welcome to the story.

Pre-Wired The Mirror To catch everybody up since it�s been a couple of weeks since we last met, we�ve been talking about worship and in specific, how every one of us in here is �Pre-Wired� for worship. All of us, whether we believe in God or don�t believe in God, whether we go to church every day or come once a year, everybody in here, everybody in your school, everybody in the United States, everybody in the world . . . worships something. The first week we made the point that �worship� is simply the expression of what you value the most. And this expression of what we value is evidenced by what we put ourselves behind. When something has value to us, we begin to realign our time, money, heart, resources, passion, mind . . . in short . . . our lives behind whatever it is. If you value Georgia Bulldog football . . . you begin to put your time, money, passion behind Georgia Bulldog football. If you value your car, you begin to put your time, money, and passion behind your car. There�s nothing necessarily wrong with placing value on those things. I place a high amount of value on Anna. I do this with my actions. I do this with my time. I do this with my thoughts. I do this with my heart. I do this with my talents. Whatever it takes to show that I value her, I do. So there is nothing wrong with placing value on Georgia football or your car or your fianc�. But if begin to place more value on her with my actions than I do with God, there�s a disconnect with what I�m worshipping. If all I do is worship Anna, I�m a stalker. If all you do is worship Georgia football, you�re a fanatic. If all you do is worship your car, you�re weird. What we value is what we worship. And the best indicator in determining just exactly what it is that we value, and in essence what it is that we worship . . . is our checkbook and our calendar. If you take a look at where you spend your money and where you spend your time, I can tell you what it is that you worship and value. Then last week Matt showed us how our lives are meant to be lived. How more than what we say or believe, our lives are to be the soundtrack to God�s story. That God doesn�t want us to just say we believe in Him or to be able to recite correct theology. God is looking for people, who with their lives will become the soundtrack for His story. That when people look at our lives, they will be able to make sense of God, they will be able to understand God, they will be able to get a better and clearer picture of what�s important to God because when they look at our lives, they hear the soundtrack that our lives produce and understand the story of God because of it. Paul explains this idea of worship for us in a passage in Romans 12. To kind of set this passage up you have to read a couple of chapters before it. In the preceding chapters, Paul is explaining to the Romans about how God is working in the world. And how he is not only saving the Jewish people. But how he is saving the Gentile people. He even begins to explain a little bit of how God saves people. Really, really deep stuff. He is basically explaining salvation and how it is so complex and so beautiful and confusing and amazing yet still a reality. The reason Paul was writing this was because the Romans were beginning to question God and how his salvation worked. They were questioning why God would allow the Jews to be saved after all the stuff that they had done that had contradicted Him. Many of the Jews had played a part in the crucifixion of Jesus. Had been stubborn throughout the ages and basically given God a cold shoulder. And the Gentiles were mad that the Jews were still God�s chosen people despite this behavior and how it appeared that they had turned their backs on God and walked away. And then in Romans 11, Paul explains to the Gentiles how God�s ways are much bigger than theirs. And then he asks them a series of questions. This is typically referred to as the doxology of the Bible. Paul writes, Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It's way over our heads. We'll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes. � Romans 11:33-36 Paul is basically saying . . . Who are you to question God? Why are you worrying about the Jews anyway? It�s only because of their stubbornness that I�m even turning my attention to you now. Don�t worry about them. Worry about yourselves. Quit worrying about why I still consider them friends. Instead worry about what you should do now that you are friends with me. Then Paul begins to explain why God saved them. What they were supposed to do. Paul begins to tell them how to move past worrying about others and begins to explain to them what worship really is in the next verses, Romans 12:1-2. So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. (Another translation of the Bible translates it as �this is your spiritual act of worship�) Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Paul is basically saying, God wants you to quit arguing and begin living. Quit talking and begin acting. Quit complaining and begin to allow your life to echo God. Real worship is more than singing. Real worship is more than going to church. Real worship is more than raising your hand. Real worship is more than lighting a bunch of candles. Real worship is more than words, more than songs, more than church. Real worship is about taking your everyday, ordinary life and allowing it to become the soundtrack to God�s story. Allowing your life to begin to reflect the things that are important to God. Allowing your life to begin to reflect God�s heart. Paul was writing this because they were so wrapped up in what everybody else was doing or not doing. Just like us they were so caught up in everybody else, so caught up by everything around them that they lost sight of what was important. And as a side note, Paul actually provides them with a way to influence the Jews. Blaming them and resenting them and starting arguments with them was not going to influence them or point them in the right direction. So Paul reminds them, live your lives in a way that is different. Don�t worry about them. Worry about yourselves. Paul also reminds them, �Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God.� When we value God more than we value the things around us, or the things culture tells us, we begin to reflect God clearer and better. Our culture tells us our checkbooks and calendars should reflect us. We should spend our money on hundred dollar outfits and expensive cars and loaded out houses. Culture tells us we should value our free time. We should spend our time watching TV shows, playing XBOX, hanging out with our friends. And there is nothing wrong with those things in and of themselves. But when they begin to have more value in our lives than God does, we begin to worship them instead. And you can say, I go to church. I�m in the youth group. My parents are Christians. I�m a good person. I sing songs. I raise my hands. I worship God. But do you really value God? What do you do with your free time? What do you do with your resources? What do you spend your money on? What do you with your passions? What do you spend your time thinking about? In essence, what has value in your life? Actions are more important than words. Living rightly is more important than simply believing theology rightly. That�s why our lives are like mirrors. They will reflect what is valuable and important to us. When things other than God have higher value in our life, we lose our ability to reflect God. And we begin to reflect other things to those around us. And we begin to reflect those things to God. So when we sing our songs to God, all He sees is our mirror that is reflecting our boyfriend or girlfriend, or our car, or our sports team. When we try to influence our friends and share with them about God, all they will see is a mirror that is reflecting everything but God. That is why worship is more than words or a belief, it is about our actions. Our everyday, ordinary lives and how they are either reflecting God or reflecting something else.