I must begin, however, with an all-too-brief discussion of worship. The biblical words translated worship usually have to do with bowing before, surrendering all we are and have, to someone else. And it is the consistent teaching of Scripture that God alone – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is worthy of that kind of whole-lived surrender and devotion. The Old English word that became "worship" was actually "worth-ship." It meant that God alone was worthy of our giving all we are and have to him. As David the Psalmist challenged his people so wonderfully in Psalm 29:1-2 :
Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

So, with that, maybe I can try to give you a definition of worship:
Worship is the proper response of the whole of our lives to our Triune God. When we worship, we ascribe all honor, praise, and worth to God precisely because he is worthy. True worship results in God being at the center of both our adoration and our action; both in our personal lives and in our corporate gatherings.

So, if we gather in this sanctuary to worship, how should we go about this "proper response to God" together? Can we find any help in the Bible for us as we wrestle with this matter? I find that Exodus 14 is a good place to start. It is the aftermath to one of the parts of Scripture that is used again and again. Let me take a moment to summarize what's going on in Exodus 12 ‑15. After 10 plagues in Egypt, the people of Israel aren't just being allowed to leave Egypt and a life of slavery ‑‑ they're being begged to leave by the nationals there. God's people expect, it seems, that everything will be a bed of roses from this point on. It's the yellow brick road on to the Land of Canaan. That's what they think. But it isn't so.

There is a wilderness to go through. There are external enemies. There are internal divisions. So, as they begin their journey for the Promised Land, God gives them, up front, several essential lessons.

You may know that this whole episode is one that the rest of the Bible refers to again and again to show what it's like to live in this world as a child of God. We've been rescued from slavery‑‑from a life of sin. We've been set on a road to a Promised Land‑‑to heaven. But we're not there yet. And we have lessons to learn so that we can live in this imperfect world and keep proceeding toward heaven.

Therefore, I find that these lessons in Exodus are unbelievably relevant to us. There are many lessons about this in Exodus 12 and 13. But today, we come to chapter 14.

The Message: A Vital Part of Journeying with God is Worshipping Together
A central aspect of that worship, as we see here, has always been singing. 14:30‑15:1.

I don't know what you think heaven is going to be like. But the Book of Revelation at the end of the Bible gives us a clue. Did you know that it's filled with songs? It's clear that one of the things God is going to make a part of his world at the end of time is music. In Revelation, wherever John turns in that vision he's given, he hears singing. The living creatures around God's throne sing. The 24 elders who cast their crowns before him sing. Countless thousands of angels who surround him and await his bidding sing. Heaven, it seems, will be a world filled with song.

Why do think that will be? The answer, I think is this: Heaven, just like the Israelites after the parting of the Red Sea, rejoices at the sight of a great victory. In fact, as poets and prophets in the Bible later than Moses reflected on this Exodus story, they saw in this Exodus story a kind of model, a timeless picture of the eventual conquest of every form of evil power in the universe by God‑‑whether human or demonic. And this song, which Moses composed and the people sang, became the source of much of their poetic imagery when they would try to tell about what that final and great victory by God would be like.

That's why John even goes so far as to say in Revelation 15 that he sees God's people up in heaven standing up not by the Red Sea but by a crystal sea; having been victorious not over Pharaoh, but over the anti‑Christ and all that he stood for. And what did he hear them singing? He heard them singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb.

So the singing of the people of God in every age, in fact in heaven itself, is something that always takes place when we experience God's salvation. If people say they don't like to sing a song of praise and thanks to God, I wonder whether they have ever really experienced God's salvation. V.2. "My salvation"‑‑that's the kernel of it. The reason for all this joy and all this praise in our lives and in heaven is exactly the same as the source of joy for Moses, i.e., they were a saved people. They knew that God had personally intervened for them. God had personally rescued them from danger. And God had given them hope of a new world that would come at the end of the journey.

So we find them singing in v.13 - v.17. When people discover that, that they are saved and that God is taking them on a journey to the Promised Land, it seems that music just comes naturally and spontaneously. It also seems to be rather infectious judging from vv.20‑21.

