One of the things I love about
the Reformed tradition is its intense focus on and love for the Word of God.
The Reformation came about as a result of multiple issues in the Catholic
Church. One of those issues was that the people of God did not have an understanding
of the Word of God. This had a lot to do with the fact that Mass was held in
Latin. Also there were no Bibles available in the common language of the
people, they were all Latin too. You had to be a scholar to be able to read it
for yourself, and if you weren’t a scholar and you went to mass, chances are
you didn’t understand much of the sermon either. Thank God that we have the
Word in our own languages!
The Word of God is vital in the
life of a Christian. The Word of God is the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The
Reformed Tradition understands this, and as a result rightfully emphasizes the
preaching and proclamation of the Word of God in Worship Services.
The negative result of this
emphasis on the Sermon is that sometimes the other aspects of the worship
service get de-emphasized and even misunderstood. We often think of every
aspect of a service in relation to the sermon. Many people think the first
portion of the service is meant to get the people excited and happy to worship
God, guide them through an emotional experience which then in turn will prepare
their hearts to hear the sermon. Many people see the singing time after the
sermon as a time that is meant to allow the Sunday school teachers time to get
to their classrooms and set up before their students come. (Just an aside for
your information: Martin Luther did not think this way, neither did John
Calvin… read chapters three and four of Christ Centered Worship by Bryan
Chappell if you don’t believe me… and if you’re going to read those chapters
you might as well read the whole thing.)
Let me come right out and say
it. The music before the sermon is not meant to prepare you for the sermon. The
music after the sermon is not meant to give you time to get out of the
sanctuary before everyone else. The
music in the service (if used appropriately) is not secondary to the sermon. Music is not a tool meant
to be used to prepare hearts for the sermon; it is meant to be a tool used for
glorifying God and proclaiming the same Gospel that the sermon is meant to be
proclaiming. (Note: The sermon is also a tool used to accomplish goal of
proclaiming the Gospel.)
Our services are meant to be an
engagement with God formed by what I like to call the Gospel Pattern. This is
how Bryan Chappell, in his book Christ
Centered Worship, describes this Gospel Pattern in the context of an
individual’s interaction with the good news of Jesus Christ:
“The gospel first
affects the heart by enabling us to recognize who God is. When we truly
understand the glory of his holiness, then we also recognize who we really are
and confess our need of him. The gospel then assures us of the grace that he
provides, and our hearts respond in both thanksgiving and humble petition for
his aid so that we can give proper devotion to him. In response to our desire
for his aid, God provides his Word. We heed his instruction, know that we are
both charged to do so and have the promise of his blessing as we live for him
(p 99).”
Our services should be formatted
in such a way that every element proclaims some aspect of this Gospel Pattern.
Thankfully we don’t have to come up with this format all by ourselves. We see
it in scripture (check out my last post about the dialogue of worship) and we
see it in many of the liturgies of the churches throughout history.
Bryan Chappell summarizes the consistent
elements found within many Historic Liturgies (p 100):
Recognition of
God’s Character (Adoration)
Acknowledgment of Our
Character (Confession)
Affirmation of Grace
(Assurance)
Expression of Devotion
(Thanksgiving)
Desire for Aid in
Living for God (Petition and Intercession)
Acquiring Knowledge
for Pleasing God (Instruction from God’s Word)
Living unto God with
His Blessing (Charge and Benediction)
This same Gospel Pattern should shape our worship. Not because it’s
tradition. But because if we follow this pattern in worship, each element of
our service will work with the next to proclaim the Word of God and the Gospel
of Jesus Christ—this is of utmost importance.
So in the next service that you
attend I’d encourage you to think about each element of the service
individually and then think about them all as a whole unit. Think of them as
different scenes in the drama that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without one
of the scenes the drama might make a little bit of sense. But when all scenes
are put together there is no mistaking the drama for anything but the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Here’s the point: the Word of God is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our entire worship services are meant to proclaim this Gospel, not just the
sermon. If the Gospel Pattern is followed in our worship services, we have
proclaimed the Gospel, participated in the Gospel, and personally and
corporately experienced the Gospel. We leave the service having encountered the
Triune God and His power to save. This is life changing!