In Search of Excellence in Worship
People come to church for many different reasons. Some of us are probably here this morning out of sheer habit. Church is where we’ve always been on Sunday morning, and habits are easier to continue than to break. Some may be here to avoid guilt, i.e., the guilty conscience we know we’d have if we went to the golf course instead. Some us are here out of obligation. Our parents have told us to come or God’s Word has instructed us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, so we feel obligated.
There are probably some of us who are here because coming makes us feel good. Perhaps our lives are a bit lonely and our friends at church are important to us and the singing gives us a warm feeling inside. And some are undoubtedly here for educational reasons. We like the teaching, the chance to take notes and keep a notebook on the various books of the Bible.
But there are also some who are here primarily to worship. These enjoy the fellowship, appreciate the education, and feel better here than they would elsewhere, but their primary goal is to commune with God, to praise Him, to adore Him, to draw closer to Him, and to gratefully offer gifts to Him. One can usually tell who belongs in this latter category because they arrive early, meditate before the service begins, pay close attention, and are not distracted by a restless child or a malfunctioning microphone. They don’t yawn or snooze during the sermon. Their response of worship can be seen in their facial expressions and in their heartfelt singing. I enjoy preaching to worshipers like that. God loves and honors them.
One of the best sellers of the 1980’s is a book entitled In Search of Excellence. Its coauthors, Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, offer eight key attributes that characterize the most innovative, successful companies in America, and then go on to explain how the same principles and techniques can be implemented in any organization, large or small. In a sense Solomon does the same for us this morning, only he speaks not of excellence in business, but excellence in worship, and he offers not eight characteristics of the excellent worshiper, but just three: pay attention, pay your vows, and pay respect.
Solomon opens the fifth chapter of Ecclesiastes by offering us something of a framework for evaluation and analysis of our worship. His first exhortation is to
Pay Attention! (1-3)
Come to worship with the right attitude. “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.” The house of God of which Solomon speaks was the tabernacle or temple viewed as the special dwelling place of God. So sacred was that house that God said to Moses in Lev. 15:31: “Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.” God at times actually took the lives of those who failed to come to His house in the right way, as a warning to the whole nation that they were dealing with a Holy God.
The situation today is somewhat different. God’s dwelling place is no longer a temple of stone but rather the hearts and lives of His children. Our church buildings have only a symbolic sacredness. Furthermore, when Jesus died He provided for a bold new access for believers to come into God’s presence with their cares and concerns. But that does not mean that we are now free to enter God’s presence flippantly or take an indifferent approach to our worship of Him. We still need to watch our steps as we come to worship.
One of the ways we can watch our steps is to come to church prepared to worship. Consider the following scenario:
“Imagine your chagrin if you paid $20.00 to hear Vladimir Horowitz play a piano concerto, and you arrived at the concert hall only to have him show up late and apologizing that he had not practiced much that week due to other pressures in his schedule and expressing the hope that perhaps the relaxed spontaneity of an unrehearsed concert would be enjoyable to you. How much more should Christ who ransomed us with His blood, expect us to not only show up on time for our performance, but to have thought through carefully what we are going to do together?[i]
Watch your steps as you go to the House of God! Solomon continues with another exhortation regarding our worship of God.
Listen before you give. “Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.” The Hebrew word for “listen” has a double force—to pay attention and obey. Both are far more important than the sacrifices we bring—whether they be sacrifices of praise or sacrifice of possessions.
I’m reminded here of Samuel’s confrontation with King Saul in I Samuel 15. Saul went up to do battle against the Amalekites. He was promised victory but God ordered him to follow a scorched‑earth policy. He won the battle alright, but in disobedience he preserved the choicest of the herds for a sacrifice. Then Samuel said,
Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king. (I Samuel 15:22-23)
To listen and obey is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools. Another way to put it is that God is more interested in our response to the sermon this morning than he is in what we put into the offering plate. You can give and not listen, but you cannot listen and not give. Now I happen to think that it’s providential that this subject came up just the Sunday before our month of Ingathering for our building project. If anyone is thinking he can buy God off with a healthy contribution, he’s mistaken. If our heart is not right before the Lord, our gift will be a loss, not an investment. By the way, this is not an isolated theme of Scripture, but one that is repeated again and again.
