Why Am I?

Well, good morning everyone. Glad to be with you this morning. For those of you that don't know me my name is Doug McClinsey, and I serve here at The Chapel as the Discipleship Director. And I'm really looking forward to what we're going to look at today. This week we're going to be finishing up the series that we've been in called "Reflections". And over the last three weeks, we've looked at some key questions that pertain to our identity. And in the first week, Pastor Jerry walked us through First Corinthians six answering the question, "Whose Am I?" And we learned that whose we are shapes who we are, and that ultimately we belong to God, and we're owned by him. Last week, Jay walked us through Genesis one as we looked at the question, "Who Am I?" And we learned that we are created as image-bearers of God, and because of that we're meant to be sons and daughters of God, and we're meant to be a reflection of his glory in the world. This week we're going to be looking at our third and final question, "Why am I?" So, in other words, what is the meaning of life? "Why am I here? "Why do I exist?" So it's a small question we're looking at today pretty much. I'm really looking forward to the text that we're going to dive into. But before we jump into our passage for today, let me just pray for us one more time, asking the Lord to prepare our hearts as we engage with his word. So would you bow your heads with me as we pray? Father in Heaven, as we just sung, you are holy. There is no one like you, Lord, and it's to you that we owe all of our worship. So, God, as we approach your word, I pray that you'd strengthen us. That you would teach us. That you would unite our hearts to fear your name, and that because of your word this morning and the work of your Spirit, we would be people that magnify you in every part of our lives. So, Jesus, be exalted and speak to us by your grace. For your sake, amen. So in 2005, the late novelist, David Foster Wallace, spoke at the commencement ceremony for Kenyon College, and I want us to look at a piece of what he shared with those students, because it actually is going to help us focus in on exactly what we're going to look at today as we answer the question "Why am I?" So look with me at the screen here. He says, "Because here's something else that's weird but true. "In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, "there is actually no such thing as atheism. "There is no such thing as not worshiping. "Everybody worships. "The only choice we get is what to worship. "And 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." What a statement, right? I don't have any knowledge of David Foster Wallace possessing any kind of faith in his life, but in his statement here he says something that's absolutely true about every single one of us. There's no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships, and the only choice we get is what to worship. But there's a problem here, because you and I naturally worship the wrong things. We were made to worship God. That is the answer to our question today of, "Why am I?" We were made to worship God, but we naturally worship the wrong things. And when we do, it can bring chaos, confusion, and brokenness to our lives. And in order for us to live the lives that God intended, full of satisfaction in him, and wholeness, and joy, and purpose, we need to learn how to properly worship him. And the way that we learn how to properly worship God is through his word. And one passage of scripture that helps us learn how to worship God is Psalm 96. So if you have a Bible on you, turn to Psalm 96, because that's where we're going to spend our morning together. Psalm 96 is what is called an "Enthronement Psalm." And what that means is that in this psalm, God is announced or proclaimed as King who reigns overall, and he is a King who reigns in the midst of an evil world. And in Psalm 96, we're going to see three distinct calls to worship, three ways that we can learn to worship God rightly in our lives. And the main idea I want us to walk away with today from Psalm 96 is this: We worship God through our witness, devotion, and joy in him. We worship God through our witness, devotion, and joy in him. So let's turn to Psalm 96 and learn how we worship God corporately as a church and in our individual lives. First, we're going to see in the opening verses: We worship God through our witness. In the beginning of this psalm, we see a call to announce and declare God's glory in his works. In other words, we're going to see a call to mission. We worship God by being a people that are his witnesses in the world. So look with me at verses one through three. "Sing to the Lord a new song. "Sing to the Lord all the earth. "Sing to the Lord. "Praise his name. "Proclaim his salvation day after day. "Declare his glory among the nations, "his marvelous deeds among all peoples." In these opening verses, we see some phrases here that connect. We see, "Sing to the Lord. "Praise his name. "Proclaim his salvation day after day, "and declare his glory." And here the psalmist calls all the earth to praise the Lord in song. This praise, though, was to be something very specific, because in calling all the earth to praise the Lord, the psalmist is calling them to declare to the surrounding nations the glory of God, who he is and what he's done. This praise was to have a global impact. And we see in these opening verses as well the types of things that God's people were to declare to the nations around them. We see here the psalmist say, "Proclaim his salvation day after day. "Declare his glory among the nations, "his marvelous deeds among the peoples." So specifically what God's people were called to proclaim was God's marvelous works of salvation. As God's people, they have experienced his works of salvation, and they were to proclaim that to the world around them. But the psalm actually introduces us to a second thing that we're supposed to announce or declare as God's people. Again, we're going to see that in Psalm 