Worthy of Worship

Worthy of Worship
Revelation 4: 1 – 11

I. Introduction.
I will begin this morning by reading an eloquent description of a worship service. Imagine this scene as I read the selection.

Rays of late-afternoon sun gild the hushed sanctuary, filled with hundreds of expectant worshipers, world leaders among them. From the vaulted ceiling, a camera pans the scene.Holding their breath as one, the congregation watches the mitered priest walk down the aisle and slowly approach the chancel, his brightly colored vestments adding to the joyful ambiance. There is not a cough nor a whisper as he kneels on the lush carpet, seeking divine blessing for the offering. Several moments of prayerful waiting follow.The bishop stands and grips his scepter. All eyes in the assemblage fasten themselves on this man exuding a holy calm; all ears are tuned to hear the awaited announcement.Finally, the tap of his staff of authority is followed by a deeper silence. The flock in unison gazes at the pure chalice. Then a grand oratorio of praise explodes, reaching the celestial realm. He raises his scepter and approaches the altar.One voice, then another, and another exult, "That's his third birdie today."
--Jean Lersch, "Worship,"The Door, January-February 1998, 29.

Our English word “worship” originated in Old English. This is one of the few times that I will explain the origins of a word that did not originally come from one of the biblical languages. It derived from the Old English word “woerthscipe,” which was built on the word “woerth” and the suffix “-scipe.” Over time, the Old English word “woerth” became our modern day word “worth,” and the Old English suffix “-scipe” became “-ship.” All of this is to say that the original meaning of our English word “worship” is something like “to state or to create worth.”
In a purely secular way, this is what the people of Waco did in 2005 when the Baylor women’s basketball team won the NCAA national championship. There was a parade, there were billboards, there was a crowd cheering and waving. We proclaimed to everyone who would listen, just how great and worthy our basketball team was.

We saw the same thing in 2006 when the University of Texas won the Rose Bowl and the football national championship. Or when Texas A & M won the…Well, Texas A & M doesn’t need a national championship to tell us how great and worthy they are… (At this point in the service, the Aggie operating the sound system turned my microphone off. I looked to the balcony and he gave me the "Gig 'em" hand signal.)

I believe that worship is a large part of what it means to be human. We find ourselves constantly judging others on the basis of their “worth.” Sometimes we worship our football teams and basketball teams by telling the world how worthy they are. Sometimes we look at a person’s clothing and lifestyle to determine how much that person is “worth” in financial terms and commit ourselves to them. Other times, we examine a person’s life experience to determine whether they have performed in ways that we would deem respectable and perhaps listen and heed their advice.

And then there is the worship of God…Supposedly, this is the reason we gathered in this sanctuary this morning. We are supposed to be here for the purpose of stating God’s worth. In fact, the worship of God is such an important part of our experience that we have designated a day to be our day of worship. We have even built a beautiful building to serve as the home for our worship. Every Sunday, we proclaim God’s worth to the believing community gathered in this place. Then, we leave this consecrated, safe place—this sanctuary—to proclaim God’s worth to a non-believing community.

As Baptists, you and I believe that the Bible is our source for all matters of faith and practice. Therefore, we refuse to do anything unless it is a biblical expression of our relationship with God. Worship is no exception. So, we turn to the Bible to find instructions for worship. The Old Testament is filled with orderly instructions about worship. The priests are to dress in ornate liturgical vestments. The worshippers are to bring sacrifices of grains and wine and year old lambs. But that is what worship was supposed to look like in the ancient Jewish Tabernacle and the Temple. So, we turn to the New Testament to find instructions on Christian worship.
Reading the New Testament surprises us a little. The Apostle Paul taught us that we are not supposed to maintain the rituals of the Old Testament, and Jesus only gave us two rituals to use as a part of our worship: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. So, what does New Testament worship look like? How can we know if we are doing it right?

I think the answer to this question is found in Jesus’ words to the Samaritan women in John 4: 21 – 24…(vv. 23 – 24: “Yet a time is coming and has now come when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.”) The most important thing about worship in the New Testament is your heart. What is on the inside is more important than what is on the outside. There are many acceptable forms of worship as long as the worshippers worship in spirit and in truth.

Let’s look at one New Testament example of worship…

Read Revelation 4: 1 – 11.

You probably know that the book of Revelation is a special type of literature known as “Apocalypse.” This literary genre actually derives its name from the first word of the book of Revelation—the Greek word apokolypsis, which means “revelation” or “unveiling.” I think it is important for us to remember as we read from Revelation that this was written for the purpose of revealing information and not to conceal information.

There are several characteristics of apocalyptic literature that are present in this biblical book. For example, most apocalyptic writings describe the author’s experiences of an “other-worldly” vision. And, John tells us that God gave him a vision of heaven and God’s throne room in heaven. Another example is the way apocalyptic uses highly symbolic language. This is one of the reasons why we usually associate the book of Revelation with secret messages. But, again, it was not written to conceal. It was written to reveal. The original audience of this apocalyptic writing would have immediately understood its symbols and its message. A third characteristic of apocalyptic writing is that it is written to a group of people who were facing intense and severe persecution.

