Clayton Presbyterian Church
July 9, 2006
"Earlier in this century, someone claimed that we work at our play and play at our work. Today the confusion has deepened: we worship our work, work at our play, and play at our worship." So wrote Leland Ryken, author and Wheaton College professor [Critique (1997, No. 7), p. 9].
Ryken implies that we are not as serious and intent as we should be about worship. He would have us ask, what it is that we are doing here on Sunday mornings. Or, What SHOULD we be doing here? We gather. We sing. We read. We listen. We sing some more and go home. Sometimes we say that it is a good service and sometime it doesn’t really standout. But what should we expect from worship? What is it that we are really trying to accomplish as we gather here on Sunday mornings? What would it look like to really be intentional about our worship?
If we don’t know, then we run the risk of just wasting our time. And this is in fact the very view that many people have of worship – a waste of time. If it is, then we should all give up and so something else. So we need to find out.
In order to gain some insight, we are going to turn to the last book in the Bible: Revelation. This is a book that strikes fear in many a heart. We are going to look at chapter four, where John has a vision of a scene in heaven. As you listen, try to picture the scene.
1 After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." 2 At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! 3 And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. 4 Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; 6 and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.
Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing, "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come." 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, 11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." (NRSV)
What is pictured here? It is kind of a weird scene. John is beckoned into heaven where he will see what is going to happen in the future. He immediately finds himself transported into heaven and in front of a throne. He describes the glory of the throne and the one on the throne by likening them to precious stones, like jasper and emeralds, and even rainbows. But he is not alone at the throne. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, with elders seated on the thrones, dressed in white with golden crowns on their head. From the main throne comes lightening and thunder.
More than just the elders, present are four living creatures, full of eyes, which look like different animals, including a human. And they are singing. As they are singing the twenty-four elders fall down before the one on the throne, cast their crowns before the throne and then they start singing.
O.K. So, we might have a clue why people steer clear of this book. But before you give it up, you need to know that this is a deeply symbolic book. When we just try to read all of this as straight literal description, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. John is describing things that go beyond any of our experiences and so he is just trying to gesture at the true reality of it all.
First, he is trying to describe the presence, the glory and the majesty of the Living God. And so he points to earthly things that have great beauty and glory—like jasper, carnelian—which is a red to brown translucent crystal—emeralds and rainbows. He goes on to describe God’s presence by likening it to thunder and lightening. Think about a time when you have been near a lightening strike. It is terrifying to be so close to raw power. That is a sense of what it is to be in the presence of the Almighty God.
The strange creatures are symbolic of all creatures. These four creatures symbolize that all of the creatures that God has made surround him and give him glory. Just as we sing in the hymn, “All Creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing.”
And the twenty-four elders respresent God’s people—the twelve patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles, who were the start of the church. So it is not just all of God’s creatures that are around the throne, but particularly God’s own people that he has called and created for himself.
What are they doing in heaven? They are worshipping God. This snapshot we get of heaven is of God’s creatures worshipping him. And there is a lot of singing. This is bad news for some of you. I see you when we sing and you never open your mouths. We are going to be doing a lot of singing in heaven and so you better get used to it. So you might as well start now. -- But we still don’t have a good answer for what is worship.
We use many words for worship. One of the words that we use is ‘liturgy.’ This word has come to refer to the elements of a worship service. So a service that is highly ‘liturigical’ has a lot of elements, such a Roman Catholic, Lutheran, or Episcopalian service. But the word hasn’t always meant that. It comes from a Greek word which meant, ‘work of the people,’ or a public work. Now, for the Greeks that had a distinctive meaning. But, as a general definition for worship, I think that it is very useful.
What is worship? We could say that worship is the work of the people. It is what we do when we gather together as Christians. It is our task in the presence of God. According to Revelation 4, worship is where we gather around the throne of God and give him his due. We give to God as he deserves.
This is our work, or our service. It is no coincidence that we call this a “worship service.” One of the problems that we have with worship is that it feels like we’re not doing anything. There have been demographic studies that have shown that most churches have more women in attendance than men. And there are various reasons put forward to account for this. But I wonder whether it is not because by and large men are more task-oriented. They want to be DOING something. And so they DO things together, like play golf or the like. And when it comes to worship it doesn’t feel like we’re doing anything. It doesn’t feel like work. It doesn’t seem like anything is getting accomplished. Some people have even wondered why we don’t meet on Sunday morning and not sing or preach, but just do mission projects. That would be accomplishing something, wouldn’t it?