96:10, "Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns.' "The world is firmly established. "It cannot be moved. "He will judge the peoples with equity. "Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns.'" The psalmist is saying here that our Lord is the King who reigns over everything. And as God's people, the way that we worship him through our witness is by proclaiming to the world his works of salvation, and that he is the true King who is in charge of it all. But not only does the psalmist here command God's people to worship him through their witness, he actually gives some reasons why they should even do that in the first place. So let's look at verses four through six. "For great is the Lord "and most worthy of praise. "He is to be feared above all gods. "For all the gods of the nations are idols, "but the Lord made the heavens. "Splendor and majesty are before him. "Strength and glory are in his sanctuary." So here the writer communicates that God is great and to be feared above all gods. And as scholars have noted, the psalmist says here that things like splendor, majesty, strength, and glory are the qualities that are before God, and they're the identifying markers of his presence. In other words, our Lord is great. In other words, all the gods of this world that the nations worship that are not the true and living God, they're idols. They're not real. They don't exist. They have no life in them. Our God is the true God and the creator of the heavens, and because he's the true God, and because the nations of this world are worshiping things that aren't real, as God's people, we're to tell them and proclaim to them who the true and living God is so that they can worship him too. Now I want us to take a moment here and focus on this word "idol" for a second, because it's easy for us maybe to look at the world and to criticize everything that's going wrong and to criticize the things that this world worships. And we can be less inclined to look at our own hearts and ask ourselves the question, "What is it that I'm worshiping that isn't God? "Am I worshiping something in my life that is not the Lord?" As Romans one teaches us, "All sin and evil in the world exist because of idolatry." In other words, worshiping the wrong things. And since Adam and Eve in Genesis three, every single human being has worshiped the wrong things, you and I included. And so it's important for us to recognize the things that we're worshiping that are not God, so we can turn to him and worship him rightly. So let's quickly think through some examples here. First, is money. If we worship money, we will do whatever it takes to get more of it, and we'll despair when it lets us down. So let me ask are you constantly someone who is anxious over the state of our economy or constantly anxious over the state of your fluctuating retirement account? Are you someone who's a slave to the craving for more money? Is your top priority in life the accumulation of wealth? We need to be careful, because if these things are true about us, it can lead to things like overworking, gambling, chronic discontentment, being never satisfied. But maybe for you it's not money. Maybe it's your work. When we worship our work, we can become workaholics who find our identity in our work and despair when our work is frustrating and unfulfilling. So let me ask. Do you enjoy your work more than your family? Do you tend to devote yourself to long hours simply because of the sense of importance your work gives you? Do you desire, in an unhealthy way, titles, and promotions, and advancement, and you become a people-pleaser to your boss in order to get those things? These all could be signs that work is an idol for us. Or maybe our problem is just that we worship ourselves. We love ourselves too much. We all fall into that. When we worship our opinions and exalt ourselves, we're going to be quick to criticize others, put them down, and believe that we're better than them. For the married couples in this room, when you worship yourself in your home, you're going to become a spouse that is constantly looking at the faults of your spouse, constantly bringing accusation, and failing to recognize the problems that you might be contributing to the marriage. Church, when we worship ourselves, we'll become people that are entitled and just want to be served rather than serving those around us. Or maybe you're here and you're not a follower of Jesus Christ. First, we are extremely glad that you joined us this morning. Thank you. But let me ask you, what are the things in your life that you have run to time and time again looking to fulfill you, to give you hope and peace and lasting joy that you're craving? And after running to those things, you leave disappointed, empty, longing for more, never satisfied. What are the things that we tend to desire or hope in too much to give us joy? What are the things that we want too much that cause us to engage in behaviors that are sinful? Again, with the sinful natures we have, we are all prone to worship the wrong things. But the good news is that because Jesus Christ is the Lord who reigns and he has given his life on our behalf, he has made a way for us to be delivered and set free from all of our idols. And he has made a way that we can repent of those things and turn to him afresh and enjoy him and worship him daily. So what is it that you're worshiping that is not the Lord? But, again, the main point of this part of our passage is pertaining to our witness in the world. You see, the truth that everyone worships something should motivate us for our witness, because the reality is when people worship things that are not the Lord, they are missing out on the whole reason why they exist. They're missing out on the whole reason why they were created in the first place. And so as God's people, we can go to our neighbors, and our coworkers, and our family members, and our friends and tell them about the God who made them and tell them about the God they were made for. It should motivate our witness. And as Christians, we have the privilege