EXPERIENCING THE ESSENCE OF WORSHIP
Isaiah 6:1-13
INTRODUCTION
It was to be a special Sunday morning – my brother-in-law was being ordained to the ministry at his home church. I was preaching and my wife would give special music. The auditorium in the church is long and narrow, with a platform, which has five steps to go up. We had the platform set up that morning with no pulpit and with the communion table at the back of the platform. The service opened with congregational singing, would continue with my wife bringing special music, my preaching, the ordination, and the service would close with communion.
My wife got up to sing, standing up on the platform. The song went well. Then, as she stepped down off the platform, she caught a shoe on one of the steps and fell, landing on her knees on the floor in front of the entire congregation. She was okay, so I proceeded to walk up the steps to the platform to preach, reached for a microphone and immediately dropped it as I prepared to speak. Despite the opening miscue, the sermon went fine, and we moved through the ordination to communion time.
The communion servers formed a semicircle around the communion table on the platform and began to pass each other the communion trays. One of the elders did a Frisbee-throw motion as he passed one of the bread trays down the line, and the communion bread landed on the floor. The recovered without many people knowing what had happened, served communion, and the service came to its conclusion.
I have sometimes wondered if my brother-in-law’s ordination was valid after those miscues. Should we have redone the service and got it right? What is the essence of worship?
We have a whole variety of worship experiences, some good and some bad, some go smoothly and some do not. How do we determine what is the essence of worship?
A.P. Gibbs, in his book Worship, discusses this in asking the question, “Is Christian worship simply Christianity Judaism?”
“Much of the so-called ’public worship’ in Christendom is merely a form of Christianized Judaism, and, in some cases, thinly veiled paganism.... In Judaism there was a separate priestly caste who alone could conduct the worship of Israel. In Christendom a man-made priesthood, called the ’clergy,’ is essential to its worship, in spite of the plain teaching of the New Testament that all believers are priests. These priests of Judaism wore a distinctive dress, as also does the clergy. Judaism emphasized an earthly sanctuary, or building. In like manner, Christendom makes much of its consecrated ’places of worship,’ and miscalls the edifice...’the house of God.’ Jewish priests had an altar on which were offered sacrifices to God. Christendom has erected ’altars’ in these ornate buildings, before which candles burn and incense is offered and, in many cases, on which a wafer is kept, which is looked upon as the body of Christ! It is hardly necessary to say that all this copying of Judaism is absolutely foreign to the teaching of the New Testament.
“Thus Christendom has initiated its own specially educated and ordained priesthood, whose presence is indispensable to ’administer the sacraments.’ These men, robed in gorgeous vestments, from within a roped off ’sanctuary’ stand before a bloodless ’altar,’ with a background of burning candles, crosses and smoking incense, and ’conduct the worship’ for the laity. With the use of an elaborate prepared ritual, with stereotyped prayers, and responses from the audience, the whole service proceeds smoothly and with mechanical precision. It is a marvel of human invention and ingenuity, with an undoubted appeal to the esthetic; but a tragic and sorry substitute for the spiritual worship which our Lord declared that His Father sought from his redeemed children.”
Isaiah 6 is a classic study in showing us the essence of worship through the experience of Isaiah. Uzziah had been king in Judah for 52 years. Although he was superficially effective and had secured the country from its enemies, built a very formidable army, tightened up its defenses, created economic productivity, and brought great external security, the nation was corrupt, defiled, wretched, and superficially worshiping God.
Socially, the government had brought prosperity to the land, but there was a rich class and a poor class that were deeply divided. Abuses and profiteering took place, along with extortion.
Politically, Judah was threatened by the Assyrians who were rising as a potent world power. Part of Judah wanted to make an alliance with Assyria; another part wanted to ally themselves with Egypt in opposition to Assyria. Isaiah called for them to trust God.
Religiously, the Jews had imported the religions of Palestine, and the prophets were too busy with strong drink to show any concern. They had lost all hope that the Messiah would ever come to deliver them as God had promised.
As a result, in chapter 5, Isaiah pronounced half a dozen curses on Judah. The people had the illusion that things were going along well because they had a good leader. Then, in 740 B.C., their leader died of leprosy when God struck him down because of his pride.
