CHRISTIANITY 101: THE SEVEN LAST WORDS OF THE SOUL
Once upon a time, a very wealthy man approached the minister of his church and said, “I want to send you and your wife on a three-month sabbatical to the Holy Land. When you come back, I’m going to have a very big surprise in store for you.” What could they say? The minister and his wife graciously accepted the offer, and the two of them set off for the Holy Land.
Eventually they returned to their parish and were met by their benefactor, who showed them the surprise he had in mind. While they were gone, he had had a fabulous new church built in their honor. “This is the finest building money can buy,” he said. “I spared absolutely no expense.”
He was right. It was a magnificent edifice, inside and out. Yet once they got to the sanctuary, they were surprised to discover that it only had one pew, and that pew was in the very back of the church. “I don’t want to sound unappreciative,” the minister said, “but why is there only one pew?” The wealthy man replied, “You know how everyone likes to sit in the back of the church, and no one wants to sit up front. Just wait ‘til you see what happens on Sunday morning.”
When the time came for the Sunday service, the early arrivals entered the church, filed into the one pew, and sat down. When the pew was full, a switch silently clicked, and – automatically – the pew began to slide forward. When it reached the front of the church, it came to an abrupt halt. At the very same time, another empty pew arose from below in the back, and more people sat down. And so it continued – pews filling and moving forward – until finally the church was full from front to back. The minister was truly in awe. “That’s incredible,” he cried. “I do believe it’s a dream come true!”
The service began and the minister eventually started to preach. He launched into his text and – when 12:00 noon arrived – he was still going strong with no clear end in sight. Suddenly, a bell rang, a trap door in the floor behind the pulpit dropped open, and the minister disappeared. “That’s incredible,” the congregation cried. “I do believe it’s a dream come true!”
Yeah, I thought you’d like that one. God forbid that a worship service should last any more than an hour. How else are we going to beat the Methodists to Perkins? Truth be told, however, I haven’t really gotten too bad a time from people when the worship service lasts a little more than an hour since I left Minnesota. You see, in Minnesota we were on Central Standard Time…so the Vikings kicked off at noon. Here in Pennsylvania – since we’re on Eastern Standard Time – the Steelers and the Browns don’t kick off until 1:00. Maybe that’s why people don’t complain when the worship service lasts a little more than an hour. The issue, however, is this. I will be proposing this morning that worship is an integral part of the Christian life. What exactly is worship…that we should practice it and prioritize it? Keep that thought in mind as we move on.
Several months ago, we postulated that our spiritual lives are shaped by three basic things: our narratives, our practices, and our communities. Our narratives frame our understanding of God and of ourselves. Our practices are the things we do on a regular basis that help to form who and what we are. Our communities are the places we go where we are surrounded by, and influenced by, other people…for better or for worse.
Then we worked hard to establish a few new narratives about God. Looking at God through the lens of Jesus Christ, we determined that God is good, God is trustworthy, God is generous, God is love, God is holy, God is self-sacrificing, and God transforms. Then we wrestled in turn with overcoming anger, lust, lying and the law of reciprocity. We took a stab at defeating vainglory, avarice, worry and judgmentalism.
The theory behind such an endeavor is that abiding in the kingdom of God is different than abiding in the kingdom of this world. Those who abide in this world ask, “How can I get more?” Those who abide in the kingdom ask, “How can I give more?” Those who abide in this world ask, “How can I find myself?” Those who abide in the kingdom ask, “How can I lose myself?” Those who abide in this world ask, “How can I win friends and influence people?” Those who abide in the kingdom ask, “How can I truly serve God?” Ladies and gentlemen, there is a profound difference between abiding in the kingdom of this world…and abiding in the kingdom of God. Our goal in this series of sermons is learning to abide in the kingdom of God.
Today we continue the process of considering the communities that are meant to influence us from a spiritual standpoint. Obviously, the community were talking about here is the church. The issue we’ll be dealing with today is worship. More specifically, what exactly is worship… that we should practice it and prioritize it?
