a weekly devotional from Ed Underwood

My beloved mentor and pastor from our Jesus Movement days, Ted Stone, is on his way to heaven. A deadly brain tumor diminishes him a little more each day. Sometimes he has the energy to talk on the phone when I call. I cherish his sentences. He pauses, gathers his strength, and says, “Eddie, I want to tell you something. I may never get the opportunity to say this to you….”

I hold my breath and wait for Ted to speak. It’s an awesome and holy moment as this man who loves me, and in so many ways has given his life for me, and others in the body of Christ, begins. I know I’ll remember every word until the day Jesus greets me in heaven with Ted at His side.

This was the atmosphere in the upper room. These were Jesus’ final words to His disciples. In just a few minutes dark and ominous events would leave them alone and afraid. Tomorrow at this time He would be dead, crucified by Rome and laid in a rich man’s tomb.

And what did He say to them? Remember Me!

If you want to start a religious argument, and get people talking about something that you soon discover they really know very little about, ask a group of Christians who come from different cultures, different traditions, and different generations this question: “What are the essential elements of corporate New Testament worship?”

Here are some of the “essentials” I’ve heard over the years: confession, music, benediction, Bible teaching, Bible reading, offering, altar call, pastoral prayer, and corporate prayer. The list goes on and on.

Our problem is that most of the evidence offered has to do with personal preference or personal experience rather than personal understanding of the Scriptures. Even when we turn to the Bible, most of the evidence we have is descriptive rather than prescriptive.

My understanding of the teachings of Christ and the Apostles, and the inspired history of the first century church in Acts and the Epistles is that there is only one essential element of corporate New Testament worship: The Lord’s Table.

When you worship Jesus, the only non-negotiable is the Lord’s Table. Not saying every week, or even every month, but it must be central to the worship experience of the believers in a local assembly of Christians.

What place does the Lord’s Supper play in your life? Is it central to your worship, or a meaningless religious ritual that gets in the way of your Sunday routine?

What are some ways you could make the Lord’s Supper more central to your worship of the Lord Jesus?

How does it make you feel when you consider that Jesus’ only simple request concerning His death on the Cross is that we wouldn’t forget what He has done for us? How about when you think about the next time He will share this cup with His people in His Kingdom?

Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7).

When you read those words, Extravagant Worship, what pictures come to mind?

Depending on your personal tastes in music and cultural background, you’re probably thinking about people who worship Christ “over the top” according to your evaluation, or the evaluation of your tradition.

That’s an immediate indicator that you have misunderstood the New Testament’s teaching on worship.

Worship isn’t about styles and traditions. “Good” worship isn’t the music you’re use to or whether or not people lift their hands, use icons and candles, or sit quietly listening to Gregorian chants.

The worship book of the New Testament is Romans, and the worship passage is Romans 12:1-2. After his eleven-chapter presentation of the mercies of God available to us in Christ, Paul says this:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Worship is a lifestyle, not an event. When you give your life to God in response to His mercies, you’re worshiping.

Good worship is any thought or action that comes from your redeemed heart’s response to His mercies.

• When you trust Him enough to do what He says, even the hard things—that’s good worship.

• When you’re so overwhelmed by His goodness on a Sunday morning you can’t control your tears—that’s good worship.

• When you’re driving down the freeway and singing your favorite hymn or rocking praise song because you can’t believe how good He is to you—that’s good worship.

• When you hear what He’ telling you to do and you do it, even when your friends tell you your faith is reckless—that’s good worship.

Your model for “good” worship? Mary of Bethany! She poured a year’s wages, her dowry of expensive perfume on Jesus when she considered what He was about to do for her—die for her sins (Mark 14:1-11).

Was it reckless? Was it over-the-top?

Not according to Jesus’ evaluation. He affirmed her greatly.

Really, when you define worship biblically—giving your life to God in response to His mercies—extravagant worship is an oxymoron.

What extravagant act of obedience, risky commitment, or reckless trust step is your redeemed heart telling you to do right now?

Do it. Jesus always affirms the sincere worship of His people!

Nothing excites me more than to hear someone say that they want to live all-out for the Lord Jesus. My pastoral heart moves toward them and Judy and I start pouring our lives into them.

There’s always some initial excitement and a lot of marvelous reports concerning God’s powerful movement in everyday life.

