Four Faces of Worship 3 - "Ox Face"
Last week, after church, someone said I’m batting a thousand with my sermons. I don’t really know what that means. I’ve preached about 500 sermons since we started the church, so maybe they were saying I’m about halfway there? “Only 500 more to go!” No, they meant it as a compliment. I know it’s a sportsball thing about batting averages — In the Preacher League, 1,000 would be pretty good—so, I appreciate the thought that all my sermons have landed. He also joked and asked if I ever get tired of hitting it out of the park. I said I don’t know about that but I do get frustrated trying to round up all the lost balls. Nine years of writing at least one sermon a week. In a portable church! We’ve been setting up and tearing down NewChurch for nine years now—which is longer than the peak performance careers of most professional athletes. I wonder—if they made preacher trading cards, and I’m batting a thousand for sermons preached—I wonder what my other stats might be, “Saves and errors “TBD (to be determined)”—for jokes landed, batting about a hundred there.” Including that one.
We are in a series called The Four Faces of Worship based on the four faces of the cherubim, those strange angelic creatures that surround the throne of God in heaven and guard His holiness—leading all creation, including us, in worship.
Ezekiel and Revelation describe them as having four faces, each face reflecting something about the nature of Jesus and calling us to respond to Him with the same characteristics in our worship. There’s the face of an eagle, representing vision and soaring faith. The face of a man, representing the incarnation, wisdom, and intelligence. Last week we talked about the face of the lion, calling us to worship with boldness, and courage. Keeping in mind that by “worship” we don’t only mean what we do here in church, or personal devotions and prayer, but that worship includes everything we do in response to God with the rest of our lives, too. Today we are looking at the Ox Face.
What the heck does the face of an ox bring to this discussion? When I did the cover art for my album “The Living Creatures Project,” which are songs I wrote for worship services, I wanted to make an illustration of the four-faced living creatures and since I’ve been in Texas for 37 years, I figured a Longhorn would look nice. I thought the design was awesome until someone mistook it for Africa.
So, the ox. In the ancient world, the ox was the most valuable asset on the farm—today it would be like a seven-hundred thousand dollar, 600 horsepower John Deer tractor. It did all the plowing, pulling carts, and heavy lifting for ancient farmers—and almost everyone did their own farming.
So, the ox is the symbol of humble service. A tireless worker. Faithful, reliable, obedient, and strong.
But it’s also a symbol of great sacrifice. Oxen and bulls were required offerings for worship in the tabernacle and Temple. So, it was a huge sacrifice. Costly. Especially for the ox and bull.
Like the old story of the chicken who thought it would be nice to make breakfast for the farmer and his wife. The chicken looked at the pig and said, “I’ll provide the eggs if you bring the bacon.” Which is a simple way to remember the difference between an offering and a sacrificial offering.
The Ox Face reminds us of what Jesus sacrificed to save us. The suffering servant. Faithful, reliable, obedient, and strong—but also, He gave it all. We can’t add a single thing to what He gave for us, but the way we respond to the Gospel should look a lot like what He did for us, it should look like this description of what it looks like to imitate Christ…
Philippians 2:5 says this,
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
We’re supposed to keep this in mind. The way Jesus didn’t walk around all puffed up—even though He was literally God in the flesh—You might think as an American, as a Texan, you should be entitled to something—but we’re supposed to focus on being humble and serving each other—that’s how we serve God, by serving each other, by imitating Jesus.
VERSE 8:
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
We’ve heard that so much it doesn’t shock us anymore. God became human and let us kill Him so He could rescue us. We’ve known that our whole lives—we kind of take it for granted. It’s worth slowing down and letting it sink in. He brought His body and blood to this party. He doesn’t ask us to do that but He does ask us to serve each other. Encourage each other. Love each other. To lay down our lives and opinions for each other.
The Ox Face reminds us that Jesus laid His life on the altar. He certainly had the strength to stand up for Himself and resist but He didn’t. He was obedient to the Father’s will all the way down.
