Acts 7:39-50

March 24, 2002   

Seeing our Need in Worship

There are times that, in retrospect, we realize the mistakes we’ve made. With 20/20 hindsight, we see errors to be avoided and right paths to take. All our decisions are perfect when we have that kind of perspective. But when faced with decisions in the here and now, none of us are always accurate. Take for example the poor fellow filling out his insurance form, reporting an accident incurred on the job. I’ve used this before, so, for some, it is a repeat, others it is new, but for all, it well points out the dangers of trying to do things on our own.

Dear Sir:

I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block number 3 of the accident report form, I put “trying to do the job alone’ as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully and I trust that the following details will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the date of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six story building. When I completed the work, I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which fortunately was attached to the side of the building, at the sixth floor.

Securing the rope at the ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the brick into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of brick. You will note in block number 11 of the accident report form that I weigh 135 pounds.

Due to my surprise of being jerked off the ground so suddenly I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighs approximately fifty pounds. I refer you again to my weight in block number 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations of my legs and lower body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks and fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks in pain unable to stand, and watching the empty barrel six stores above me, I again lost my presence of mind and let go of the rope. The empty barrel weighted more than the rope so it came back down on me and broke both of my legs. I hope I have furnished the information you require as to how the accident occurred.

How often are we so sure we are doing what is right, never realizing we’re in grave danger. This is very often true when it comes to worship. We say our focus is God’s glory, but in the end, we are just trying to do the job ourselves, we are worshipping according to our own agenda. When worship is rote, when our worship is done without our minds engaged, we will lose focus as we are doing it on our own.

Going through the paces of worship, we must stop and ask critical questions about our focus in worship. In Acts 7 Stephen calls the religious leaders of his day to reconsider not just their activity of worship, but the focus of their worship, the object of their worship, the God whom we worship. Stephen was criticized for demeaning the law and temple. In hearing about the work of Christ, the good news of God’s grace secured for us by the work of Christ, many quickly concluded this was opposed to God’s strict demands for holiness, it was contrary to God’s provision of his presence in the temple. Stephen is called to give a defense before the court. His life hung in the balance. So Stephen reviews their common history to show that neither the Law nor the temple could effectively change their hearts. Rather the Law and the temple merely showed their need for a savior, who is Christ.

This final section of his sermon draws his themes together, bringing him to the conclusion of his defense. Having pointed out that Abraham was called by God and Joseph was rescued by God in pagan lands, that Joseph and Moses both point to one chosen by God to rescue God’s people, Stephen now shows how often God’s people have missed the mark in their worship. Although in form false and true worship may appear similar, but the focus is very different. READ Acts 7:39-50. 

False worship is self focused   39-43

False worship focuses on our heart  39

It is easy to imagine that worship is synonymous with our emotions or our intellect. Worship is that which we conceive or feel, that whatever is deeply rooted in me, whatever grabs my attention is what is important. But Stephen points out in his sermon that when God’s people follow their hearts, they follow them into false worship.

While God called Moses to lead his people out of bondage to Egypt, God’s people were reluctant to follow. In fact, they rejected Moses as the one who pointed to God who was their ruler, their redeemer and their revelation. The knee jerk response of people who have been called by God, loved by God, saved by God is not constant and perfect obedience. Rather, the example of God’s people in the wilderness is the opposite – their response (and our response as well, if we are honest), is to play along, but in our hearts rebel.

That is what is described in v39 – refusing to obey Moses, pushing him aside, they went right back to Egypt...in their hearts. That prepositional phrase says a lot.

Maintaining the proper form, following obediently to the Promised Land, doing as they were told, inwardly they focused on what they wanted – they wanted Egypt. They longed for the bondage to Pharaoh, the whip and the chain, the work without end, the murdered children. That is where their hearts were, but all the while they acted as though they followed God.

What an excellent reminder of the problem of equating what we feel, of focusing on what goes on inside of us and imagining that is the same as what God desires. How easy is it for us to put on a good show of religion, say the right things, behave in appropriate ways, but our hearts longing for Egypt.

In v40 Stephen pinpoints when this return to the old way of life occurred – when they said to Aaron, “Make for us gods who will go before us...”

While Moses is receiving God’s gracious revelation of his love, the people want another god. From the outset, God’s people reject God’s law and the true worship of God. Stephen shatters the mistaken romantic notion that while we are messed up today, but the past holds the key to a pristine condition. If we can only return to the way things were...we would still be doing it our own way, following our own hearts.