Now, let's not be naive about this. You know as well as I do that music is something that often brings as much division in a church as blessing. It is, as it's always been, a matter that divides people‑‑often simply because different people, and especially different generations, express their joy with such different kinds of music. Some would, for example, find Miriam's example of dancing with tambourine in hand, a very fine way to sing hymns and express praise. Others, however, would not be so enthusiastic about it. In fact, were she to do it here, I'd guess I would get my share of notes and calls on Tuesday.

But I think that this passage clarifies some foundational truths about the role of music in the worship of God's people. I see three important clarifications:

1. Themain purpose of music in worship is to express an experience of God; not to generate one.
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD : 

"I will sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
he has hurled into the sea.
The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father's God, and I will exalt him. (15:1-2)
Description of my childhood experience with congregational singing – and current trends.....

Do you see what I'm getting at? The purpose of singing hymns should not be to work ourselves up into some sort of spiritual state. It is to express an experience of God that we're having as we trust him and walk with him. And that means that our songs and hymns should have some basic kind of God-centered content. It simply isn't true to the hymns of the Bible to exhort the people of God to praise without saying why we should praise. That's not how the Bible does it.

It is so easy for what should become ascribing worth to God to become, "Did I feel like I did?" But then the focus is me and not God. It is self-worship. Now... listen carefully! I must give you another side to this: Sometimes we simply feel dry. God seems to be far away. Out of habit or desperation we show up at church. Then, we cast our eyes on God. We remember what He has done. We begin thinking again about who He is. This kind of worship lifts our spirits and this is good.

But that is far different from saying, "If I didn't like the service – if the service didn't get me to feel good – then it isn't worship." Do you see that?

The whole point of singing a song like this is that God has done something wonderful in history to free us. For the Israelites, it was the Red Sea. For us, it's Christmas and the cross and the resurrection‑‑the whole Christ event. That's what sets Christianity aside from every form of pagan mysticism. We have something to celebrate. And that's what Christians have always celebrated. And, according to Revelation, that what God's people in heaven do celebrate. They "sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb." That's what John said in the Book of Revelation. So if we want to get ready for heaven, our songs will have to be less self-centered and more God-directed. That's the sort of song we'll enjoy singing "up there." Do you see it?

That's the first observation I would make about the role of music in the worship of the church. I do think it's a very important one today.

2. People are the most enthused to sing God's praise who are the most aware of his grace in their lives.
The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Your right hand, O LORD,
was majestic in power.
Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy. (vv. 2a, 6)

That's why they sang. They were thrilled. They were overjoyed. They had seen the Lord display his great power against the Egyptians. They had been delivered from that terror they felt when they looked up and "there they were"‑‑the enemy coming after them. And so, how could they respond to what they felt? There was only one way. They had to burst into song.

Now, on the other side, those who don't really feel that they have been delivered, that they have been saved, will not find much joy in singing hymns. It will be boring. They won't really have anything to sing about because they haven't experienced anything. The singing will be sheer duty or habit. You can't really sing to God like this unless you have something to sing about.

Perhaps you remember the newspaper account back in 1976 about a man named Erskine Rendahl in New York who grew tired and bored of all the bicentennial celebrations and plaques commemorating everything that had happened 200 years before. So he set up his own plaque in his front yard as a protest. It read: "Historical Marker. On this spot on July 4, 1776, absolutely nothing happened."

Well, some of the worship in our churches is very much like that. Many people go to church to celebrate a non‑event in their experience. They just pull out the same songs and melodies they've always sung. They feel no deep compulsion to praise God as they never have before. That's why they can only hope the service might generate something‑‑because they've experience nothing personally. They're not grateful for what God has done. They're not excited that there are people from every age group who will gather to celebrate the same thing with them. They're there only for what they can get out of it‑‑not for an opportunity to put their praise and joy into it.