of seeing more and more of what God has done than the original audience of this psalm would have, because we know how our God has provided salvation. We know his marvelous deeds in Jesus Christ, because he is the true and great God, the one who is majestic, and strong, and glorious, and he has become a human being. The one who made the heavens, entered our creation, and laid aside his glory to serve us. Our King gave his life on our behalf. He lived a sinless life in our place. He went to a cross willingly taking our sins. All of the times we've committed idolatry, he's taken those things on himself, and he took upon himself the wrath and the justice of God that our sins deserve. And he shed his blood in our place, and he went to a grave, and victoriously got out of that grave defeating sin, and hell, and death, so that we could find forgiveness of sins, so that he could reign in our hearts forever and so that you and I could be restored to worshiping the true and living God, the one that we were made for. We know what Jesus Christ has done, and because of that, we can go to every single person who is made for him and tell them who he is and what he's done. So what does this look like practically for us as a church? Well, first I want to say let's never forsake gathering together. You see, our gathering together, just like we are this morning, is an event where we together proclaim and sing about God's glory and his salvation and his marvelous works. And you and I can invite those around us into the gathering. And when we do that, we are actually inviting them to observe the worship of the true and living God. We are inviting them to hear about his marvelous works of salvation as we sing, as we hear the word, and we invite them to observe the power of our God to transform lives as they get to witness our fellowship together. So a simple application of this passage is honestly inviting people to church with you. Let them witness the gathered people of God worshiping. When you leave here, at our Connection Center, we have cards that you could take with you for both our Christmas festival and Christmas Eve. This holiday season use those to your advantage to engage others. Invite them to come with you. Let that strike up a conversation. Let's not forsake gathering together, and let's invite others into it. But let's also think about the people in our lives. This holiday season who is it that you can prayerfully engage with the gospel? Who's someone in your life whose name you can write down right now and begin to pray for, and ask the Lord to open doors for you to engage with? What are the ways that you and I can worship through our witness this holiday season? And another thought is, as a church, let's continue to devote ourselves to things like church planting and missions, because I've heard it said that the local church is an outpost of the kingdom of God. So when we plant churches and we go to the nations to declare the gospel, we are setting up opportunities for people to hear about this King and his kingdom. And, in fact, there are multitudes of people across our globe, projected 7,000 ethnic groups, nearly 40% of the world's population, who have little to no access to the gospel at all. And so for many of these people, they will be born, and they will live, and they will die without ever once hearing the name of Jesus Christ. And so as a church, it's our responsibility to consider how can we participate in God's global mission? And that might involve some of you in our midst going to the nations yourself, joining other church planting works. It's never a bad question to ask ourselves, "Lord, what would you have me to do? "Would you have me to go? "Where would you send me?" It's never a bad thing to open our hearts to that possibility. And for the many of us who stay local, we can give ourselves together to praying for those who go and giving together to support those who go, like our Kingdom Come partnerships. Because as we partner together, we are able together to participate in the mission of God and worship through our corporate witness as a church. So what does it look like for you to participate in God's mission? Let's be people who worship him through our witness. It's never a bad question to ask ourselves, "Lord, what would you have me to do? "Would you have me to go? "Where would you send me?" It's never a bad thing to open our hearts to that possibility. And for the many of us who stay local, we can give ourselves together to praying for those who go and giving together to support those who go, like our Kingdom Come partnerships. Because as we partner together, we are able together to participate in the mission of God and worship through our corporate witness as a church. So what does it look like for you to participate in God's mission? Let's be people who worship him through our witness. But there's a second aspect from this text I want us to focus on. And that's we worship God through our devotion. We worship God through our devotion. Look with me in verses seven through nine. "Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations. "Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. "Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. "Bring an offering and come into his courts. "Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. "Tremble before him, all the earth." So here we see the psalmist calling all nations into the presence of God to worship. And as we think about how we can worship God through our devotion, there's two words in this psalm I want us to highlight. The first word is "ascribe". "Ascribe". Look with me again at verses seven and eight. We're going to see this word "ascribe" brought up a few different times. "Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations. "Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. "Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. "Bring an offering and come into his courts." This word here for "ascribe" can mean give or acknowledge. In other words, we are to give or to acknowledge to God the