Chapter One
Words on Worship Come, we that love the Lord, And let our joys be known; Join in a song with sweet accord
And thus surround the throne, And thus surround the throne.
Isaac Watts
WORK WORTHY OF ETERNITY
One Wednesday evening after choir rehearsal Jon and Joy
grabbed their two daughters from the church nursery and
slumped into the seats of their minivan, exhausted and spent.
Tomorrow was a school day, and the hour was late. Jon had
gone to church directly from the office, skipping dinner. They
had spent all evening at church. After a quick stop at Caribou
Coffee on the way home, Jon muttered to Joy, "Do you ever get
tired of this? Frankly, this is one of those nights where I wonder
whether it's worth it all. Maybe we should cut back and
drop out of choir."
Joy was quick to respond. "I know how you feel, and
tonight's not a good night to ask! But I came across an article
this morning that helped change my whole attitude about
music in church. The article pointed out that, in heaven, no
earthly occupations will be needed, save one: church musicians.
Think about it. In heaven doctors will have no clinics, for
there will be only perfectly functioning and reenergized bodies.
Lawyers and judges will have no reason to appear in court to
settle disputes among people who are living together in peace.
Even preachers will no longer need pulpits to win souls, for
Christ will be living in the neighborhood, and we shall see
Christ, and Christ shall be all in all!"
The article was right. For church musicians, earthly service
comes with an implied eternal contract.
Given such a momentous task, church musicians ought to
learn to worship well and lead worship well, for our worship
here is a warm-up for the everlasting worship of God that is to
come.
But what exactly is worship?
ENTERTAINING GOD
Worship is entertaining God. Worship celebrates God's greatness
and his love for us. Worship receives God's word as it
comes to us through the Bible, the sacraments (or ordinances),
and Jesus Christ. It's clear that God desires and enjoys our worship
and that God created all things to praise. The Bible says
that all creatures give glory to God and that everything has its
unique voice and mode of praise. Thunder, cattle, crickets, fruitful
trees, and birds give glory to God (see Psalm 148)! One day
even the trees of the fields will clack their branches together as
though they were hands applauding the premiere of God's new
creation. God delights in creation and in all of creation's worship.
Worship entertains God.
Of all God's creatures, humans were created with a special
role. Biblical authors hardly know how to express just how
valuable we are to God other than to say that we were crowned
with glory and honor and made just below the angels (Psalm
8:5). As the blue-ribbon prize of creation, God made us breathing,
living instruments of praise. When we fill our lungs with air
and breathe out through our vocal chords to shape words and
phonate pitch, when we "play skillfully" (or not so skillfully)
upon the harp (think "piano"), when we glide our bow across
the fret of five-strings, the Spirit of God uses that to the delight
of God.
Worship is explosive and life changing when we see it, not
as a means to entertain us, but as a way to bring attention to
God. God delights in creation's worship. I think God even
whistles along with us in our praise of him!
WHO'S AT THE CENTER?
When we gather for worship, then, our attention should naturally
be directed to God. Several times, when describing worship,
the Bible's writers observe God at the center of worship.
This makes sense, for worship exists to praise God, the One
seated on the throne (Revelation 4:2). Worship does not first of
all exist for us, but for God.
For example, when John has his vivid dream, which is
recorded in the book of Revelation, he sees God seated on a
throne (Revelation 4-5). This image is the center of the picture.
Arching the throne is a jewel-studded rainbow comprised of
rare and costly gems-imagine a ribbon of diamonds, emeralds,
and rubies a block wide, miles long, and arching way up
into the sky! Four living creatures are in a circle around the
jewel-arched throne, each of these creatures representing the
best of its species: the human (God's most amazing creature),
the ox (the most humble of domesticated beasts), the eagle (the
most skillful), and the lion (the boldest of creatures). In the
next ring around the throne are twenty-four elders who bow
down in worship. Around them assemble seas and seas of
angels.
And then not only the four living creatures, not only the
elders, not only the seas and seas of angels, but the entire cosmos
gathers in the circle to bring a sevenfold ascription of praise
to the One seated on the throne: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was
slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5:12).
Everything defines its place in relationship to God's throne.
Every note of praise and every organism find its place in relationship
to God. Everything finds itself in God. Worship exists
to bring praise to God, who is at the center.
WORSHIP LEADERS POINT US TO THE THRONE
Worship planners, leaders, and musicians use their skill and
craft to point worshipers toward God. The role of keyboardists
in worship is not to bedazzle the congregation with technical
wizardry or to show how loudly the organ can be played, but
rather to use music to bring people around the throne. Instrumentalists
serve, not to focus attention on their instruments or
on their graceful bowing techniques, but to invite the congregation
to join an orchestra of sound that praises the Creator,
Redeemer, and Sustainer. The purpose of soloists is not to flaunt
an amazingly agile voice or to wallow in self-aggrandizing
virtuosity, but to use words and music to invite worshipers to
join their hearts and minds in praise of God. The purpose of
worship planning is not to orchestrate liturgical acts into a
laundry list of "must do" activities, but to facilitate all things so
that attention points to God-and to what God is doing in
worship, in our lives, and in our world. Liturgists and pastors are
not emcees but facilitators used by the Spirit so that our attention
naturally falls on God.
Worship celebrates God, who is at the center of life. Worship
reminds us that God is on the throne, not us. Our worship
and music point us to this reality.
YES! WE'LL ALL GATHER AT THE RIVER
Some churches have lost sight of the center of worship. Sadly,
when God's throne is replaced at the center of worship, and
when discussions about worship and music turn into discussions
of preference, the point of worship is lost. For example,
some churches are being torn apart by the worship wars. Part of
the congregation wants to replace hymnals with screens on
which words are projected, while another part suggests purchasing
quickly the latest edition of their denomination's hymnal
so that they'll have an excuse never to change the hymnody
used in worship. Churches struggling with musical choices and
styles of worship need this reminder: Worship is about God, not
us. Whenever worship discussions become disoriented and
begin with a list of preferences-my preferences versus your
preferences-no one wins. There's no way out. A church cannot
be all things to all people if preferences are the guide. Refocus
the discussion on the One seated on the throne. Begin
there. Then ask how your family of faith can best honor God
and point others to him by means of the resources, people, and
talents within your congregation. What is important is that
personal preference not shape your worship, but that the use of
the congregation's gifts shines the spotlight on God.
"I BELIEVE IN THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS"
If we gaze at John's picture in Revelation, we see gathered
around the throne not just the current saints from the first century
or just Christians of other past generations, but all Christians
of every time and place. Leafing through God's family
album, we see pictures of people from all tribes and nations
and tongues, people of all different ages. Adults worship with
kids. Christians from Cameroon join hands with Canadians.
All are united around the throne. To have one exclusive musical
voice dominate worship is not the picture of God's people.
To use exclusively, say, music of the Baroque era, or of contemporary
North American pop music, would not bind worshipers
musically to Christians of every age and place.
Beyond the style of music used in worship, it's also important
that the song texts used in worship relate to all aspects of the
gospel message. In this picture of worship from Revelation, God's
people respond to God-their response is their worship. This dialoguing
(God acting, God's people responding) has happened all
throughout the Bible, and it comes to a climax here. Worship is
an authentic encounter with God, and these encounters result in
emotions of lament (for sins committed against God and neighbor),
of hope (for God's restorative work in our lives and in creation),
and, yes, of praise (simply for who God is and for what
he does). To focus singularly on any one of these aspects of worship
would be to deny worshipers the totality of the Christian's
story and to limit the dialogue to just one emotion.
(Continues.)