This is not the picture of the wife who grows tired of husband of 12 years and her mind and eyes wander for a more substantial mate. This is as stupid and foolish as the bride, hearing her groom profess his eternal faithfulness and she is eyeing the best man. At the outset, her heart is straying. That’s us, when we focus on ourselves.

False worship focuses on our control  40-41

What is it they desire? They wanted gods which were made by hands, gods they could see, touch, and experience – but most of all, gods they could control. This is the heart of all false worship: our control of God rather than God’s control of us.

When we imagine idolatry we brush it aside as the barbaric practices of uneducated people. How backwards must a people be to think that constructing a calf out of gold will really direct us through hard times. But to conclude that is to miss the point.

Idolatry is not about the object created but the heart which believes that we can manipulate god. On describing this idolatry, he emphasizes the idea of manufacturing: make for us (40), “they made a calf...rejoicing in the work of their hands.” (41) They thought that God could be confined by their worship, controlled by their activities. They wanted this for the simple reason that Moses was out of sight and now out of mind (40c). What they wanted is what they could see and experience. Simply put, the focus of their worship, the driving concerns were themselves. They wanted to do the job themselves.

Notice what happens when we go through the motions of worship, but in our hearts we are going back to Egypt. God’s response is deadly. Like a barrel of bricks descending on us with increasing speed: God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven.

God gives us what we want, but what we want is self destructive. The language Stephen uses here for God’s own people is similar to how Paul describes the rebellious unbeliever in Rom. 1:22-25. God responds to human self-sufficiency by letting us taste the bitter fruit of false worship.  In the wilderness – he gives them over to the host of heaven, referring to the worship of the sun, moon and stars, believing that they possess great power.

Stephen then quotes from the prophet Amos 5:25-27 as an indictment of their worship. As God prescribed what worship should be, we are told what they really did. The sacrifices brought to God may well have followed God’s prescribed demands, but while they did externally that which is right – they took up the tent of Moloch, the god best known for child sacrifice, and the star of Rephan, an Egyptian deity associate with Saturn. Their worship was tainted, a mixture of what is right and what is reprehensible. The fact of the matter is, God’s people never get it right. There is no such thing as “pure worship” in this life. 

In pointing this to our attention, Stephen is not just taking a defeatist attitude, pointing out that we always get it wrong, so what’s the use. Rather, before we talk about true worship we need to grapple with our constant, sinful tendencies, we must be at ease to confess, be comfortable with repentance, never imagine that we have so mastered the Law of

God that obedience is like second nature. Before we truly worship we must see our need.

True worship is Christ focused    vv44-50

True worship focuses on God’s work  v44-47

In true worship the focus is not on us, but on what God has done. In v44, Stephen reminds his hearers of not just the sin of their fathers, but of God’s grace in meeting their deepest need. What did God give them all the while they worshipped other gods – he gave them the tent of witness.

This name for the tabernacle, the moveable place of God’s worship in the wilderness, focuses specifically on how God’s Law ties in with the place of worship. Stephen is combining the two accusations made against him, regarding the Law and the Temple. The Tent, the place of worship, held the testimony, the witness, a reference to the Law of God. In the ark of the covenant were the two stone tablets of God’s Law. God’s provision of both the place to worship as well as the guidelines of worship point to the important truth that God secures and guarantees true worship. God’s promises to us, God’s law given and kept for us.

Stephen briefly covers the time from Joshua to David, during which they did not have a temple, but the tent was enough. But during David’s reign, he wanted to build a temple.

In 2 Samuel 7, David desire to build God a home. Nathan agrees, “Go do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” That night, the prophet Nathan is corrected by God. Just because it sounds like a good idea, does not mean it’s God’s idea. God does not need a house (7:4-7). God reviews what was done in David’s life and promises that He will give his people a place (10, 11b). The covenant is reiterated with David, that his son will sit on the throne forever. Solomon, David’s son, did build a house for God, as Stephen points out in v47. But remember, that this promise points to another descendant, Jesus Christ.

What then are we to make of the temple? It was not wrong, but even Solomon acknowledged that it was merely a symbol (1 Kings 8:27). Stephen’s critique like the later prophets, sees the problem of the temple as the manufactured house, using words reserved for the making of idols. Stephen’s point is simply that whenever we think we can contain the transcendent God by our own efforts, we have created an idol.

How should we think of this in our own day? Let’s start by asking the obvious question: Will our worship be any more pleasing to God in the new building than it is here? What is the relationship of our externals in worship, our style, our dress, our musical forms and the true worship God desires?

