"Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God;
Will you pray with all your power, while we try to preach the Word?
All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down;
Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around."
It might be difficult for some to imagine how worship could be
"vain" -- empty and worthless.
Yet, that is the picture that Solomon presents in this section of Ecclesiastes.
It pictures a worship that has become empty and worthless.
This worship is "vain" because of the insincerity with which it is offered,
and by the thoughtlessness by which it is motivated.
It was a problem in the time of Solomon, and it is a problem with us today.
How many times have you heard people say they do not attend any church
because it doesn't mean anything to them.
That is probably true in many cases.
Obviously, if worship had meant much to them, they would have continued to go.
Ironically, we get out of worship what we put into it, and even the best preacher in the world
cannot "feed" people who come to the time of worship
with closed mouths and closed minds.
But not everyone who finds worship to be empty drops out of the church.
Some keep coming, regularly or irregularly, for whatever reasons.
They are the people to whom Solomon addressed these remarks.
He was concerned by the problems created by empty worship, and in looking around,
he realized that it was rooted in the very reason that a person worships.
Does a person worship God because He is the Holy One who ought to be loved and praised.
Does a person worship God for the emotional thrill of warmth or ecstasy that comes
from being in His presence?
Does a person worship God in order to be seen worshiping God?
Solomon realized that the problem of the secular mind was not confined to people who live
as though God were unimportant in their lives.
Many of the people who worship regularly at the Temple were equally secular
in their approach to God.
They were worshiping themselves, not God.
They were making a joke out of worship.
So Solomon said, "Your worship is a farce.
It is an exercise in futility.
You drag your body to worship, but your mind is in another world.
You listen with one half an ear.
You sing halfheartedly, and you plan out your next week's work while the Word of God is
being taught..
You give nothing to God when you worship.
You expect nothing, and that is what you get -- nothing!"
Because Solomon understood the human heart so well, he suggested several things
that we can do to ensure that our worship will be fresh and meaningful.
Interesting enough, he listed them in chronological order -- before, during,
and after the hour of worship.
He probably dealt with the subject this way because he knew that our failure
to worship God properly is rooted in our being unprepared for worship, and our lack of attention
to what is happening during worship; and our inability or unwillingness to follow through
on our commitments once we leave the sanctuary.
First, Solomon dealt with what should happen before worship.
Ecclesiastes 5:1 says, "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God."
Solomon was thinking about the Temple in Jerusalem when he wrote of "the house of God."
It was the place where Israel worshiped God.
The church is where we worship with other Christians.
We can also worship God by ourselves in our own "room" as Jesus said. (Matthew 6:6)
Solomon says, "Walk prudently. Guard your steps."
We must give our minds to our worship long before we arrive at the place for worship.
We must prepare ourselves so that when we do arrive, our worship will be deliberate,
grateful, and heartfelt.
John 4:23 says, "Yet the time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks."
God is delighted when we worship Him; but He is offended when our worship
is casual or haphazard.
There are several examples of careless worship mentioned in the Bible.
In Leviticus 15, God warns the Israelites not to come to the Tabernacle to worship
"when they are unclean and have not prepared themselves,"
so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place." (Leviticus 15:3)
In Hebrews 10, it says that in preparing a place in heaven for us and in preparing us
to worship Him there, God went to the extreme by giving His Son so that we could
"enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus." (Verse 19)
God's holiness demands that we prepare ourselves to worship, and that we do not take it casually.
If I worship is going to be authentic and fruitful, it must begin before we arrive.
There are some things that we can do to be prepared for worship of God.
First, we can anticipate the hour.
We must cultivate an anticipation for worship.
If Jesus Christ is really our Lord, and He means more to us than anyone else or anything else,
then we should come to the time of worship with great anticipation.
The hour when we worship together should be the high point of our week.
Second, we must pray for the hour of worship.
We must be in intercessory prayer throughout the week, and we must approach
the hour of worship with two prayers in mind.
We ought to pray, "Speak to each person in the service, Lord."
We should also pray, "Speak to me first."
