This morning we once again turn to the third great
end of the church, i.e. “the maintenance of divine worship. In
doing so, I would have us consider Revelation 5 as a means to better
understand and experience worship. And so i) let us review the context
and structure of our passage; then ii) let us note John’s initial
response to and then experience of the heavenly scene; only then iii)
to raise and apply several questions from his experience to our experience
of worship.
First, the context and structure of our passage: In
chapter 4, our author, John, is now given to see the magnificent glory
of heavenly worship—and at the center of this worship is the God
of creation, surrounded by those who represent all of creation, including
His covenantal people.
With this context, we now our passage in four moments: In the first
moment, vs.1-4, John greatly weeps; for the One who is seated upon the
throne is holding a scroll, which apparently no one in all creation
is worthy to unseal. In the second moment, vs.5-8, an elder now consoles
John, by directing his attention to the Lion of Judah, a Lamb, who had
been slaughtered, and is now standing amid the throne, the four-living
creatures and the elders. This One, the Lamb, takes the scroll, and
now the four-living creatures and the elders, fall in worship before
the Lamb, directing their music and prayers to the Lamb. In the third
moment, vs.9-10, they now sing a new song to the Lamb, which claims
that the Lamb is worthy to take and open the scroll; for by His being
slaughtered, a kingdom of priests has been purchased from all the peoples
of the earth. In the fourth moment, vs.11-14, voices innumerable, myriads
upon myriads sing: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,”
and to these voices are added the voices of every creature of all creation:
“To the One seated upon the Throne and to the Lamb be blessing
and honor and glory and power forever and ever! Amen!”
Secondly, given this marvelous, heavenly scene, let
us now more carefully note John’s initial response: Quite simply,
as he initially viewed the scene, as he observed that no one was worthy
and therefore able to unseal the scroll, he wept greatly—a flood
of tears. This was an emotional out-pouring most profound, perhaps issuing
from the most secreted core of his being. But why these deeply felt
tears? Because no one was found to open the scroll—or if you will,
no one was found worthy to reveal the written words of God. No one,
that is, until John was instructed to behold the Lamb, by whose blood
a kingdom of priests from all peoples was purchased, to whom song and
prayer was to be directed, and who was to rightly receive worship with
the One seated upon the throne—this One was able to reveal the
written words.
Now thirdly, in light of the third great end of the
church, let us apply John’s response and experience to our own.
Clearly, John’s experience was deeply emotional—there appears
to be a longing, an unquenched desire, an unmet hunger and thirst. This
suggests that John’s experience did, and the experience of worship
generally, might evoke deep emotions— the hurts and pains we bear,
either our own or those of others—something we Presbyterians do
not always express or handle well. It is more than appropriate that
worship allow for these pains and burdens and their emotional expression.
But note, John’s deepest pain arose from his desire to have someone
reveal the written words of God. His deepest desire was to hear a word
from God—and the only One worthy to reveal that word was the Lamb.
As John beheld the Lamb, as his attention shifted from his own distress
to the Lamb of God, he was caught-up in the heavenly strains which drowned
all music but its own. As he beheld the Lamb, John’s own concerns
receded.
In light of John’s experience, several questions to ponder: In
your worship of God, do you allow yourself to be emotional—will
you bring your deepest self before God? If you will, is your deepest
emotional longing to have the words of God revealed to you? If such
is your longing, will you allow those words to speak most profoundly,
not about you and your needs, but about the Lamb who is worthy to receive
all blessing, honor, glory and power? In John’s experience, the
entrée to heavenly worship is through the Lamb who reveals the
words of God. The fact that we read Scripture every Sunday worship,
the fact that beforehand we provide each Sunday’s Scripture passage,
the fact that we pray before my attempts to explicate the words of Scripture,
are not quaint Presbyterian traditions—no, these are the recognition
that what we most need to hear and receive are God’s words revealed
to us, and that only by the Spirit of Christ, the Lamb, the Root of
David, the Lion of Judah will that most fundamental need be met. And
only by His Presence and His revelation will we move beyond ourselves;
and only as we are redirected from ourselves to Him will we join that
great chorus: “To the One seated upon the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and power forever and ever … Amen!”
Worship is to redirect us from ourselves to Him.