things that are already true about him. We are to give him glory and honor and praise in our lives. We're to acknowledge the God of glory, and we're to make much of him. Now the idea of making much of God should not be that hard for us to understand, because we naturally make much of things in our lives. For example, think about how our region has, for the most part, responded to the success of the Bills over the last few years, right? They've been the talk of the region. You go into any neighborhood, you see Bills' flags on houses. I saw an inflatable Santa Claus with a Bills' jersey on yesterday. Like, it's everywhere. There's Bills' jerseys worn all the time. Ticket prices have gone up. The demand for those tickets have gone up. We have seen the success of this team, and we've given them glory because of it. We've made much of them. We make much of our favorite foods. You probably did this on Thanksgiving. We make much of our favorite songs and bands, and we make much of those that we fall in love with. It's not hard for us to talk about the things that we delight in and the things that we love, because we're made to make much of things that are beautiful and glorious. And that's because, ultimately, we're made to make much of God. So are we exalting in God and making much of him? Is he the ultimate object of our praise? Are we giving him the glory he is due in our lives? Because the truth is, is that, we were made to ascribe glory to God. But there's a second word the psalmist uses here to speak about our devotion to God, and that word is "tremble". "Tremble". Look with me again at verse nine. "Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. "Tremble before him, all the earth." So here we're called to tremble before God. What does that mean? This speaks to the type of fear and reverence we're to have before the Lord. Our Lord is holy, and we're to have a holy fear before him. So let's ask do we have a reverence toward God? Do we fear him? Do we respect him? Do we have awe in our hearts toward him, or are we somehow used to who he is? Are you someone like me who can easily fear other things, like the opinions of others, instead of fearing God? Church, let's not live as if God isn't there. Let's pray against this. Let's not treat him like a small god, and by his grace let's be people who approach him daily with a respect and a reverence and a fear in our hearts of who he is, because he's worthy of our devotion and worship. So we worship God through our devotion to him. But there's a third and final aspect of worship I want to focus on. And that's we worship God through our joy in him. We worship God through our joy in him. Look with me in verses 11 through 13. "Let the heavens rejoice. "Let the earth be glad. "Let the sea resound and all that is in it. "Let the fields be jubilant and everything in them. "Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. "Let all creation rejoice before the Lord. "For he comes. "He comes to judge the earth. "He will judge the world in righteousness "and the peoples in his faithfulness." So here the psalmist personifies all of creation, and he calls all of creation to rejoice in the Lord. In our English translations, we see words like "be glad, be jubilant. "Sing for joy and rejoice." Our worship of God is meant to be filled with joy in him. So I want to ask us this morning, do we actually believe that God is for our joy? Because the truth is, is that, God is not against our joy at all. God does not call us to a boring, or miserable, or dull life. He actually calls us to a life of worship that brings the most amount of joy possible. And the subtle danger for us is that we all can buy into the lies that true joy lies elsewhere. So perhaps for you, you believe that a life of success, or power, or money is where you're going to find true and lasting joy. Or maybe it's finally finding that boyfriend or girlfriend that is going to give you all the happiness in the world, and you're willing to settle for anyone just because you think that that's where true joy might last. Or maybe you believe that ultimate joy is found in pleasure, and it's causing you to run to things like pornography or sex outside of the covenant relationship of marriage. Or perhaps it's finding joy in other things like our work, or our family, or sports, or entertainment, or food. And we fail to remember that our true and deepest joy, the joy that we long for, is ultimately found in the Lord. Church, it is so easy for us to daily fall into these traps. This is something we all have to be on guard against. Let's know this morning that God is for our joy. Look at how Jesus says it to his disciples in John chapter 15. "I have told you this, "so that my joy may be in you, "and that your joy may be complete." So here Jesus is teaching his disciples leading up to his betrayal, and arrest, and crucifixion. And in the context of him teaching his disciples, he says, "I'm saying these things, so that my joy may be in you, "and that your joy may be complete." Christ is for the joy of his people. And so let's not neglect him and hold him at arm's length. Let's be people who fight to daily run to our God believing that's where we find true and lasting joy. As we think about this, I want to ask, why is the psalmist calling all created things to be glad and rejoice from the Lord? Look with me again at verse 13. "Let all creation rejoice before the Lord," and listen to this. "For he comes. "He comes to judge the earth. "He will judge the world in righteousness "and the peoples in his faithfulness." Here we see the idea of God's judgment being mentioned, and the psalmist says that that's actually a reason for all of creation to rejoice. And I want us to focus on this idea of judgment for a second because it's very central of the psalm. In this psalm, we see that God, who is the true King, will come and provide judgment in full one day. And this judgment, believe it or not, is actually good news for the world, because when that happens, final justice will be brought about, and everything wrong will be made