Outrageous – 3: A Place of Hope

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” 

Isaiah 55:8–9

There are moments in life when God asks us to trust Him beyond what makes sense. His ways do not always fit within our expectations, our circumstances, or even what we can understand. That is where outrageous faith and outrageous worship begin. Outrageous – 3

The word outrageous means exceeding the bounds of what is usual, reasonable, expected, or acceptable. It is astonishingly bold and extreme. When it comes to the promises of God, they often exceed what we would naturally expect. His promises are bigger than our circumstances and greater than what we can see in front of us.

Outrageous Worship

This morning is about outrageous worship—worship that pushes beyond what is usual and what is expected.

It is easy to worship when everything is going well. When the bills are paid, there is money in the bank, and there is something left over at the end of the week, worship feels natural. But what happens when life is turned upside down?

That is where outrageous worship becomes different.

Outrageous worship takes us beyond what we can understand with our five senses. It moves us from the natural into the supernatural. It takes us from what we can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste into the realm of faith—the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things that cannot be seen. Outrageous – 3

Psalm 34:1 says:

“I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

There is no need for complicated interpretation to understand what David is saying. The words “all times” and “continually” speak of something constant and persistent. It is a worship that is determined and unwavering. Outrageous – 3

Psalm 46:1–2 says:

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”

When everything falls apart, outrageous worship declares, “He is our refuge and strength.” Outrageous – 3

Psalm 119:71 says:

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”

Outrageous worship does not mean that the pain itself is good. It recognizes that God can still do something good through the pain. Outrageous – 3

Abraham and Isaac: Worship When You Don’t Understand

Abraham understood what it meant to worship when circumstances made no sense.

After years of waiting for God’s promise, Sarah finally became pregnant and gave birth to Isaac. Isaac was the long-awaited son—the promise Abraham had been waiting for. Then God asked Abraham to do something incredibly difficult: take his son, the one he loved, and offer him as a sacrifice.

Yet Genesis 22 tells us that Abraham got up early, prepared for the journey, and traveled toward the place God had instructed him to go. When he reached the area, Abraham told his servants:

“The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”

Notice what Abraham said first: “We will worship.”

He did not explain everything he was about to give up. He did not make excuses. He did not respond with, “Woe is me.” He simply said that he was going to worship. Outrageous – 3

That was outrageous given the circumstance.

Sometimes we become so consumed by what is happening around us that we allow the enemy to steal our worship. But the best thing you and I can do in the face of hardship is worship as though God has already provided. Outrageous – 3

Abraham did not know that a ram would eventually be provided.

He worshipped anyway.

Paul and Silas: Worship in the Prison

Paul and Silas show us another picture of outrageous worship.

Prison could not stop their worship. Being beaten could not stop their worship.

Acts 16 tells us that Paul and Silas were stripped, severely beaten, and thrown into prison. Their feet were placed in stocks, and they were confined in the inner dungeon.

But around midnight, instead of allowing their circumstances to silence them, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God while the other prisoners listened.

Then something happened.

A massive earthquake shook the prison to its foundations. The doors flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off. Outrageous – 3

They did not know an earthquake was coming.

They sang anyway.

Habakkuk: Worship When Nothing Looks Good

The prophet Habakkuk gives us another powerful example.

He described a situation where the fig trees had no blossoms, there were no grapes on the vines, the olive crop had failed, the fields were empty, the flocks were dying, and the cattle barns were empty.

From a natural perspective, there was plenty of reason to be discouraged.

But Habakkuk said:

“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!”

He continued by declaring that the Sovereign Lord was his strength. Outrageous – 3

This was not simply positive thinking. As Guzik explains in the sermon, Habakkuk did not ignore the barren fields or pretend the problems did not exist. He saw the problems for what they were, but he also remembered that God was greater than all of them. Outrageous – 3

That is the difference between pretending everything is fine and having faith in the middle of something that is not fine.

Missionary Jim Elliot: Worship in the Face of Death

On January 8, 1956, missionary Jim Elliot and four other young missionaries approached the jungle where the Auca Indians lived.

According to Elizabeth Elliot, their last recorded act before their deaths was to sing a hymn together:

“We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day thy grace to know,
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
We rest on thee, and in thy name we go.”

That raises a difficult but powerful question:

Could we sing that hymn if we were facing death for the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Outrageous – 3

Outrageous worship is not dependent on knowing what happens next.

Abraham did not know about the ram that would be provided, but he still worshipped.

Paul and Silas did not know about the earthquake that would come at midnight, but they still sang their hearts out.

Habakkuk did not know whether the crops would recover, but he still leaned on God.

And you and I do not know what tomorrow holds.

But yet, we worship. Outrageous – 3

When Things Look Bad, God Looks Good

Faith does not require us to know how everything will work out.

Sometimes we worship before the answer arrives.

Sometimes we worship while we are still hurting.

Sometimes we worship when the circumstances make no sense.

Sometimes we worship simply because we know who God is.

That is outrageous worship.

It is choosing to trust God’s ways when we cannot understand them. It is choosing to praise Him when circumstances tell us to do the opposite. It is moving beyond what we can see and placing our confidence in the God who sees what we cannot.

When things look bad, God looks good.

We may not know what tomorrow holds.

We may not know how the situation will change.

We may not see the provision yet.

But yet, we worship.