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Six Summer Sundays
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Fifth Sunday, July 29, 2001:
"Not Just Any Old Place"
A. Tabernacle worship: the Incarnation foreshadowed
1. God's place of dwelling with His people
From Robert E. Webber, The Biblical Foundations of Christian Worship, Vol. 1 (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, 1993), at pp. 112, 117-118:
The tabernacle is a sacred house where God met with his people. It was a place of dwelling for God, a place for meeting, a place for revelation, and place for sacrifice and atonement. The tabernacle is a symbol of God's dwelling with the people of the covenant and is a basis for the New Testament understanding of the incarnation of the Word in Jesus Christ (John 1:14) and of the presence of the Lord, in the midst of the church. . . .
The truth of the tabernacle is inseparably bound up with the fact of the Incarnation (Col. 1:19; 2:9). In fact, the tabernacle may rightly be considered, with its emphasis on the fact of God's dwelling with man, as the main foreshadowing in the Old Testament of the doctrine of the Incarnation. The tabernacle, rather than the later temples, is the basis of New Testament teaching. Hebrews (Heb. 9-10) refers not to any temple, but to the tabernacle. The tabernacle is the symbol of God's dwelling with his people (Exod. 25:8; 1 Kings 8:27). This concept progressed until it was fulfilled in the incarnation of God the Son (John 1:14). He is in the church (2 Cor. 6:16), in the individual believer (1 Cor. 6:19), and in the eternal state (Rev. 21:3). In Hebrews the central passages on the New Testament tabernacle represent the earthly and heavenly aspects of Christ's activity.
2. The necessity of both words and actions in worship
From the study book, p. 67:
(W)e cannot communicate fully without words and actions. (¶) God chooses to communicate with His people in the same way we communicate with each other.
3. The approach to God in the tabernacle
From the study book, p. 67:
In tabernacle worship, there are some very clear steps that represent the approach to God. These steps are even expressed in the layout of the tabernacle, where one first had to go through the gates and then perform certain actions in the outer court. Only the priests could enter into the inner court, and only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement.
4. What we see, and what we apprehend
From the study book, p. 68:
What we see is an earthly and visible building, a portable one at that. But what we apprehend is something far beyond wood and stone. What we apprehend is: the condition for covenant relationship with God; the presence of God with His people; and the perfection of God's character.
5. Our use of words and actions in the place of worship
From the study book, p. 68:
In worship today we use words and sacred actions-the Bible, water baptism, preaching, and Communion meals-as our visible and tangible signs of a relationship with God through God's Son, Jesus Christ.
6. Illustrations of sacred place and sacred space
From the August 15, 1999, dedicatory liturgy for the Epworth chapel:
Minister: To the worship of God the Father, who created us and loves us,
People: We dedicate this chapel.
Minister: To the glory of God the Son, who redeemed us by his grace,
People: We dedicate this chapel.
Minister: To the honor of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and guides us,
People: We dedicate this chapel.
From the August 15, 1999, dedicatory liturgy for the communion rail:
Dedication of the Communion Rail:
Reader: O God, we now dedicate this Communion rail as a place of prayer and as a place of receiving Holy Communion. From this day forward let those who would offer prayers of repentance for sin kneel here. People: O God, when your people sin against You but then return to You with all their heart and soul, hear from heaven and forgive them.
Reader: Let those who would offer prayers of confession or of need, kneel here.
People: Our sins are higher than our head, and our guilt has reached to the heavens.
Reader: Let those who would consecrate their lives to God kneel here.
People: By the mercies of God we present our bodies as a living sacrifice.
Reader: Let those in need of saving or sanctifying grace kneel here.
People: May the God of peace himself sanctify us through and through.
Reader: Let those who need courage, strength or wisdom kneel here.
People: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Reader: Let those who sorrow with groanings too deep for words kneel here.
People: The Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Reader: Let those who come to be joined in holy matrimony kneel here.
People: What God has joined together let not mortals put asunder.
