Worship: The Big Picture

Rev. Dr. Mark Porizky

5/20/07

Acts 16:16-34  

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by soothsaying. She followed Paul and us, crying, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." And this she did for many days. But Paul was annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the rulers; and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, "These men are Jews and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined in attacking them; and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.

Having received this charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's fetters were unfastened.

When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, "Men, what must I do to be saved?"

And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family. Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God.

This week I read about a fascinating research study done by Vicki Medvec, a professor at Northwestern University. She studied Olympic medalists and she discovered that bronze medalists were happier than silver medalists.

Here’s why. Medvec found that silver medalists tended to focus on how close they came to winning gold so they weren’t satisfied with silver. Bronze medalists, however, tended to focus on how close they came to not winning a medal at all so they were just happy to be on the medal stand at all.

I think that study reveals a fascinating facet of human nature: your focus determines your reality. How we feel isn’t determined by objective circumstances. If that was the case, silver medalists would be happier than bronze medalists because they had an objectively better result. But how we feel isn’t determined by our objective circumstances. How we feel is determined by our subjective focus.

Here’s another way of saying it: your internal attitudes are more important than your external circumstances.

Or, as the poet John Milton said: “The mind is its own place, and can make a Heaven out of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.”

That’s so true isn’t it? All of us know people who can find something good to focus on even in the worst of circumstances. And all of us know someone who can find something bad to focus on even in the best of circumstances.

There is a universal principle I need to share with you as we begin this morning: we tend to see what we’re looking for. I think there are two basic types of people in the world: complainers and worshippers. Complainers can always find something to complain about. Worshippers can always find something to praise God about.

All of us develop hypotheses about everything all the time. Then we look for evidence to support our hypotheses and ignore evidence to the contrary.

For example, if you decide you don’t like someone you’ll notice everything that is wrong with that person. And you’ll probably ignore anything you could potentially like about them. The flipside is true as well. If you’re head-over-heels in love with someone you tend to only notice those things you love about them.

We tend to see what we’re looking for.

What does that have to do with worship? A worshipper makes a pre-decision to look for something to praise God about even in the direst of circumstances.

The Story of Paul and Silas in Acts 16 is exhibit A.

Because these two were surely having a bad day

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are in a prison cell in Philippi, for casting a demon out of a fortune-teller. Her master doesn’t like it because she loses the ability to predict the future, and make him gobs of money, so he has Paul and Silas arrested.

Acts 16:22 says, “A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So he took no chances but put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.”

I think we read a story like this and it’s almost tough to put ourselves in their shoes. I’ve had bad days before, but nothing like this. As a parent, , I used to love to read to Joshua a book titled Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. But really, are any of our days as so bad we get chained in prison for helping people out?  This is Paul and Silas and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Now, if I’m Paul or Silas I’m emotionally and physically and spiritually spent. I’m drained to the last drop. I’ve got nothing left to give.  Their backs are bleeding from their beating. They are black and blue all over. And they had to be ticked off. I’ve never had a mob form against me, but I’m guessing that’ll set you off emotionally. And to top it off they land in the maximum security cell in stocks!

It just doesn’t get much worse than that. And that’s why this next verse is so amazing to me. Acts 16:25 says, “Around midnight, Paul and Silas were complaining about their circumstances.”  Of course, that’s not what it says.

Scripture says, “Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.”

After such a terrible, horrible no good very bad day, how were they able to do that?  

Let me share something I’ve learned from personal experience. When I get into a spiritual or emotional slump, it’s usually because I’ve zoomed in on a problem. I’m fixating on something that is wrong. I’m focused on the wrong thing. Nine times out of ten, the solution is zooming out so I can get some perspective.

This happens to me all the time. Knee, biking, complaining, Hospice

Sometimes you’ve got to zoom out and look at the big picture.

That’s what the following college student did in writing this letter:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have so much to tell you. Because of the fire in my dorm set off by student riots, I experienced temporary lung damage and had to go to the hospital. While I was there, I fell in love with an orderly, and we have moved in together. I dropped out of school when I found out I was pregnant, and he got fired because of his drinking, so we’re going to move to Alaska, where we might get married after the birth of our baby.

