Jesus said to pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," (Matthew 6:10). In this, He taught us that we can know how to go about things on earth by looking to the examples set in heaven! Isaiah tells of his vision of the seraphim worshiping God in heaven and tells us about it. (READ TEXT) The Seraphim's example shows that Real Worship is characterized by reverence (v. 2).
When I revere a person or thing, I attach to them sacred significance. "Reverence is demonstrating that we attach sacred significance to a person or thing." When applied to gathering with God's people in God's house to worship Him, it means demonstrating that we attach sacred significance to what we're doing. How? Let's see what we learn from the example of the seraphim. We show our reverence for worship:
1. By our attitude - "with two wings they covered their faces"
In covering their faces, the seraphim show that they approach the throne of God with an attitude of humility. They recognize that theirs is an awesome privilege - surrounding the throne of God and continually giving Him praise!
Oh, how we need to recapture an attitude toward the worship services of our church that reflects an awareness of the wonderful privilege that is our! It is not a gathering on the same level as gathering at the ball park or the movie theater, or some other public place. When we come together with God's people in God's house, we are gathered together before God's throne!
"Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe." - Psalm 5:7 (NLT)
Indeed, as indicated by the Psalmist, one practical way my attitude toward worship is revealed is by my attendance.
"Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer." - Hebrews 10:25 (CEV)
"On the most elementary level, you do not have to go to church to be a Christian. You do not have to go home to be married either. But in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship." - Kent Hughes
American Christians talk of having freedom to worship God. But the government doesn't give us this freedom. It's God, who's provided us in Christ with forgiveness and the freedom to approach His throne. Let me ask, if you lived in a country where it's illegal to worship Christ, would you do so anyway? If you had to walk several miles to attend a worship service, would you? How spoiled we American Christians are! It's led to the sin of taking the privilege of public worship for granted.
We can also show our reverence for worship:
2. By our attire - "with two they covered their feet"
Dr. Page Kelly, in the Broadman Bible Commentary points out that the phrase, "covering their feet" is a euphemism referring to modesty. This illustrates how we show reverence for worship by the way we dress for worship. At this point, I think it might be helpful to understand the history of dressing for church. You may be surprised to learn that dressing formally for worship does not come from the New Testament. In fact, it is a fairly recent practice.
Dressing up for church became a popular practice in the first half of the nineteenth century in England, then northern Europe and America, as a consequence of the industrial revolution and the emergence of the middle class. Medieval Christians had no common practice of dressing up for church because nice clothes were only afforded by the wealthy. When Christians first began to dress formally for worship, many preached strongly against it.
“Kings and Prophets, the saints and martyrs of other times, were oftener seen in sackcloth and ashes than in the gaudy fashions of a flippant and irreverent age. Their sense of propriety forbade that soul and body should disagree - that the outward man should betray the inward, and falsify the state of the mind. The Jews’ religion taught men congruity, and especially that the exterior attire should always correspond with the inward plainness and simplicity of the heart.” - Alexander Campbell
Campbell said Christians should dress “in the plainest and most unassuming garb,” especially when they come before a righteous and holy God in worship.
Well meaning Christians argue for formal dress with questions like, “If you met the president, wouldn’t you dress in your finest clothes?” At first, this sounds right. But think about it. When my kids tuck in our 2 year old grandson and say prayer with him, is that OK, even though he is lying in bed and wearing his PJs? Is it OK for me to pray while mowing the lawn in my work clothes? When driving, is it OK to sing songs of praise, even though I'm dressed in shorts and a t-shirt? I’ve never once said, “Wait, I can’t do that now. I’m not wearing the right clothes to approach God.”
God doesn't live in a church building (Acts 17:24). To insist that we must dress differently to pray in the church building than we do when they pray elsewhere is to imply that God only lives at the church. No, we don't go to the church building just to meet God. We go to meet our church family and worship God with them; the same God we've been worshiping all week individually and with our families. So what can we learn from the example of the seraphim?
A. Do not let your attire distract others from God.
"Some of you say, 'We can do whatever we want to!' But I tell you that not everything may be good or helpful. We should think about others and not about ourselves." - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (CEV)
B. Do let your attire demonstrate love for God.
"Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT)
We can also show our reverence for worship:
3. By our activity - "with two they were flying"
With their other two wings, the seraphim make sure the throne is their constant focus, as should we! The two rules mentioned before can help.
A. Do not let your activity distract others from God.
Passing notes, getting up and down, allowing children to misbehave, falling asleep, checking my cell phone, allowing my phone to ring, etc. should be activities we avoid because they can distract others from being focused on God during worship.
A man went to the doctor and asked him for something to help him keep from snoring. The doctor asked him if his snoring disturbed his wife. He replied, "No it doesn't disturb her. It embarrasses her. It's the other people in the congregation that it disturbs."
B. Do let your activity demonstrate love for God.
Sing, give, extend a warm greeting to others, use your Bible, pray, respond with an "Amen" or applause, raise your hands, clap with the music, come to the altar during the invitation, etc.
"Do not quench [subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of] the [Holy] Spirit." - 1 Thessalonians 5:19 (Amplified)
Our responsiveness influences the response of others, for good or bad.
A lost man went to church one day; the Devil went there, too. An usher led them way down front to a large and nearly vacant pew. The choir sang of God's great love and the people bowed in prayer, as the preacher spoke of going to heaven, the lost man knew he wanted to go there. The sermon ended all too soon, the people rose from their seats. As the preacher said, "If you'd like to be saved, come, kneel at the Master's feet!" Now a man and his wife, by the lost man's side spoke of dinner and getting on home, while a still small voice, to an aching heart said, "Trust in me and you're sin will be gone!" They said to each other, "Our dinner might get cold, let's slip out past that fellow right there," so down the aisle and out the door they went, of the lost man, what did they care? But the Devil stayed in the church that day, till the very last verse was sung. For a person was lost between Heaven and Hell and his soul in the balances hung! The Devil said, "Stay!" The Lord said, "Come!" And the lost man was about to repent, when the man and his wife squeezed by him; and down the aisle and out the door they went. The Devil was grateful to two Christians that day, for the lost man left church unforgiven. Because they didn't have the patience to stay, the Devil kept one more from Heaven.
Oh, may our focus when we gather for worship be centered on the throne of God and on things of eternal importance! May your activity in worship not distract others from God, but demonstrate your love for God and encourage their response to God.
Conclusion: The root word from which these angels derive their name, "sarap," means "to burn." The name Seraphim could be translated, "burning ones." The reverence shown by the Seraphim is seen in their focus on the throne, and it's because of their focus that they are "on fire." The same will be true of us, if we are involved in Real Worship.
"Destitute of the Fire of God, nothing else counts; possessing Fire, nothing else matters." - Samuel Chadwick