Many New Testament scholars tell us that John addressed the book of Revelation to the Christians of Rome at the end of the First Century. They were experiencing severe persecution as a result of their faith in Jesus. I mentioned this last week in describing the persecutions of the church at Corinth, and the same was true in Rome. Christians had a social stigma in Rome. They were outcasts and ridiculed as a result of their faith. They were accused of practicing child sacrifice by those who did not understand the meaning of the crucifixion of Jesus. They were accused of cannibalism by those who did not understand the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. And, they lost out on opportunities for jobs and advancement in society. In addition to these financial and social risks, there were Christians who were losing their lives in the Roman Coliseum. Spectators paid admission to watch as Christians were killed by Roman Gladiators and torn apart by lions.

The book of Revelation was addressed to these Christians to communicate a message about the temporal nature of the Roman Empire and the eternal nature of the Kingdom of God. While the Roman Emperor might hold some earthly power today, his power will not last forever. There is coming a day when God himself will once again break into human history. When God breaks into human history this time, it will be eternal. The righteous will be vindicated, and the un-righteous will be punished.

Our Scripture begins with the words “After this…” This could be interpreted in one of two ways. First, it might be a typical apocalyptic way of indicating that we are looking into the future. OR…It might just mean that we are continuing the story from chapter 3. I think it is simplest to interpret this as a continuation. John reported seven messages to seven churches, and now he is describing something else. He has made a transition and wants us to know this is different… “And now for something completely different.”

John heard a voice inviting him to enter heaven through an open door, and we once again encounter the words “After this.” This is where we begin to see into the future. Notice the verb tenses used in verse 1…Looked (past)…Standing (present)… Heard (past)…Speaking (present)…Will show (future)…

The voice promises John that what he is about to see will be the things that will take place “after this.” In other words, the persecution will not last forever. There is coming a day when Christians will have hope. And this is what it will look like.

II. Symbolic Language.
We need to be careful in reading the book of Revelation. There is no need to read and interpret John’s symbols literally. In other words, we don’t have to search for an animal with six wings and eyes all over its body.

The first symbol John used was a throne in heaven. This is a fairly obvious symbol. A throne is symbolic of the power and authority of a king. This is no ordinary king and no ordinary throne. It is a throne in heaven. And even though God’s people are suffering intense persecution because of their faith, the throne is not unoccupied. Someone is sitting on the throne in heaven. God is still the one with ultimate power and authority. Rome cannot claim ultimate power, because God is still on his throne.

The one sitting on this throne had a brilliant appearance, like jasper and carnelian. Jasper in the Bible was something like our diamonds. It was clear and perfect. Carnelian was a precious stone with a red color. These were the most precious and most expensive earthly gems. The one sitting on the throne of heaven is more precious and costly than anything we can imagine on earth.

The throne was surrounded by 24 other thrones and 24 elders sitting on the thrones. Again, throne symbolizes power and authority. But what do we do with the number 24 and the people sitting in power and authority with God? Remember that 12 is an important number throughout the Bible. There were 12 tribes of Israel. Then, Jesus called 12 disciples. When Judas died, it was important for the disciples to select someone to replace him. They could not have 11 disciples?! This is because 12 represents the People of God. 24 = 12 + 12. This leads us to conclude that 24 represents the entire People of God, both Old Testament and New Testament. The People of God, who suffer as long as we are on earth, will one day be elevated to a position of power and authority.

In front of the thrones, John saw the 7 spirits of God. This does not mean that we need to adjust our prayers to include seven different spirits. No. Seven is a number that symbolizes God’s perfect divinity. This is a symbolic way to say the Holy Spirit.

Gathered around the throne were 4 living creatures: a lion, an ox, a human and an eagle. Again, 4 is an important number that symbolizes the created earth. There are four directions: north, south, east and west. And we even use the expression, “the four corners of the earth.” So, John saw the entire created world represented by the four most powerful creatures known in the ancient world—the most powerful wild animal (lion), the most powerful domestic animal (ox), the most powerful bird (eagle) and the highest form of life on earth (human). All of creation worships God at the throne of heaven.

III. Activity of Worship.
The creatures never stopped singing their worship to God: Holy, Holy, Holy… Verse 9 tells us that this singing served three purposes: Glory, Honor and Thanks.

Glory is a characteristic of God that we cannot take away from him. We might compare this to our contemporary concept of Greatness. God is Great, whether we admit it or not. God is on the throne, whether we admit it or not. God is sovereign, whether we admit it or not. But, worship is the way we acknowledge that God is Great and in control. Worship is the way we give God the credit for his Greatness. We give him the glory and refuse to take glory for ourselves. The 24 elders demonstrate this by laying down all their earthly trophies.
Honor is a characteristic that only we can give to God. While the world around us does not have reverence and respect for God, we do. The world goes about its daily life and activities without ever acknowledging God or God’s work in the world. Worship is the way we give God the respect and reverence and recognition that he deserves.

Thanks is something that we don’t do enough. We don’t tell people in our lives thank you, and we don’t stop often enough to thank God for what he has done in our lives. We are thankful for life and provision. But most of all, we are thankful for the eternal life we have through Jesus Christ.

IV. Conclusion: Why Do We Worship?
In verse 11, we read the song sung by the 24 elders around the throne, AND we read their theology. This is the reason why we worship God. The heavenly glory of God is a result of God’s earthly activity. He created us; he sustains our lives; and he has saved us from sin and death and hell. If God has done something for you, then God is worthy of your worship. If God has never done anything for you, then don’t worship him.