Joining In
Some Sundays, I struggle to “go to church.” I wish I didn't. There a number of reasons why but I won’t elaborate, recognizing that most of my reasons are preferential. But there is something that has helped me of late.
We are conditioned to think that worship begins at whatever time our paticular local church sets it. For us, we drive to a building and enter, with an announcement and music initiating our time of worship at 9:15a. It ends by 10:30a There is another service at 11:00a. That is often how we think about worship, with a beginning and end. We are, however, mistaken. Comparing two of the great passages in our Bibles on worship, one in Isaiah and the other in the great Revelation, we quickly see that worship has been transpiring long before we came on the scene and will continue long after. If this is true, then the question to ask each Sunday morning, or any other time we gather, is not “What do I get out of this time?”, but rather, “Am I joining in on what is already transpiring?” Worship is already in progress. As the great hymn puts it, Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love, Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of Unbroken Praise. Unbroken worship already in progress into which I am invited to enter. Asking the proper question—Am I joining in on what is already transpiring?-- is a subtle, or perhaps not-so-subtle, shift. It certainly involves a move away from the Self to God.
If one would compare the worship described in Isaiah 6 with the worship delineated in Revelation 4 & 5, we could see numerous similarities. For example, both involve a throne. This throne has withstood all assaults throughout time. Many other thrones have come and gone. This throne remains. We are glad. And on the throne, Someone sits. We worship because not only is there a throne but a Ruler who is in charge, far above all other powers and rulers. The command center of the universe is occupied, occupied by one whose goodness and wisdom is unparalleled.
Another similarity in both vignettes is who it is who surrounds the throne as well as their message. In 740 BC, the time of Isaiah’s writing, the seraphim sing Holy, Holy, Holy. In Revelation, the living creatures are voicing the same chorus. These heavenly beings never tire of praising the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.
But then the differences. In the earlier picture, the heavenly beings are covering their faces, the holiness of God too much to take in. In AD 92, the approximate time of John’s Revelation, the living creatures, each with six wings, are covered in eyes. They are no longer hiding their eyes as was the case in Isaiah’s day. Instead, they are full of eyes. They are taking in as much light and life and goodness as possible. What changed? Something must have happened to allow creatures to stand in the presence of holiness and not be undone.
We come now to the heart of the change in worship. Revelation 5:6 clues us in to what has brought about this change. Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne. Two words for lamb, one referring to an adult lamb, which is what the Baptizer used when he said, Behold the Lamb of God! The word in Revelation 5 is different. It is the word used to describe a little lamb. Mary’s little lamb (borrowing from Darrell Johnson here). The lamb that has taken away the sin and guilt of the world…now at the center of the throne. The dynamic of heavenly worship has changed because of the Lamb. And notice another critical difference: when Isaiah was confronted by the holiness of God, his response was to exclaim, Woe is me. For I am a man of unclean lips. But now in the presence of the holiness of God and the Lamb, the worshiping throng declares, Worthy, Worthy, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Before the death and resurrection of Mary's little Lamb, the posture of worship is one of fear. After the death and resurrection, the posture of worship is joy: Worthy, worthy, worthy! It is true we might initially feel the “woe” of our sin, but we are not stuck there. Instead, we are invited to join in with those who recognize what the Lamb accomplished and sing from the depths of our being, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the lamb, worthy is the lamb that was slain. To receive honor, and power and riches and wisdom and glory.
Worship does not begin nor does it end with us. And so the proper question is not “What did I get out of this time?”, but rather “Did I join in on the worship that is already in progress?"