One of our challenges for 2015 is to learn and live
all 50
commands of Jesus. Jesus told us that following his commandments
is a way to love him and a way for his love and his joy to fill our lives (John
15:9-12). In his Great Commission, Jesus tells his followers to make
disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything he commanded us
(Matthew 28:19-20). So each week in this year we are learning and living
one command of Jesus. Here is our command for this week...
Week 27:
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
"Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" "Yes,
Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said,
"Feed my lambs,” (John 21:15).
Application:
How do you view worship?
Do you view it more like a restaurant or a grocery store?
When I hear people talk about worship, it sometimes sounds
like they are talking about a restaurant.
They want to be fed. They want to
have lots of options. They want to be
served. They want to be catered to. If they do not like the experience, they will
go somewhere else where they can be fed in a way that fits their tastes.
To be honest, this was how I approached worship for a
long time. I wanted a good
restaurant. Yet in the command this
week, Jesus presents another perspective.
Jesus commands us to feed his people, the lambs of his
flock. More than just being fed, Jesus
calls us to feed others with the daily bread (God’s Word) and the Bread of Life
(Jesus Christ), as well as to provide others with the basic necessities they
need to live each day with God. That's not just a command for pastors and worship leaders, but for all followers of Jesus.
So what
if instead of a restaurant, we would view worship as a grocery store. In a grocery store you are active, rather than
passive. You are actively looking for
things that you can use to feed yourself and feed others. What if we came to worship actively looking
and actively listening for tidbits of truth, nuggets of nourishment, morsels
of message that we can use throughout the week to feed ourselves and feed
others. What if we wrote down lyrics
from songs, highlights from conversations, passages of scripture we read, and points from the message so that we could
reflect on and share these with others.
What if we did not rely solely on others to feed us,
but we made the most out of whatever we could find in the company, music, message,
meal, and volunteer opportunities.
This is one of the reasons I use sermon notes. I want people to take notes, not because I
think what I have to say is so profound, but because I want people to create
their lesson plans and meal plans for how they will teach and feed others
throughout the week. Every interaction
we have – with friends, coworkers, kids, family members, neighbors – is an
opportunity to feed someone with the Good News of God’s grace, love, truth,
wisdom, and life. Depending on the opportunity, we might share a little appetizer or a full blown meal or the icing on the cake.
So this week, let's come to worship as if it were a grocery
store. Let's actively look and listen for
things that we can use to feed ourselves and feed others. Then, let's feed Jesus’ lambs!
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