Banner Logo

Sermon

Sermon Graphic


Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Michael Moffitt, July 23, 2017


God Transcends All Creation and Our Worship Should Reflect His Glory


Text: 1 Chronicles 16:1–4, 7

This week is part four of a five-part series on understanding what it means to worship God. Certainly we could not hope to cover everything there is to say about worship in five weeks, nor would I be so presumptuous as to imagine that I even come close to knowing all there is to know about worship. My hope is that we will have a renewed understanding of what it means to worship God and we will development an even deeper passion for it.

We began this series by understanding that we were created by God to love and worship Him, and as those who were created in the image of God, our worship was meant to reflect back to our creator our love, adoration, and thanksgiving to him. When Adam and Eve turned away from the expressed will of God and chose to follow their own desire it should not be seen as merely breaking a rule but as the failure to worship the creator and instead choosing to worship the creature. Sin should be seen as unnatural and against everything that we were created for. To those who have been transformed by Jesus Christ, worship should be the most natural thing in the world as the image of God is restored to the purpose for which it was created. It should bring us the greatest joy and fulfillment. We saw how God’s word points us to the fact that all creation reveals the glory, power and majesty of the creator and invites us to join it in declaring this through our worship and praise of God.

The second week we considered how God has revealed to us his character and nature through his names and how this alone gives us reason to bow before him in adoration and praise. God revealed through His word that he is unchanging and we can trust that what he has revealed through his names should give us encouragement to follow him with confident joy. As the Psalmist declared in Psalm 138:2,

I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

When we speak, pray or minister in the name of Jesus we are declaring our confidence that Jesus’ name is above every name and everything that he revealed about himself and all that was foretold about him is summed up in that name.

Last week we continued considering the power of the name of God and reflected on the example from 2 Chronicles 6 where Solomon prayed for God’s forgiveness of the sins of Israel. He prayed in such a way as to reflect what he knew of the nature of God according to his names. He knew that God was merciful and that he was willing to hear and see that Israel had gathered to worship God. The result was that the glory of the Lord filled the temple and the people bowed down in praise and adoration declaring, “For He is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” This was what God was offering to Israel—they would have the joy of the manifold presence of God if they would be faithful to him but they would not. We saw from Ezekiel 10:18–19 how the glory of the Lord eventually departed the temple never to return. We drew the contrast from Mark 14 where Jesus, God in the flesh is on trial in the Temple in Jerusalem and they don’t even recognize the one they claim to worship, instead they condemn him to death. The question that we left with last week was this: In churches today, what is being worshipped… is it the one true and living God, or is it a combination of Christianity and other things that have been brought in by the culture and have infected true worship?

Today I want us to see that God was very clear as to how he was to be worshipped. He gave very detailed instructions to Israel on how they were to approach him in worship and there is much that still applies to us today. Let’s begin by considering the story of Israel after they were rescued from bondage in Egypt.

Shortly after leaving Egypt, God gave the people of Israel the Law and then commanded that a tabernacle (tent) be constructed. The tribe of Levi was to serve as priests for God and His people. The Old Testament books of Exodus and Leviticus provided specific instructions about the manner in which worship and sacrifice was to occur, what animals were to be sacrificed, and the reason for the offerings. The people of Israel had been set apart by God to be his people and God had entered into a covenant with them, He would be their God and they would be his people. In Exodus 19:5–6 God through Moses said,

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

They were clearly commanded to worship God. Deuteronomy 6:13 said,

It is the Lord your God that you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by His name you shall swear.

Exodus 33:10,

And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.”

It doesn’t reveal much about what worship looked like at this time but the point was that these were the chosen people of the one, true and living God and they were being called to be separate from the worship practices of the other nations. They were instructed to build a tabernacle that could be put up and torn down as Israel moved from place to place. This would be the place where God would come down and Israel would gather to worship him.

The tabernacle was to call attention to the fact that the creator God, out of love for his chosen people was providing a way to dwell in the midst of them. The God who transcends his creation to such a degree that he is actually considered incomprehensible, wanted to build a relationship with his image and condescended to come down to dwell in their midst. The design of the tabernacle as well as the instructions for the worship liturgy performed there, were intentionally given to point out this contrast between the absolute power, majesty and greatness of God and his willingness to be with them in his divine presence.

In Exodus 25:8 the Lord said to Moses,

Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and all of its furniture, so you shall make it.

The term tabernacle means residence and it was to be a mobile, divine palace / temple. The plans or model shown to Moses for the tabernacle was like the one design shown to David for the building of the temple. The pattern was based on the heavenly palace of God (Hebrews 9:24) of which the tabernacle was a replica. They were to make the Ark of the Covenant out of acacia wood and overlay it with gold. God was very specific about its construction and what was to be placed in the ark, the ten commandments, a container of manna and Aaron’s rod. They were to make a mercy seat out of pure gold and place it on top of the ark with two gold cherubim on each side. This was to be the royal footstool of the Lord as he was the one enthroned between the cherubim.

All the furniture, i.e. table, altar and lampstands, were to be made to specification and the priests had to wear specific clothing with different tassels and decoration on them. They had to go through consecration and prepare themselves with ritual cleansing and wear certain garments to go into the tabernacle, especially into the Holy of Holies. They were to signify their roles as serving the Lord in his holy place and it was not to be taken lightly. This was also to reveal to all Israel that God was Holy, Holy, Holy and therefore they had an absolute need to prepare and meditate on this before entering into God’s presence. Unlike many churches today, they would never have even considered bringing their coffee and snacks into the worship and I’m fairly certain that the angels are not serving snacks before the throne room of God.

