Restoring True Worship: Lessons from the Reformation

Devotional

Day 1: Worship as a Central Battle in History

The Reformation was not only a theological shift but a profound reorientation of worship practices. The Reformers viewed history as a continuous battle over the true worship of God, starting from the Garden of Eden and culminating in the return of Christ. They believed that worship is central to the Christian life and that understanding its true nature is essential. This perspective sees worship as a cosmic struggle, where humanity's purpose is to worship God rightly, and any deviation from this is seen as a distortion. The Reformers sought to correct these distortions by returning to a gospel-centered worship that emphasizes the proclamation of God's Word and the active participation of the congregation. [04:11]

"Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:28-29, ESV)

Reflection: In what ways can you actively participate in worship this week, ensuring it is centered on God's Word and not just a passive experience?

Day 2: Restoring Biblical Worship

The medieval church had shifted worship to be more visual and sensory, which the Reformers saw as a distortion. They aimed to restore worship that was biblical and spiritual, focusing on the Word of God and the praise of His name. True worship, according to the Reformers, is participatory and congregational, not vicarious or complex. This means that worship should involve the whole congregation actively engaging with God, rather than being a performance by a select few. The Reformers emphasized simplicity and directness in worship, ensuring that it was accessible and meaningful to all believers. [17:49]

"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24, ESV)

Reflection: How can you simplify your worship practices to focus more on the spiritual and biblical aspects rather than the sensory or visual elements?

Day 3: The Power of the Word in Worship

The Reformers placed a strong emphasis on the preaching and teaching of the Word, believing that it was the Word that did the work in the believer. This led to a revival of congregational singing, with hymns that focused on the great truths of the faith. Worship should be verbal rather than visual, focusing on the transformative power of the Word and the Spirit. This approach highlights the importance of Scripture in worship, where the Word of God is central and transformative, shaping the hearts and minds of believers. [29:22]

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)

Reflection: What steps can you take to ensure that the Word of God is central in your personal and communal worship experiences?

Day 4: Heeding Warnings Against Visual Worship

In today's context, there is a need to heed the warnings from the Reformation about the dangers of visual and vicarious worship. Worship should not be driven by technology or visual aids but should center on the verbal proclamation of God's Word and the active participation of the congregation. This means being cautious about allowing technology to overshadow the core elements of worship, ensuring that the focus remains on God and His Word. The Reformers' warnings remind us to prioritize the spiritual over the sensory, ensuring that worship remains a true encounter with God. [38:13]

"Little children, keep yourselves from idols." (1 John 5:21, ESV)

Reflection: Are there any aspects of your worship that have become more about the visual or technological elements than about encountering God? How can you refocus on the verbal proclamation of God's Word?

Day 5: Worship as Our True Purpose

The Reformation teaches us that worship is about coming into the presence of God and finding the destiny for which we were created. It is about being humbled and lifted up by God's grace, finding our true purpose in worshiping the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This understanding of worship as our true purpose calls us to a deeper relationship with God, where we are continually transformed by His grace and love. Worship becomes not just an activity but a way of life, where we live out our calling to glorify God in all that we do. [50:27]

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13, ESV)

Reflection: How can you integrate worship into your daily life, ensuring that it is not just a Sunday activity but a continuous expression of your purpose and calling?

Sermon Summary

In reflecting on the lessons from the Reformation regarding worship, it's essential to understand the historical and theological context of the time. The Reformers saw the Reformation as a battle not only over justification but also over the true worship of God. They perceived history as a war about worship, beginning in the Garden of Eden and culminating in the return of Christ. Adam was created to lead creation in worship, but the serpent's deception led to a distortion of true worship. This narrative of false worship continued throughout biblical history, manifesting in events like Cain and Abel's conflict and the building of the Tower of Babel.

The Reformers recognized that the medieval church had distorted worship, making it visual and sensory rather than biblical and spiritual. Worship had become vicarious, performed by priests rather than congregational, and complex rather than simple. The Reformers sought to restore gospel-centered worship by emphasizing the proclamation of God's Word and the praise of His name. They believed that true worship was participatory, with the congregation actively engaging in the worship of God.

The Reformers also understood that worship should be verbal rather than visual, focusing on the Word of God rather than sensory experiences. They emphasized the importance of preaching and teaching the Word, believing that it was the Word that did the work in the believer. This led to a revival of congregational singing, with figures like Luther and Calvin producing hymns that focused on the great truths of the faith.

In today's context, there is a need to heed the warnings from the Reformation about the dangers of visual and vicarious worship. The focus should remain on the verbal proclamation of God's Word and the active participation of the congregation in worship. Worship should not be driven by technology or visual aids but should center on the transformative power of the Word and the Spirit.

