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On November 9, 2023 By In Church, Theology, Worship

Meaningless Ritual?

We have all witnessed or even participated in what we call “meaningless worship;” people going through rote recitations in a mindless, heartless, and thankless way. They go to worship out of mere habit, trying to keep their parents off their backs, or with some superstitious view that they are keeping God at bay by giving him a little time each week. These people–maybe even we at times–approach worship in general and the Table of the Lord each week without reflection. Wherever we see this we tend to think that their worship is meaningless. But is it?

I understand what we mean when we speak about meaningless worship: worship is meaningless to the worshiper. But whether or not the worshiper reflects upon and responds to the call of God in worship does not invest or divest the worship of its meaning. The meaning of worship rests upon the word of God that establishes the worship. So, when Jesus, instituting the Lord’s Supper, says, “This is my body” and “This is my blood,” every person who eats and drinks at his Table participates in the body and blood of Christ. That is the reality of worship that can’t be changed by the disposition of the worshiper. Ours is to recognize what God has created by his word and conform our lives to it in faith. We attribute to the worshiper too much power if we think that his attitudes and response invest worship with meaning. The ritual meal was created by the word of God. That word is reality. Just as in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth by the word of his power establishing what is, so in the Supper the Word of God establishes the reality that the bread and wine are his body and blood. He did not say that they become his body and blood depending upon how the person responds. They are his body and blood, and each person who eats and drinks participates in that body and blood.

Participating in the body and blood of Christ in the Supper is a call to respond in faith because, though each and every person who eats and drinks at the Table of the Lord participates in the body and blood of Christ, they do not all participate to the same effect. This is where the response of the worshiper has meaning. Those who come to worship and give homage to God with their lips but with their hearts far from him, they eat and drink to their punishment. As in the church in Corinth whom Paul addressed concerning this issue, Christians cannot murder Christ by dividing up his body through selfishness and hostility, come to his Table, and believe that there will be no negative consequences. That is not eating and drinking in faith. On the other hand, those who love the brethren, who seek to serve others, who confess and repent of their sins, making their relationships right when they have gone wrong, they are coming to the Table in faith and may eat and drink with confident joy. The effect to those who eat without faith is death. The effect to those who eat in faith is life. It is the same Supper for all, but not all receive it to the same end.

So then, whether we engage in mindless and heartless worship or we pour ourselves out in worship, worship has meaning. Jesus has given it meaning by his creative word. Ours is to recognize this reality and conform our lives to it in joyful faith.

Image by Deborah Hudson from Pixabay

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On October 26, 2023 By In Church, Theology, Worship

Ruminations on the Lord’s Supper: The Altar

Altars dot the biblical landscape. We find them early on in Scripture when Noah disembarks and builds an altar. Abraham moves through the land of promise, establishing altars throughout the land. When the people of God are delivered from Egypt, God makes Mt Sinai one big altar, complete with fire and smoke. As Mt Sinai becomes the sanctuary of God, the Tabernacle (Ps 68:17), it also looks like an altar with the glory cloud above it and in it (cf. Ex 40:34-38). In one sense, the entire Tabernacle is an altar as the fire and smoke of God’s presence fill it. So it was also with the Temple (2Chr 7:1-3). There were specific altars in both the Tabernacle and Temple that provided an exposition of the meaning of these structures from different perspectives. There was an altar of ascension offerings in the courtyard and an altar of incense just outside the veil or the doors that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.

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On October 19, 2023 By In Church, Theology, Worship

The Ritual of the Lord’s Supper: The Command

The Lord’s Supper is a gift of God in Christ given to the church. In it Jesus memorializes his death for the sake of people. We touch, taste, and imbibe Christ himself in body and blood broken and poured out for our sins. In the meal the benefits of the once-for-all death of Christ are applied to us as often as we share this meal. At times the reality of the grace of Christ overwhelms us. We consider what great sinners we are and we wonder how he could love us that way that he does. A deep sense of unworthiness begins to overtake us.

