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Liturgical Offense
2 Corinthians 2:15-16
January 6, 2019
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
Download the bulletin.
Download the Kid’s Korner.
The sermon starts at 16:35 in the audio file.
Or, Worship Is Not for the Natural of Heart
No more fundamental distinction exists than the distinction between God and all that is not God. The Creator and His creation are related, but dependence only flows in one direction. Man is the only part of God’s creation that God made in order to reflect Himself; male and female are His image-bearers. In and out of the womb we bear the stamp of the divine image on us. Those who worship God are being made partakers of the divine nature, we are being prepped for glory, BUT even with all that, we are not God. The distinction between God and man matters most, and it matters first and most for sake of our worship.
When we assemble to worship every Lord’s day, we are saying by our practice of worship, not just propositions recited in it, that God is God. He initiates, we respond. He is Lord, we are servants. He reveals, we believe. He is God, we are no competition, like the empty space in an atom of dust on His scales.
This fact is fundamental, it is also apparently forgettable, and to some it is even detestable. But it is at this unequivocal line of distinction—our joy that we and our feelings and our plans and our strength and our name are not supreme—that we are doing something truly radical in the world. It is radical in both meanings of the word radical: this worship is rooted in reality, and this worship promotes reform (repentance) among men.
In our worship we are going on liturgical offense. Pick up your Bible and your Cantus and run against unbelief, against rebellion, against ingratitude, against worship of self or worship of progress or worship of the State or worship of any other god. Such an offensive approach causes offense, that is, it brings about resentment among those who perceive that we might be indicating that their ways are wrong. Yes, the world’s ways are wrong, they are straight from the pit on a round trip. The world will end in hell apart from turning to the living God. This is what our worship advances every seven days.
We can now look back at eight years of weekly worship as a local church. Since the start we’ve taken some Sundays to consider our liturgy, that is, the order of our service and the reasons for it, at the beginning of every year. This marks the 34th sermon on worship and liturgy, and there will be a couple more, Lord willing, this time around.
If all we did when we assembled was sing and listen to a sermon, we could still do alright. How exactly alright we did would depend on the nature of the songs and the sermons, but many of us remember Sundays with such a simple plan. Now we follow a pattern with more steps, and while it isn’t binding, it is beneficial. It is especially beneficial as we’re reminded in practice that God is God, and beneficial as we’re made the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved.
Paul uses this language in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17. In that part of his letter he’s encouraging himself that God is at work even when we feel insufficient. He uses the imagery of a “triumphal procession,” which was a Roman victory parade, celebrating a General and his army after defeating a significant foreign enemy. The parade included chained captives and their captured weapons and treasures, the Roman soldiers and senators, with music played and flowers strewn and incense burning. Paul says that we are in such a parade. Our lives (and worship) are like the unmistakable smell.
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)
So “thanks be to God.” “Through us[...]
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By Trinity Evangel Church2 Corinthians 2:15-16
January 6, 2019
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
Download the bulletin.
Download the Kid’s Korner.
The sermon starts at 16:35 in the audio file.
Or, Worship Is Not for the Natural of Heart
No more fundamental distinction exists than the distinction between God and all that is not God. The Creator and His creation are related, but dependence only flows in one direction. Man is the only part of God’s creation that God made in order to reflect Himself; male and female are His image-bearers. In and out of the womb we bear the stamp of the divine image on us. Those who worship God are being made partakers of the divine nature, we are being prepped for glory, BUT even with all that, we are not God. The distinction between God and man matters most, and it matters first and most for sake of our worship.
When we assemble to worship every Lord’s day, we are saying by our practice of worship, not just propositions recited in it, that God is God. He initiates, we respond. He is Lord, we are servants. He reveals, we believe. He is God, we are no competition, like the empty space in an atom of dust on His scales.
This fact is fundamental, it is also apparently forgettable, and to some it is even detestable. But it is at this unequivocal line of distinction—our joy that we and our feelings and our plans and our strength and our name are not supreme—that we are doing something truly radical in the world. It is radical in both meanings of the word radical: this worship is rooted in reality, and this worship promotes reform (repentance) among men.
In our worship we are going on liturgical offense. Pick up your Bible and your Cantus and run against unbelief, against rebellion, against ingratitude, against worship of self or worship of progress or worship of the State or worship of any other god. Such an offensive approach causes offense, that is, it brings about resentment among those who perceive that we might be indicating that their ways are wrong. Yes, the world’s ways are wrong, they are straight from the pit on a round trip. The world will end in hell apart from turning to the living God. This is what our worship advances every seven days.
We can now look back at eight years of weekly worship as a local church. Since the start we’ve taken some Sundays to consider our liturgy, that is, the order of our service and the reasons for it, at the beginning of every year. This marks the 34th sermon on worship and liturgy, and there will be a couple more, Lord willing, this time around.
If all we did when we assembled was sing and listen to a sermon, we could still do alright. How exactly alright we did would depend on the nature of the songs and the sermons, but many of us remember Sundays with such a simple plan. Now we follow a pattern with more steps, and while it isn’t binding, it is beneficial. It is especially beneficial as we’re reminded in practice that God is God, and beneficial as we’re made the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved.
Paul uses this language in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17. In that part of his letter he’s encouraging himself that God is at work even when we feel insufficient. He uses the imagery of a “triumphal procession,” which was a Roman victory parade, celebrating a General and his army after defeating a significant foreign enemy. The parade included chained captives and their captured weapons and treasures, the Roman soldiers and senators, with music played and flowers strewn and incense burning. Paul says that we are in such a parade. Our lives (and worship) are like the unmistakable smell.
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)
So “thanks be to God.” “Through us[...]