The Trends and Purpose of Worship
Pastor Mathew Magera – 2/7/16 – Sermon 141
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you
from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
You can see my sermon title
this morning is The Trends and Purpose of Worship, but before I get there, I
have a broader question to ask you. What is the purpose of the church? Is it
stewardship, asking people to give to support the life of the church? Is it
evangelism, spreading the Gospel and inviting people into the congregation? Is
it Christian education? Bible study? Sunday school? Potlucks? These are all
part of our mission as a congregation but I can tell you they are not the
purpose of the church. Actually, while important to the life of the church
today, if the true purpose of the church were to be 100% effective, we wouldn't
need to worry about any of it. Pastor John Piper says this about the purpose of
the church, "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is.
Missions exists because worship doesn't." If you think about this, he's
right. If everyone were in worship, there would be no need for evangelism.
Everyone would be coming so there would be no need for us to go out and gather
more in. But, they aren’t. So, our worship is limited and our missions are
increased. Not only is worship limited nowadays but it is bleeding. I’ll
explain more in just a minute.
Today is Transfiguration
Sunday. The mountain top experience before we dive into the valley of Lent. We
start up on this mountain top as we watch the disciples get a new view of who
Jesus is. They see him differently, or at least a few of them do. At the Transfiguration,
Peter, James and John see Jesus in a different way that reshapes who he is to
them. Within the story of the transfiguration, too, we see several allusions to
worship trends in our society today. I want us to take a look at those briefly.
FOUR NEGATIVE
TRENDS OF WORSHIP
As we see at the beginning,
verse 28, it starts off by saying that it had been eight days since Jesus said
something. We're kind of left wondering what that was. Jesus had previously
spoken to them on the value of life. He told them "whoever wants to save
their life will lose it and whoever wants to lose his life for the sake of
Jesus will gain it." Now, eight days go by and there is no record of them
doing anything. It's about a week. This is quite a stretch to say but we, for
the most part, worship once a week. There's a chance that this weekly worship
is the only interaction we have with Jesus, not saying that the disciples
didn’t have any interaction with him between then and now but we don’t know.
Just like when we’re here today. The last time we may have seen each other
could have been just last Sunday in this very place. There may even be no
discussion or living out what Jesus had previously told us. So, that's our
first negative trend. We only worship weekly.
Let’s go down to verse 32. Peter
and his companions were very sleepy. Any idea what I'm thinking of here? When
people come to church, there's a chance they'll be quite sleepy, am I right?
But when Peter, James, and John became fully awake they saw Jesus' glory and
the two men standing with him. In worship, when we are fully engaged, fully awake,
fully caffeinated perhaps, we can better see the glory of God, we can hear the
point that is being made but we’re not always that way. That’s our second
trend. We’re tired when we worship.
Right in that next verse,
33. As they were leaving, Peter wanted to do all he could to make sure that all
three of them would stay there in that place, on the mountain, that it would
remain a sacred space. He tried to build them special dwelling places. This
seems harmless until we think about it this way. We do many things to ensure
Jesus and his glory will remain in this space. We maintain the sacredness of
the space and around approaching God. We build a dwelling place for God. We put
God in a box, so to speak. God, you stay here. I’ll be back, but you stay here.
We built this place for you. I’m going to go home now but you stay and I’ll be
here next week. Here’s our third trend. We lock God in church.
Last one, the second half of
verse 36. As they left the mountain top, the disciples kept this to themselves
and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen. In worship, when we
leave this place, we might not ever recall the events to another human being
ever. We might discuss it with each other over lunch. But, if we're out with
other friends during the week, do we talk about what happened in worship on
Sunday when we saw Jesus transformed before us just as we do each week? That’s
our fourth trend. We come for an hour, we leave, and we keep it to ourselves.
I hope that these trends in
worship cannot be found in this place but we know we are all sinners and I know
we do not treat worship with the true reverence that we are called to. But, I
never have really looked at the story of the Transfiguration and looked into
how similar it is to our worship trends these days. The point, the purpose, the
centrality is exactly the same, Jesus. But the response is also the same,
sleepiness, confusion and silence. Yet, there are still four positive trends in
worship that come from this story of the Transfiguration but the more the
negatives are present, the more difficult it is for these next four to be
realized.
