Worship and Praise
Sermon by Rev. Mary Alice Mulligan, Ph.D.
Scripture: Psalm 148, Revelation 5:11-14
What a treat to get to hear Pastor Joe preach last Sunday. He was right on target. We are Easter people. The life we receive from Christ’s Resurrection keeps on going. Our next 6 weeks will focus on what being “people of the Resurrection” means. Pastor Joe preached from John, but he had Rev. Joelle read the beginning of the Book of Revelation for us. We will spend the next 5 weeks in Revelation, the mysterious and frustrating book of the visions of John of Patmos. For our purposes, we won’t try reconstructing all the first century meanings of the book, but a few literary and cultural details will assist our finding meaning for the 21st century church.
Revelation begins with letters to seven churches, but every congregation resembles one or another of the descriptions John paints. So, the whole church in every era is being addressed. We should also note we are being addressed in light of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is shown to be present with us, standing among the lampstands of the churches (Rev. 1: 13, 17-18).
Revelation was written to the early church, when people felt threats from civil authorities. Whether John wrote during an actual persecution doesn’t matter. They felt the opposition; the church existed within a dominant society which functioned contrary to the way Christians think God wants the world. And that bears a striking resemblance to how the church today lives in a world functioning contrary to how God wants the world to be. Revelation speaks to a church hunkered down and dispirited. So God gives them – a vision. With cultural structures stacked against the progress of the church, instead of handing us a war plan, God gives John a vision. The church then and now, witnesses to God’s vision of the Realm. As part of the vision, in the 5th chapter we are told the Lion of Judah has conquered, but instead of a Lion, we are shown the Lamb who was slain. God’s self-giving, redemptive love has conquered, because God’s weakness surpasses human strength. One scholar explains: “[T]he omnipotence of God is not the power of unlimited coercion but the power of invincible love.” The victory of God’s self-giving love is an important key to Revelation. With these ideas in mind, stop and read Revelation 5:11-14.
When we listen to this scene in heaven, we can see our 21st century society is messed up. At least in Christian eyes, the dominant culture is antithetical to what seems right. Pew Research indicates for most Americans, the economy is the most important concern. Inflation, health care costs, making sure Social Security is secure – these are some of the top worries in the United States. But the important idea underlying these is personal concern. People worry how inflation will affect their individual lives, especially their future well-being. Of course, yes, they also express concern about climate change and whether the government can solve our national problems, but how these issues will impact them individually or as a family is always a part of the equation.
If pushed, people will admit they care about those who struggle with food insecurity or face homelessness. But these concerns are not priorities. Society seems generally unconcerned with people in mental institutions, or those sacrificing to care for a disabled relative at home, or surprised to discover their new lease increases their rent beyond their ability to pay, or veterans struggling every day not to commit suicide, or queer teens whose parents threw them out. Much of our society does not make a connection between the well-being of the least and the well-being of everyone. People’s allegiance seems pledged only to their own security, even when linked to a political party or group which promises to guarantee their future welfare. Choices are often based on zero sum thinking. If others get some kind of break, it must mean I get less. So, people elbow their way to make sure their own comfort is assured. What a warped society we live in.
So, Revelation paints us a vision of worship. In contrast to a self-centered society, we are shown angels and creatures falling down in worship of the One seated on the throne, and the Slain Lamb, who gave everything for others. They alone deserve worship.
It may seem odd, in the midst of our hectic lives where self-preservation is king, to see the vivid scene of worship John paints. But what an amazing scene it is, too. We see all heaven exposed, laid out before us. Sri Lankan scholar, D. T. Niles points out that God is not seated in a palace. God’s throne is in the midst of a worship temple. Worship explodes with prayer and praise not only from the angels and saints of the church, but every creature on Earth, under the Earth, the sea, and the air. Every breathing thing is erupting into worship and praise.
Why is such a vision given to us? To remind us of who God is. God is the maker of heaven and Earth, all creation, every creature. The One who spun planets into orbit and set the seasons in the their timing, who instilled in humans the ability to love, to create great works of art, and to discover ways to enrich the life of all.
And who is the Lamb? The self-sacrificing Incarnation of God, crucified and raised, whose love is unconditional, whose forgiveness is universal (no one is excluded), and who joins with God in promising the coming of the full Reign eventually.
So, we are invited to worship now, and miraculously, in worshipping, we can experience the presence of God’s Realm among us. As we praise the One who was, and is, and who is in process of still coming, a foretaste of God’s holy Reign is manifest among us. We become lost in wonder, love, and praise. We are lifted out of the self-centered world we inhabit all too much and we find ourselves rejoicing in the presence of the Risen Christ. Revelation paints a vision of God who is worthy of our worship.
But then in worship, we are re-made. Worship re-shapes us into the people God wants us to be. In those miraculous moments, our whole vision of how reality is, changes. We see how God plans the world to be, starting right now and stretching into the time of the coming of the full Realm. We get such moments in worship, when we open ourselves to the presence of God among us. Some holy moment erupts within us, like when we hear a scriptural promise we never realized could actually be true before, or some turn of phrase in a hymn strikes home, and suddenly, in spite of our sinful brokenness, we are immersed in the loving acceptance of Christ.
Sometimes those moments can spread throughout the congregation, when we all sense God together, like when the minister says during a baptism: “You are a child of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.” Or on Christmas Eve when the lights go down and we hold our candles singing our belief that God chose to come among us as a defenseless baby. Or when we offer thanks together in a service for one who has passed from this life into the eternal presence of God.
In such moments of worship we breathe in the Realm of God, and something within us changes. Our self-centeredness fades, our compassion for others expands, we sense our holy connection as God’s precious creatures. Sometimes our change seems only momentary, but every one of those moments makes a permanent difference. We are changed. So when we slip back into the self-focused world of every day, that society feels somehow foreign. We know we don’t really belong there. We are citizens of a holy Realm and when we worship, we are re-shaped, changed. Through worship, we get to live in God’s Realm, breathing in the very presence of the Holy and re-formed into God’s own people.