Key Takeaways

1. The Reformation was not only a battle over justification but also a battle over the true worship of God. The Reformers saw history as a war about worship, beginning in the Garden of Eden and culminating in the return of Christ. Worship is central to the Christian life, and understanding its true nature is essential. [04:11]
2. The medieval church distorted worship by making it visual and sensory rather than biblical and spiritual. The Reformers sought to restore worship that was focused on the Word of God and the praise of His name. True worship is participatory and congregational, not vicarious or complex. [17:49]
3. The Reformers emphasized the importance of preaching and teaching the Word, believing that it was the Word that did the work in the believer. This led to a revival of congregational singing, with hymns that focused on the great truths of the faith. Worship should be verbal rather than visual, focusing on the transformative power of the Word and the Spirit. [29:22]
4. In today's context, there is a need to heed the warnings from the Reformation about the dangers of visual and vicarious worship. Worship should not be driven by technology or visual aids but should center on the verbal proclamation of God's Word and the active participation of the congregation. [38:13]
5. The Reformation teaches us that worship is about coming into the presence of God and finding the destiny for which we were created. It is about being humbled and lifted up by God's grace, finding our true purpose in worshiping the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. [50:27]
** [50:27]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:32] - Introduction to Hebrews 12
[02:21] - Lessons from the Reformers
[03:32] - The Battle Over Worship
[04:11] - Historical Context of Worship
[05:21] - Adam's Role in Worship
[06:39] - The War on Worship
[08:06] - False Worship in History
[09:21] - The Role of Prophets
[10:26] - Jesus' Temptation and Worship
[11:07] - The Goal of Salvation
[12:34] - Calvin's Perspective on Worship
[13:47] - The Purpose of Worship
[15:45] - The Exodus and Worship
[16:26] - How God Wants to Be Worshiped
[17:49] - False Worship Exposed
[19:09] - Visual vs. Verbal Worship
[23:09] - Vicarious vs. Congregational Worship
[25:53] - Gospel Worship Restored
[29:22] - The Power of the Word
[35:55] - The Role of Prayer in Worship
[37:05] - Warnings from the Reformation
[38:13] - Visual Worship Today
[44:08] - The Litmus Test of Worship
[47:31] - Technology in Worship
[50:27] - The Call to Worship

Sermon Clips

The Reformers saw that battle as part of an elongated war that had marked the people of God since the garden of Eden. They understood that the narrative that ran through the pages of Scripture was a narrative that could be comprehensibly understood through the lenses of seeing history as a war about the worship of God. [00:04:15]

Adam in that sense is created to be the priest who leads and conducts and gives voice to, articulates as the image of God the worship of all creatures and of all creation. And that part of his task in that as he subdues everything to himself is to extend this temple of a garden until it comes to fill the whole earth. [00:05:48]

The whole of the rest of the biblical narrative is an ongoing saga of that war. It erupts again, doesn't it, in Genesis 4, in Cain and Abel. It erupts again later on in Genesis, in the building of the tower of Babel in order to pull down God from His throne and to establish the worship of man. [00:08:52]

The Reformers wisely saw that for all the wonder of the salvation that Jesus Christ gives to us, that salvation has a goal in view that those whom God saves should come and worship Him in Spirit and in truth. That what was lost in the garden of Eden would be restored in measure in the assembly that Jesus inaugurates. [00:13:00]

One of the most obvious distortions they saw was that worship had become visual and sensory, even sensual rather than biblical and spiritual. These verses in Hebrews chapter 12, the old way of worship coming to something that could be touched standing in contrast with worship in spirit and truth where nothing could be touched. [00:18:39]

And one of the things that they noticed was that as the Word of God was demeaned, as the leaders of the church confessedly became ignorant and sometimes proudly ignorant of the teaching of the Word of God, all of the emphasis lay in what you saw, what you saw the priest wearing, what you saw the priest doing with his hands, his gestures, what you saw in the choir singing. [00:19:44]

Worship had become visual rather than verbal, it'd become vicarious rather than congregational, done in front of you rather than by you. And worship had become complex and lost its simplicity. If you had read the manuals that were given to the priests, they were like manuals for computer programmers. [00:24:14]

The Reformers, in varying degrees, of course, there was a spectrum of personality among them, just as there was a spectrum of personality among the Old Testament prophets, ranged from a gentle exposition of the gospel to Jeremiads, in which -- you remember Jeremiah's call? He's called to pull down and to pluck up and to destroy what belongs to the flesh and to plant and to build. [00:26:07]

And when we are diverted to that first, it is the believer who does the work of the Word, true immeasurable it may be, less and less will we be anxious for more and more of the Word, because all it will do to us is place a burden on our backs that we cannot bear. [00:30:29]

And so they began to restore the true worship of God by the preaching of the Word, by the praising of His name, by the exposition of the truth, by praying for the power of the Holy Spirit. When Calvin returned to Geneva, an older and wiser man than the relatively young man who had been kicked out a little while earlier, he had learned something. [00:35:40]

Because we have our own visuals. And so, understanding God's visuals, according to God's Word become incidental to us. I saw a picture, the other week in Scotland. This is Scotland. S-C-O-T-L-A-N-D, the land of the Reformation, the land of the book. It was a photograph in the local newspaper of the ordination and installation of a new minister to a Presbyterian Church. [00:38:51]

And so my worship, at its very best can still be vicarious and not actually worship. I may actually be worshiping the creature of the hymn or the psalm rather than the God about whom the hymn or the psalm speaks. It's so insidious. The Serpent is not called wily for nothing my dear friends. [00:43:00]

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