When Uzziah died, the nation’s sense of security was gone and Isaiah rose as a voice offering hope through the Messiah who was still to come. God calls him to that task through his marvelous worship experience, which we can learn so much from.
Isaiah’s worship experience demonstrates to us four actions that should comprise the essence of our worship. I have adapted these from Warren Wiersbe’s discussion of this passage in his book Real Worship.
I. IN WORSHIP, WE SEE SOMETHING – Vss. 1-4.
Worship often focuses on ourselves. Thomas K. Beecher once substituted for his famous brother, Henry Ward Beecher, at the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York:
Many curiosity seekers had come to hear the renowned Henry Beecher speak. Therefore, when Thomas appeared in the pulpit instead, some people got up and started for the doors. Sensing that they were disappointed because he was substituting for his brother, Thomas raised his hand for silence and announced, "All those who came here this morning to worship Henry Ward Beecher may withdraw from the church; all who came to worship God may remain."
Evelyn Underhill had this in mind in 1928: Writing to a conference of Church of England clergy she said, “We are drifting toward a religion which, consciously or unconsciously, keeps its eyes on humanity rather than deity.”
With Isaiah, worship should enable us to see God. We do not know where Isaiah was when this worship experience takes place: he may have been in the temple. Wherever he was, he was not asleep or dreaming, but was conscious when the Lord revealed himself to Isaiah. Isaiah had a vision of the glory and holiness of God. No matter what might happen to the throne on earth, the throne in heaven was secure.
Put yourself in Isaiah’s place: he lived when people had forgotten about God’s power and had their attention centered on Assyria’s power, but Isaiah was brought face-to-face with the fact that God still sits on his throne and held all power in his hand.
Have we arrived at that place? We don’t always have a very biblical view of God, as Mike Royko showed us in this column:
Royko reports a most unusual letter for collecting a bill of a Chicago suburban man, by a physician. The man, James Goggins, 56, had disputed the amount owed to Dr. Joshua D. Salvador of Chicago, for treatment given to Goggin’s wife.
Goggins says that after several rather heated exchanges, both written and oral, he flatly refused to pay the bill.
That’s when he received a letter that said:
"Dear Mr. Goggins,
"I am really surprised at your attitude.
"Most of our patients are grateful for our services, and they pay their accounts without the kind of fuss you are making about it.
"In order for your wife to be blessed with good health you must meet your obligations and pay your debts.
"If you don’t, I am afraid God will take this blessing from you and inflict such an ill health on you that all the money of the world cannot compensate you for it.
"Why bring the wrath of God on you? Isn’t it better to pay and get his blessing?
"...Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
"Sincerely yours,
"Joshua D. Salvador, M.D."
After reading the letter, Goggins said, he fired off a letter to the doctor.
"I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it was something to the effect that my wife and I don’t fear God because we’re on good terms with him. And I told him that if he thought he had a valid claim, he should take it to court."
Then he got angry again and wrote a lengthy letter to the president of the American Medical Association. A few of the better lines:
"I was aware that you birds had a very strong trade union. I even suspected that you were more powerful than the plumbers.
"However, I had no idea of the extent of your clout until Salvador informed me that it is universal and even reaches God.
"At first this news was mind shattering. Now that comprehension has penetrated my brain, the idea is fascinating. Imagine, God the Almighty roaming the Earth repossessing the good health of people who, for one reason or another, have not been able to pay your outrageous fees.
"Why have you maintained such a low profile about this? Surely having God on your payroll is newsworthy. Has your modesty compelled you to remain silent? Or have all of you been too busy counting your money to issue press releases.
"...If you will be so kind as to answer a few questions....
"...Does God have a contract with the AMA?
"Does each member make his own deal with God?
"The religious leaders of the world spend a lot of time beseeching God to alleviate human pain and suffering. Are they disillusioned that he now works for you going around inflicting ill health on people who have fallen into disfavor with you?
"Does God give a patient one last chance to pay up?
"...I will be looking forward to your answers."
So far, Goggins has not heard from the AMA.
We called Dr. Salvador’s office to see if he wanted to chat about his letter. He didn’t want to come to the phone, but a lady who said she was his sister and secretary said:
"Yes, Dr. Salvador sent the letter. It was a nice letter. It explained his position. The doctor tried to cope with him psychologically by trying to reason with him through God. This guy (Goggins) is out of it."
