I read a Reuters article on Yahoo Odd News this morning which caught my attention. A link to the article may be found at the end of this paragraph. The article tells of a small Romanian village which held elections. Shortly after the elections began, the incumbent mayor died, but the people still voted for him even though they knew he had died just hours and even minutes earlier. A quote from one villager made me laugh: “I know he died, but I don’t want change.” (“Village Re-elects a Dead Mayor”)

Now, you are most assuredly thinking, “What does the re-election of a dead mayor in Europe have to do with worship?” When we think of worship, we ought to think of change. Change is inherent in worship. I do not mean change for the sake of change; I mean genuine transformation. For example, Moses was dramatically changed because of his worship experience at the burning bush. Isaiah was remarkably changed after his vision recorded in Isaiah 6. Even Paul, radically transformed on the road to Damascus, wrote in Romans 12:1-2, “[1] I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (ESV) Paul calls for us to change, be transformed, to God’s perfect character and will.

Genuine worship will change you. If worship does not change you, you have not worshipped. I would go so far as to say that God will not accept worship that does not result in change. How can I say this? Psalm 24:3-5 says, “[3] Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? [4] He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. [5] He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”(ESV) Look at the change inherent in this passage. We see in verse three, a person must change his position in order to ascend the hill of the Lord. Once he has ascended, he must change his motion to cease moving to stand. In verse four, one must have clean hands, implying they were once dirty (another change). One must have a pure heart, implying that the heart was once impure (yet another change). One must not lift up his soul, a picture of pride and arrogance. Once again we see a change from pride to humility. We find the final change in our text in verse five. The person who changes will receive change as a blessing. In other words, the individual was previously not blessed, and now the situation has changed so that he receives a blessing. He is placed into the changed condition of righteousness from unrighteousness. The righteousness of Christ is the most important change that could ever occur to an individual, and until one worships Christ in confession and repentance, he cannot be accepted in Christ by the Father.

Change is a very good thing, and it is the very nature of this life. I made more changes than I can count as I typed and posted this article. I used the backspace, delete, and insert buttons repeatedly. Yes, God is unchanging, and we are called to be faithful, but faithfulness to Christ in this life means that we must constantly change into the fuller image of Christ.

The applications of the concept of change in connection with worship are too numerous to explore, but suffice it to say that change is a good thing in our homes, in our work place, in our church (change is a Christian cuss-word in far too many churches), and most importantly in our hearts. Take time today to consider areas in your life which need to be changed.

We need not fear or resist change. Worship of Christ means that we must change. Although a dead yet re-elected politician may be a good thing, the status quo is never acceptable for the believer.

In closing, allow me to leave you with words of encouragement about a change we have not yet experienced (but hopefully each believer longs to see in his lifetime): “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,” (1 Cor. 15.51 — ESV)

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution that rejects progress is the cemetery.” — Harold Wilson, former Prime Minister of England