FOUR POSITIVE
TRENDS OF WORSHIP
Back to verse 28. Where is
it that Jesus takes them and for what purpose? They go up to a mountain and
they do so in order to pray. It's a special place. Being high up meant being
closer to God, in a safe place, and away from the hustle and bustle of
everything down below. We worship in a special place too. Yes, a place we don't
often go to during the week. While not high off the ground, on a mountain it is
a safe place, a place that gets us away from the hustle and bustle of life.
Like a mountain, a church is a landmark. It sticks out. Maybe not as well as it
did years ago, but it is still different than anything else around it and it is
a special place. So, that’s one positive trend. We worship in a special place.
Now to verse 29. As Jesus
was praying, probably as they were all praying together, Jesus was changed.
Specifically, I should say, his appearance changed. Jesus does not change because
Jesus is God. His appearance changed. When we come to worship, Jesus'
appearance changes for us. In here, Jesus is transfigured from just an ordinary
guy into something more. It seems that Jesus becomes a different person for us
in worship than he does out in the real world. In here, he becomes very real to
us. In here he is seen as truly divine. It’s not always that way outside of
worship thus why we see that transformation each week. That’s our second trend.
In worship, through our eyes Jesus is transformed.
Next verse, 30. When Jesus
was transfigured, he appeared to be standing with Moses and Elijah and they
were talking with one another. They formed a connection. Both Moses and Elijah
had important roles in pointing to Christ. In worship, we hear readings from
the Bible, inviting the words of prophets into our worship. They work to
connect to Jesus in the Gospel reading. What did Moses and Elijah talk with
Jesus about? His departure, bringing fulfilment at Jerusalem. In essence, his
death and resurrection. That is what they are focused on. What are we focused
on in worship? His death and resurrection, fulfilment in Jerusalem, his second
coming. This is another trend. In worship, we see the connection between Jesus
and the prophets.
Last one, down to verse 36. In
the end of the experience, God points the disciples to Jesus and when the cloud
disappears all they see is him. At the end of it all, Jesus was intended to be
their true focus. In worship, throughout all that happens, music, prayers,
liturgy, blessings, readings, through all of that, we may not completely
understand all that is going on and it may feel like we are in cloud. Yet,
through all of that, God points us to Jesus so that just like the disciples,
all we should see if Jesus. That’s the last trend. In worship, Jesus is our
main focus.
So, then we have these
positive and negative trends pulling on us each and every time to get together
it is like we are being torn apart. How can Jesus be our divine focus if we do
not treat him as divine out in the real world? How can we see the connection
between Jesus and the prophets of the Old and New Testaments if we are here so
sleepily sitting and waiting for that cup of coffee downstairs? How can we
maintain Jesus as our primary focus if we're not telling anyone about him?
Those are the questions that come out of these trends we experience in worship,
a struggle between darkness and light wanting to take over our lives and while
we try, it is often times that darkness wins. You know there is nothing like a
good yawn. And just by me saying that, I'm willing to bet that within the next
30 seconds one of your will have an incredible urge to yawn. Go ahead and prove
me wrong but we're tired. We're like Peter, James, and John on the mountain.
Even though Jesus is changing in front of them they are still tired.
So, why are we here? That's
the real question isn't it. We know what we have been doing here but what is it
that we are doing here? When it comes to Lutheran worship, there are two
purposes of us gathering together with our focus on Christ.
TWO PURPOSES
OF WORSHIP
The first purpose of worship
is to receive gifts from God. Yes, many people believe the purpose of us coming
together is to GIVE God our worship, to give God ourselves, but God doesn't
need our worship. God will continue to be God no matter if we are here on
Sunday morning or not. So, we come to receive gifts from God. What are these
gifts you ask? We receive his grace. We receive his forgiveness. Where do we
get those? In worship? Do you know how truly valuable these things are? I mean
if I had $1 Million for each of you and you were offered God’s grace and
forgiveness or the money, if you could only have one, what would you take?
Grace and forgiveness. Things
we actually need. When we have a baptism, the newly baptized receives the Holy
Spirit. When we serve Holy Communion, we are receiving Christ's body and blood.
