Or, When God Calls the Assembly to Order
Scripture: Selected Scriptures
Date: February 12, 2012
Speaker: Sean Higgins
The Particulars of Worship (Part 1)
Men and women are never more human than when they are in fellowship, first in fellowship with God and then with others. Saying that we were made to worship and saying that we were made to bear His image is virtually saying the same thing, if we recognize that worship of God is ultimately about fellowship.
What does it mean to be human? What distinguishes us from the rest of creation? We alone are created in God’s likeness. So what does it mean to be created in God’s likeness? In what ways do we reflect Him? Among other things, it at least means that we are formed to enjoy fellowship. God, in three Persons, the blessed Trinity, has never known an existence in isolation. Eternal life has been eternally shared life between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He made us to share that sort of life.
We learn who we are by being with Him. We learn to reflect Him by being with Him. That’s why “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). So we can’t image Him in isolation from one another, nor can we mirror Him without a clear path to Him; sin obstructs our line of sight.
He could have created us to enjoy relationship with one another only on the horizontal level, on a plane running parallel to Him but never interacting with Him. Instead, He graciously shares the best thing in the universe with us: Himself. He is our God. He is our good. He is our help. He is on our side. At no other time do we more fully acknowledge or enjoy our privilege than when we assemble for worship.
Worship, then, is not a one-sided affair, a one way movement. God meets with us in worship.
We began this series on worship by considering some of the purposes for corporate worship. He shapes us as we interact with Him. He unifies the body. He orients us, not only individually but also as a group. And He spreads His heavenly will on earth, toppling idols and ideologies as we lift up His name.
He does all of that in, through, and with His [people][people]. We are a people for His own possession (1 Peter 2:9). We are His temple, “being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). We have direct access to Him as a “holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5, 9). And we offer ourselves as sacrifices for spiritual worship (Romans 12:1).
All of this follows a certain pattern as God draws us near to Himself. He gave instructions under the Old Covenant that not only enabled forgiveness for sin, but also that enabled fellowship. Through three types of sacrifices, sin was atoned for, the worshipper was consecrated for service, and peace was shared. The sin offering delivered, the burnt offering devoted, the peace offering drew together.
The Old Covenant sacrificial system was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. As our High Priest, He offered His own body once, took our sin, transforms us, and brings us to His Father. This is all part of the New Covenant work, the gospel. We are called to worship Him as Lord, which requires confession of our sin, then He cleanses us and sets us apart for service. We share fellowship and peace with Him and, as we go among the nations, we call more worshippers. The gospel pattern fulfills the sacrificial progression and provides the pattern for our service.
The pattern is important because, again, what does God want with us? He does want us to know Him, to know the truth that He has revealed, to believe His Word. But verse by verse, line by line explanation is the door into the living room. Yes, going through the right door is important. But staring at the door or standing in the doorway isn’t the aim of worship. Going into His presence is the aim. The door of truth opens the way. That’s why liturgy matters.
Liturgy is “the orderly, biblical way in which the congregation is drawn into God’s majestic, life-giving presence” (Jeffrey Meyers, The Lord’s Service, 154).
I keep hammering this for a couple reasons.
First, if God wants fellowship with His people, then our liturgical customs should reflect His desire somehow. I said a couple weeks ago that God has not provided His one-and-only order of service anywhere in Scripture. That means we do have a measure of freedom in what we do. We do not, however, have the freedom not to say something by what we do. In other words, it’s not whether or not our liturgy will make a point, it’s which point our liturgy will make.
We necessarily make a point and, in light of the order of offerings and the gospel progress, we get to make a point that God loves to meet with and bless His assembly in worship. Most of us have learned from (low) liturgy that God wants listeners; long exposure to that sort of liturgy has shaped our beliefs. But the sermon is so much more than a weekly theology fix, or three steps to a better life. We meet with the Author over His Book. His living and active word cuts us up and cleans us up before Him, even if we can’t remember (or write down) every detail.
So whatever we do, we should try to practice what God prioritizes, especially to give form to God’s desire for fellowship.
Second, if God wants fellowship with His people, then our liturgical convictions should not break fellowship with other believers that have different convictions. This is a field sown full of tares. (In Romans 14 and 15) Paul refers to believers who thought that they found the key to sanctification, who push their convictions on others, who he calls the weaker brothers. The stronger brethren weren’t living in license, giving no though whatsoever to their conduct. The stronger brethren knew that externals alone could never do what grace does, and that grace enabled them to bear with weaker brothers, too.