The problem is not with the temple or the law, but the sinful hearts of the people. But do we ever think, like Stephen’s audience, that if we just tweak worship we can produce something that pleases God. The idea that once we get in our building all will be well – that we will be more spiritual, that God’s presence will be more powerful, misses the mark.

True worship focuses on God’s sovereign rule of creation  48-50

As Stephen brings this defense to a close, he wants his audience to understand that as all creation belongs to God, there is nothing we can add to him. Stephen closes by quoting from the Isaiah. The question is a redundant one. Of course we know that it is impossible to erect a building where God can be contained. Stephen does not intend to insult the intelligence of the Sadducees or us. The question is a reflective one, drawing  attention to the true purpose of the temple.

The Temple was a house for Israel, not a house for God. The temple was a place to express their devotion to God, not a place to imprison and manipulate God. Stephen saw that the temple become a symbol of Jewish exclusivity. The people did not listen either to his critique of temple use or call to faith in Christ. The temple became more and more a seedbed of nationalism, the place where revolutionary movements began. Eventually this led to war with their Roman overlords, which resulted in their utter defeat. The Romans reduced the temple to rubble in AD 70; not one stone was left on another. The warnings of Jesus and of Stephen had not been heard. The Temple was finally destroyed, but God’s true worship was untouched

The temple had indeed come to an end, not because worship was obsolete nor was it so private that it did not matter who or what we worship. Rather, the one to whom the temple pointed had come and pronounced the end of the temple.

Earlier we read from Mt 21, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday. Following his entry, he cleanses the temple, an act which was used against him at his trial days later. Jesus made it clear, that the destruction of the temple would be done, but the temple he spoke of was his own body. The temple for true worship never was in Jerusalem. Solomon knew that, Jesus taught that, Stephen proclaimed it, too. The temple would be destroyed.  In AD 70 the Romans obliterated the structure, but they did not destroy God’s dwelling place, Christ did that on the cross. The temple in Jerusalem pointed to Christ, so we look for no earthly structure, but have our home, our dwelling in Christ. 

True worship is found not in the right contrivance, not in having the best music or even the best preaching. It is not manufactured in a magnificent edifice or stately structure. Rather true worship is repentant worship, acknowledging that we do not deserve God’s grace, we do not merit his favor. But (and this is a big but), God, because of Christ, makes our worship acceptable. This is what we mean by Christ centered worship. It is not just talking about Jesus in each sermon, but it is remembering that Christ takes that which is useless and makes it good and presents that to the Father

Our worship is like the small child that seeks to help his/her father. The child takes his dress white shirts and wants to clean them, but not knowing either how it is to be done or having the skill to properly do the job. To make matters worse, the kid just consumed a candy bar. You can imagine the shape of the shirt by the time the child has done his best. What is the father’s response?

The father may well become enraged, especially if the child was repeated told not to scrub the shirts in the toilet nor dry them on the manifold of the car. The ruined shirt is but a reminder of the child’s disobedience. Perhaps the father is soft-hearted, you may expect him to wear it with pride. But would he? Probably not.

Actually both pictures do not capture true worship. God’s wrath is real as is his love. He takes that shirt, ruined by our filthy hands, and cleans it himself, and then proudly displays the perfected shirt, now spotless...and he gives it to us as our own. That is what the Father has done for us, but it is not a simple shirt to be cleaned, it is our rebellious hearts that need be made new. This our heavenly Father does through the work of Christ, the cornerstone of the new temple, the final and completed sacrifice, whose blood was shed so that we might be declare righteous.

As Stephen seeks to bring his audience to repentance, he makes it clear the problem we all have in our worship. We are stiff necked. Our hearts and our ears will not hear God’s truth, we resist the Holy Spirit. If Stephen sounds overly judgmental, remember, Stephen’s critique of their fathers is a critique of his fathers. As a fellow Jew, his merely is pointing out the obvious, what is true for them as it is for us. The  truth of the matter is clear, we are all law breakers, we are all in need of the One who is righteous, since we are not righteous ourselves.

Acknowledging this is the first question we ask those who profess faith in Christ, who become a member of Cornerstone Church: Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?

Being willing and able to admit that is the first and most important step in worship. It is admitting that you can’t do the job yourself. You need help. It is then you are able to embrace the second question: Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?

The choice is yours. Do you wish to try to approach God on your own terms, trying to do the job yourself? If so, let me warn you the results are far more disastrous than what happened for that poor bricklayer. Rather, let me encourage you to look to Christ to do the work of worship, knowing that he makes us acceptable, that he is the temple to which we must come to worship.