VERSE 9:
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
He didn’t stay down long, did He? God raised Him up above everything. The verse suddenly becomes transcendent. Heavenly. Sounds a lot like what the four-faced cherubim continually say before Jesus, doesn’t it? What they are leading us to say as we bow with them in worship, “Glory be to the One who sits on the throne who was and is and is to come!”
And that’s what we’re here doing this morning—joining in that worship. And when this church service has ended, when we go on about our day—the Ox Face reminds us to keep it going. Keep plowing. Not only in here, when we’re in front of our Christian friends, but as we go about our lives out there in the real world. Our worship is not to be compartmentalized…
VERSE 12:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
I held this verse upside down for a long time—I got the meaning backwards. But this is the essence of what worship looks like. To work out what has been worked in. To respond to the salvation God gives to us through Jesus—which is what has been worked in us if we believe the promise of the Gospel. We respond to God’s gift of grace by working it out—doing outwardly the things God wants us to do, things that would make Him happy—the good works that He saved us to do. And those things always look like loving and serving each other.
But when we hold this verse upside down, we think, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” means to “figure out your own salvation—work really hard at it.” That is absolutely NOT what it’s saying. There’s only one way to salvation—nothing to figure out there, nothing for you to do—it’s the sacrifice Jesus made for you. You receive it by simply believing, you receive it by faith. Then, you work “out” that salvation like a sponge works out the water that’s been put into it—you don’t just soak up God’s grace and keep it inside. You work it out for the blessing of everyone around you. It also means you’re going to be squeezed. That’s how it works. It’s not going to be easy. Fear and trembling are required.
The Christian life is a life of freedom but freedom isn’t what people think it is. Luther said, “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. (But also) A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all." Freedom is in that tension. Like Kemper says, “Freedom isn’t doing whatever the heck you want to do, freedom is the ability to do what you were created to do.” You were created to freely serve God by loving the people He sends your way. True freedom is willingly serving others. Working out your salvation doesn't mean earning it; it means living out the faith and grace that God has already worked into your heart.
That’s true worship. That’s what church is supposed to be all about. A community of people soaking up God’s blessings and then serving one another. We look at the Ox Face and it reminds us to worship faithfully and sacrificially. How is God challenging you to make sacrifices for the benefit of others in your church? In your family? In your community?
At NewChurch, 80 to 90% of us are actively involved in this ministry on some level. Which is amazing. From BruteSquad showing up every week to move things around, unload the trailer, put out the signs, set up the stage and chairs. To the tech team making sure it all works both in here and online—these are no small tasks each week. Hospitality, greeters, Communion setup. Musicians, singers, readers, prayers, ChurchBiz. To child care, YoungOnes, The Journey, midweek youth group, Bible study groups and discipleship meetings. Elders, deacons, leadership team—80 to 90% of our congregation is actively involved in doing the ministry. That’s amazing!
In the Old Testament, the Levites were the special chosen people of God who did all the work in the Temple. They were the priests, the teachers, the musicians, the singers. They did all the work for upkeep and cleaning. In the days of the Tabernacle, before the Temple was built, the Levites were also the ones who set it up, tore it down, set it up, tore it down, and moved it from place to place as they followed God’s presence—the cloud by day and fire by night. They were the O.G. portable church.
So, who are the Levites now? Is it just the “professional Christians?” Pastors and whatever?
1 Peter 2:9, says this to the whole church:
"You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
This is Peter addressing all the followers of Jesus, emphasizing their new identity and their calling as God's chosen people—set apart for a special purpose—to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation. You. Me. We are the Levites now. The mission of the church is our special work. And at NewChurch—you guys are rocking it!