Consider, for example, Jeremiah 7:21‑23:
The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel says, ‘Away with your offerings an sacrifices! It wasn’t offerings and sacrifices I wanted from your fathers when I led them out of Egypt. That was not the point of my command. But what I told them was: “Obey me and I will be your God and you shall be my people; only do as I say and all shall be well!” But they wouldn’t listen; they kept on doing whatever they wanted to, following their own stubborn, evil thoughts. They went backward instead of forward.'”
Or Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Before we leave this point, I think it is important to note that the meaningless worship in view in Eccles. 5:1 is that of a fool rather than a reprobate, if that is any consolation. The prophets hurled their invectives against the ungodly and the hypocrites, but Solomon’s target is the well‑meaning person who turns up cheerfully enough at church, perhaps even likes to sing in the choir, and always has an offering ready, but who listens with half an ear and never quite gets around to doing anything significant with this faith. These fools, as Solomon calls them, do not even know they are doing evil, but they are.
Listen before you speak. Verse 2: “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.” Silence is golden, especially in worship. We don’t know much about that, do we? We get very uncomfortable with even 30 seconds of silence, but God rejoices when we are quiet before Him.
Take prayer, for example. I continue to be concerned about the nature of our prayer lives in general. Relatively minor physical concerns are far more prominent in our petitions than are spiritual ones, though the Scriptures make clear to us that we war not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and the world forces of this darkness. Words seem to be at a premium, so much so that some people hesitate to pray in public because they can’t “say prayers” as well as others. (They don’t know how fortunate they are!)
And some have gone to seed with the notion that there is nothing too small or insignificant to bring before God in prayer. I wonder whether that’s really true. I have known people to pray that their favorite football team would win, that they wouldn’t get caught speeding, that they would win a sweepstakes, and all manner of other matters of questionable import. I have my doubts whether such prayers satisfy Solomon’s exhortation, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.” We dare not translate our “bold access” as meaning “license to bring frivolous things before the ruler of the universe.”
Several years ago I read an interview in the paper with a Russian Mennonite who was attending the World Mennonite Conference in Wichita. He was asked for his evaluation of American Christianity and he responded by describing it as “frivolous.” He said the Russian Christians desperately desired freedom but perhaps not if the cost was to become like American worshipers. Something to think about!
The basis for Solomon’s warning is the infinite distance between God and us. “God is in heaven and you are on earth.” He’s not your “buddy next door.” He’s not the “old man upstairs.” He’s the infinite, eternal, unchangeable God in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Yes, he’s also a faithful friend and a caring Father, but he’s always more than that too.
The conclusion to the matter is this: “Let your words be few.” This stands in stark contrast to the priests of Baal in the days of Elijah, of whom I Kings 18: 25‑29 says,
They called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. ‘O Baal, answer us!’ they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. ‘Shout louder!’ he said. ‘Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.’ So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Now certainly there is a fine line between frenzied repetition and godly persistence in prayer. There is nothing wrong with persistence in prayer; but we must make certain that we are not just mouthing words, but rather that our heart is deeply involved in the prayers we offer.
Now the second major exhortation given to us that we might achieve excellence in worship is this:
Pay your vows! (4‑6)
And there are two aspects to this: Do not make vows you cannot keep and keep the ones you make.
Do not make vows you cannot keep. Verse 4 reads, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.” Neither OT Judaism nor NT Christianity requires vows in the usual sense of that term—no required vows of poverty or celibacy or vegetarianism. When believers make vows, they do so voluntarily. That is true even of such commitments as the marriage vow or the vow to follow Christ. No one is forced to marry and no one is forced to become a disciple of Christ—these are voluntary choices made by people who are responsible for their own actions. Solomon is just saying, don’t make them if you can’t or won’t keep them. And he bases his teaching on Deut. 23:21‑23:
If you make a vow to the Lord you God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.