If we do not prepare our hearts for worship, we might not worship God "in spirit and truth."
(John 4:23)
And also, we might cheat ourselves of a meaningful encounter with our God.
When we do not" get much out of it" during worship, it is usually due to our failure
to prepare our hearts.
Someone has said that "Even the heaviest rain will run off parched, hard ground."
We will miss the blessings of God when our hearts are not soft and pliable,
and therefore, we must prepare ourselves to worship with prayer.
It is interesting that some people get a lot from every worship experience,
while others seldom appreciate the privilege that they have to worship the Lord God.
Why is it that one person is moved by God during a worship service,
while another complains about not being fed?
Is it a matter of being prepared?
Does it come from confusing worship with entertainment?
We should be able to worship God, and have a fresh encounter with Him
even if the organ is broken, and even if the pastor has laryngitis,
and even if the choir is on vacation.
Third, we need to prepare our ourselves physically.
I do not know how anyone who is physically exhausted on Sunday morning
can thoroughly enter into a worship of God in mind, in body, or in spirit.
We should be sure that we are not physically exhausted, emotionally distracted,
or mentally preoccupied with other events in our lives.
We should also be prudent about how we spend our Saturday evenings.
We should want to be ready to worship God.
Then, Solomon addressed what should happen during worship.
Solomon has some strong words for the person who has come to worship in a casual fashion.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-3: "Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools,
who do not know that they do wrong.
Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool
when there are many words."
"Go near to listen" means: "Come with open, tender hearts,
come with listening ears.
Don't come to tell God what to do."
We can tell God what we want, but we must come near to listen to Him.
That is better than to offer "the sacrifice of fools." (Verse one)
The fool has forgotten both who God is, and who he is.
He takes liberties with the grace and the patience of God.
A fool is such a fool that he does not know that what he is doing is evil. (See verse 1)
What is it that a fool does when he "worships"?
We can look at what Solomon tells us not to do to see what the fool was doing:
"Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so let your words be few." (Verse 2)
There is a big, vast difference between God and us.
The fool forgets that difference when he worships.
He is hasty with his words, not thinking them through or praying them with sincerity.
When Solomon says, "Let your words be few,"
he is not speaking so much about long prayers as he is about pretentious praying.
God cannot stand our pouring out empty phrases in worship, but He does honor persistent prayer.
(Luke 11:5-8)
In Genesis 32:22-29, we read of Jacob's wrestling with God and declaring
that he would not let go until God blessed him.
And God blessed him.
God is not against long or persistent prayers if they mean something to the one praying them.
God wants us to spend much time in prayer with Him, but He does not want to hear vain words
that do not come from the heart.
We know how that is.
When we talk with someone whose mind is somewhere else,
and the entire conversation becomes an extended vocalized pause, we may be insulted.
We excuse ourselves as quickly as we can.
That kind of verbal doodling irritates us.
It also irritates God.
God wants our sincere prayers.
Solomon has already discussed the fool in Ecclesiastes (2:14-16, 19; 4:5, 13),
and he will return to it again later. (6:8; 7:6, 17, 25; 10:2, 3, 12, 14, 15)
Nowhere does he speak more directly about the consequence of being a fool then here:
the fool does his folly naturally.
"A fool's voice is known by his many words." (5:3)
He cannot help himself.
When Solomon compares foolish worship with a dream-filled night,
it touches on something most people understand.
Nearly everyone has had hectic days when there was so what's happening
that the night was filled with tossing and turning and strange dreams.
There's something about us that makes it hard for us to shut off our minds
after a hectic or exciting day, and so we dream dreams.
It happens naturally.
Just as a busy day causes dreams, so a fool causes empty words.
Where we have one, we have the other.
We ought not play the fool in our worship.
Then Solomon also dealt with what should happen after worship.
How many times and you heard someone complain about the hypocrites in the church.
Where else would you like to see them?
The hypocrites should be at church.
However, hypocrisy is a serious issue in the church.
And probably most Christians have heard more on this subject than they care to hear.