“You wouldn’t believe what’s happening at work. I’ve only been praying for this guy for two days. Out of nowhere he said, ‘Tell me about your church.’”

“We had no idea how we would survive if we gave what we felt God was telling us to give to the church. But we did it. The next day my boss came in to tell me that she was so pleased with my work that he had decided to give me a promotion.”

Even as the reports bubble out I’m always praying for them because I know what’s coming.

God is going to test their faith.

They’ve been living at that precipice of the Christian life that God insists upon if we want to experience His power. The precipice of radical trust, that place we live where we know that if He doesn’t show up, we’re sunk.

Some shrink back from that radical edge of life to the safety of their comfort zone, and it’s tragic. Soon they will be wondering what happened, why their Christian life isn’t as exhilarating as it use to be.

Others will keep on trusting Him, pass the test, and move on to the live they always wanted, the life Jesus wanted them to live and their redeemed heart longs for.

How about you? Is God asking you to trust Him for something big? Something that intimidates you? Something that doesn’t make sense to your friends? Something that will make you look stupid if He doesn’t show up?

Do it!

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

Next Sunday I begin teaching Mark 13 at Church of the Open Door. Mark 13 condenses Jesus’ Olivet Discourse—His answer to two questions every follower of Christ asks when we read about end-time events:

When will these things be?

What will be the sign when these things are fulfilled?

I think it’s important to teach Mark 13 because I think prophecy is important to Christians. But not for the reasons a lot of people think of when you mention biblical prophecy.

It’s an intriguing truth that the general events of prophecy are pretty easy to establish if you believe that every word of the Bible is inspired by God and inspired. The details, however, are extremely difficult to interpret.

Ever wonder why?

Could it be that the Lord doesn’t really want us to worry and argue over the details?

Two dynamics about prophetic interpretation make me think that a focus on these details may be distracting for followers of Christ.

First, it doesn’t seem that prophecy was written so that we could understand God’s plan in advance, but so that we would be able to recognize that history is moving toward God’s ending.

Second, the ones who recognized the prophetic events predicted in the Old Testament concerning Jesus’ first coming weren’t the scholars trying to figure it all out but the simple people yearning for His arrival.

Prophecy isn’t for the ones using it as a scare tactic to solicit money from vulnerable people. Prophecy is for the ones longing for the coming of their Lord—the ones serving and watching, enduring affliction and persecution for lifting up His name in a world set against Him.

“Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” –Jesus Christ speaking of His Second Advent (Mark 13:33)

What Tempts You?

What would you consider the most serious and debilitating temptation to a true Christian?

Sexual sin?

Lying?

Spiritual laziness?

How about none of the above?

The most serious temptation that derails Christians is the temptation to return to the law once they’ve received new life by trusting in Jesus. It’s a “Now that Jesus saved me, I better get to work to clean up my life and make Him proud of me!” temptation. And the so-called Christian culture cheers them on, “That’s right. Get to work for Jesus you sorry-little-sinner. That’s what we’re doing!”

No They’re Not!

That’s their dirty little secret. It’s not working. It’s not working because that’s not how God designed the Christian life. These “striving toward righteousness” rules and techniques will fail because they “are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23).

The New Testament is adamant about that truth! The Law wasn’t given to us to make us holy but to prove we’re not (Galatians 2:16; 3:11, 19-25).

It’s not about getting to work; it’s about trusting Jesus with your life (Hebrews 11:6).

It’s not about paying Jesus back for the Cross; it’s about the Cross motivating you to trust Him more (Galatians 2:20).

It’s not about controlling the flesh but about releasing the new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Is someone tempting you to leave your grace at the Cross and “get to work for Jesus”?

Don’t do it. It’s Satan’s oldest trick. Once you buy into the idea that you can make your flesh more moral, you’re sunk

Who Are You?

Romans 5-8 says that once you have trusted in Christ as your Savior, you’re not who you use to be.

And you do not have to live the way you use to live.

But it’s only when you trust in what God says about you as a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthian 5:17) that you will begin to experience the life He gave you when you trust in what He said about heaven and hell.

How does this work? By grace, through faith, in Jesus and what He says about eternal life—how to get it and how to live it!

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace! (Romans 6:14)