As we feel that sense of unworthiness, the words of Paul to the Corinthians resonate in our minds: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord” (1Cor 11:27). Our feelings of unworthiness must mean that we are not ready to share in this Table. We’re sure that there are hidden, unresolved sins somewhere. We may be unconscious of them, but they must be there. Then there was that dispute with my wife this week. There was that tension with my children. The anger that I displayed at the office wasn’t right. We have some real problems. Surely we’re not worthy to come to this Table. If we participate in this condition, then the fate of the Corinthians might be our own: sickness or even death.

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On October 12, 2023 By In Church, Theology, Worship

Ruminations on the Lord’s Supper: The Ritual

God is a God of rituals. He reveals his ritualistic nature in his actions in creation and his prescriptions for his people. Though there are variations on themes, fundamental rituals provide a stable context in which change moves history forward. Ten times in the opening chapter of history, we hear, “and God said.” Evening turns to morning in a ritualistic pattern forming a day. Seven days form a week, weeks form months, months form seasons, and seasons form years. Over and over again, the ritual continues.

As God forms new creation and moves the creation project forward through worship, he does so through prescribed rituals. From the details of offerings to the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly rituals, God’s people were called to be ritualistic. This doesn’t change in the New Covenant. Jesus reshapes the rituals of baptism and feast to reflect the new age, but both are still ritualistic.  

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On July 27, 2023 By In Music, Worship

The Masculinity Of Corporate Singing: A Call To Christian Men To Sing

It was once common knowledge that the burliest and manliest chaps among us were the ones most interested in song. For instance, when soldiers marched into battle or were training for it, they would often march to the rhythm of a rousing tune. When rowers on old ships would drop their ores into the frigid waters, they kept time with sea shanties and other melodies. When those same men gathered together for a pint at the local pub, they sang folk songs and bar tunes. When tradesmen were on the job, they were whistling while they worked. When music was being composed, it was predominantly done by men for men. Essentially, wherever you found the strongest and hardest working men, the most aggressive soldiers, and the saltiest sea dogs, you could guarantee that they were singers. Moreover, they loved it. 

Now, one of the things I find the most peculiar, especially in the modern church, is how effective Satan has been in convincing men to remain quiet in public worship. For too many men believe that singing is a feminine action that grades against their masculinity. Even fewer have found the joy and utter manliness of participating at a rip-roaring level. 

While this does not apply to all men, many no longer feel like loud thunderous song-singing is a masculine endeavor. In fact, who can blame them? When the Church, for the last decade or 12, has adopted overly emotive self-focused songs sung by attractive hip-swaying women on stage, with eyes closed, lights turned down, and maybe a few lit candles to accompany the emergent pop vibe, is it any wonder that testosterone rich men are not clamoring to participate in this? Instead of a Biblically qualified elder leading the saints in public worship of their triune God from the book of Psalms or a Biblically faithful hymnal, far too many churches have adopted the shallow style of the entertainment complex, catering to consumer-driven concertgoers who are looking to be entertained with an experience instead of worshiping the Living God. 

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On February 23, 2023 By In Church, Worship

Embodying Lent

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell…” – Mark 9:43a

The Lenten season is all about repentance. During this season we look inward to examine our lives and root out sin no matter the cost. Our Lenten practices tend to be personal in nature. We read the Scriptures, pray, and fast in the closet. While this is all good practice, Lent can often be a time of too much ‘me’. What are our prayers, fasting, and repentance for? Of course, they are offered up as spiritual sacrifices to God from whom we receive the forgiveness of sins. But our prayers, fasting, and repentance are also for one another.

I remember preaching on Mark 9:42-50 about two years ago. As I prepared to preach on this well-known passage, I had sermons rolling through my head that I had heard throughout the years. They all focused on the personal nature of repentance and avoiding temptation. “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! Do whatever it takes! If your T.V. causes you to lust, throw it away!” But this is a misreading of the passage. The context of this passage is social, not individualistic. Of course, applied consistently, it does speak to personal struggles and living holy lives, but it is primarily about church discipline and removing sin amid the Church. “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble…” (v. 42a).