Solomon had something important to say about hypocritical worship.
An Ecclesiastes 5:4, 5, he wrote, "When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it.
He has no pleasure in a fool; fulfill your vow.
It is better not to vow than not fulfill it."
Solomon understands us.
He does not say, "if you make a vow to God."
He says, "when you make a vow to God."
We all make vows.
All of us have made commitments.
Solomon understood that.
He also knew that we need to be as prompt in keeping our vows as we are in making them.
We are not to delay in paying our vows.
Delay is the key word here.
No one makes a vow with the intention of breaking it, but it is easy to make our vows,
then leave the place of worship, and set them aside, assuming that we will fulfill them later.
But then tomorrow becomes next week, and next week becomes next month,
and next month becomes next year -- or never.
The consequence is that many Christians live defeated lives because they made vows to God
and have not kept them.
An Proverbs 20:25, Solomon wrote, "It is a snare for a man to dedicate something rationally
and only later to consider his vows."
It is easy to make a vow in a sincere moment, and then avoid it once we have had time
to consider its cost.
It is interesting that even early in the history of Israel that vows had been made
for this human weakness.
In Deuteronomy it is written: "But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty.
Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely
to the Lord your God with your own mouth." (Deuteronomy 23:22, 23)
It would be better for us not to make any vows than to make them,
and then look for excuses to avoid them.
There is an incident about making and keeping vows in the early church,
and that incident is related in the New Testament.
Ananias and Sapphira sold some property, apparently made a vow to give it all to God.
But when the time came to pay it, they withheld part of it,
but presented it as if it were the entire amount that they had received.
Both of them were struck dead by the Lord because they withheld
what they pretended to give to the Lord. (Acts 5:1-11)
It is a serious thing when we make vows to God, and we must never make them lightly.
Nothing hardens a heart or sears a conscience as much as being brought
to the point of melting, and then cooling to the same old shape.
"It is better not to vow a vow and not fulfill it.
Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.
And do not protest to the Temple messenger, 'My vow was a mistake.'
Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?
Much daydreaming and many words are meaningless.
Therefore, stand in awe of God." (Ecclesiastes 5:5-7)
The people who make Christian plaques should make one with these words:
"Do not let your mouth lead you into sin." (Verse 6)
I can think of many applications for that statement, but it's context is the vow we have made.
We must not let ourselves sin in making our commitments to the Lord
by trying to excuse ourselves from keeping them.
It is as if we said, "Oh, that was a mistake, Lord.
I really shouldn't have made that vow."
We must not try to escape our commitments that we make to God.
The tragic breakdown of marriages in our time is an illustration of our hypocritical worship.
Marriage is a covenant.
Both partners take vows before God to keep that covenant. (Malachi 2:14)
To break one's marriage covenant is to break a vow made before God
as surely as it is to fail to give Him the gift we have promised.
It is a serious business to avoid our commitments and promises we have made to the Lord.
The question in Ecclesiastes 5:6: "Why should God be angry if what you say
and destroy the work of your hands?"
This question presents frightening possibilities.
The cost of not keeping our vows may become greater than the cost of paying them.
This also is vanity.
We are not just to dream about what we are going to do.
We are to do it. (Verse 7)
if we never make any commitments to the Lord, then we are not going to grow
as God expects us to grow.
We must make our commitments.
But those commitments should be made with sober, deliberate, thoughtful, and reverence.
And we should keep them so that our worship does not become just one more vanity
in a vain world.
It is a great, tremendous privilege that we have to worship God.
It is also a serious business and and a serious commitment.
We must come to worship with hearts that are prepared.
We must be serious in the commitments that we make.
We must do what we promised God that we will do.
This is what God expects from true worship.
It will also give us great joy as we offer our worship to our great God.
I have committed my life to Jesus, and with His help, I will keep my commitment to Him!
"I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
Though I may wonder, I still will follow;
Though I may wonder, I still will follow;
Though I may wonder, I still will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back."
Sermon has been adapted from several sources by Dr. Harold L. White.
