Thanksgiving, Praise and Worship
Part 3
By Iverna Tompkins
Transcribed by Jane Vaughn

In Parts 1 and 2 of this presentation of the message, Iverna took us to John 4 and the women at the well.  We saw how we today have many mis-understandings about worship, just as she did.  Worship is to be a way of life for the Christian, not something we “do” only when we come together for a corporate gathering.  We don’t need to all be together for one to touch His throne; that is our privilege at all times.  Jesus secured access to the Father for us by going to the cross.  But – when we do come together, the presence of God should be so evident – because we each carry Him with us; He abides within the believer.   So, what is worship?  jv. ed.

What, then, could you say constitutes worship?  Is it – lower the lights?  Soften the music?  Slow it down?  Singing gently and reverently: “I love You, Lord…”  It can be! 

Or is it when we sing lively and enthusiastically with lots of body movement – hands raised and waving, dancing as David did: “Everybody sing and everybody shout!”  Some would indignantly say: “That’s not worship!”  Really? 

Why is it not worship?  Because you don’t – worship?  “Well, I can’t imagine coming before the throne – of God – with that kind of music.”  You can’t imagine it?  Read the Book!  Look up some of the meanings of the words that say “praise” and “thanksgiving” and find out what “rejoice” really means – “jump up and spin around.”  That’ll blow your top!  :-) 

We’re so – American.  When we say “worship” I think slow and easy.  And when we say “praise” I think “Yahoo!”  :-)   But that’s American – that’s not the whole truth. 

This is all going on in heaven, right now (Rev.4,5).  Oh, yes, it is!  And you know – if you don’t like it His way, the alternative is – very hot…  :-) (You think Phoenix is hot in August!)

Thanksgiving.  Do we have to have one day set aside a year?  Because some president was smart enough to say, “You know, maybe the American people could be thankful one day a year – if I specify it." :-)   And so on that one day a year – everyone is thankful – except the turkeys of course … :-)    But thanks-giving absolutely should be a way of life. 

Do you know that thanksgiving – thanks giving – when you give thanks – is like spending the lottery?  Oh, you’re looking at me like: “I don’t know that word.”  :-)   It’s like you hit some kind of jackpot spiritually when you learn the power of giving thanks.  It really is.

Thanksgiving, in the Bible, is not so much for God as for us.  “Be ye thankful” (Col.3:15).  Not just “Give ye thanks.” 

Isn’t it sad that we think that we have to go down to the streets and see people with less than we have – physically, mentally, financially, certainly spiritually, – grabbing a cardboard box to stay warm…?  Isn’t it sad that we have to compare ourselves with them in order to be thankful?  Come on, Church.

Isn’t it sad that we see someone with more than we have – a nicer this or a nicer that – and we whine, “Don’t tell me God doesn’t have favorites”?  Isn’t that sad?

What do you have?     A life.  That’s a good beginning.  Every time you wake up in the morning, it’d be a really good thing to know: “Hey!  I’m alive!” And you have – hope! 

Did you ever meet a hopeless person?  I have.  The most hopeless person I ever met was a person who tried twice to commit suicide and was unsuccessful – both times.  Now, that’s hopeless!  Quietly sobbing they droned: “I can’t even do this – not even successful at that.”  I could only reply, “You’re right.  That’s really hopelessness.”  But you have hope, my Friends.  You have great expectations.  God said so – He has great plans for you (Jer.1:5; 29:11).

You have faith.  But I often hear something like this spoken so longingly: “Well, I’m prayin’ for more faith.”  Why?  What are you going to do with it?  Even His disciples came to Jesus and said, “Oh, we want more faith.”  And His response was: “Why don’t you use what you’ve got?”  And I can hear them respond so plaintively: “Well, it’s not very big.”  So – plant it!  It’ll get bigger!  (cf.Lk.17:5,6).

We want faith – to carry around and show off: “See my faith?”  Well, we don’t say it just like that.  This is more accurately what we might say: “I’m believing God for…” this great thing – whatever it is.         Are you? 

“Give us this day.”  I pray that often.  I do pray the Lord’s Prayer (Mt.6:9-13).  I was praying it the other night – over my family: “Give us this day, our daily bread.”  And I usually think of tangible things – necessities.  But then it dawned on me – “No, that’s not only that.  It’s – ‘Give me today the bread that You break – the bread of knowledge and understanding and insight and truth – that I need today!’”  Today!  Give us this day – all that we need!   That’s faith!  I’ve got enough faith for today!  When you get me a little beyond this week, I don’t know, I have to kind of borrow from the Bank.  That doesn’t mean we don’t have further vision, but I’m talking about faith. 

