Or, Effects on the Assembly in Worship
Scripture: Selected Scriptures
Date: March 4, 2012
Speaker: Sean Higgins
The Particulars of Worship (Part 4)
Seventeen years ago I had a medical procedure called a myelogram cat scan. My back was hurting and, since I had previously had back surgery that included the insertion of metal screws and metal bars, I was unable to have an MRI (magnetic resonance imagery). A myelogram uses x-ray technology along with a special dye called contrast material which is inserted into the spinal canal so that the space between the bones that contains the nerve roots and spinal cord can be seen more clearly. The insertion of the dye requires the use of a needle.
Shortly after the procedure began I felt a shock to what seemed like every nerve ending in my body. Every part of me jolted on the table. The needle had accidentally touched a nerve in my spinal cord. I cannot remember a more intense or consuming pain than that in my life. You can imagine how it rubbed me the wrong way when one of the assisting nurses said at that point, “Well, at least now we know we’re in.” I’m sure the procedure has matured by now and yet I cannot imagine putting myself in that position again, no matter how convincing a doctor might be.
To some degree, when God’s Word goes to work on us, every nerve ending in our body reacts. His Word isn’t a needle, but it is a knife.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12–13, ESV)
His knife gets into places no needles could. His knife cuts into our hearts and makes our body jolt. His Word exposes us, it reveals us before God better than any MRI, x-ray, or myelogram. We are on the operating table, or better, the offering table every Lord’s day.
You may remember a few weeks back when we considered the progression of sacrifices in the Old Testament. After the sin/guilt offering, the ascension or consecration offering involved killing another sacrifice, casting the animal’s blood on the altar sides, and then cutting the animal into pieces so that it could be arranged on the altar top and burned in its entirety. This cutting and consuming symbolized the complete dedication of the worshipper in service to God.
In our Sunday morning service, we also have a time of consecration. We also offer sacrifices in complete surrender to the Lord. But we offer no animals. We offer ourselves. His Word, His knife cuts us. So in Hebrews 4:13, the word “exposed” (ESV) or “laid bare” (NAS) is a form of the word, τραχηλίζω: “to lay bare the neck,” as in, to pull back the head and slit the throat as the sacrifice is prepared. His Word cuts and His Word consumes: “‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord?” (Jeremiah 23:29).
I’ve introduced this message this way for two reasons. First, it is time for us to consider the consecration part of our liturgy and God’s Word takes a central role in preparing and setting apart the assembly. Second, based on various conversations over the last few weeks, I’d say, “At least now we know we’re in.” Some nerves are being touched, some hearts exposed, some pain in the offering. A lot of that is good for the assembly. That mean’s He’s consecrating us for His service.
Previously we’ve considered the particulars in and around the call to worship. Last week we considered our corporate confession of sin along with God’s declaration of forgiveness and cleansing for those believers who confess. As with the OT pattern, once the worshipper’s sin has been dealt with, he is dedicated to God.
It should be obvious how singing fits with this division. We offer musical praises three times, but I’ve already preached a message about our work in musical worship, so let’s work through the remaining particulars.
The reading of God’s Word does not occupy any liturgical place in many corporate services even though Paul gave Timothy explicit instructions about it’s public priority.
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. (1 Timothy 4:13, ESV)
Undoubtedly one reason why the public reading was so important is that most of the church members wouldn’t have had their own copy. Unless they had access to read a copy for themselves, hearing it read was crucial. (For some examples, see Exodus 24:7; Nehemiah 8:3, 8, 18; 9:3; 13:1; Acts 13:27, 15:21; Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27)
But hearing God’s Word read has it’s own benefit. We honor God by giving attention to Him as we listen. As if a father who was on an extended trip sent a letter home to his family and they gathered around the table to hear it read. The children honor their father by listening, to hear his heart and to hear any instructions he may give to them. In the case of corporate worship, we hear our Father’s heart, we hear His instructions, and we are drawn near to Him.
We Bible-toters have no doubt heard some Bible-teacher say, the reading of God’s Word is the only time in the service guaranteed to be without error. While that doesn’t give us permission to be sloppy in our songs, prayers, or sermons, we cannot claim our words to be God-breathed.
Paul provides no instructions on what to read, what plan, if any, to follow. With that freedom there are at least a few reasonable possibilities: reading through the OT or NT or both, reading key passages on a rotation, reading the passage to be studied later in the sermon, or perhaps a passage connected or complementary to the sermon. We believe that some combination of this latter approach best suits our body’s worship.
We also, though, want to demonstrate our dependence on His Word throughout the service, even printing key passages in the bulletin that often weave together with a thought or two for the morning. Reading and hearing His Word honors Him as we purposefully let Him speak.
We also honor Him by purposefully expressing our dependence on Him, casting our cares at His throne, seeking His help. Paul wrote to Timothy in chapter 2:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1–4, ESV)
For what it’s worth, note verse 8:
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; (1 Timothy 2:8, ESV)
Based on the last part of the chapter where women are told not to teach or to exercise authority over a man (verse 12), Paul’s instructions appear to be for corporate gatherings. [And does “lifting holy hands” mean lifting literal hands from a holy heart or does it mean offer prayers upwards with holy thoughts?] While this isn’t the only passage that commends supplication and, while there are elements of supplication in other prayers throughout the service, this prayer teaches (by liturgy) that we cannot do it on our own. Not only do we recognize He is worthy to be praised, not only do we recognize that He is holy and righteous, we also recognize that He is our good and providing Father. He bids us to ask, and to ask for our needs and the needs of His people in the flock and in the church around the world.
