What is worship? It is a good question.
When you took that worship survey last year, you requested a sermon dealing with that question. Worship is the most important thing that a human being can do. It is the zenith of what it really means to be human. Worship is the most important thing we will do this week. Even if we should discover the cure for cancer on Wednesday. Worship is the most important thing the church does. So, we had better get it right, shouldn't we?
But there is a heresy afoot in the church that makes it tough to get worship right. The heresy is this: the creeping tendency to replace the doctrine of the sovereignty of God with the sovereignty of the congregation. Which translates into, 'Hey, let's do worship in ways that make us feel good.' Ways we like, rather than what necessarily pleases God.
So, if you and I are going to get worship right, we had better start by asking ourselves a question. The question is this: "Is worship primarily for us, or primarily for God?" If we are going to get worship right, we had also better get our grammar straight. Worship is not a noun. It is not something that we go to. It is not something we attend. It is not something we observe. Worship is a verb. It is something that you and I do. Which means that we can go to church and not necessarily worship. It means that we can show up in the sanctuary Sunday after Sunday; but in reality, be totally absent from worship. If we are going to get worship right, we ought to go to those places where we find what authentic God-pleasing worship looks like.
One of the best places to do that is in the fifteenth chapter of Revelation.
And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."1
What exactly is worship?
Let me begin by telling you that first of all, worship is a victim. It is a victim of our culture. I want to hit on at least four aspects of our culture, four cultural influences that tend to seduce you and me continually; do a job on us, moving us from what authentic worship is, to what I would call pseudo-worship.
We live in an entertainment-driven culture. Everywhere we go today, we expect to be entertained. Even if you are alone in an elevator there is music playing. We want to be continually on the edge of our seats. We want to be made to laugh. So we have remote control switches and we hit the buttons until those things are a part of what is happening. We want to be entertained. We expect it, and if we are not careful, even as committed Christians we can tend to bring that quest for entertainment into a place like this on Sunday morning. "Here I am God. Entertain me!"
You see, God will only receive worship that is authentic. Worship that is pleasing to Him. Is worship all about being entertained?
If we worship with the whole church and our quest is chiefly to be entertained, then I think we have missed the boat as to what worship is all about. As a worship pastor I know that a lot of folks come on Sunday morning wanting to be entertained. So, I must admit, people in my position are always, always tempted to supplant the sovereignty of God with the sovereignty of the congregation and try to do a stand-up comedy act, or be a storyteller rather than a preacher of the word and a worship leader.
We live in a therapeutic culture. The mantra of that culture is 'something's wrong, fix me.' While there is truth to the fact that we need a lot of fixing, getting "fixed" is a by-product of authentic encounter with God in Jesus Christ. We are all finding out that we are dysfunctional. The Bible said that from the very beginning. We are told to search out our inner child, and then hook up with therapies that will bring healing into our lives. There is nothing wrong with seeking after healing. The problem arises when we take legitimate desire for healing and begin to make that the focus of worship. 'God , make me better' replaces 'Praise you Lord'. When that is the case, then our worship is what needs healing.
We live in a highly politicized culture. The Christian faith can and does speak to every issue of human existence. Our faith ought to be the primary thing that shapes our politics. But often times, it is vice versa. Often times you can wander into a church and wonder if you have stumbled into a political rally rather than a service of worship. Whenever political ideology - be it from the right or the left -- supplant the Word of God, which overshadows and judges all political human endeavors; when the Word of God is supplanted by political ideology, then you might have a political pep rally, but you are not worshiping.2
We live in a consumer-oriented culture. Where everything is, 'Me, me, me...' Worship is really all about me, right? Fix me. Entertain me. Make me feel good. Pump me up. Recharge my batteries. Make me feel better. And if you don't, I'll go down the street to the church that does. Or I'll find another god who will revolve around me."
When me-centered, human-centered worship is what a church is all about, they really are a part of the cult of narcissism; not the Church of Jesus Christ.
So, what does authentic worship really look like?
What is worship? This text before us gives us a few significant pointers as to what authentic worship looks like.
Authentic God-pleasing worship is God centered. It is God focused. At the funeral of Louis XIV, perhaps France's greatest king ever, the cathedral was packed out with mourners. The funeral was held at night time, and the only light in that vast cathedral was one lone candle right by the casket containing the mortal remains of that great monarch. At the appointed time, the court preacher got up to address the assembled clergy and the dignitaries of France. He ascended the pulpit and then he reached out from the pulpit and snuffed out that lone candle which symbolized the greatness of the king. And then in total darkness he uttered four words, "Only God is great."3
Worship has got to be based on the sovereignty of God. Only God is great. Only God is worthy; worthy to be worshiped.
Authentic worship is always a response. It is always a response to victory. The victory that God has won for us in Jesus Christ.
If you are a Christian, you are on the winning team. Victory is yours and mine. So, we come here Sunday after Sunday to celebrate victory. Not our victories. The victory that is ours in Christ Jesus alone.4
We need to lose ourselves in these adjectives if we are going to truly worship this morning. Adjectives that describe who God is. Almighty. King of the ages. Holy. Adjectives that describe what he has done for you and me in Christ Jesus. His ways are just and true. Marvelous and great. Righteous.
As you and I lose ourselves in those adjectives describing who God is and what he has done for us; as we lose ourselves in understanding of who God is, and the fact that he is here. It is then that we become awesomely overwhelmed with the reality. That is the presence of God. When you and I are bowled over by the loving, gracious, holy, magnificent presence of God, it is then that all of those desires to be entertained, and fixed, and coddled, and to be in control begin to dissipate and you and I begin to worship in spirit and in truth.
So you see, worship always begins on a note of victory as we come into a place like this, and then turn our heads, and our hearts, and our entire beings over to this God who has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ and through his mighty acts in Christ. That is what true worship is all about.
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1 Revelation 15:2-4 NIV 2 Dr. Ron Scates, CentralPC Baltimore, MD, June 1999 3 Ibid 4 Ibid 5 Worship Starter Video of GCF (How Can I Keep from Singing by Chris Tomlin)
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