Many years ago, I was on a campout with some fathers and sons from my student pastorate in Manchester, Kentucky. Early one morning, we were in canoes on a mountain lake as a blazing, orange sun slowly rose in the east. It’s hard to see such a sight and not believe in God. One of the fathers who rarely came to church said, “This is my kind of church right here. I find that I can worship God far, far better in nature than I ever can in a church.” After witnessing that magnificent sunrise, it was hard to argue with him. Yet that statement brings to mind two incredibly important theological points. Those points are: revelation and narrative.
Let’s deal with the issue of revelation first. Like I said, it’s hard to see a magnificent sunrise and not believe in God. The color, the grandeur, the wonder of it all…it truly leads one to believe that there’s something greater than one’s self. God is revealed in a sunrise. God is revealed in a lot of things in nature. We call it general revelation. When we witness a magnificent sunrise; when we gaze upon the intricacy of the human eye; when we observe the miracle of birth; we truly come to contemplate and experience God. That, my friends, is the definition of general revelation. The problem, however, is that there is no salvation in a sunrise. No forgiveness is found in the human eye, and there is no divine guidance in the miracle of birth. For those kinds of things we need special revelation…and special revelation is found only in the person of Jesus Christ. Thus, worshipping God in nature may help one to sense the wonder and the awe and the majesty of God, but it will never produce a transformed life…and it cannot provide eternal life.
Then there’s the issue of narrative. As I mentioned a moment ago, our narratives frame our understanding of God and of ourselves. There is a false narrative at work when we worship God only in nature. That false narrative is this: Worship is a personal matter; one basically meant to inspire no one but me. Again, the false narrative is: worship is a personal matter; one basically meant to inspire no one but me.
One can readily see how worshipping God in nature is a personal matter, one basically meant to inspire no one but ourselves. Yet perhaps this particular false narrative is also at work in many who worship God in the church. For example, you’re heard me mention the seven last words of the church, have you not? The seven last words of the church are: We’ve never done it that way before. Along those lines – thinking of our false narrative about worship – I came up with what I call the seven last words of the soul. The seven last words of the soul are: I didn’t get anything out of it. When we say of a worship service, “I didn’t get anything out of it,” we are displaying the power of the false narrative that lies within us. We are assuming that worship is all about us. And that, my friends, is a grave theological error.
It’s this grave theological error that has led to what we call the worship wars that have occurred over the course of the last twenty years. Musically, it’s been a debate as to whether to go with contemporary music or traditional music. A lot of people prefer more modern tunes played on drum sets and guitars to the time-honored hymns of the church played on an organ…so many churches give in to the pressure. Theologically, it’s been a debate as to whether to go with motivational speaking or prophetic preaching. A lot of people prefer a message that insinuates that God has a miracle in store for them…as opposed to Jesus’ instructions to, “Take up your cross and follow me,” so once again…many churches give in to the pressure. Is worship really meant to be about us, or is in somehow meant to be about God?
What lies at the heart of the problem here is a false narrative that insinuates that worship is a personal matter, one basically meant to inspire no one but me. Perhaps it’s time we sought to establish a true narrative of worship. A true narrative of worship might go a little more like this: Worship is a communal activity meant to shape and instruct a people of God. Again, worship is a communal activity meant to shape and instruct a people of God.
Have you ever actually considered what we do in worship here? First of all, we center our hour of worship around four basic themes. They are: “We Gather Around God’s Word,” “God’s Word Is Spoken to Us,” “God Moves Us to Respond,” and, “God Sends Us Forth to Serve.” In the first section, we begin with a call to worship, usually centered around a Psalm. Then we proceed to pray what we call a prayer of adoration. Note that it is not called a prayer of invocation. It is heresy to assume that we have the power to invoke God’s presence. Our assumption is that God is already here, for as Jesus himself once put it, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
After that, we sing a rousing opening hymn meant to stir our souls and – ideally – get us thinking along the lines of a particular theme. Believe it or not, Kevin and I put a lot of thought into the hymns we sing. Then we confess our sin – both corporately and individually – and hear God’s words of forgiveness. I suspect that, these days, a lot of people view the confession of sin and the assurance of pardon as archaic and unnecessary elements of a bygone era. After all, it’s considered politically incorrect these days to insinuate that someone might be a sinner. I would argue, however, that the confession of sin and the assurance of pardon are integral elements of worship, and that without them, we completely misunderstand the meaning of the Christ event. I mean, if we were not sinners, then Christ came for nothing…and died to no avail. Then, of course, we respond to our newfound condition with what we call the Hymn to the Glory of God.
