The Psalmist
says, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord,
all the lands!” (Psalm 100:1, RSV) For some of us that one verse gives us a
biblical basis for singing during a worship service. If we were required to hit
every note, we would sit in silence!
Yet I thank
the Lord for that one verse which says God welcomes my noise as long as it is lifted
in praise for who he is and what he has done in revealing his wondrous love for
me. The notes I hit and miss are not important to him. The words I sing are important
and even more important is the attitude I carry in my heart while I sing.
God is
willing to accept our noise as worship if it is offered with sincerity and the
ongoing surrender of our lives into his hands. Our relationship with him is far
more important than the quality of our offering to him. No offering of any form
is worthy of the One to whom we are giving it. Yet God accepts our best because
he has already offered his best in his Son Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:8)
This,
however, does not mean God will accept whatever we offer him that may be
convenient for us. That is not part of the deal. The prophet Malachi created
quite a stir when he pointed out the animal sacrifices being brought to the
Temple were not good enough for the governor, much less the Creator of heaven
and earth.
Mal
1:6 The LORD Almighty says to the
priests, "Children honor their parents, and servants honor their masters.
I am your father---why don't you honor me? I am your master---why don't you
respect me? You despise me, and yet you ask, 'How have we despised you?'
Mal
1:7 This is how---by offering worthless
food on my altar. Then you ask, 'How have we failed to respect you?' I will
tell you---by showing contempt for my altar.
Mal
1:8 When you bring a blind or sick or
lame animal to sacrifice to me, do you think there's nothing wrong with that?
Try giving an animal like that to the governor! Would he be pleased with you or
grant you any favors?"
Mal 1:9 Now, you priests, try
asking God to be good to us. He will not answer your prayer, and it will be
your fault. (Good News Bible)
Quality does
matter to God when we give him the leftovers instead of the best of we have. He
requires the best we have. We acknowledge who he is by the gifts we bring. We
are called to give him the best.
Several
years ago I was in a worship service in which a trio stood up to sing and
prefaced their efforts with these words, “You all pray for us because this is
the first time we’ve sung this together.” At that point I wanted to get up and
walk out. I figured Jesus already had. If God was not worth taking the time to rehearse
the piece before singing it in a service supposedly devoted to honoring and
glorifying him, then someone had a wrong idea of what God wanted out of his
people.
Financially
God asks us to give to the work of his Kingdom from what we have at the
beginning, not from leftovers. When we give our time in service to him, he
wants time in which we are fresh, energetic, and able to give full attention to
the work, not only when we are tired. When we bring an offering of music, God
wants our best, not something we have thrown together at the last minute.
God wants
our best in our material offerings, in our usage of time, in the work of our
abilities, and in our attitudes. When God has first place in our lives, then he
will get our best. He will get it not because he demands it, but because we
want to give it to him. We will recognize that nothing but the best is good
enough for our God.