B. Davidic worship: development toward Christian worship
| Davidic worship | Christian worship |
| The pilgrimage to Zion (e.g., Ps. 122:1-4) | The intentional journey to a place set aside for worship |
| The call to worship (e.g., Ps. 81:1-3) | God's call to us to worship, explicitly voiced by the minister |
| The procession (e.g., Ps. 68:24-27) The clergy's procession to the altar, pulpit and reading desk, on the people's behalf | |
| The ascent (e.g., Ps. 47:5-9) | The people's approach to the altar at Holy Communion |
| The entrance (e.g., Ps. 24:3-10) | The Sursum Corda (the people are told, "Lift up your hearts", as they enter the heavenly worship) |
| The praise of the King | (e.g., Ps. 136) E.g., the Gloria |
| Preparation for the Lord's appearance | The confession and the Sanctus ("Holy, holy, holy") |
| Renewal of the covenant | The prayer of living sacrifice |
C. Temple worship: why not just any old place would do
1. So God and His acts would be remembered
From the study book, p. 83:
The reason why God wanted a home, a house of worship among His people, was that God wanted a place where God and His acts among the people would be remembered.
2. How God and His acts would be remembered
From the study book, p. 84:
(T)he immaterial communicates through the material. This principle of the Incarnation is foreshadowed in the temple. In the temple, God resided with and met His people through tangible symbols, sacred rituals, and a sacred mystery.
3. How rituals can encourage and enable worship a. Help keep the focus on God, rather than on people b. Know what to do, in difficult or delicate circumstances c. Enable to carry through and carry on, in difficult circumstances d. Avoid being maudlin, frivolous, silly, flippant and insubstantial e. Reduce risk of error f. Elevate the content of what is said and done g. Provide for group participation h. Enhance the sense of occasion, and the importance of it (e.g., the feasts) i. Incorporate scripture into life j. Remind of, and reinforce, the teachings and language of scripture k. Build continuity with the Church of all times and places l. Build sense of community, through shared, consistent, in-common experience m. Reinforce the sense of the sacred and the holy n. Especially (but not only) in grief, provide the comfort of familiarity o. Enable focus on the content, rather than on innovation of presentation p. Aid in the setting of priorities (include the important and exclude the unimportant) q. Emphasize what is permanent vs. what is fashionable r. Reliable, repeated teaching s. Enable shared experience in spite of diverse individual circumstances
4. How place can encourage and enable worship a. Set aside the cares and burdens of life, to allow focus on God b. Help us to envision and anticipate worship c. Show us a place in which the human self is not the dominant concern d. Visually remind those who pass by, of God's call on their loyalty and attention e. Correlate with events and truths (e.g., seeing the Liberty Bell, vs. reading about it) f. By its arrangement and appearance, declare that worship is what is done in this place g. By its being set aside and by its arrangement and appearance, declare that worship is not just a human social activity, and church is not a club h. By its arrangement and appearance, tell of God's saving deeds i. Reflect the nature of God and His characteristics (e.g., order, beauty, harmony) j. By its placement and arrangement, testify to what is regarded as most important
5. One opinion about sacred ministry
Apostolic succession, as denied in Giles, What on Earth Is the Church (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1995), at pp. 41, 54, 75, 95, 187:
[N]either Peter's leadership nor his responsibilities with the 'keys' are said to be transferable. . . .
The leadership of Peter in the early church raises no problems today for a non-Roman Catholic, because it is agreed that the text says nothing about successors. In speaking about Peter, Matthew makes him simply first among equals. He does not idealize him or give him unique powers. 'The keys' to bind and to loose are later given to the whole church ([Mt.] 18:18). . . .
Luke does not envisage successors to the apostles, for eyewitnesses cannot pass on their ministry to others. . . .
The oft-heard argument that church leaders must be men because the twelve apostles were all men, does not follow from anything Luke says. In acts, the twelve are not depicted as congregational leaders: they are proto church, not proto ministers, and this role cannot be passed on. . . .
