Why should we worship God?

Why do you worship?

Why should we worship the God of the Bible?

What reason do we have for building our lives on him over and above the gods, idols, ideas, and powers of our day and culture and experiences? Or other world religions?

What comes to mind?

What's your reason?

Let's start with the big picture and then zoom in on something the Apostle Paul says in Romans 12:1 ...

A good starting point is simply acknowledging that God explicitly tell us to worship him, exclusively. The first commandment is clear, “You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). Moses builds on this teaching, instructing Israel, "It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you..." (Deuteronomy 6:13-14). Jesus actually quotes this exact passage when Satan tempts him in the wilderness. Satan promises Jesus the kingdoms of the world if he bows down and worships him. Jesus responds, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve’” (Luke 4:8). At some level we should worship God because he tells us to worship him, exclusively.

We should worship God because God tells us to worship him.

But there's more ...

When King David, one of the main architects of the Psalms, was saved by God from the violent acts of Saul, he worshipped God. But David's worship is not a response to a command to worship. The reason for David's worship is God's worthiness. "I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies" (2 Samuel 22:4). Nothing else is worthy of your worship. Nothing else is worthy of being the foundational impulse or aim of your life. David Foster Wallace explained at Keyon College’s 2005 commencement,

"the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship ... is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you."

What's he saying? Money, stuff, beauty, sex ... these are not worthy of your worship. In fact, they ultimately destroy you.

We should worship God because God is worthy.

But there's more ...

Though God commands worship and God is worthy of worship, neither are the basis for Paul's instruction on worship in Romans 12. What's he say? "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God..." (Romans 12:1a). That's the reason for true worship. Paul transitions from the first eleven chapters of Romans, looks back on all that he has taught and says ... that's all about the mercies of God. That's the reason for true worship: God's mercy. Or to put in a complimentary way, the only response that makes sense to God's mercy is true worship. Theologian Louis Berkhof explains that, "If the grace of God contemplate [a person] guilty before God, and therefore in need of forgiveness, the mercy of God contemplates him as one who is bearing the consequences of sin, who is in pitiable condition, and who therefore needs divine help" (Systematic Theology, 72). Grace leads to forgiveness of sins. Mercy leads to help in need. Both leads us to worship.

Yes, God commands our worship.

Yes, God is worthy of worship.

But the reason Paul says we ought to truly worship God is because he helps us in ways no one else can. In fact, if you notice, he says "the mercies of God." It's plural. According to Marva Dawn that plural form tells us that,"the abstract concept is manifested in all sorts of tangible forms" (Truly the Community, 8). God is not just generally merciful. God was not just merciful to you when you became a Christian. God's mercies show up everyday in plain and subtle expressions of love and help and care and phone calls and hugs and reminders and meals and texts. We are to worship God because of all his mercies to us. We build our lives on God because he does not destroy us, he helps us.

We worship God because of his mercy.

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Adapted from the sermon, “A Living Sacrifice”