Israel needed to know that their sin needed to be dealt with and they were to understand that God must not be casually approached as he was not safe and even warned them that he was a consuming fire. The artistry and craftsmanship employed in the design and construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings introduced the use of sign and symbol for inspiring worship and to provide theological education informing Israel who God, their king was and that he was holy and majestic. One of the reasons that they were prohibited from making images of God was that any conception that they could have come up with would have been unworthy of who he really is.

They weren’t coming to worship to be entertained but to worship the God who deserved their praise, honor and obedience. Hopefully once they began to realize who God really was they would want to come to worship out of the natural flow of their hearts of love and gratitude. He would no longer be a stranger but he should always inspire fear, awe and wonder. When God gave instructions as to how he was to be approached it wasn’t an invitation to critique his methods and it wasn’t about personal preference but obedience to the command of God. Israel wasn’t given the choice as to what they were to bring for the sacrifice but they were given specific instructions by God through Moses. They needed to understand that God was not going to be approached haphazardly but in fear and humility. As God revealed his presence, Israel was to reveal their allegiance. They weren’t coming to claim their rights but to acknowledge Yahweh’s glory.

After its construction by Solomon, the temple in Jerusalem became the prominent focus of Jewish worship. It appears that the emphasis of worship in the temple was primarily on sacrificial offerings and praise to God through music. The music was comprised of numerous and various instruments of music, as well as well-trained vocal choirs and the Psalms were used as hymns of praise used in corporate worship and hopefully in daily private and family worship. The sanctuary of the Lord was a symbol of God’s presence in Israel and as a reminder that God had fulfilled his promises regarding the covenant that he had made with David, that he would have a perpetual dynasty. The temple was to be a house of prayer and a witness to God’s sovereignty over all of creation and it was to be a reminder to Israel and to all nations of God’s transcendence.

Even though he showed up in his glory, he was not a God who could be contained in a house made by human hands. In Solomon’s prayer of dedication he acknowledges this. In 1 Kings 8:27–30,

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

It didn’t take long for Israel to forget all that God had spoken to them through Moses and the prophets and the temple became a place corrupted by religious syncretism with surrounding paganism to the point that it no longer even resembled the place where God in his glory had once dwelled. Instead the temple itself was seen as holy and the proof that God was still present in the midst of the Hebrew people. They assumed God’s protection and covenant blessings because the temple itself became the object of their worship as if it were some sort of talisman. The temple had been meant to be the place where God would dwell in the midst of them and everything in the temple would remind them of the God that they served and what it would be like some day when Heaven came to earth.

As we saw last week God’s response to the idolatry of Israel was that his glory departed the temple and it was eventually destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king.

God was offering to his people a way to experience his presence in corporate worship so they would know him intimately and be willing to carry out the role that they were to play as a nation set apart by God. God wanted them to grasp the richness and vastness of the blessings that he was offering them but they would need to turn away from their self-absorption and walk in humble obedience to him.

The Law of Moses regulated worship much more specifically than it did any other aspect of life. Not only does this demonstrate that worship must be carefully regulated by the word of God, but it also suggests that the Mosaic Law offers many insights into worship that is pleasing to God.

Many aspects of Moses’ regulations pointed forward to Christ and ceased to be necessary after he came, apart from the moral principles that they illustrated. Under the New Covenant the Old Testament symbols give way to their fulfillment. Christ’ priesthood, sacrifice and intercession supersede the entire Mosaic system for atonement for sin and other requirements like circumcision are replaced by baptism.

When we consider that Jesus came to fulfill the requirements of the law and the sacrificial system on our behalf, it should cause us to fall down in praise and thanksgiving both privately and corporately. There has never been a greater reason to worship God than now. Out of gratefulness we should humbly approach God’s throne inviting him to use us in whatever way that he chooses. Again we can look back at how our forefathers responded appropriately to the love and mercy of God.

Consider our Old Testament reading from 1 Chronicles 16:1–4,

And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord 3 and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.

4 Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel.”

As we talked about earlier about the Ark of the Covenant being built at God’s command to symbolize the throne of God in Heaven and this was to be placed in the tabernacle. After Israel entered the Promised Land the ark had been stored in various places so David has the tabernacle placed in Jerusalem so the ark can be brought there and once again return to the center of Israel's national consciousness. The emblem of God's presence and glory was set at its proper place in Israel. King David’s response was to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. The burnt offerings spoke of consecration for sin and the peace offerings spoke of renewed relationship with God and each other. This was a day of great consecration and fellowship with God and it was also a great barbeque and meal for all the people. David’s response shows his desire for the presence of God and his willingness to find ways to celebrate and praise the Lord continually. David knew that Israel’s only hope was to return to the God of his fathers through obedient worship and that is still true for us today.

As we saw in our reading from the Books of Acts the early Christians continually “devoted themselves the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Their focus on knowing God and loving each other helped them to center in on the role that God has for the people of God, to be the revelation of God through word and deed so that the nations will know God. For a while they continued to go the synagogue on the Sabbath as they were mostly Jews and it was their custom to come and worship through song, scripture, and prayers but now the church had the celebration of the table of the Lord.

The model for worship has not changed as the scene in the throne room of God hasn’t changed either. We still must approach God with reverent awe and wonder and allow his word, prayer and praise to wash over us and change us. Next week we will consider the final part of this series—the power to be found at the table of the Lord.

In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

©2017 Rev. Mike Moffitt

Return to top

Sermon Archives