Oh, I don’t know about that. If Goggins was really "out of it," then he would have sent a letter to Dr. Salvador saying something like:
"Dear Doc. Got your bill. You sent it to the wrong place. Send all future bills to God. He’s my accountant."
Contrast that with Bob Hope’s statement: After Presidents Bush and Gorbachev had their summit on storm-riddled Malta, Hope said, “Perhaps God was reminding the two superpowers who the real superpower is.” We ought to gain a sense of that in worship.
How should we respond when we see God like that in worship? In Isaiah’s case the entire temple was shook – vs. 4. People all through the Bible responded in fear when they encountered God:
In the O.T., they felt afraid, intimidated, that their lives were in danger:
· Abraham in Genesis 18:27 entered into God’s presence and confessed that he was nothing but "dust and ashes."
· Job was a righteous man, but when he came to see God as the sovereign, holy Lord of the universe, he said, "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6).
· Manoah, the father of Samson, saw the angel of the Lord and said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God" (Judges 13:22).
· Habakkuk heard the voice of the Lord and said, "When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice; rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself" (3:16).
· Haggai said when the holy words of God were spoken to the restored remnant of Israel that "the people did fear before the Lord" (1:12).
In the N.T., we have similar reactions:
· The disciples (Mark 4) were filled with fear when Jesus calmed the sea.
· The Gerasenes had great fear when they saw the healed demoniac (Luke 8).
· Peter reacted to the large catch of fish that came from Jesus’ direction by saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5).
There is a wonderful scene in this sense in The Chronicles of Narnia: Some talking beavers are describing Aslan to Lucy, Susan, and Peter, who have just arrived in Narnia. In anticipation of meeting him, they ask questions that reveal their fears:
"Ooh!" said Susan, "I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn’t safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you."
After the children met Aslan, Lucy observed that his paws were potentially very soft or very terrible. They could be as soft as velvet with his claws drawn in, or sharp as knives with his claws extended.
A. W. Tozer asks whether we see God in worship – "Are we losing our ’Oh!’"?
"Are we losing our ’Oh!’"?... When the heart on its knees moves into the awesome presence, and hears with fear and wonder things not lawful to utter, the mind falls flat, and words, previously its faithful servants, become weak and totally incapable of telling what the heart hears and sees. In that awful moment, the worshiper can only cry ’Oh!’"
II. IN WORSHIP, WE SENSE SOMETHING – Vs. 5.
Wee often seen ourselves as exalted in God’s presence: A student once thought he would impress D. L. Moody. The young man had been at an all-night prayer meeting and was feeling especially spiritual. He came to Mr. Moody and said, "Do you know where we’ve been? We’ve been at an all-night prayer meeting. See how our faces shine?" Mr. Moody, unimpressed, quoted Exodus 34:29: "Moses knew not that his face shone."
We want to see ourselves as magnificent, important. We want to think there is something great about us because we have worshiped.
Isaiah teaches us to sense something different from worship – to sense who we really are.
Isaiah’s response was something like, only more profound than, the experience of the housewife who worked for two hours trying to balance her checkbook. When her husband arrived home she handed him a neatly typed sheet with the cost of items in columns and showing the exact balance. He ran down the list until he came to one item reading "E.S.P.: $43.29." "What’s that you bought?" he asked. "I really did not buy anything," she replied. "That means error some place."
Isaiah saw the errors in his life standing in stark contrast to God’s majesty. He described his uncleanliness in the most graphic terms. Isaiah was the most upstanding citizen of his day. He had been raised in the palace court and would have access to it throughout his ministry. He would never waver from the truth, yet in comparison to the greatness God he sensed clearly his own uncleanliness.
That is the way we need to see ourselves. We must admit, as Romans 3:23 reminds us, that we all have sinned. That is our condition when we worship.
III IN WORSHIP, WE FEEL SOMETHING – Vss. 6,7.
Isaiah received the cleansing of God. One of the seraphim flew to him with a live coal, touched his lips with it and pronounced his cleansing. Isaiah felt the live coal, but inside he felt something even deeper: forgiveness.