These people were recognized as prophets not because of ordination, but because it was acknowledged that God regularly spoke through them in various ways.
The laying on of hands by those assembled therefore does not signify the bestowal of a ministry, or of the Spirit, but rather that from now on their ministry is no longer an individual one: they are from this point on representatives of their community. . . .
Nothing seen in the New Testament has endorsed the view that the ordering of the church was given from the start, . . . . This means that the church is not defined by its ministerial structures; it is defined by its communal existence given by God in Christ, and by the presence of the Spirit who provides the leaders needed.
D. Questions to ponder or discuss, now or later
1. Which came first: liturgy (the people's pattern of worship) or theology?
2. What can prayer in public worship do, which private prayer cannot?
3. How important is intercessory prayer in a worship service?
4. Why are the "Prayers of the People" part of the Service of the Table rather than being part of the Service of the Word?
5. If a service does not contain an invocation of the Triune God at the outset, is anything important lost?
6. What is the most intensive and extensive form of praise and thanksgiving in the Christian tradition?
7. Where do we find a church's primary theology?
8. Are active participation and self-expression worship?
9. What is transubstantiation in reverse?
[Responses: Making the holy into something mundane, such as by failing to appreciate the holy, failing to receive Communion, and failing to give worth to the body and blood of Christ]
10. Who leads our worship? Who should do so?
11. What about our worship serves as a school against forgetfulness?
12. What about our worship serves as a school against ingratitude?
13. Is there a distinction between loving God with all our heart, and worshiping God with all our heart?
14. Can prayer be visual instead of verbal?
15. Which religious gestures are holier than others?
16. Which religious symbols are holier than others?
17. Which carries more meaning: a statement of religious or theological fact or truth, or a symbol of the same?
18. Which of the five senses should be omitted from worship?
19. Should the human imagination be omitted from worship?
20. Is participation in religious ritual:
a. Participation, by attention, in the rites?
b. Participation in an act of the church?
c. Participation in the rule and reign of God?
21. Does our worship regularly reveal the difference between who God is and who we are?
22. Is there such a thing as physically embodied theology?
23. What role, if any, does bodily memory play in worship?
[Comments concerned: total physical response, inherent physical response, inherited response, automatic response, and communication by action.]
24. Is silence important in worship?
25. How does following the Christian calendar illuminate the scripture?
26. What is the role of confession of sin, in a worship service?
27. Is a benediction important in a worship service?
28. Was John Wesley right or wrong, in his contention that one should receive Communion as often as possible?
29. What's a "collect"?
30. What is the role of lamentation in a worship service?
31. Is the Eucharist inexhaustibly relevant to every human context of suffering? Why, or why not?
32. Is worship really worship, if it fails to engage the people with the mystery of God?
33. Is worship really worship, if it fails to engage the people with human suffering?
34. How important is the reading or singing of scripture, in a worship service?
35. Does it make any difference where the pulpit is placed? Where the Communion altar is placed?
36. Can doctrines be reduced to cognitive human systems? What keeps doctrine from becoming dogmatic and negative?
37. Is it the purpose of worship to make an impact on the culture?
38. Does God prefer unplanned worship?
39. Through symbol, parable and metaphor, can worship take us beyond what our senses can otherwise disclose of God?
40. Can Christians mark time by remembering forward and backward?
41. What is missing, when Word is without sacrament, or when sacrament is without Word?
[Suggestions: Context; confirmation; example; corroboration; a lens through which to interpret and re-interpret, forward and backward; application; dramatization; personalization; particularization; cohesiveness; theme; prioritization; participation in the tradition of and with the saints; illumination; correlation; balance between reason and mystery]
42. What is the role of sacred space? Is there such a thing?
43. What makes ministry "sacred ministry" (Robert Webber's phrase)?
E. Next Sunday: Sessions 12 and 13 of Robert E. Webber's Learning to Worship with All Your Heart
All Contents © 1999-2007 Epworth Chapel on the Green. All rights reserved.