Themes of transformative worship (PT 1)
In previous articles, I’ve tried to lay out a philosophy of worship design that I have called “conversational worship” and “formational worship”. We’ve talked about worship as a dialogue between God and his people, or in other words, revelation and response. We discussed how we are responding to one another during a conversation. There is a give and take between the people having the conversation. God’s people have always responded to God in various ways, including adoration, confession, etc. From a big picture perspective, our worship ends up incorporating 5 big movements together: gather, declare, instruct, commune, and send.
Then we talked about how worship isn’t just a conversation, but it results in formation. In worship, we hear the story of God, which is the one true story of all humanity and history. We also discussed how subconsciously, we believe different stories than the one true story. We need to do things together in worship that reshape our hearts, minds, bodies, and relationships in a way that help us believe God’s story and live our lives like it’s true.
Conversational and formational worship design provide a framework for thinking about the big picture of what we do together and why.
In addition to the big picture, I would also suggest that there are major themes and threads that run throughout Christian worship.
1.Trinitarian
Christian worship starts with the Trinitarian God.
Constance Cherry, author of The Worship Architect, says,
“Worship is the expression of a relationship in which God the Father reveals Himself and his love in Christ, and by His Holy Spirit administers grace, to which we respond in faith, gratitude, and obedience.”
Before “in the beginning”, there had always existed a perfect, loving, joy-filled community of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We must not treat this as a problem to be solved, but as a wonderfully mysterious God to be known.
Our Trinitarian God did not create us because he needed anything “from” us, but because he wanted something “for” us. It is our God’s great desire for us to experience the intense joy and love of being included in the relationship of the Trinity. God wants us to know how deeply loved, special, and desired we are. The scriptures often call this experience “union” with God.
The Athanasian creed starts with, “whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary to to hold the catholic faith (universally held true);…that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Union.” Basically, to be called a Christian and to experience salvation is to believe in the Trinity. Accepting and worshipping the Trinity was considered a necessary foundational belief to being a Christian.
That’s because the Trinity is intimately involved in the entire story of salvation. From creation, to redemption, to recreation, the Trinity was involved.
Historically speaking, Christian worship is, “to God the Father, through Christ the Son, and in the Holy Spirit”. We are able to approach God the Father because of the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the Son, and are empowered and motivated to do so by the Holy Spirit.
Considerations for worship:
In his book Transforming Worship, Rory Nolan suggests that this can mean three things during corporate worship.
We pray to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit. (Example, “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”)
We pray to each of the three persons of the Trinity.
We glorify God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (in our songs, the scriptures we choose, etc.)
2.Major acts of redemption
When God sent Moses to confront Pharoah, Moses said, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, ‘Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.’ ” (Exodus 7:16) Each time God sent Moses to Pharoah with the same message; six times in total. “Set my people free so they can serve me.” That word “serve” is the same word used for the work that the priests would do in the tabernacle and the temple. Their service was engaging in the worship of God.
God has rescued his people so they would be free from oppression and death, and so that they would freely worship and serve him.
“Worship is the appropriate response to the God who saves us. For the Hebrew people, the central saving event was the exodus from Egypt. For Christians, the central saving event is the resurrection.”
Constance Cherry- The Worship Architect
The Old Testament tells of God’s people, living in slavery and oppression, who needed to be rescued. By bringing them out of Egypt, God showed himself to be faithful, loving, just, and powerful. Additionally, he claimed them as his own and gave them the role of representing him and being his conduit of blessing to the world. He instituted the tabernacle as a place for him to dwell with his people.
The New Testament shows us an even greater act of salvation.
It is not just for the Jews, but for all people. It was not simply liberation from a worldly slavery, but from slavery to sin, Satan, and death. When we are saved, we are then adopted into God’s family and called to represent him to the world and spread his blessing. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and his presence is within us. On the cross, Jesus cancelled our sin and took our punishment. We rightfully praise Jesus for the cross. However, it is through his resurrection that Jesus conquered death and took back authority over this world from Satan.
God has rescued us so that we might worship him and lead the world in worship!
Peter, in his letter to the scattered churches that were filled with gentiles, told them, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
Considerations for worship:
How do the songs we sing remind us of the bondage and oppression we were once slaves to?
What are ways that we can remind our people that they are rescued for the purpose of worshipping God and for calling the world to worship him?
Regularly remind the congregation that the death of Jesus cancels sin. The resurrection of Jesus conquers death and reclaims authority over the earth. We need to show that Easter is the new reality of God’s people.
3.Covenantal
In ancient cultures, covenants were formal agreements between two parties who had committed to each other. The covenant eliminated ambiguity and confusion of what was expected in their relationship to one another. A covenantal agreement was first and foremost a relational agreement, where two parties were committing to each other. It typically laid out the benefits of what the more powerful partner would provide for the less powerful partner. These would be called blessings. It would also spell out the punishment for the person or group that broke the relationship by failing to keep the expectations they agreed to in the covenant. These would be called curses.
The Old Testament included a number of covenants that build upon each other: the Adamic covenant, the Noahic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic/Sinai Covenant, and the Davidic Covenant.
