ESCHATOLOGICAL WORSHIP {PART 4}
Rev. 22:8-9; Rev. 15:1-4; Matthew 21:1-11
Big Idea: Worship that embodies a lively eschatology empowers the church to live triumphantly in the present.
NOTE: This sermon was preach on Palm Sunday and dovetailed with the worship theme of Jesus as King.
MATTHEW 21:1-11
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
REV. 15:1-4
I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
REV. 22:8-9
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
For the last three weeks we have been discovering the potential that good worship has to impact the understanding of ourselves and our God. Thus far we have discovered seven dynamics that can (will) take place when worship takes on a future-looking element.
They are:
1) Worship Turns Chaos into Order
2) Worship Gives Courageous Hope
3) Worship Transports Us Forward
4) Worship Energizes Mission
5) Worship Transcends Time, Culture, Language and Affiliation
6) Worship Transforms the Marginalized and Suffering
7) Worship is Validated Through the Deeds of the Church
Eschatological worship, as we are calling it, is worship that takes God’s intended and certain future into account. It is worship that looks beyond the present, reaches into the future to get a broader understanding of God’s love, character and work and then brings those truths back to the present to reorient the here and how. Eschatological worship offers the church new perspectives, new understandings, and new interpretations of reality.
When an understanding of God’s determined future and certain promises are embedded within our worship, they impact, embolden, strengthen and transform us in ways that cannot be calculated.
In other words, Worship that embodies a lively eschatology empowers the church to live triumphantly in the present.
8) ESCHATOLOGICAL WORSHIP HAS ALLEGIANCE-SHAPING POWER.
I think it is appropriate to conclude this series on Palm Sunday since my last observation is that: ESCHATOLOGICAL WORSHIP HAS ALLEGIANCE-SHAPING POWER. Matthew’s account of the triumphal entry is a perfect illustration of eschatological worship. The worship celebration with King Jesus entering Jerusalem is based upon the certain destiny that Christ would bring. This is a foreshadowing of His return when we will meet Him in the air and accompany our King and the New Jerusalem to earth.
The worship celebration in Matthew is based upon hope. Hope that God would bring about his promised destiny. The worshippers believed that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Imagine with me the potential that this entry into Jerusalem had to accomplish the 7 observations we have looked at so far. These faith-full followers certainly experienced worship that:
1) Turned Chaos into Order
2) Gave Courageous Hope
3) Transported Them Forward
4) Energized Mission
5) Transcended Time, Culture, Language and Affiliation
6) Transformed the Marginalized and Suffering
7) Was Validated Through the Deeds of the Church
And it had at least one more benefit – IT PROVIDED ALLEGIANCE-SHAPING POWER.
Some 60-70 years later John’s church would rediscover that good worship could do that for them in their place and time. It does for us too.
Like Matthew’s story John’s Revelation uses symbols to evoke response and allegiance. Matthew used a donkey, cloaks, palm leaves, and Jerusalem itself to communicate to His church. John used the beast, the harlot, and Babylon to help his church (and us). John’s symbolism helps us recover an awareness of structural evil and the sinister source of sin. Symbols such as the slaughtered lamb, God’s name on our foreheads, the New Jerusalem, and the bride of Christ can help us recover an awareness of God’s love, protection, and claim to our lives.
These symbols are not “just” symbols. Each of them retains timeless truth. Each of them looks to something bigger. They serve as object lessons and parables for what it means to be citizens of God’s kingdom in a world that is ambivalent to our faith and claims to have a better way than the way of the Lamb. Authentic worship gives us the words and ability to withstand the attractions of the world.
We use symbolism too. Baptism has direct overtures of allegiance. It is a visible “drama” if you please of one dieing to the world and self and being alive to God. Communion has direct overtures of allegiance. It too is a drama we participate in that shows our confidence in the salvific work of Christ on the cross. For that matter – the cross is an allegiance shaping image too. It is a proclamation that nothing apart from God’s work on the cross can remove the stain and penalty of sin.
You may remember that earlier in Revelation (July 11, 2010) I preached a sermon on worship in which I suggested that “we become what we worship.” {http://www.potsdam-naz.org/sermons/rev.05.we-become-what-we-worship.htm} It is a Biblical principle you find throughout the Old Testament.
When we worship deaf and dumb idols we become deaf and dumb towards the holiness of God. When we worship in Spirit and in Truth we are renewed and informed for life. That principle is a stake here. When our worship is informed by the reality that God is taking history somewhere it has the power to turn us towards Him and away from the world’s alternatives.
The old hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” says it well.
[1] O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
[2] Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conqu’rors we are!
[3] His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
The patronage system of “Babylon” will try to enlist you. The world is beckoning, even demanding, your allegiance. We must ask ourselves some very hard questions. Questions like:
• Do the places where I work and play ask me to sell my soul to achieve success?
• Do they ask me to violate the values and teaching of the Lamb?
• Do the companies for which we work, or in which we invest our money, behave ethically? Do they care for creation, treat workers at home or around the world with dignity, and deliver goods or services that benefit humanity?
• Are my recreational activities designed to replace my love for Christ? Do they drain me of passion, vision, energy and time that Christ would have me use elsewhere?
Worship that is informed by the future inspires us to confront that which sullies the soul. These issues are all confronted in John’s Revelation and speak to the power that eschatological worship can have for us. Such worship helps us name and confront the powers of evil. You see, evil has an agent behind it, a predatory spirit of selfishness and death that, if allowed to go unchecked, will ravage and savage humankind.
Again, symbols in The Revelation and elsewhere help us reaffirm and make allegiance-shaping decisions.
WRAP-UP
Each year on Palm Sunday we gather and prepare for what is the most important week on the Christian calendar: Holy Week. Throughout this week we build towards the day of Christ’s atoning act (his crucifixion) and the day that he defeats sin’s power over us (His resurrection). We do that with our own “Palm Sunday Drama” when we nail our names to a cross. This “symbolism” too has allegiance shaping power.
For some of us it is an act of gratitude – it is overwhelming to be reminded of the cost Jesus paid for my pardon. For some it has been a moment of deliverance – of freedom. Some have, while placing their name on the cross accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior by confessing their need and giving their lives to Him for the first time. Both of these acts say “Jesus is Lord.” Both of these acts are worshipful allegiance-shaping responses to the God that we believe will come again bring His promises to completion.
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This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene, Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
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Responsive Reading: The King of Glory
Psalm 24:7-10; Rev. 15:3-4
Leader: Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors,
People: That the King of glory may come in.
Leader: Who is this King of glory?
People: The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
Leader: Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors
People: That the King of glory may come in.
Leader: Who is he, this King of glory?
People: The LORD Almighty—he is the King of glory.
ALL: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