There is a social dimension to repentance within the Church. The Church must purge herself of those who wish to divide and hurt the flock or cause her little ones to stumble. But if we were to work this idea positively, our personal repentance is for the health of the whole. It strengthens the faith and love of our brothers and sisters within the body of Christ. Personal repentance is our spiritual antibody, and repentance done together with the rest of the Church is our corporate antibody.

The Lenten season is a time for the Church to practice this corporate inspection. In our personal devotions, we are to examine ourselves in relationship to the whole Church. We are not isolated individuals that just happen to have something in common. We are united by the same Spirit, knit together into one body, and all serve the same Father in heaven.

Lent is not just the practice of individualistic prayer, but fervent prayer for one another – for healing, faith, needs, and comfort. It is not just the practice of fasting, but the giving up of something so that we might give more to each other – our time, help, food, and clothing. It is not just the practice of personal repentance but solving disputes, restoring relationships, asking others for forgiveness, and extending that forgiveness freely. Lent is not so much about giving up but giving more.

This is because Lent is preparation for resurrection life. We not only prune ourselves but prune each other so that we might grow in the faith and life of our Lord Jesus. Repentance is a death, it is a cutting off, but it is a cutting off so that the life of the body may be preserved. Your personal devotions this season should be toward those ends, not just for your health but the health of your brother and sister. Your practices of prayer, fasting, and repentance should be used like food for others. They should strengthen, nourish, and give joy to the body. May you season the sacrificial body of the Church with the salt of faith and repentance so that we all might be conformed more and more into the image of our resurrected Lord and have peace with one another.

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On February 22, 2023 By In Theology, Worship

Dust & Ashes: A Lenten Exhortation

On the sixth day of creation, God made man from the dust of the ground. The dust that was taken from the earth was formed, fashioned, and enlivened by God’s own breath, glorifying the dust through its transformation into the man. This glorification was intended to continue. Glory was man’s beginning. Glory was man’s destiny. In between, he was moving from glory to glory.

We are given a hint as to how man would be glorified on the same day of creation. When God declared that it was not good for man to be alone and brought the man to that recognition, God put the man to sleep, ripped open his side, and from his side made the woman. The woman is the glory of the man (1Cor 11.7). Man would become more than he was in the beginning. More humans would fill the earth and man would assume control over and shape more of the world. Creation would continue to multiply, blossom, and become ever more beautiful.

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On February 16, 2023 By In Church, Culture, Theology, Worship

Transfiguration & Asbury

Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him to the top of a mountain to pray (Lk 9.28). Mountain praying would not be something unusual to the disciples. Throughout history, God met with his people on mountaintops. History begins on a mountain in the land of Eden with a sanctuary at its heart. Abraham meets God on a mountaintop when he sacrifices Isaac. After being delivered from Egypt, the children of Israel worship at Mt Sinai, the same mountain where Moses met with God earlier in the burning bush. The temple is built on a mountain, and, according to Hebrews 12, we still ascend a mountain in our weekly worship. The three disciples had ascended mountains to worship throughout their lives, many times singing the Psalms of Ascent (Pss 120—134) as they went to worship festivals. But on this particular day, God pulled back the veil to reveal to them what happens on the top of the mountain every time they pray … even when they don’t see it.

God spectacularly revealed his glory. Though rare, this was not unique. The children of Israel experienced this at Sinai. Just as Jesus was transfigured before the eyes of the disciples, Moses was transfigured on the mountain. The children of Israel couldn’t look upon his face because of the brightness of glory (Ex 34.29-33). Some believe that this epiphany of Jesus was his divine nature bursting through the veil of his humanity. There is truth to that, but that is not the emphasis. Jesus speaks of himself in this context as the Son of Man. This reference gains layers of meaning throughout history, but its fundamental meaning is “Son of Adam,” the one to whom God gave the blessing and command to be fruitful, multiply, and have dominion. God’s intention for Adam, in the beginning, was that he grow to share his glory. Adam fell short of the glory of God (Rom 3.23). Jesus is the second Adam, the Son of Man, who will obtain this kingly glory. God reveals Jesus’ destiny in his resurrection and ascension and, with that, the destiny of man united with him.