I say that because we’re setting ourselves up for serious discontent, if not actual disaster, by working on and so purposefully establishing liturgy for our worship. Do you know a lot of assemblies that follow the five Cs? That demonstrate in practice God’s desire to fellowship with His people rather than merely speak at them from behind a pulpit?
How will you respond to other Christians who worship elsewhere? Or when you’ve gone to another church on the Lord’s day? Here is an area where we need to grow up.
We ought not blow up because people don’t get it, yet or ever. Our indignation won’t win them to want our adoration. At the same time, we ought not give up our convictions. The way to handle others who don’t think like we do is not for us to become thought-less. Let’s be careful not to push people away by how we tell them that God draws us near.
In order to straighten our explanations and strengthen our participation, I’d like us to consider some of the particulars of worship liturgy. These are implications that surround and include the pattern in the five Cs so that we know what to expect and how to enjoy it. We are an assembly of worship agents and actors, not auditors, so we all should know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
This is a challenge, since we want to worship, not theologize about worship. We don’t want to spend more time washing the car, changing the oil, reading the owner’s manual; we want to drive. We don’t want to get stuck studying the recipe, we want to eat. But sometimes it is beneficial, hence this series.
We won’t find a verse that tells us how to behave before our Lord’s Day Worship service. Nevertheless, we can say a couple things based on who we are and what this time is for.
In terms of who we are, we are an assembly, not a multitude under one roof. In other words, this is more “body” time and less believer time, a time for the church to worship. That means that when we gather as the assembly, we should be thinking about the assembly. It is unnatural for the assembly to act like it isn’t, to act like strangers.
In terms of what this service is for, the aim of the assembly will be a meal of fellowship with God. We gather for a feast, not for a fast, for a festival (so to speak), not a funeral. We ought to enter with energy and eagerness. God will draw us near, He is on our side, so we come with gladness.
Yes, we have a time for confessing sin. But we really ought not to wait for that to get glad. Neither do we have doubts about His faithfulness to forgive us. As much as possible, confess individual sins before hand and then help carry the corporate confession.
All of that to say, you don’t need to be quiet when you come for worship. The church is not a collection of listeners, but a congregation of worshippers. Gladly greet one another, the rest of the assembly. We’ve come together for good things. Don’t show up at the last minute, sneak in and keep to yourself the whole time. You will not find instructions in our bulletin to come in, sit down, and be quiet. Come in, get re-connected, and get ready to celebrate.
This is why we have announcements at this time. Practically, it functions to finish up our greetings. The announcements end our gathering instead of start our worship. We look ahead at some of the body’s calendar. I take a different attitude during announcements, with less formality and purposeful interaction.
Believers assemble to meet with God at His bidding. He initiates and invites us into His presence. In our service, I usually give the same sentence, “Let’s have Scripture call us to worship.” When the assembly hears that signal, something different begins. This sentence could be called the votum, a Latin word for a solemn declaration or prayer, similar to the gavel pounding that calls the court proceedings to order. It is often a simple, short sentence, easily remembered and identified.
The votum, as an opening statement, turns a casual get-together of individuals into a united assembly and is intended to confirm “the presence of God” in the midst of his people. (Kuyper, Our Worship, 110)
There are various votums/calls used in liturgy. Historically, the most common is Psalm 124:8, sometimes begun by the minister with the congregation responding with the second half.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
It’s a great verse that considers how God has already delivered His people and now there is a corporate desire to honor Him as our help. The congregation faced death and may have been destroyed, but God delivered them through His great power. The psalm is a song of thanks and hope that He is our help.
Another often used votum is Revelation 1:4-7. There are also other, non-inspired calls such as, “Come let us worship the Triune God.”
In our service, I strike the gavel and then select different passages that call for worship, even in the (imperatival) mood of the verb. For example, today,
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song; (Psalm 33:1a, 2-3a)
This meeting is for Christians, though it isn’t a closed door meeting. The public are allowed, and here is part of our work of propaganda.
We come in the name of Christ. Outside of Christ, there is no congregation, no body. Without Christ, there is no communion with God.
As happens throughout the service, God speaks and we respond. The prayer of praise acknowledges His call. It also acknowledges that He is worthy to be worshipped. In this prayer we also ask for His help to worship Him properly.
We can’t even fellowship properly without His help. So we acknowledge our dependence from the start. We also address Him as the Trinity, typically mentioning Father, Son, and Spirit. As you may notice, I emphasize “assembly,” “come together,” and “before You”. This is the assembly’s response.
We’ll see more particulars next week.
Worship is our intentional recognition that He reigns over all the earth, and that His reign starts here.