Last Sunday was Pentecost. As is our practice we focused on the birth of the church and the work of God in Christ through his Spirit. In our sermon we saw that God’s purpose from the beginning, the plot of the story of creation, has been God creating for himself a home. He created the world to be the place where he would walk in friendship and fellowship with those he created in his image. When Adam rebelled he and his wife were cast out of the garden—the place where God would dwell among them. By introducing sacrifices to them (to cover their nakedness), God showed there was a way for restoration. He later rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, but not merely to give them land. He rescued them to give them the tabernacle, that he might dwell among them, even if at a distance.
Because this covenant couldn’t make them holy and therefore God’s dwelling among them was always contingent, God promised a new covenant that would be unlike that old covenant, for they broke the old covenant. Implicit in this is the promise the new covenant would be unbreakable. This is because it is built on better promises, for it depends entirely on the Lord Jesus, who offered himself as the sacrifice that ushered in this new covenant, and its promises and blessings depend entirely on his faithfulness. At Pentecost God once again appeared with a mighty roar and flames of fire, only this time he was not on Mount Sinai and at a distance. This time he descended to his people where the fire was a purifying fire and the Holy Spirit now dwells in his people. Thus God has a home here on earth. One day it will encompass the entire planet!
When Dave led us in sharing together in the celebration of the body and blood of our Lord, he said something remarkable:
We don’t need fog machines; we’re surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
Dave Vermilye
The context is Hebrews 12. There the author mentions this great cloud of witnesses and explains these are all those who have died in faith and are therefore present with the Lord. The Lord Jesus promised when we assemble in his name, he enters into our presence in a unique and powerful way. He is God, therefore he is present everywhere, yet his presence is more profoundly manifested in our gathered assembly. We have the whole Christ in our assembly. He enters in his fullness. We are, therefore, the catholic church—the church according to its whole—for we have the fullness of God in our midst. This means when we assemble Adam and Eve and Abraham and Rahab and David and Paul and your loved one who died in Christ is right there, too, for the Lord would never leave them behind. Because they are ever with the Lord and because the Lord is with us in his fullness, in a real sense your loved one who died in Christ is with us, too.
This means our gathered assembly on Sunday mornings is a profound experience. Whether the hairs on the back of your neck stand up or not, the truth is the gathered assembly is a profound experience in which we share in the presence of God together. We worship him along with the saints who have gone before us. The angels are with the Lord and praising him together with us.
When Dave said we don’t need fog machines for we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, this is what he meant. What would a fog machine add to this reality? What would flashing lights and a pyrotechnics show add to this incredible privilege we experience every single time we assemble in the Lord’s name?
Too often people approach worship with a thrill-seeker’s attitude: what will drive me today? What will excite me? What can I experience? Many will seek to give them what they want. They dim the lights. They crank up the fog machine. They time the colored lights with the beat of the drums. They try to create an atmosphere of something that on a surface level approaches reverence, but in reality it is little more than goosebumps driven by heightened emotion.
Emotion has its place in worship. I would say it’s nearly impossible to encounter the risen Christ without ever feeling overwhelmed by emotion. Some people are naturally more expressive with their emotions so their emotional state in worship may be more pronounced. Some raise their hands while singing. Some weep, whether to the Scripture reading or in response to the truth of a song or perhaps while praying for one another. Some sit there, largely expressionless, yet are overwhelmed by the profundity of God’s love to us in Christ. It would be nearly inhuman to worship the risen Christ without ever being emotional, yet some aim primarily for an emotional response.
The truth is we do not need fog machines. Fog machines almost certainly detract from what is happening. If we feel the need to dress up the gospel and we feel the need to make the worship of God in Trinity more attractive, perhaps we’re not really proclaiming the gospel and perhaps it isn’t God we are worshiping. I’m not suggesting some are worshiping false gods; I am suggesting if there is a need to make a worship service more appealing, the means to make it more appealing is more of Jesus, not more external things like flashing lights.
There is a place for beauty in worship. There is a place for excellence in worship, whether reading Scripture publicly or playing music or singing or preaching. These are things we should strive to do with excellence, but not because excellence will foster great ambiance. God is worthy of our best and so we should work hard to play instruments well and to sing well and to worship with the entirety of our lives. When we focus on excellence rather than the Lord Jesus, however, we may get excellence. Goose bumps may appear. Emotions may run high. Hairs on necks may stand up. Without Jesus, these experiences are worthless.
When we gather together on Sunday mornings in the name of the Lord, he promised to enter into our midst. Our goal should not be to create a “worshipful environment”, but to encounter the risen Savior. The presence of Jesus will create a worshipful environment! Throughout Scripture whenever the Lord appears, worship happens.
When the Lord appeared in the burning bush, Moses worshiped him (Exodus 3:1–6). When the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord, he cried out in fear and worship (Isaiah 6:1–5). When the temple was finished in Jerusalem and the Lord came down in fire to consume the offering on the altar, all Israel fell down in worship (2 Chronicles 7:1–3). In Revelation when John sees a vision of the glorified Christ, he falls down at his feet in worship (Revelation 1:17).
The presence of God results in worship. In each of these instances reverence and awe and fear filled those who experienced his presence. God’s presence cannot be manufactured. God’s presence cannot be conjured up by a darkened room filled with fog and lit up in various colors in time with the music. When we assemble together in his name, he appears in our midst. We cannot see him, of course, but he present nonetheless. It is this experience that draws us to assemble together.
The author of Hebrews tells us to not neglect meeting together. In the very first church where I heard and believed the gospel, we were taught that whenever the church was open for service, it was incumbent upon us all to be in attendance. The reason was simple: Hebrews tells us we must not forsake the assembly, which meant, apparently, attending services on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings…just like the apostles. What was left out, though, is staggering to consider. Why does the author of Hebrews urge his readers to keep meeting together? The context is profound.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:19-25 ESV
The author had just explained Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant. Jesus is the one who presented himself as the sacrifice that takes away our sin. Whereas the high priest in the temple could only enter into the Lord’s presence one day a year and only for a brief time, Christ’s sacrifice has perfected for all time those who trust in him. Whereas the priests in the temple stand daily at their work, repeatedly offering the same sacrifices, when Christ made an offering for sin he sat down. The job was finished. There are no more sacrifices to be made. The curtain blocking access to God’s presence was torn in two! Therefore!
Hebrews says we—you and me, ordinary people—have confidence to enter the holy places. The places where only Levitical priests could enter, the most holy place where only the high priest on the Day of Atonement could enter, and only after an elaborate purification ritual, we now have confidence to enter! He doesn’t mean the temple in Jerusalem! In fact, the entire point of Hebrews is to encourage the Christians in Jerusalem they no longer need the temple. Where, then, does this happen? Where are the holy places that are opened up for us by the body and blood of Jesus? Where do we go when we enter through the torn curtain? Where does our great priest over the house of God let us draw near to God? Hebrews says we must not neglect to meet together! It is in the gathered assembly we enter the holy places where God himself is!
One of our elders was asked recently why we at New City seem to place so much emphasis on attendance. It isn’t so much that we do, but that Scripture does! This is where we encounter the risen Savior. This is where we enter into God’s presence. This is where we experience God in Trinity. The reason we worship together on Sunday mornings isn’t because Scripture commands us to; it is because this is were we get the fullness of God!
We truly do not need fog machines; we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. These witnesses are experiencing God’s presence with us. That’s enough reason for us to gather together each and every week.