right again. All evil in this world will be vanquished. A great truth that brings joy and a sobering warning is that in Jesus Christ justice will be enacted in full in all the world. Listen to how the Apostle Paul says it in Acts 17:29 through 31. "Therefore, since we are God's offspring, "we should not think that the divine being "is like gold or silver or stone, "an image made by human design and skill. "In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, "but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. "For he has set a day when he will judge the world "with justice by the Man he has appointed. "He has given proof of this to everyone "by raising him from the dead." Who is this Man that God has appointed? Jesus. Jesus Christ, the risen Son of God, is the one God has appointed, and in him final justice will be brought about, because Jesus Christ is the King who reigns over everything. And he's the King that deals with all evil. And in his first coming, he dealt with the evil that's inside of us. He dealt with our sins through the cross, because on the cross, God judged our sins in full, in judging his Son in our place. Jesus took our judgment so that we could be forgiven, and free, and reconciled to God forever. And after his resurrection, he ascended back into Heaven. And there is a day coming, church, where he is coming again. And when that happens, all injustice and evil will be dealt with, and God and his people will be together forever in eternal joy. This is what is coming when Jesus returns to bring judgment on the world. And according to the psalm, this is a day for all of creation to look toward and rejoice in. Now some of you under the sound of my voice, are going through things that are incredibly difficult. And the thought of joy and joy being connected to our worship of God might be something that is very discouraging for you, because of your sufferings, joy is elusive right now. Perhaps it's the darkness of depression, or it's unending anxiety of some sort, or it's a horrible diagnosis, or it's this holiday season is another reminder to you of the people that you loved that are no longer here. Whatever it might be, you might be going through hardship where joy is elusive. And so what I want to ask us is how can we worship God with joy in those times? How can we worship God with joy when it's so hard to find and all we feel is heartache? Well, I want us to learn from this text a principle. When we are fighting to have joy in the present, we can trust God's future promises to come. When we're fighting to have joy in the present, we can trust in God's future promises to come. We can look with faith to the joy that he promises to us in the future to fight for joy in the present. Again, this psalmist is looking towards the future judgment of God over evil, and that's a reason here for all of creation to rejoice. So when we face evil, and difficulty, and brokenness in this life, we can trust in the coming return of Jesus Christ. And we can look forward to that day and trust that he's going to take care of us. He is going to deal with our depression. He is going to bring justice on the abuse and the wrongs committed against us. He is going to deliver us from affliction. The pain and darkness and despair we know now has an expiration date, and one day it will be gone forever. And as Christ's people, we'll be with him, with our King in eternal joy. So because of God's promises to deal with all evil in the future, we can find joy right now, even when things are hard and full of suffering. So as God's people in an evil world, let's worship our King by rejoicing in him and what he is going to do when he returns. So, church, what is the answer to our question today, "Why am I?" The answer is worship. It's worship. We are not made for ourselves. We exist to worship the God that we belong to and the God who made us in his image. So as God's people who have been made new and given his Spirit, let's pursue worshiping him in every part of our lives. And the way that Psalm 96 teaches us to worship him is through our witness in the world, through our devotion in our hearts, and through our joy in him. So let's give our days to worshiping this great King, the one, as we just sung about, who is worthy of all the praise we could ever sing. Because Jesus Christ is worthy of our worship, let's, as his, people worship him with everything in us. Let's be a people of worship. Would you bow your heads with me as we pray? For some of you under the sound of my voice, you're here and you have never entrusted your life to Jesus Christ before. Please know that what Jesus did in dying on a cross for our sins, and rising from the dead, it means something for you. And so today you can know Jesus, and you can have a relationship with God by turning away from your sins and placing your faith in him. And at the conclusion of our service, we're going to have some folks at the front of the stage who are going to be available to pray with you and to talk with you. So come up to them and tell them you want to know more about what it means to follow Jesus Christ. And let them have a conversation with you. Let them pray for you, and let them give you some resources to take home with you. Please don't leave without engaging with one of them. Father in Heaven, thank you for Psalm 96. And thank you that you call us to be a people who can know you, the great God who made all things and you made us to worship you. So, Lord Jesus, even this week, let's be people that worship you through our witness. Open up doors for us to declare the gospel to others. And I pray that this holiday season, we would see people in our lives come to faith in you. Help us to be people that worship you through our devotion, and let us be filled with a deep delight in you, making much of you and fearing you. And let us be a people who are filled with joy in you, even in the midst of pain and sorrow. Lord Jesus Christ, you are worthy of our worship. So give us all that we need to do that in our lives. We pray these things in your name, amen.