These are things we actually need. And God gives them to us here in worship.
That is why we are here because we are receiving gifts from God. And yes they
are gifts because we don't deserve any of them, but here in worship we hear
that they are given to us freely out of God's love for us. Our worship is even initiated
in this way. Especially on Sunday's like this what is the first thing we do
after our opening hymn, confession and forgiveness. God is immediately giving
to us his grace and forgiveness. Even on non-Communion Sundays, we gather
together under the premise that God is here in this place, that God is giving
himself to us as a gift. It's the first thing that happens. God gives us
something even before we can give him anything. It's good stuff and we need it.
That's one purpose of our worship, to receive gifts from God.
The second purpose of our
worship is to give thanks to God. If you take a moment to look at the worship
service itself, you'll notice it might seem like a dialogue. God gives us
something, we give thanks. God gives us something else, we give thanks. Just
look at the order of the service. Everything is based on God giving us
something and us giving thanks back to God for allowing us to receive it.
Before worship starts we are asking for God's presence. He is present. We sing
praise in our opening hymn. We seek out forgiveness, God gives it. We give
thanks through the kyrie and the hymn of praise. We seek understanding from the
Word of God in the prayer of the day. God gives it to us in the reading and
preaching of his Word, we give thanks through the sermon hymn and our
confession of faith. We seek God's presence and help with the troubles of this
world, political, physical, emotional and spiritual. God gives to us the answer
in Christ himself as our peace in times of turmoil. We give thanks by sharing
that peace and offering our gifts to the preservation of that peace. We seek to
be transformed and renewed by Jesus, God gives to us the broken body of Jesus
and his blood in Holy Communion. We give thanks as we thank the Lord and sing
his praise telling everyone what he has done. We seek a blessing as we are sent
forth into the world. God gives to us that blessing. We give thanks in our
closing hymn and even through our last words of "Thanks be to God."
Our second purpose in worship is to give thanks to God. And we do.
So, now you may be
wondering, how exactly do those worship trends fit with the purpose of our
worship. Well, let’s go back the Transfiguration and see just how. What was the
focal point of that event? Jesus. Who was all there with him? Moses, Elijah,
Peter, James and John. Jesus was surrounded by prophets of the Old Testament,
by the soon to be prophets of the New Testament, and now each and every one of
us. But in the middle still stands Jesus as the brilliant white light given for
us in a world of darkness. We live in the darkness of those negative worship
trends, tiredness, confusion and silence. But, the light of Jesus overcomes our
negative trends in worship by bringing his divine light into our lives as we
receive it as a gift from God. In our story while it does say Peter, James and
John were sleepy, it also says they woke up. In the presence of Jesus, they
were fully awakened and could see all that was going on. And as we receive this
immense light of Christ we give thanks to God by following in our positive
trends for worship. If there was anything Peter got right it was when he said,
“Master, it is good for us to be here.” It IS good for us to be here. Even with
the dark pulling against the light. The good and the bad. The struggle to stay
awake during even this sermon. I’m serious. If you’re having trouble staying
awake, you are having a spiritual battle. Fight on! Wake up and see the light! The
reason God gives us gifts of grace and mercy and forgiveness is because we are
not perfect. We’re tired, confused and silent. The reason we give thanks to God
is because we who are hungry for those gifts have received them and we are able
to see again who is the central focus in our worship. The brilliant white light
of Christ.
So, to close up here, even
if you do come to worship tired or you are finding yourself unable to share
Christ in the world for whatever reason or if the only Christian thing you do
is worship on Sunday morning, even if those worship trends speak to who you
are, Christ still offers you forgiveness. Christ is still transfigured before
your eyes. Christ is still crucified on the cross for your sins and Christ is
still resurrected from the grave on Easter morning. That is how it all comes
together. We come, defeated by the world. Christ takes it away and wakes us up
to worship free and right. Our worship trends lead us straight into the purpose
for our worship. God gives to us His perfect gifts and we give thanks! That is
Jesus, the center of our worship, the perfector of our faith, and the restorer
of our souls. That is what we have received. So, let us give thanks to God. To
God be the glory now and always. Amen.