Our praying in dependence is part of consecration as we are fully given over to Him. We do not have the resources to serve Him without Him. He is drawing us to Himself in fellowship and this is our communication of happy reliance on Him.
The sermon. Many sermons have been preached on preaching the Word. I have heard many sermons, paid money to multiple schools so that I could learn to dissect and assemble sermons, and I’ve preached many train-wreck sermons. I hope, by grace, to stay qualified, get better and preach a bunch more sermons. A good portion of my dualistic life was spent thinking about the importance of preparing and proclaiming sermons, viewing almost every temporal responsibility as an enemy of the really important work. I still fight the tractor beam from that ditch, though I’m also not running toward the ditch of holding conversations on couches with strategically placed ferns around a candle lit room.
I’ve tried to limit myself to a few thoughts directly connected to sermons and liturgy.
We say something by what we do and how we do it, not only by the sentences we say (during a sermon). While the preaching of God’s Word is crucial for good worship, the sermon as liturgy has effectively taught us that good Christians worship by 1) showing up to hear the sermon, and 2) listening closely to the sermon. A Christian is more “godly” to the extent that he listens better and that he listens to better sermons.
As I’ve argued throughout this series (of sermons), though, the worship of the assembly is not the same as gathering an audience for a lecture. Stated differently, Paul’s exhortation to “preach the Word” does not mean preach the Word and that’s all.
I love studying and teaching through books of the Bible. I’ll give a few reasons why I think it is the wise choice for most messages after this short rant. However, the irony is thick, that we Bible-teaching lovers have no verse that requires verse-by-verse sermons. We want verse-by-verse but have no verse. We have no verse that commands it, no verse that demonstrates it.
That said, verse-by-verse is good. It makes it easier to stay in context. It wrestles with the flow and argument of the author. Selecting a passage for the following week doesn’t become such a panic. Building a commentary library is more feasible. Modeling how to study a paragraph from context rather than modeling how to read a concordance (or the Treasure of Scripture Knowledge) can help the people “rightly divide” their own copies at home. It requires an honest preacher to deal with subjects he might otherwise avoid, for preference reasons or cowardice. It respects the way God revealed His Word.
There are inescapable and profitable benefits. But again, there is no mandate to or model of verse-by-verse preaching in the Bible. Nor are we limited from making canonical (whole Bible) conclusions about a doctrine, say, like worship. The “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon, who himself was a poor practitioner of sequential exposition, said:
To affirm of any human production that it contained many great and instructive truths which it would be impossible to systematize without weakening each separate truth, and frustrating the design of the whole, would be a serious reflection upon the author’s wisdom and skill! How much more to affirm this of the Word of God! … No one can say that the Bible is his creed, unless he can express it in his own words. (The Forgotten Spurgeon, 9)
I’ll say one more time: I prefer teaching through a book of the Bible. I’m passionated about providing a steady diet of line upon line, precept upon precept, paragraph by paragraph sermons. But there are times when we do well to address God’s Word on certain subjects.
Sermons assume that the flock are at various levels of immaturity, hunger, uncleanness, and dislocation.
Consider some of the things that the Word effects.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
(Isaiah 55:10–11, ESV)
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— (1 Peter 2:2, ESV)
That means we need to grow.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV)
That means we aren’t always headed in the right direction or fully prepared.
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25–27, ESV)
That means that we aren’t clean enough already.
So, Paul told Timothy to devote himself:
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. (1 Timothy 4:13, ESV)
Why “exhortation”? Because God is changing us and charging us. This work of exhorting the body toward maturity is to be done with authority and patience.
Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. (Titus 2:15, ESV)
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2, ESV)
We don’t need to freak out. We need to take God seriously and not ourselves. We need to trust Him and hear Him and do what He says. One of the things that makes it less grating is that the preacher is supposed to be growing obviously (1 Timothy 4:15). Don’t think that you can enjoy watching a preacher grow from your spot on the couch.
C.S. Lewis said somewhere that God is easily pleased but not easily satisfied. Just because we need to grow in a particular area doesn’t mean everything we did previously was unacceptable to Him.
The last particular of our consecration is the corporate offering which recognizes the pattern of the tribute offering or grain offering in the OT. It was an offering that represented the grateful receiving of God’s provision. Giving money is a token of giving ourselves.
On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper,… (1 Corinthians 16:2, ESV)
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:6–8, ESV)
I haven’t said it in a while, but we love the opportunity to present one offering, an assembled offering to the Lord. That’s why we bring one bucket forward.
Another point we’re glad to make is that we have no interest in sending out collectors to pass plates up and down the pews. We don’t think that’s unrighteous, but we love the statement it makes that the church isn’t grabby.
An assembly, our people are totally devoted to the Lord as are all our goods. That’s the consecration of the body.
If we can’t or don’t get our worship mature, then we have little to offer others. God does not call us to make converts, but to make disciples, to make worshippers. If we have a weak view of worship, a listening definition of discipleship, that’s what we’ll make. That’s part of the reason we need worship, to be grown and washed and made more mature as individuals in Christlikness and as a body until we “grow up every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15, ESV).
Some of this may hit a nerve. If it’s the right nerve, that’s good. I’m picking on us, poking at our sore spots, because we can’t push our worship off onto anyone else. Why would we want to?