But, at the risk of popping that awesomeness bubble—there’s another reality. At NewChurch, less than 10% of the congregation pay for 90% of the ministry—which isn’t so great. Ten percent bring the bacon and everyone else brings a few eggs. A family couldn’t eat a meal at McDonalds with the weekly offering some people give as part of their worship. I know it’s a sensitive subject. I’m not trying to guilt or shame anyone into giving more. That’s not the point. I do want you to think about what God wants you to give as part of your weekly worship. How much should a person give? God says a good place to start is to multiply whatever we get paid by 10%. That’s what a tithe is. It doesn’t buy your way into heaven, it doesn’t give you brownie points with God, but it does show Him that you are thankful for the other 90% and you acknowledge that all good things come from Him. He also promises that we’ll go further on the 90 than we would have on the 100. The mission of the church is not to make money, but it does take money to do the mission. I know this: Giving in worship won’t make your wallet lighter—it’s the one area where God made this promise,
"Test me and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." Malachi 3:10
He’s not a vending machine, you don’t put in a quarter and get back a dollar, but ask God what He wants you to give and try to be faithful in doing it—see what happens. ‘Nuff said.
The Christian life is not to be compartmentalized. Church over here. The bank over there. Family over here. Work over there. No, Christ is Lord over all aspects of life. We give Him control over everything—He promises it will be better that way. The ox reminds us to selflessly and tirelessly do our best to work all the different fields.
There were a lot of different offerings in the Old Testament that were required, and an ox or bull was sacrificed for a lot of them. But there’s one particular offering that points to the beauty of the church as it gathers every week in worship—it was called the peace offering or the fellowship offering. It‘s the only sacrifice that was a shared meal between the worshiper, the priests, and God. It was a celebration of gratitude and fellowship. There was a portion of the animal that was burned on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord (the temple always smelled like your neighbor was smoking meat for a big party), a portion of the animal was given to the priests to enjoy, and the worshiper would eat the rest with family and friends as part of their worship. It was a communal meal celebrating the goodness of God and their fellowship with each other. It was like saying thanks to God for family and friends and a good life. It was a freewill offering—above and beyond the required tithe. It was a way to come together and celebrate festivals and special occasions. It was the best part of those trips to the temple.
Obviously, this draws a straight line to the celebration of Communion. We come together to remember what God has done for us through Jesus, we remember the sacrifice of His body broken for us and His blood shed for us, we eat and drink together in a worship service to celebrate the peace we have with God and each other because of Jesus.
Worship in the Old Testament was always like a Texas BBQ—the smell of burnt meat in the air, families feasting together. There was always wine, beer, and strong drink involved. What we, around here, call “Lutheran Beverages.” It’s also our goal for HangTime after worship each week. To eat and drink together in the presence of the Lord as part of our weekly worship. After the service today, we have a birthday party planned for NewChurch, so be sure to stick around.
I started off with some observations about baseball—batting averages and saves and errors. There’s another baseball stat that applies to this message about the Ox Face. Sacrifices.
In baseball, a sacrifice is when a batter purposely hits the ball and gets an out so another team member can advance. Like, hitting a pop fly to center field when there’s a runner on third so he can score, even though the ball will be caught or the batter will be thrown out at first. Not going for personal glory and homeruns but for the good of the team.
I think that’s a pretty good picture of what we’re supposed to be doing for each other.
Jesus took the out so you could score. He put aside His glory and demonstrated His love and commitment by giving His life for your sin and failure. This is what the Ox Face of the cherubim reminds us of about Jesus. He did all the heavy lifting. He was perfectly faithful in His life. And even with His glorious strength, He willingly sacrificed Himself for our redemption and atonement. Because of His humble service, God raised Him up. Now He sits on the throne in heaven, highly exalted with the name above all names. He calls to you with a message of pure grace, He offers you the promise of eternal life and victory over sin and death.
Respond to His call with fear and trembling—and thankful joy. Respond with the quiet strength and faithful obedience of an ox. Respond with true belief and true repentance in humble faith. Respond in thankful praise for grace and peace. AMEN