ESCHATOLOGICAL WORSHIP {PART 1}
Rev. 21-22
Big Idea: Worship that embodies a lively eschatology empowers the church to live triumphantly in the present.
NOTE: This sermon was embedded into all aspects of the worship service. The service began with the intro and first movement; singing, collections, readings, and prayers served as opportunities for illustration and participation before/after each of the sermon’s movements.
REV. 21:1-6
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.
REV. 22:1-9
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
6 The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
Jesus Is Coming
7 “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”
INTRO
As we near the conclusion of our voyage through John’s Revelation we will revisit some familiar scenes. Revelation 21 and 22 represents the most vivid vision in the book and highlights some of its most important aspects. That makes sense. It is the climax (and wrap-up) and John has certain concepts, truths, insights, and applications he wants to drive home.
One of the most basic themes to this book has been worship. It is at the pinnacle of each of the seven cycles. The book is actually punctuated by worship and it is the hinge upon which each movement of the book turns.
Worship in John’s Revelation is predicated upon the character and work of God. It is “eschatological” in nature; by that I mean it is based upon a faith that God is taking history somewhere. It is based upon the One “who was and is and is to come” (1:4; 1:8; 11:17).
There is no other book in the Bible that focuses on worship like John’s Revelation. Some have even gone so far as to suggest it is the primary theme of the book. It tells us that, as followers of Jesus, worship is at the core of our identity. It spans time, culture, and circumstance. It is present in the life of Jesus’ church in both the best of times and the worst of times. One would be hard pressed not to notice that John’s Revelation illuminates the landscape of worship.
For the next few weeks of this voyage we are going to look at this landscape. We are going to discover powerful, practical, and often overlooked insights about worship.
JOHN’S VISIONS OF WORSHIP IN HEAVEN ARE MEANT TO ELICIT A PARALLEL RESPONSE WITHIN THE CHURCH ON EARTH. Throughout history, Christians in the midst of suffering and hardship have offered heartfelt praise to God. From ancient Rome to modern empires, the church has grown when persecution bears down. WORSHIP IS ALWAYS AT THE HEART OF SPIRITUAL RENEWAL IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING. In fact, we could say worship is always at the heart of spiritual renewal period.
Please note, we are particularly talking about our corporate gatherings of worship because that is what The Revelation focuses on. By coming together as God’s people for worship John’s Revelation illustrates many empowering dynamics. There is, of course, transfer to one’s private worship but this book is about us as a people and the power that this has.
Worship gives God’s people new perspectives, new understandings, and new interpretations of reality. Worship always empowers and emboldens the church. People who have no hope of saving themselves or who risk everything of this world because of allegiance to Christ, find strength to place their faith in God without reservation through worship.
WE WILL BEGIN TODAY WITH FOUR THINGS WORSHIP WILL DO FOR YOU.
1) WORSHIP TURNS CHAOS INTO ORDER
In John’s Revelation we discover that our gatherings in worship empower us by turning chaos into order.
Walter Brueggemann speaks of Christians organizing their lives around “COUNTER-IMAGINED WORLDS” that stand over against all that competes for our allegiance. The world around us may be full of violence and greed. It may appear to be “coming apart at the seams” but in the act of worship, we imagine the world as God created it and as God will re-create it. Revelation teaches us that by the power of the Spirit, we receive an actual foretaste of the new creation! God’s design for the future begins to take tangible form, at least in part, through worship by the redeemed people called “The Church.”
As followers of Jesus we “counter-imagine” a world different from what we see and we live differently.
WORSHIP REMINDS US THAT GOD STILL HAS THE POWER TO END DARKNESS AND TO BRING ORDER TO THE BLEAKEST CIRCUMSTANCES. We recognize that, even though the world around us may be in chaos it is not out of God’s control!
By affirming this hope each week in corporate gatherings we strengthen our conviction that the present state of affairs is not the culmination of history. Rather, “eschatological worship” asserts God will bring a fully restored future (Rev. 21-22).
• WORSHIP IN SONG (hymn, "This is My Father’s World", "You Never Let Go" by Chris Tomlin)
2) WORSHIP GIVES COURAGEOUS HOPE
As we read John’s Revelation we also discover that corporate worship empowers us by giving hope-filled courage.
Whenever you worship you see God’s order in the midst of the chaos. And doesn’t a vision of a sovereign God give you hope?
IN A REAL WAY, CORPORATE WORSHIP IS A STAGING AREA FOR SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE.
With sin and death still present, the New Jerusalem was not yet a full reality in John’s day. Nor does any part of the church today embody all of the holy city’s attributes. But IN THIS TIME BETWEEN THE TIMES, WORSHIP BECOMES THE CENTRAL MEANS BY WHICH GOD ORIENTS INDIVIDUALS AND CONGREGATIONS TOWARD GOD’S FUTURE.
