Toes or Woes

Chuckle: Son to dad watching TV: "Dad, tell me again how when you were a kid you had to walk all the way across the room to change the channel."

Ponder this: "Nothing spoils a confession like repentance." --Anatole France

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty" (Isaiah 6:5 NIV).

I hope you participated in a worship service with your church last Sunday. If so, did being in God’s presence with other worshipers cause you to make changes in the way you live? Did the preaching of God's Word pierce and convict your heart of sin in your life? Did you respond to God's message by changing your attitudes, daily activities, and faithfulness to your church? Answers to these questions are terribly important in making our worship acceptable to God.

Years ago, I became aware of something that has caused me to evaluate my own worship and to better understand how people participate in and react to public worship. At the end of worship services, I noticed that some people would routinely say something like this to the pastor: "Pastor, that was a great message. You really stepped on my toes this morning." Then I noticed that, for some of those same people, experiencing God's presence in a public worship service did not result in observable changes in their behavior. Apparently they felt having their toes stepped on week after week was the goal of their worship experience.

Now, look with me at the attitude of Isaiah when he found himself in the presence of Almighty God. When confronted with God's Holiness, he immediately saw himself as an unworthy and sinful person in desperate need of God's mercy and forgiveness. He was so distraught about his condition that he exclaimed, "Woe to me for I am a man of unclean lips." When we find ourselves in a worship service and become aware that the God of the universe is present, that His Holy Spirit is working, and that He is speaking His Word to us through the music, the message, and prayers, our first reaction should be the same as Isaiah's: "Lord I am unworthy to be in your presence. Please forgive my sins and cleanse my unclean lips/life. Help me to adjust the way I live to bring honor and glory to your name."

Is it "Toes" or "Woes" when you go to church? Does your total experience leave you feeling good and happy, or is there also a time of self examination and repentance that makes you feel anything but happy? You see, it is not enough to go to church each Sunday, enjoy the music, listen to the message, and tell the pastor he stepped on your toes. Every worship experience -- every encounter with God -- should change us from the inside out. We should go into every service with open hearts anticipating what God wants to do in us. We should recognize that being in God's presence and hearing his voice should change our lives forever. If our lives are not changed after being in God's presence, we best examine our hearts to find out why.

Isaiah's reaction at being in God's Holy presence was to recognize his total depravity and unworthiness and to see his need for forgiveness and cleansing. When we reach this point of awareness in our worship, God can then change us and transform us into useful instruments for his kingdom's work. Once we have been cleansed, we can then rejoice and praise him for what he has done. Our worship should be a mixture of sorrow for our sins, repentance, confession, praise, joy and thanksgiving. But often I think we focus on the praise, joy, and thanksgiving, but neglect the repentance and sorrow for our sins. When we experience God's presence, each of us should ask, "do I experience woes or only stepped on toes?”

Love, Jerry & Dotse