I want you to know how much faith you have: you have faith for today!  You have faith!  You believed you were going to hear the Word of God by coming here tonight and you are!  You believe that you’re going to get home safely – and you are.  You have faith that your prayers are being heard, and if they’re being heard, they’re being answered! (1Jn.5:14,15).  That’s faith!  We mix up faith with results! 

You’re looking at me like: “Well, faith does get results.”  But you still can have faith when you don’t see results. 

Faith is, itself, the foundation of the things you hope for (Heb.11:1).  That’s why we dare to say: “I know He’s going to do it. I just know He’s going to do it. I know He is… I have His promise.” (Jn.14:13,14; 15:16b; 16:23,24).  It’s not me dreaming up something and commanding Him about it.  It’s that He told me, and so, that’s it.  But today I need my daily bread.

Now, is thanksgiving – worship?  Is praise worship?  Is obedience worship?  The answer is so obviously – “Yes!”  Worship is not something separate from all that.

288 times in scripture, it says, “rejoicing;” 310 times is says “singing;” “thanksgiving” appears 137 times; and worship entails it all.  The whole Book is about worship.  Inclusively, those activities all constitute worship. 

But, if we will not walk in obedience to the Word of God, you will hear Him say: “You call Me, Lord – where’s My worship?”  What does He mean by that?  Does He want me to just bow down and raise my hands and dance before Him all the time?  All of those things are expressions of worship, but that’s not His complaint.  His complaint is: “Don’t call Me Lord if you don’t obey!”

Remember what He said to the church of Laodicea? (Rev. 3:14ff).  “You’re neither hot nor cold!  I wish you were one or the other!  But you’re lukewarm.”  What’s He saying there?  “Because you are like that, just lukewarm, I’m spewing you out of My mouth” (Rev.3:16).  One translation says, “You make Me want to vomit!”  That’s pretty graphic.

What He’s saying to us is: “Don’t pretend worship is what you are!  Do you think you’re fooling Me with your words?  Do you think you’re fooling Me with your antics?  Your expressions?  Your physical responses?  Do you think that fools Me?”  God says, “You’ve lived six days of disobedience and now I’m supposed to be thrilled with this one day?”

It’s kind of like living with an abuser.  You know, one who just beats the socks off of someone else, and then one day out of seven, brings the flowers and the love-speech.  That’s why it’s so hard to get the one being abused out of that situation – because they can only remember that one good day out of seven. 

And yet we abuse our Lord.  We ignore Him – ignore Him – ignore Him.  In fact, in our attitudes, we almost curse Him.  Well, I won’t say “almost” – we curse Him when we say things like: “I don’t know why the good Lord saw fit to do this.” Or, “I don’t know why – the Lord is…” – and then we go into our little pity-party routine.  So soulfully we moan, “I’ve served Him! I’ve walked this walk. I’ve given up….” 

You've given up what?  You can’t give up anything that wasn’t first given to you!  So – don’t give me that.  (cf.Jas.1:17).

We whine: “I’ve just lost – everything.”  Okay.  Where’d you get it?  Where did you get what you lost?  “Well, I earned it.”  Shall we go through the whole course?  Where’d you get the strength to earn it?  Where’d you get the job?  Where’d you get…?  It all comes back to God!  Awww, Church!  He owns it all!       He owns it all!

Worship is dutiful!  It’s commanded.  “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve.”  That’s a quote.  That one particularly is from Luke 4, but it’s a quote from the Old Testament Jesus repeated.  That was when Jesus said to satan, “Oh, please!” (Lk.4:8).

I just love His answers when the enemy tempted Him.  Don’t you love to go through that story?  The enemy says, “If You’ll do this, this, and this – I’ll give You that and that and that.”  And Jesus answers through every temptation: “Oh, shut up!” (It’s worded a little differently in the King James :-)).  Because the enemy uses the Word, you know, against us.  He piously says to Jesus: “It - is - written…”  And Jesus responds, “It - is - also - written…”           Hello?

Then He prophesies to the enemy: “The day’s coming when even you – you will worship.  It won’t be true worship and it won’t be received, but it will be an acknowledgement that I am who I said I am and that God is the Almighty.”  That day of acknowledgement will come! 

We love to sing: “Every knee shall bow…”  But you see, we think of it – because we’re so idealistic – we think everyone’s going to be in church bowing their knees in worship to God.  Every creature in the world.  Not true.  But they will all bow in recognition: “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Mt.27:54; cf.Mt.14:33; Mt.16:16; Jn.6:69).  “Yes!  He was the Messiah!”  It won’t do them any good though – it’ll be too late. 

When we sing: “Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” that’s because it’s who we are.  I am acknowledging who I am: I am in Christ and He is in me!  I’m a worshipper because I live worship.  I’m obedient.  I give thanks; giving thanks to His Name (Heb.13:15).  Giving thanks – because I know what that name represents.  Thanksgiving saves lives!

Go to Part 4 . . .