When the early Christian communities sung “The Lamb is worthy to receive power” it was not mere poetry. It was PERFORMATIVE PROCLAMATION. It was eschatological. It redefined the cosmos and gave God’s people hope for his arrival. It gave them the moral independence to speak truth to power and to persevere against the stream; even when no reward was in sight.
On many occasions I have talked to you about what I call the “Eeyore Syndrome.” This is the character from Winnie the Pooh that always saw and acted upon his doomsday scenarios. We dare not succumb to the “Eeyore Syndrome.” As God’s people we have better motivations; we have a “living hope.”
God will dwell with man (21:3).
God will wipe away every tear (21:4).
God will make all things new (21:5).
As we see the conquering, resurrected Christ we are given hope to endure to the end – to stay the course in hard times -- to engage in “performative proclamation”
• RESPONSIVE READING “LIVING STONES”
• WATCH THE VIDEO “BLESSED BE YOUR NAME”
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RESPONSIVE READING
“LIVING STONES”
1 Peter 2 {portions}
Leader: As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house
People: To be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Leader: You are a chosen people
People: A royal priesthood
Leader: A holy nation
People: A people belonging to God,
Leader: You may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
People: Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Leader: I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
People: Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
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1) Worship Turns Chaos into Order
2) Worship Gives Courageous Hope
3) WORSHIP TRANSPORTS US FORWARD
Our voyage via The Revelation also shows us how corporate worship empowers us by transporting us forward.
Worships helps us see beyond the “now.”
It transports participants forward in time to God’s final victory – or maybe even more accurately – it may bring the future into the present. Through the Messiah, God is asserting sovereignty over the earth now, even when history looks bleak. We know the glories of all human achievement will someday, come under the lordship of Christ and that allows us to look past the storm clouds and live in light of the blue sky that will certainly emerge.
Twice in John’s Revelation Jesus is called “the bright morning star” (2:28; 22:16). This is a reference to the planet Venus which is brightest object in the heavens after the sun and moon. It orbits so close to the sun that it is only visible in the sky shortly before or after sunrise and sunset. Anyone awaiting dawn knows the hour is close when Venus rises in the east. The appearance of Jesus (both in his earthly ministry and in the vision of John) is a signal that the time when God will restore all things is certain.
• COLLECTION OF OFFERING
There are many things we can do within a corporate worship service that serve to illustrate the power of being transported forward. One of those is our collection. By faithfully and sacrificially giving to God’s Kingdom work we are proclaiming:
That God can be trusted to provide for us this coming week, month and year. We are transported forward.
That God’s Kingdom is of more value than my worldly comfort and possessions. We are transported forward.
That obedience to God’s known will is a settled matter and we will be faithful and faith-FULL! We are transported forward.
• “DAYS OF ELIJAH”
1) Worship Turns Chaos into Order
2) Worship Gives Courageous Hope
3) Worship Transports Us Forward
4)Wrap-Up: WORSHIP ENERGIZES MISSION
Let me close with this: Worship that embodies a lively eschatology (an understanding of where God is taking history) empowers the church to live faithfully in the present.
Christian eschatology is more about the end (purpose) of history than about the terminus (finishing point) of history. You see, Christians believe God intends to restore creation through Christ.
Therefore we worship with the prayer of Jesus, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:9). That is the most radical of prayers because it calls for the justice and healing of heaven to become reality on earth. By praying these words, we signal our citizenship in the New Jerusalem. We also signal that we have volunteered to be counted among his people and, as much as lies within us, to bring his loving justice to humankind.
Our worship flows from a God-centered eschatology -- a theology of the future. By it we live out “the way of the Lamb.”
We believe and celebrate from a conviction that a restored humanity and a new creation will ultimately come by divine initiative. We believe that God will, at last, choose to “reconcile to all things himself” in Christ (Col. 1:20).
Let’s close our service with a corporate prayer covenanting to carry God’s grace and Good News to our world.
• CORPORATE PRAYER (RESPONSIVE PRAYER FOR MISSION)
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Responsive Prayer For Mission: “Carry it to the Streets”
(John Van De Laar, 2009 Sacredise Publishing)
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, we remember, O God, your gift of life to each of us;
People: And we seek to carry it to the streets-
Wherever there is death and violence
Wherever there is grief and loss.
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, we remember, O God, your invitation to belong and find shelter;
People: And we seek to carry it to the streets-
Wherever there is loneliness and rejection
Wherever there is homelessness and people displaced.
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, we remember, O God, your reign of justice and righteousness;
People: And we seek to carry it to the streets-
Wherever there is lawlessness or tyranny
Wherever there is corruption and oppression.
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, we remember, O God, your sacrifice of love and mercy;
People: And we seek to carry it to the streets-
Wherever there is hatred and evil
Wherever there is hopelessness, regret, and guilt.
Leader: Here in this sanctuary, where we remember all that you have done for us, O God, we remember also your call to live what we sing and pray.
People: And so we commit to ourselves again
To carry our worship from the sanctuary
To the streets.
AMEN. COME LORD JESUS!
(Rev. 22:20)
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This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene, Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
