures as "banner" or "example". He wonders aloud in his book that perhaps it wasn't the snake that the people were to look to but the "example" or the One behind the serpent. This goes along with what I discovered in 2 Kings, which I now come to...)

In 2 Kings 18:1-4, we are introduced to Hezekiah, the new king of Judah. Of the many kings talked about in 1 and 2 Kings, Hezekiah is one of the better ones - he was focused on doing what was right in the eyes of God. As the chapter is opening and sharing about the good things Hezekiah did during his reign, it mentions in verse 4 that he destroyed the bronze serpent that Moses has fashioned.

What? Moses is a hero - an icon of the Jewish faith. How can Hezekiah be "good" if he destroyed an ancient artifact that Moses himself crafted?

Because the people had stopped worshipping the God who told Moses to build and raise up the bronze snake and began worshipping the snake itself!

Worship Snakes Today
I think sometimes we make similar mistakes. I know Christians who have clung on to their style, their preferences, their "banners", and have gotten their eyes off the One those things originally pointed to. And I'm not just talking about people who are clinging to what many churches call "tradition". I think even "new" forms of worship have turned into bronze snakes for some people.

So when you go to worship God, whether corporately or privately, what is your focus? How good the band did? How well the devotional writer wrote? How much organ or drums there were during the music? What the pastor was wearing while he delivered the sermon? Or is your focus on the One who called these people and these forms for a season to be used as tools to direct people's attention to Him?

As John Piper says: "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him". I encourage you to not be satisfied simply by a music style or a particular book. But be satisfied only in the One who gave the grace for us to enjoy the music and the books and to be used to draw our hearts toward Him. Move your eyes past the snake to the One who was lifted up on a cross for the forgiveness of your sins.