Sermons and Articles | Ken Puls |
Gathered Worship in the House of GodPreparing for Gathered WorshipPut on Love
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If we are to worship God in a way that honors Him, we must first be in Christ, resting in His righteousness alone, trusting in Him alone for our acceptance before God. But we must also, as people called by His name, put on love. In Colossians 3:12-15 Paul tells us:
When Jesus was asked, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" (Matthew 22:36), He did not say: "Know all that you can know about God so you can understand and explain all the great mysteries." He did not say: "Have great faith so you faith can move mountains." He did not say: "Give all that you have to feed the poor" or "be willing to die a martyr's death in the fire." Note what Jesus did say:
Love to God and love to one another is what should mark us out as followers of Christ. We should love God supremely—with every part of our being—all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. And we should love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus concludes: "On these two commands hang all the Law and the Prophets." It is our love for one another in the body of Christ that identifies us as disciples of Jesus. Jesus told his disciples:
This love is manifest in numerous ways. It exults and celebrates with those who are rejoicing. It reaches out with compassion and hope to those who are struggling. It offers encouragement to those who are discouraged and weighed down. It shares in both joys and sufferings, in trials as well as triumphs. It pursues with discipline those who have strayed and turned down bad paths. It admits wrongs, seeks forgiveness and accepts with open arms those who repent and seek reconciliation. Jesus sets our priority on love. This is what He taught Moses, when He gave His law on Mount Sinai. It is what He lived out when He perfectly fulfilled His law and went to the cross to die for desperate, needy sinners. It is what He taught His disciples:
As we prepare for worship, we must put on love. Without love—it does not matter how well we go through the motions or say the right words. Without love—it does not matter how good we sound in our prayers and our singing and our preaching. Without love we are a sounding brass and a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13). ©2014 Ken Puls
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