Our worship is not really complete until we feel the forgiveness of God. We must not only see the throne; we must also see the altar, the place of sacrifice for sins. A throne without an altar means conviction and condemnation, not cleansing.
Karl Meninger, the great psychiatrist who died in July, 1990, wrote a book entitled Whatever Became of Sin? He was a great healer of the mind, but he knew healing of the mind came when we recognize our sin and find the source of its removal.
We understand that sin is only removed in the cross of Christ – Romans 5:8,9. That is why we the Lord’s Supper should be central in our worship.
Perhaps we have lost the fear of God because we take his grace for granted. The Bible is full of grace, even in the O.T., but especially in the N.T. Worship continues this feel for God’s grace – 1 John 1:8,9.
In A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World, Ron Lee Davis retells the true story of a priest in the Philippines, a much-loved man of God who carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. He had repented but still had no peace, no sense of God’s forgiveness.
In his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ and he with her. The priest, however, was skeptical. To test her he said, "The next time you speak with Christ, I want you to ask him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary." The woman agreed.
A few days later the priest asked, "Well, did Christ visit you in your dreams?"
"Yes, he did," she replied.
"And did you ask him what sin I committed in seminary?"
"Yes."
"Well, what did he say?"
"He said, ’I don’t remember.’"
What God forgives, he forgets.
John Newton, at age 82, said, "I remember two things about life: (1) I am a great sinner, and (2) Jesus is a great savior."
IV. IN WORSHIP, WE DO SOMETHING – Vss. 8-13.
When Isaiah, in his worship-, was confronted with making a response (vs. 8) as a result of what he saw, sensed, and felt he did something.
Wiersbe says his experience began with sight – he saw the Lord. It led to insight – he saw himself as a defiled sinner. But the end result was vision – he saw the need and volunteered to do the work God wanted him to do. Worship led to service.
It was not an easy response for Isaiah, as vss. 9-13 indicate. He was told from the start that people would not always listen. They would keep on seeing and hearing, but they would not understand or perceive, so they would become calloused. The word means to be fat, so well off you do not care. How long was he to do this? Until everything was so devastated that people would see God as the only hope they had left.
Worship calls for the Christian to say, "Here am I. Send me!"
Oliver Cromwell was the chief leader of the Puritan Revolution in England: During his reign, a drastic shortage of silver developed. He commissioned some of his men to find silver wherever they could. They returned after a short search and reported: "The only silver we could find is in the statutes of the saints that stand in the cathedral." "Good," replied Cromwell, "We’ll just melt down the saints and put them in circulation." God wants to put us in circulation as a result of our worship.
Paul and Barnabas saw this. They were ministering to the Lord at Antioch when God called them to the Gentiles (Acts 13:1-3). The word translated "minister" is a word for worship that means "to perform a priestly service." Their worship transformed them into missionaries.
Perhaps there would be more workers today if we were engaged in more spiritual worship in the church. We used to put "Enter to Worship--Depart to Serve!" over the doors of our worship auditoriums. We should also worship when we leave, but we certainly should serve.
People may not always respond, but as Cyril Simkins told us in seminary: "It is not our business to be concerned about ourselves or our church, but to be concerned about our mission of taking God to the world. It is God’s business to take care of us."
CONCLUSION
Isaiah thus shows us very beautifully the essence of worship. It results in how we design our worship services, but it begins with so much more.
World-class paleontologist Allen Grant illustrates this in Jurassic Park:
There is a splendid moment in the movie Jurassic Park, when world-class paleontologist Allen Grant, who has devoted his life to the study of dinosaurs, suddenly comes face-to-face with real, live prehistoric creatures. He falls to the ground, dumbstruck. The reason is obvious. It is one thing to piece together an informed but nonetheless imperfect image of dinosaurs by picking through fossils and bones. But to encounter an actual dinosaur—well, there can be no comparison.
For many people, spirituality amounts to picking through the artifacts of faith that survive from long ago and far away. In that bygone era, humans saw God, heard His voice, and experienced his awesome, at times terrible, power. But that was then. Today, those kinds of gripping encounters with God—with a God who wasn’t an illusion, but Someone who was real, Someone you could see, and touch, and feel—well, there could be no comparison.