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On December 29, 2022 By In Culture, Music, Theology, Worship

Christmas Carols: Simeon’s Song

Death is not a subject we normally think about this time of year. We are in the Christmas season in which the new life of the infant, Jesus, is celebrated. The New Year is a few days away, and it is a time of new beginnings. The promise of new life in the birth of Jesus and that sense of a fresh start in the new year focuses our attention on life. But just as the shadow of the cross hung over the manger and the infant, so our own mortality casts a shadow on all of these new beginnings. Death is inevitable no matter how many new beginnings we have in this life.

I’m not trying to dampen your spirits and dull your celebrations, but death plays its role in our Christmas celebration. What I call the final Christmas Carol in Luke’s Gospel, the Song of Simeon, is surrounded by and shot through with the realities of death; Simeon’s death, the death of Jesus, and even a form of death for Mary.

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On December 21, 2022 By In Culture, Music, Theology, Worship

Christmas Carols: Gloria in Excelsis Deo

The soprano solo begins with an unadorned recitative (that is, a melodic speaking that is essentially rhythmically free): “There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” As the narrative moves forward, the accompaniment increases with a sweet but driving rhythm, building to the place where “suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying.” Then, majestically, the chorus joins in singing, “Glory to God, glory to God in the highest!” From that point on, voices sing in harmony and answer one another with the Gloria in Excelsis Deo, the song of the angels when they announce the birth of Jesus. In his Messiah, Handel captures well the mood and glory of the scene. When performed well, the sound that surrounds you and strikes your body with its power, tuning your whole being to its message, is rapturous.

As glorious as a well-performed Messiah is, it must be a dim reflection of what the shepherds heard that night when the angelic armies, the throne-chariot of God, sang the Gloria for the first time. Nevertheless, as dim as the earthly reflection might be, the angelic warriors were drafting earthly warriors to take up this song with them. The church has done so by including the Gloria in Excelsis in its historic liturgies for many occasions. We continue to sing the angelic war song because we continue to fight for that peace which is the aim of the song.

The song is brief, but it is pregnant with meaning. The song is composed with parallels that help us to understand its message. “Glory” is parallelled with “peace,” “highest” is paralleled with “earth,” and “God” is paralleled with “favored men” or “men with whom he is well pleased.”

“Glory to God” is not synonymous with “praise God,” though it certainly includes that. The angels are proclaiming the glory of God, and the glory of God is the manifestation of his life; it is the radiance of his character; it is the expressed fullness of all that he is and does. When paralleled with “peace,” the angelic choir is proclaiming the way God himself lives. God’s glory is manifested in peace. This peace is the full, joyful, healthy life that is shared among the members of the Godhead and those in heaven. God lives eternally at peace as Father, Son, and Spirit, and the aim of the creation project is to bring the earth to enjoy the fullness of this peace. The angels are prayerfully singing that God’s peace will be realized on earth as it is in heaven.

This peace of God will come to those whom God favors or those with whom he is well-pleased. These favored ones, the shepherds, Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and others like them who hunger and thirst after righteousness–for God to set things right in the world–will be the recipients of this peace.

This peace will only come at the end of conflict because the present evil powers who despise God’s peace will not go down without a fight. With our King, we, the armies of God, will fight. The fight is not conventional fleshly warfare. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but are powerful in God to the pulling down of strongholds” (2Cor 10.3-4). One of our weapons is to join the song of the heavenly armies. As David drove away the evil spirits through music (1Sm 16.23), so we, through singing with the angelic armies, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace with favored men,” will advance the line against our enemy to eventually bring about the peace of which we sing.

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