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The spontaneity of worship

And as [Jesus] entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."

When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well." (Luke 17:12-19)

Edmund Clowney says that one of the big lessons of this story is... "The spontaneity of your worship of the Lord is precious to Jesus."

Notice that all ten called to the Lord for mercy, and all ten were obedient to the Lord's direction to go to the priest. All ten were technically obedient. But only one is overtaken with joy in the Lord and erupts in spontaneous praise. He turned back to Jesus and fell at the feet of the One who healed him.

This is the fullness of faith which saves, according to Jesus. It is not just about the healing, not just about the obedience... but it is about our relationship with him. It is about restoring to us the enjoyment of the Lord and the delight of worship.

How easy sometimes just go through the motions of being technically righteous, being outwardly dutiful, even being inwardly obedient, ...just doing "as we were told". Not doing anything wrong, you know, but then again not being gripped by anything glorious.

But to be overcome by the joy of it all, by the worth of Jesus, to want to be at his feet,and to shout in loud, spontaneous praise... this is rare, even among his followers.

We must remember that the spontaneity of our worship of the Lord is precious to Jesus. He delights in us taking delight in him.
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Anonymous said…
interesting thoughts... i like it.
March 18, 2009 at 2:34 PM
Anonymous said…
I had to comment, to make 1 Comments make sense by adding a comment. Good little article. And us taking delight in Him is the beginning of all worship. I am impressed with the random moments of worship in the Gospels. No praise choruses, no announcements and no watches being looked at. Just Jesus, and His unpredictable awesomeness.
March 18, 2009 at 8:16 PM
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