Revelation: Heavenly Worship, Part One

If I were to ask you, “What is worship?” there are many answers you might give.  You might say that worship is a church service on Sunday morning or a quiet reflection on your front porch at sunrise.  To you, worship might be a hymn or praise song, Scripture readings or sermons, liturgies or doxologies or offerings or Communion.  But I suggest to you that while all of these things are elements of worship, none of them are worship in and of themselves.  While each of these are expressions of worship, worship itself is the soul’s stretching toward God, as my seminary professor Glenn Hinson said, “opening ourselves before [God] like a flower to the morning sun.”  While worship can have many expressions, what it must always be (and what it can never be without) is a genuine human response to God’s infinite grace.

Unfortunately, too often we get worship mixed up with the forms of worship.  We go to church, sing our songs, read the Bible, give our money, hear some scripture and a sermon, and we think we have worshiped.  It reminds me of the little boy who knelt by his bed, saying his prayers on Sunday night.  He said, “Dear God, we had a good time at church today—but I wish you had been there!”  Sometimes I think that if God were to answer a prayer like that, He might say, “My child, it was good seeing you in My house today—but I wish you had really been there!”  All too often, we bring our bodies to church but nothing else.  Mentally and spiritually we check out, and we leave without worshiping at all.

The book of Revelation shows many scenes of heavenly worship that can teach us how to approach the living God.  John witnesses angelic worship as the heavenly court celebrates the Lord.  Revelation 4:8-11 says:

And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”

9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

When we worship God, we praise Him for who He is.  Our first desire should never be to ask God for the things we think we need, but simply to love our Lord.  The living creatures sing of God’s holiness.  This word holy means “other” or “different.”  It means that God is not like us.  God’s ways are not our ways and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.  And that should make us glad—because if God were simply a reflection of who we are, if we had made God in our own image, we would be in trouble.  But God is holy.  Then, these magnificent creatures sing about God’s eternal nature.  Because God is eternal, we know that He is also reliable.  He never changes, but will be as He has been forever.

Next, we see that heavenly worship involves paying honor to God.  No dollars are dropped into the plate, but instead the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks.  I wonder—do you think that God is somehow improved by these gifts, as if He gets more glorious or more powerful than He was before, simply because we give Him glory and power?  No—but He is pleased when we relinquish our own glory and power and strength to Him, recognizing Him as the Source of everything good in our lives.  The twenty-four elders cast their crowns before the throne, rejecting their own treasures and their own egos, declaring instead God’s worthiness to receive glory and power and strength.  At church I’ve seen too many peacock shows with people strutting around showing off their own glory.  Whether it’s proudly parading their fine clothes or flaunting their gifts to the church or reminding people of all the acts of service they’ve performed, they wear their crowns to honor themselves.  Oh, we’ll get crowns in heaven, but they won’t be for our benefit—they’ll be so that we can have something to abandon at the feet of Jesus.

Finally in this chapter, the elders proclaim, “for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”  Whenever worship happens, worshipers are reminded of the things that God has done.  This is done through the proclamation of the word.  Preachers declare God’s mighty deeds so that worshipers are reminded of God’s worthiness and trustworthiness.

Today, we looked at heavenly worship as it is found in Revelation chapter four.  We talked about praise, paying God the honor He is due, and proclaiming His mighty acts.  Next time, in chapters five and nineteen, we’ll look at more elements of heavenly worship.  We’ll discuss supplication, singing, and shouting to God, submitting to the Lord, serving humanity, and clothing ourselves in preparation for the coming King.  I hope to see you next time as we continue to learn how heavenly worship shapes the way that we worship today.