The other side of the coin is just as important:
Keep the vows you make. I happen to think that vows are valuable. They become the seed plot for action. Marriage vows don’t guarantee lifelong faithfulness, as we all know, but imagine what it would be like if we did without them? Vows to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land don’t prevent government officials from pursuing self‑interest, but imagine what government would be like if there were no such commitments. Vows or commitments of membership keep a church family together even when there is a difference of opinion as to priorities or methodology. In difficult times parents remember the vow they made when dedicating or baptizing their children. Vows keep people on diets long after their self‑control has weakened. Vows get people up in the morning for quiet time when the old bod wants sleep.
Let’s not minimize the value of vows, but even more importantly, let’s not minimize the importance of keeping the vows we make. Solomon suggests that if we do not, we are allowing our mouths to lead us into sin. And no amount of rationalization will suffice. He says, “Do not protest to the temple messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.'” Believe me, as a temple messenger whose modern title is pastor, I have had more than one person come and say, “My vow was a mistake. Yes, I know I said, ‘Until death do us part,’ but I’m sure I married the wrong person.” Solomon says, “Don’t speak such foolishness. Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?”
May I suggest that there are probably many Christians today who are experiencing the judgment of God in their lives because of their refusal to follow through with their commitments to God. That judgment may not come in the form of physical ailments, though it certainly can. It may instead come by means of God destroying the work of our hands. That is, God may take our goals and aspirations and efforts to succeed and just turn those things into dust. Or he may allow us to prosper but make us miserable in our prosperity.
Now the third major point Solomon makes in our text is that we must pay our respects to God. We must pay attention, pay our vows, and pay respect.
Pay respect! (7)
Verse 7 says, “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore, stand in awe of God.” The premise of the Preacher’s argument here is that dreams and words are cheap. Look back at verse 3: “As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.” I think the Living Bible has captured the sense quite well when it translates, “Just as being too busy gives you nightmares, so being a fool makes you a blabbermouth.” Verse 7 follows that up by adding, “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless.” Perhaps it’s another way of saying, “Be still and know that I am God.”
Recently I attended a pastor’s prayer meeting. This one was held at a charismatic church and there happened to be present a majority of charismatic pastors. I have no problem cooperating with our charismatic brothers because they serve and honor the same Lord I do. There are only two sides to the spiritual battle, and they’re on the same side I am. But I must confess I was deeply distressed by this prayer time. There was so much noise that I couldn’t concentrate. While one person was praying there were several dozen talking loudly: “Praise God, Yes Jesus, Hallelujah, etc.” And inasmuch as some were very difficult to understand I rather suspect they were speaking in tongues. I got the impression that some of the pastors were out to prove who was the most spiritual by how much noise he could make while someone else was praying.
Don’t get me wrong. I see nothing wrong with an occasional expression of agreement with others who are praying. But fervency in prayer and sincerity of worship are not indicated by noise but by silence. Solomon says, “Since much dreaming and many words are meaningless, “Therefore stand in awe of God.” Awe of God is of great value. David Hubbard put it this way:
Babbling, rambling, wild words may be all right in dreams, but they do not belong in worship. Our relationship to God is one of sober, respectful, reverent awe. . . False worship is as much an affront to him as obscene insults are to a wife or husband. Better to bribe a judge than to ply God with hollow words; better to slap a policeman than to seek God’s influence by meaningless gestures; better to perjure yourself in court than to harry God with promises you cannot keep. The full adorations of our spirit, the true obedience of our heart‑‑these are his demands and his delights.[ii]
Conclusion: While we search for excellence in many areas of living, let us not forget to pursue it also in our worship by paying attention, paying our vows, and paying respect. It might be easy to conclude from this message that a Christian should pray silent and short prayers, should never make public commitments, and should cower in absolute fear of God. But to come to that conclusion would be to miss the whole point. Rather what we should do is to be sincere when we speak, to think through our commitments before we make them, and to never lose our reverence for God.
Perhaps some of us have made past commitments that have been broken and ignored. Others may have to admit that Christianity for them has been essentially a religion of the tongue rather than the heart. I would encourage you to bow your heart before almighty God, confess your past indifference, and seek His help to become a true worshiper.
[i] The Wittenburg Door, April-May issue, 1978, 4.
[ii] David Hubbard, citation lost.