These covenants were made between God and individuals, then expanded to include a group (Abraham’s family), then expanded to include a nation (at Sinai, to David).
Through covenants, God pledged himself with love and faithfulness to a people group. He chose them and called them his own. He pledged to bless them so they would be a blessing to the world.
The thread of covenants is a story of covenants made, covenants broken (on the part of the people of Israel), and the covenant upheld by God. The covenants demonstrate God’s faithfulness in the midst of people’s broken promises.
“Jesus made it clear that his crucifixion would usher in the new covenant. Celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples the evening before his death, Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’ (Luke 22:20) Salvation had now come to all who would believe, Jew and Gentile alike. This is what we celebrate during the act of communion. To experience the Lord’s table was to experience the covenantal relationship. Because Christians have shared the Lord’s supper, a covenantal bond has been established that obligates them to Christ alone.”
Constance Cherry- The Worship Architect
God, through Jesus, has made a new covenant. This covenant includes all of the promises of the other covenants. He binds himself to us, and we bind ourselves to him. He blesses us for the purpose of blessing the world. He calls us to worship him alone and to represent him to the world. We are called to show the nations what God is like. He promises to forgive us, to transform us, and ultimately to restore creation and live with us. He promises to live within us and help us become like him.
This is what we celebrate in worship, specifically through the act of communion.
Considerations for worship:
How often do you celebrate communion? Why? What historical and theological reasons does your church have for their approach to communion? What are the benefits or disadvantages of that approach?
How might you use communion as a time to remember the covenantal promises of God?
During communion, how might you facilitate a time of recommitment to upholding your side of the covenant?
As “Gentiles”, how might communion be a time of joy and celebration that we are included in God’s family?
Communion was a picture of eating a meal with God, the God who has entered into a relationship with us. Do we think of the communion table as an “altar” for sacrifice, or as a “table” for fellowship with God and each other?
4.Christocentric
During worship, we often spend more time thinking about how we respond in worship rather than the role that Jesus plays in our worship.
Worship must emphasize and inspire the PRIORITY of Jesus, the PRESENCE of Jesus, and the PREISTLY role of Jesus, leading to PASSION for Jesus.
The priority of Jesus
Jesus told the religious leaders of the day, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,” (John 5:39) After the resurrection, Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They didn’t recognize him, but he began to unpack the scriptures for them. We’re told that Jesus started with, “…Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27)
Jesus was saying that all of scripture was pointing to him. Jesus is the priority of the scripture, and scripture was given to us so that we might know and worship God.
The presence of Jesus
“We must understand that in worship, Jesus Christ is fully present to us, greeting us, speaking and listening to us, and facilitating our prayers to the Father. Jesus Christ is wholly and truly present to and in each group of Christians, small or large, who meet to worship… Christ is fully present in worship whether we are aware of His presence or not…The more we pay attention to the real presence of Christ through spoken words, songs, prayers, sermon responses, the more we will experience the reality of His presence among us.”
Constance Cherry- The Worship Architect.
Jesus promised us that he would never leave us or forsake us. He promised us that he would be with us until the end of the age. In the book of Revelation, he is revealed to be walking among the candle stands, which is an image of the Church. That means he is currently among us, his people, whether we see him or not.
The priestly role of Jesus
The book of Hebrews helps us see Jesus in this priestly role more clearly. The Old Testament priesthood was put in place by God for the purpose of mediating a relationship between a holy God (Yahweh) and an unholy people (the people of the covenant). A mediator is required when two incompatible parties need a qualified person to assist them in forming an appropriate relationship.
“For persons of the new covenant, Christ fulfills the role of priestly mediator in worship. Through Christ we can now come boldly into the presence of God.”
Constance Cherry- The Worship Architect.
Theologian James B. Torrance put it this way.
“The good news is that God comes to us in Jesus to stand in for us and bring to fulfillment his purposes of worship and communion. Jesus comes to be the priest in creation to do for us, men and women, what we failed to do, to offer the Father the worship and the praise we failed to offer, to glorify God by a life of perfect love and obedience, to be the one true servant of the Lord… He comes to stand in for us in the presence of the Father, when in our failure and bewilderment we do not know how to pray as we ought to, or forget to pray altogether…This is the “wonderful exchange” by which Christ takes what is ours (our broken lives and unworthy prayers), sanctifies them, offers them without spot or wrinkle to the Father, and gives it back to us that we might “feed” upon him in thanksgiving. He takes our prayers and makes them his prayers, and we know our prayers are heard “for Jesus’ sake.”
Jesus is the great channel who brings our praise before God and purifies it and makes it pleasing and acceptable. Jesus sings with us, prays with and for us, and brings our worship to God.
Considerations for worship:
Begin each service by welcoming/mentioning Christ.
Verbally exalt Jesus.
Acknowledge the presence of Jesus in the service.
Sing songs that address Jesus and teach about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Use symbols that portray Jesus and his presence (such as lighting a candle).
Share testimony of how Jesus has been at work in people’s lives.
Consider using the Christian calendar to walk with Jesus.