In one sense this is right. Worship is not like any other of our work or effort. At the end of the hour we don’t have anything earthly to show for it. But this is very much to the point. When we go to worship, we are practicing the Sabbath. We are taking time off from our normal productive lives. And in so doing, we are reminded that it is not OUR work that matters, that’s really decisive, but God’s. It is God who created the world. It is God who sent Jesus to redeem the world. It is God who is able the meet the deepest needs of the world. We cannot do it. We can’t guarantee our futures.
Worship therefore is a reminder that we are not God. It allows us to have a more humble attitude toward our work and just what can be accomplished through our efforts. And humility is something that this world could use a great deal more of. It is the act of worship that keeps us from worshipping our work, our abilities, our accomplishments, or our ability to “get more done.”
So to say that worship doesn’t do anything is not right. Actually, we are performing the most important of tasks in worshipping God. Moreover, when we are worshipping, we are doing what it is that we were made to do.
If you grew up Presbyterian in the South, there is a good chance that you had to memorize one of our statements of faith, called the Westminster Shorter Catechism. We are not into memorizing much any more. But the first question and answer is worthy of committing to memory. It asks:
What is the chief end of man? In other words, what is the purpose of human existence? Why are we here? Something we all must answer.
The answer: To glorify God and enjoy him forever.
God create us as worshippers. So the main purpose for our existence is to glorify God. When we are doing this, that is when we are most fully human.
God created us as worshippers. We are all worshipers. In fact, we can’t NOT worship. And so we all worship something. We worship our work. We worship our families. We worship our money. We worship other people. We worship our hobbies.
Now, someone is undoubted thinking, “No, I don’t. I don’t WORSHIP them.” But anything that something has a bigger role in our life than God does, it’s worship. Actually, the Bible calls it idolatry.
When the twenty-four elders cast down their crowns before the throne they are acknowledging that God is first, and all power, authority, might and glory are rightfully his. They sing this saying,
“You are worthy, O Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Real worship means laying everything down before the throne of God, and giving him our all. But, according to the Westminster Catechism, our purpose is not just to give God glory, but to ENJOY HIM. Do you find joy in God? Is your worship a joyful event?
North Carolina is undoubtedly a basketball state, with the big three being State, Duke and Carolina. Whenever they meet, it is a big deal.
Recently, when Duke played Carolina in Duke’s Cameron Arena, home fans (or "Crazies") were given instructions.
This is the game you've been waiting for. No excuses. Give everything you've got, and we will walk away the victors. Cameron should never be less than painfully loud tonight.
At Coach K's request, please focus on our team tonight. Better to bring our team up than put theirs down. Especially coming out of timeouts, we need to be incredibly loud. During their free throws in the second half, forget the novelty stuff, just be unbelievably loud. This is a huge game. Stay in the bleachers and go nuts.
Perhaps we have something to learn here about worship. First, these fans are totally focused. And so in worship, we too should be totally-focused in our worship. And it wouldn’t be too bad of a thing to think of ourselves as Fans of God.
Second, they came with great expectation. “This is the game you have been waiting for,” the instructions said. So we too should come with an expectation that God is going to something in worship, that he will meet us and change us, because that is what he does.
We should also be completely sold out. These fans are called, “crazies,” because they give their all. Just as the elders cast their crowns before the throne, we should give ourselves completely to go.
And lastly, we should have joy. These fans find joy in being present as their team plays. So we should find joy in our Lord and Savior.
There is a book on worship that came out just a few years ago called, A Royal Waste of Time. While this is taking a phrase that is used in our culture, it was meant as a literal description of worship. In the eyes of the world, what we do in our services is a waste of time. Nothing productive is coming out of it. But the “royal” there is a clue. We are in the presence of royalty.
I am reminded of the story of Jesus just before his death when he was with his disciples and a woman came in, broke open a jar of costly perfume and poured it on Jesus. (Mark 14:3-9) The disciples couldn’t believe that Jesus could sit by and allow such a “waste.” They objected that the perfume could be sold and the proceeds could be given to the poor, for it was worth almost a year’s wages. But Jesus scolded them and told them to stop bothering her. He commends her and says that she has performed a “good service.” Here was the first Christian worship service. She gave to Jesus extravagantly.
It was like work, in that she performed an invaluable service.
It was like play, because in the eyes of the world, she didn’t accomplish anything.
But more than anything else, it was worship. And as we gather on Sunday mornings, as we live our lives throughout the week, we should follow her example. We should fulfill our lives’ purpose and do all things for the glory of God.