Your loving daughter

PS: None of this really happened, but I did get a C- in my chemistry class and I wanted to keep it in perspective.

Sometimes you need to zoom out and look at the big picture. You fail a chemistry exam and it feels like the end of the world. But it’s not.

So how do we zoom out?

Let me give you a one word answer: worship.

Worship takes our eyes off of our external circumstances and focuses on God. We stop focusing on what’s wrong with us or with our circumstances. We start focus on what’s right with God.

Paul and Silas could have zoomed in and complained about their circumstances. I could imagine them saying, “God, we cast out a demon and this is what we get? We’re on a missionary journey and we get beaten and thrown in jail? Instead of “watching our back” our backs are bleeding from a beating!”  Friends, they could have complained till the cows came home. But they made a choice to worship God in spite of their external circumstances.

Here’s what worship does. It restores spiritual equilibrium. It helps you regain your perspective. It enables you to find something right to praise God about even when everything seems to be going wrong.

Worship is zooming out and refocusing on the big picture.

Worship is refocusing on the fact that two thousand years ago, Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. It’s refocusing on the fact that God loves me when I least expect it and least deserve it. It’s refocusing on the fact that God is going to get me where God wants me to go. It’s refocusing on the fact that I have eternity with God to look forward to in a place where there is no tears or sorrow or pain.

Worship is refocusing on the fundamentals of our faith. And here is what happens: God restores the joy of our salvation. Worship helps us to regain our spiritual equilibrium.

Is it easy? Absolutely not. Nothing is more difficult than praising God when everything seems to be going wrong. But one of the purest form of worship is praising God even when you don’t feel like it because it shows God that your worship isn’t based on circumstances. Worship is based on the character of God.

Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes said there are two kinds of simplicity: simplicity on the near-side of complexity and simplicity on the far-side of complexity.  He said, “I don’t give a fig for near-side simplicity, but I would give my right arm for simplicity on the far side of complexity.”

In the same sense, I think there is worship on the near-side of suffering and worship on the far-side of suffering. Worship on the far-side of suffering has greater density and purity! It is rising above your circumstances.

George Bernhard Shaw said, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, make them.”

Worship is the re-framing our circumstances.  Worship strengthens our response-ability.  Response-ability.

One of my all time favorite books is Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl.  Actually, the book is a tough read, but its ideas are just about the best I have ever come across.

Frankl was a Holocaust survivor who wrote about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Everything was taken away from these prisoners. They were stripped of their clothing, their pictures, and their personal belongings. They even took away their names and gave them numbers. Frankl was number 119104.

Everything was taken away except one thing. Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”

I’m absolutely convinced that the most important choice you make everyday is your attitude. Your internal attitudes are more important than your external circumstances. The outcome of your life will be determined by your outlook on life. If you have a critical or complaining spirit you’ll complain till the day you die. Your life will get worse and worse because you’ll accumulate more and more negative experiences. But if you have a worshipful spirit life gets better and better. Why? Because you accumulate positive memories.

At the end of the day, one way or the other, your focus determines your reality! We have free choice. We are response-able. In other words, we have the ability to choose our response in any set of circumstances.

Paul and Silas were in prison. Their bodies were chained. But you can’t chain the human spirit. That’s what Victor Frankl discovered in the concentration camp. That’s what Paul and Silas modeled two thousand years ago. Their bodies were chained, but their spirits soared.

 Are there circumstances that you’re allowing to imprison you? Have your complaints about someone or something become chains? Stop focusing on what’s wrong about you or your circumstances. Start focusing on what’s right about God.  

Let me give you an assignment for this week.  Keep a gratitude journal this week. Find something everyday to be grateful for. It’s a spiritual discipline. Psalm 103:2 says, “Praise the Lord and forget not all his benefits.”

Or, in the words of the hymn we are about to close with:

Now thank we all our God With heart and hands and voices, Who wondrous things hath done, In whom this world rejoices.

Let us determine to thank God for all God has done, whether today has been a good day or a bad one.  Let’s keep the big picture.  Let’s worship..

Will you pray with me now?

St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Groton , CT

Web Site: WWW.SAPC-CT.ORG

Office Email: OFFICE@SAPC-CT.ORG

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