In the next section, we hear God’s word spoken to us. We hear words from the pages of Scripture, a message for young disciples, we sing a hymn – again designed to set the tone for what lies ahead – and we listen to God’s word proclaimed. In the Reformed tradition, of which we are a part, the sermon is deliberately designed to be at the center of the worship service. Yet this is the point where people are most likely to respond with the seven last words of the soul. You know, “I didn’t get anything out of it.”
What we often forget is that, while there is a great deal of responsibility laid upon the shoulders of the preacher in the preaching event, there is also a great deal of responsibility laid upon the shoulders of those who hear. Theologically speaking, the preached word is the word of God. It’s not my words that are the word of God, but rather, it’s the Holy Spirit working through my words…and in the minds of those who hear it. Thus, if the sermon is bad, it just might be my fault. Yet it is also entirely possible that the fault lies in the heart of the one who hears. Thus, we must always come to church with a sense of what spiritual writer Richard Foster calls holy expectancy. By that he means that we should approach the sermon not as a speech designed to meet my needs, but rather, as the word of God designed to shape my soul. I have a sneaking suspicion there’d be far fewer bad sermons if a few more people developed a sense of holy expectancy.
We call the next section of worship, “God Moves Us to Respond.” There we affirm our faith, make our offering to God, listen to an anthem, and lift our prayers to God. It’s important to note that we do those things after we have encountered God’s word. After hearing God’s word, our own sense of generosity is impacted, and I suspect our prayer requests are somewhat transformed, as well.
Finally we come to the part entitled, “God Sends Us Forth to Serve.” The point is that we are not called to be Christians for only an hour on Sunday mornings. Instead, we are called to live our faith outside the doors of the church. The Christian faith is not meant to be a private matter…it never was. The Christian faith is meant to impact and transform us – and – the world in which we live. Yet how can it possibly do so if we keep our faith to ourselves? And that, my friends, is why worship is defined as a communal activity meant to shape and instruct a people of God.
On the 7th of July of this past year, our youngest son Travis was flown to Quantico, Virginia for Office Candidate School in the United States Marine Corps. Honestly, I was worried sick as to how he’d fare in the face of hard-core, Marine Corps drill sergeants. Travis tends to be a bit hot-headed, high-strung and temperamental…just like his mother. (Why does everyone laugh when I say that?)
In any case, I had a sneaking suspicion that the young man we sent down there would not be the same young man we got back…and I was right. Travis has a flight contract with the Marine Corps. Eventually he’s going to learn to fly jets from some of the finest instructors in the world. That’s why he went to Officer Candidate School in the first place. He went because it was the ideal way to help him achieve the end he ultimately wants to achieve. Do you see what I’m getting at here? He initially went to Officer Candidate School to fulfill his own personal dreams, ambitions, and goals.
On the 17th of August, my wife and I were in Quantico to witness his graduation. As we sat in the grandstand and the Marine Corps marching band played on the parade deck, we saw 416 United States Marine Corps officer candidates come marching down the street in unison. It was truly an awe-inspiring sight. I thought of how terrifying it must be to an opposing army to witness the precision of the United States Marine Corps.
Four hundred and sixteen young men and women – each likely coming initially with his or her own individual aspirations – had become as one. Each would be willing to give his or her life for the sake of their comrades in arms, or for the sake of the United States of America. My point is that they may have come for some of the wrong reasons, but they were graduating for all of the right reasons. What’s more, I suspect they had gotten far more out of it that any one of them could have possibly imagined. Now granted, they had the help of drill sergeants poking and prodding them each and every step of the way. Yet we have the help of the Holy Spirit of God. Are we willing to let the Spirit guide us to where we need to be, as well?
The seven last words of the soul are: “I didn’t get anything out of it.” If we feel as if that is indeed the case with us, then perhaps we’re operating out of a false narrative. Worship is not a personal matter, basically meant to inspire no one but me. Worship is a communal activity meant to shape and inspire a people of God. Come to worship with an open heart, with an open mind, and with a sense of holy expectancy. If you can manage that, I suspect that – in the end – you will find that you’ve gotten far more out of it than you could possibly have imagined. Amen.
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