If you look through the hymnal, you'll find that the hymns and songs that have lasted almost all grew out of the great revivals‑‑the Wesley revivals, the Welsh revivals, the American revivals with Finney and Moody. Why? Because there were people who were thrilled with God's salvation. They had seen the living God working in their society and in their lives and they were excited about it. They sang old songs. But that wasn't enough. They had to come up with some of their own. They had to sing a new song to the Lord so they wrote hundreds of songs with depth and meaning and conviction.

And the problem with many is that they don't have that experience. And if you don't have it, you'll lack that real joy. And if you lack that joy, you won't write songs‑‑like this one in Exodus 14-15 . It's like the radio ministry that began, "Today's worship will be a repeat of last Sunday's broadcast." That's what an awful lot of worship is‑‑a routine, a habit, a re‑hash.

Whether the music is old or new, whether it's done with hands in the air or hands by one's side, whether it's accompanied by an organ or a guitar ‑‑ those, to me, are not essential things. What's important is whether we are celebrating something that's real in our experience. It's whether we can really say, "The Lord is my strength and song; the Lord has become my salvation." If we can say that, then whether we've said those words 100 times before, it will be a new song with new gratitude on our lips. Moses and Miriam show us that on the shores of the Red Sea.

People are the most enthused to sing God's praise who are the most aware of his redeeming work. And one consequence of that is that if you want to improve the quality of music and worship in any church authentically rather than just superficially (while new songs and new instruments and new arrangements might help), then it is a new excitement with the truth of the Gospel that will make a difference. And, of course, that why worship can never be separated from preaching ‑‑ if I may defend my calling. Why? ‑‑ because it's only excitement with the truth of God that can move us to sing as Christians. We may sing without any relationship to God by just repeating words over and over until we feel some warm glow‑‑but we cannot sing as Christians. The truth of God must have thrilled us first.

And, of course, we must know that we are not the only ones who have experienced God's grace. I am not the only one for whom Christ came and gave his life. And that brings me to the final lesson for the journey.

3. Gathered worship is a "family event" – calling for mutual respect and a willingness to value "others above ourselves."
In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.
The nations will hear and tremble...(15:13-14)

So we see that a Christian worship service is not a self-help lecture at a corporate lecture hall. It is not a concert we paid to attend when our favorite artist is in town. It is a gathering of people from every ethnicity, educational level, socio-economic range, and age group all over the world. So... how are we going to do this? How will we, all of whom have distinct tastes in music – distinct styles that we enjoy and others we do not enjoy – get together week after week and scribe worth to the Lord?

So often I'm asked, "Where are you heading with the worship services at Lake Avenue Church. My sincere answer is, "I long to get you ready for heaven." I want you to know Jesus as your savior so you can be there. I want you to grow toward Christlikeness so you'll be at home there. And I want you to worship with all God's people – because that's what we'll be doing there.

We must remember we are a family of rescued people. Our songs must be directed toward God – they must glorify Him. But, we must remember that we are a part of a family who, by God's declaration, will live and worship together eternally. Church is not like going to a concert. Church is not a social club. It is so much bigger, and better than those things. But... to be the church, we have to surrender our preferences and seek what God would have us do. Those of us older need to be thrilled that there are younger folks and say, "Hey, I'm going to try to join my voice and sing with them even though I don't really like that tambourine." Those younger must say, "Hey, I'm going to join with these long-time believers and sing that hymn – and let that organ accompany me!!"

The key is that we all know we don't deserve to be worshipping God at all – we're all products of God's mercy and grace. We are eternal family members, in God's family solely due to his grace. So, we must deal humbly with one another. Let me give you several verses that, if we will hear and obey them, will help us all:

*Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4

If we will all commit to obeying those commands from God's Word, we will be a place that glorifies God. When people visit Lake Avenue Church, they will say, "Did you see all those very, very different people singing joyfully with one another. I know that one man in the band plays at the local jazz club. And that young woman over there loves hip-hop. And several of those people play in the local Symphony Orchestra. How do they do that? How can it be that they are singing together? It has to be God. God must be in that place!"

To His glory!
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor