Christmas and Sunday, with a poem by George Herbert

For many, Christmas is a favorite time of year. Many traditions, however, shunned the celebration of Christmas as an imposition from above. Some say it is a Reformed distinctive to abolish Holy Days, but John Calvin seems pretty Reformed and he did not require such things. Generally, Presbyterian Westminsterians in England had desired that the holiday ought not be imposed on anyone by the church (for there was not a basis in Scripture for requiring the celebration of Christmas) but did not legally ban the holiday until the more puritan Congregationalists took control, and Oliver Cromwell legally banned Christmas. [He's a mean one...Mr. Grinch!] A few, such as D.G. Hart, may think that was a good idea, but I tend to disagree. But D.G. Hart does make a wonderful point in his book on worship, that in the construction of "the church calendar" we have forgotten the original church calendar: The seven-day week.

The church calendar intended to conform the life of a Christian through the year to the life of Christ. We often forget that the 7-day week provides the same opportunity. First, the week reminded Israel that the first day of the week, God started the work of Creation. On the seventh day, God ceased working, setting a day apart for His worship. When Christ died on the sixth day, spent the seventh day resting in the grave and rose on the first/eighth day the imagery was not unintentional. The first day is the day of creation. Now the day of Christ's resurrection marks the beginning of new creation. As we worship on this Sunday, we ought to not rush to Christmas. Sunday should be primary in our thoughts of how time reminds us of the work of God.

Do we value Sunday? We certainly treat Christmas as a special day, changing our daily routine for that special day. Do we treat Sunday differently? Are we thankful for the gift of Sabbath rest and worship? Could we pen something like George Herbert in honor of the day of worship?

As for the poem: Notice the complexity of Herbert's structure. Seven lines. ABABCAC rhyming scheme. Herbert's poem on Sunday (from His book of poems "The Temple")


Sunday
by George Herbert

O Day most calm, most bright,
The fruit of this, the next worlds bud,
Th’ indorsement of supreme delight,
Writ by a friend, and with his bloud;
The couch of time; cares balm and bay:
The week were dark, but for thy light:
Thy torch doth show the way.

The other dayes and thou
Make up one man; whose face thou art,
Knocking at heaven with thy brow:
The worky-daies are the back-part;
The burden of the week lies there,
Making the whole to stoup and bow,
Till thy release appeare.

Man had straight forward gone
To endlesse death: but thou dost pull
And turn us round to look on one,
Whom, if we were not very dull,
We could not choose but look on still;
Since there is no place so alone,
The which he doth not fill.

Sundaies the pillars are,
On which heav’ns palace arched lies:
The other dayes fill up the spare
And hollow room with vanities.
They are the fruitfull beds and borders
In Gods rich garden: that is bare,
Which parts their ranks and orders.

The Sundaies of mans life,
Thredded together on times string,
Make bracelets to adorn the wife
Of the eternall glorious King.
On Sunday heavens gate stands ope:
Blessings are plentifull and rife,
More plentifull then hope.

This day my Saviour rose,
And did inclose this light for his:
That, as each beast his manger knows,
Man might not of his fodder misse.
Christ hath took in this piece of ground,
And made a garden there for those
Who want herbs for their wound.

The rest of our Creation
Our great Redeemer did remove
With the same shake, which at his passion
Did th’ earth and all things with it move.
As Sampson bore the doores away,
Christs hands, though nail’d, wrought our salvation,
And did unhinge that day.

The brightnesse of that day
We sullied by our foul offence:
Wherefore that robe we cast away,
Having a new at his expence,
Whose drops of bloud paid the full price,
That was requir’d to make us gay,
And fit for Paradise.

Thou art a day of mirth:
And where the Week-dayes trail on ground,
Thy flight is higher, as thy birth.
O let me take thee at the bound,
Leaping with thee from sev’n to sev’n,
Till that we both, being toss’d from earth,
Flie hand in hand to heav’n!

Worship and Belief: Worshipping the way I want to

The typical modern conception of worship likely has more to do with emotions and the will than with what one believes. This, in some ways, has more to do with the denigration of beliefs than with worship. To this point I have said “beliefs” for that very reason, because when synonyms like doctrine, theology or dogma are used, the modern person immediately recoils. These are not the terms they first associate with Christianity. They prefer other, admittedly good terms such as joy and relationship.

Still, when the question is put forward: “Does it matter what you believe?” The majority will (probably still?) answer: yes. If you deny the existence of God, there may be a problem. If you say Jesus is not God, there may be some concern. Even if you deny grace, there may be some taking of a person aside for a talking to. Yet, if we begin to apply what it is we believe that God tells us to any area, a typical reaction is to accuse one of quenching the Spirit or of getting in the way of relationship and joy.

Don't believe me? The next time someone tells you they have shared their faith with someone, ask them what they said. Then, if something is off in the doctrine, criticize their wording. This is a sure way to get an ear full of the Spirit providing words and that the important thing that was said was that God wants a relationship. We think what we believe is important...just not in evangelizing.

Still don't believe me? The next time someone says they had a wonderful time of worship, ask what they learned. If nothing, ask what they were reminded of as a great doctrine of the gospel. Ask if Christ was mentioned. If not, tell them they may have done something, but they did not engage in Christian worship. See if they really believe it matters what one believes, or just what one feels. Typically saying that one had a “good time” of worship is saying something about the style or selection of music rather than having anything to do with what Christians believe, or particularly having something to do with Who Christ is and what He has done. Yet, Scripture mentions confession (what we believe) along with gathering together:

Heb 10:23-25 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.

What might happen if we let our beliefs...our confession/doctrine/dogma inform our worship?

1) We would see worship as at the invitation of God, not our own wills.

We worship at the invitation of God. The Psalms continually repeat a call to worship God. “Let us worship God, our light and our salvation.” (Psalm 27) “Praise the Lord.” (Psalm 34) “Shout for joy to the Lord.” (Psalm 100) “Come let us bow down in worship” (Psalm 95).

If we believe that God invites us to worship Him at His pleasure, then we will not see worship as our self-expression or emotion, but at its core: prayer (Ps 116:4, Acts 1:14) and confession (Heb 3:1, 4:14, 10:23, 1 Tim 6:12-13), praying to God a confession of Who He is. Not by the functions of our autonomous wills (Col 2:23) but in accordance to His Will (Matt 26:42).

2)We will confess Who Christ is, every time we worship.

Not only is Christianity a confessional faith, Christianity's Saviour is confessional. His confession is the object of our emulation in Heb 3:1 and 1 Tim 6:12-13. As Peter confessed (Matt 16:16) and as Israel confessed (Deut 6:4) or as Nathaniel (John 1:50), Thomas (John 20:28), and the Baptismal formula (Matt 28:19) confesses. Any of these would be acceptable in worship if the Apostles' Creed, Nicene or other creeds scare “Biblical” Christians.

3) We will pray. (Ps 116:4, Acts 1:14)

Prayer is often a filler in worship. Something to do as the band sets up or as a transition to let the pastor make his way to the pulpit. They are rarely intentional or Scriptural. This is sinful.

4) We will confess who we are.

In other words, we will confess our sins. We may use the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 51 to acknowledge that sin is not being unhappy or doing something frowned on, but something that is a personal offense against God alone. But we are assured that if we confess our sins, we are forgiven by a gracious God. (John 1:8-9). We should also be absolved of our sins. This is a fancy way of saying we should be assured of the forgiveness won by Christ's work (John 3:16, Romans 5:1, Romans 8:1).


5)We will read the Word publicly.

Paul gives this specific instruction to Timothy as part of his duties as a minister. To obey Scripture, we ought not to ignore or neglect this command. (1 Tim 4:13) It might also be nice to hear more Scripture than merely what the pastor has chosen to preach from, but also to hear something from both testaments, Old and New, in the context of worship.

6)We will administer the sacraments

Christ's final command includes baptizing. (Matt 28:19) Christ also commanded the observance of the Supper until he returns. (1 Cor 11:26) Not to do these things occasionally at an evening service or a non-worship service. They are the commands of God not to be trifled with by mere human preference for other more exciting things. They are not done infrequently because they are important to us, but because they are unimportant to us.

7) We will do what is commanded.

Nadab and Abihu, the sons of the high priest Aaron in that happy picture above, tried their hand at innovative and exciting worship by their own preferences. God killed them for it. (Lev 10, Num 26). Today, we think God has changed his mind. Today, God does not care how we personally choose to worship Him. Let us hope that the Church does not need the severity of the lesson of Nadab and Abihu to change our minds. Perhaps only the severity of God causing sickness among the Corinthians when they abused the Supper in worship (1 Cor 11). God gave His Scriptures to teach and guide His people (2 Tim 3:16). We ignore it at our peril. Therefore, if our preferences contradict what God commands, then we worship at our peril and in our sin.

Who invited you?

There is a story I ran across recently about a pastor that filled the pulpit for a Dutch Reformed congregation one Sunday. The pastor was not Dutch Reformed and began the service in a welcoming colloquial way, thanking everyone for coming to the service. After the service, one of the older members walked up to the pastor and boldly asked, "Why did you welcome us? This isn't your house."

Sunday morning, I was struck by the "Call to worship." In the beginning of our service, there is a call and response, inviting us to worship God. I suppose I was struck by our even having a "call to worship." The call was not merely a Southern hospitable "howdy." It was not something that communicated that we did a good work in coming to church this morning. No. It was the invitation of God, allowing us the privilege and pleasure of worship. The condescension of an infinite God to finite humans that “the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” (John 4:23) The call to worship reminds us that God is seeking worshippers, and He, not man, has invited us on the Sabbath Sunday to rest in His Son.


“The congregation being assembled, the minister, after solemn calling on them to the worshipping of the great name of God, is to begin with prayer; In all reverence and humility acknowledging the incomprehensible greatness and majesty of the Lord, (in whose presence they do then in a special manner appear,) and their own vileness and unworthiness to approach so near him, with their utter inability of themselves to so great a work; and humbly beseeching him for pardon, assistance, and acceptance, in the whole service then to be performed; and for a blessing on that particular portion of his word then to be read: And all in the name and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ."

-The Directory for Public Worship of the Church of Scotland 1645

Architecture and the Glory of God

According to this survey, having a "church that doesn't look like a church" is actually a hinderance to the unchurched. If your church looks like a medieval church, the unchurched are actually more likely to want to go to it. This survey actually angers me. The church growth experts came in and stripped our services of Christian liturgy and architecture and said just put the gospel in the sermon and that's all you need and people will like it. WRONG! The high ceilings that draw our eyes upward, the cross shaped buildings that remind us of our being in Christ, and the crosses and stain glass that communicate the gospel in picture - NEVER NEEDED TO GO. Now, by principle and pragmaticism, we have to relearn that the gospel can be told through art, liturgy, architecture and more than just a sermon, and that worship is more than "music." We must learn again how to incarnate the word, within the bounds of Scripture - avoiding idolotry, but subjecting all things to the reign of Christ.

Why Bother with Trinitarianism?

The most often heard denigration of the doctrine of the Trinity (and really for all Theology) is that it may be true, but it doesn’t matter. There’s no application in our daily lives.

There are actually three problems with this:

1) It is false, the doctrine of the Trinity does have application
2) A concern for application is good, but not when everything has to benefit me in areas separate from Who God is, then the problem in the question is not the “problem” but the questioner.
3) It is telling of our lack of concern for God, who is supposed to be the object of our desires. If we truly do not care Who God is, it means our love for God is lacking or absent.

Though I do believe the doctrine of the Trinity has application for our daily lives, I will leave those concerns for last; because of first priority should be the third point: our need to worship a God we know. Imagine telling your wife how thankful you are to her for giving birth to you. The idea is absurd. You should not thank your wife for the gift of your mother! Yet, in worship and prayer we often do this very thing thanking the Father for dying for us, or the Son for converting us.

WORSHIP

The question has arisen, “Who should we worship in the Trinity?” Should our praise be centered on the Father as Jesus told the woman at the well that the Father is seeking worshippers? (John 4:23) While the Father is often the object of our worship, both tradition and Scripture reveal that the other members of the Godhead also are to be worshipped. The Nicene Creed tells us the “Holy Spirit…with the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.” And in the book of Revelation 22:3, of Jesus it is said: “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship Him.” Many of the hymns in [good] hymnbooks reflect this concern, with verses dedicated to the Father, then to the Son, then to the Spirit. If your hymnal does not do this, consider this one that does:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Hymnal
http://www.gcp.org/products_b.asp?id=987663333&cat=A

PRAYER

This might also be extended to our prayer life. We often pray to the Father, ending with an appeal to the Son (in Jesus name). The Father is traditionally the object of our prayers in worship, often with us thanking the Father for His only-begotten Son and for the Spirit He sent. This formula originates in the very earliest liturgies of the church:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf07.html

While the Father may be object of the Lord’s Prayer, this should not restrict us to prayer only to the Father. However, we should be conscious of which Person we are praying to. Paul prays (speaks) directly to Christ in his conversion. Much of the worship of Christ in Revelation is in the form of prayer. Also, tradition has developed liturgical prayers with this very concern in mind. Puritans often had Trinitarian petitions in their prayers beginning with “O Father” or “O Son” depending on the object of that prayer or petition. For examples see: the Valley of Vision.

HUMAN IDENTITY

Scripture tells us that man is made in God’s Image. More than that, Scripture tells us that man is made up of two parts, male and female. Anyone concerned about the equality and diversity of gender should take notice here. This “Image of God” and the knowledge that God is Triune, informs our idea of the relationship between men and women. Scholar Bruce Waltke says as much about relationship in his commentary on Genesis writing, “Relationship is modeled after God who does not exist in isolation but is a trinity, surrounded by a heavenly court” When the model for marriage is given in Genesis 2:24, the man and woman are said to come together and become “one” or “echad.” This is the same word used in Deuteronomy 6:4 when God tells us He is “one.” This truth stands beside the truth of God’s diversity in the Persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The fact is that the Son has equal worth as the Father, even though the roles may differ. As we consider the difference of roles between men and women, the fact that the two (men and women) are one mankind, tells us that while we may differentiate the roles, if we denigrate the worth of women, a similar action to the denigration of Christ is occurring.

There are more implications for the doctrine of the Trinity, but for our purposes, and my time, I can only leave you with the exhortation to give closer thought and study to the doctrine of the Trinity. It has implication for our lives, but more importantly, it is the nature of the object that should be our greatest desire, because the Triune God is the highest good, our highest good and our greatest joy is found in Him.

Rediscovering our heritage

An interesting article on neotraditionalism in US News and World Report. Also cites a DTS prof:

Daniel Wallace, a professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, which trains pastors for interdenominational or nondenominational churches, says there is a growing appetite for something more than "worship that is a glorified Bible class in some ways."

Why the Ordering of Worship is Important.

A congregation member once asked Martin Luther after a service why he had not moved on from the topic of the gospel in his preaching. "Every week you talk about the gospel, why can't we move to something else?" Luther replied, "Because every week you forget it."

What does the gospel focus of Luther have to do with the ordering of worship? It should have everything to do with it. I here wish to defend the idea of having multiple elements of worship, not as an attack on those who don't, but a positive goal for communicating the gospel. Every church has an ordering of worship or a liturgy, the question is what that liturgy is and communicates.

Here are the questions that I have concluded I must ask if I am involved in ordering worship:

1) What would we weekly want to remind our worshipers (and visitors) about the faith?

2) How can we communicate the gospel, even if there was no sermon?

3) How could we engage people with different disabilities (learning or physical) in the truth of the gospel?

4) What is prescribed by Scripture?

Here are some elements that make their way into our weekly liturgies (other than the sermon) at our church that I believe answers these questions and communicates the gospel:

Confession of sin: weekly reading through a confession of sin (perhaps even like this from the BOCP) reminds all worshipers they are in need of a savior from their sins. Visitors are made aware that Christians are also sinners. (1 John 1:9)

Declaration of Forgiveness: Also weekly, a reminder from Romans 5:1 or Romans 8:1 of their forgiven status in Christ. Visitors are weekly told the answer to the problem of sin is in Christ.

Confession of Faith: Apostle's Creed, Nicene Creed, or part of the Westminster or Heidelberg Catechism is read. Weekly reminder of what we believe about God, the person of Christ and the work of Christ. Visitors are weekly told, Jesus is not a person that is the object of some strangely sensual love music, but GOD. (Romans 10:9)

Reading of Scripture: Always followed by "The Word of the Lord, Thanks be to God." A weekly affirmation of the central role and authority of Scripture in the life of the church. (1 Tim 4:13, 2 Tim 3:16)

Eucharist/Communion - Christ said "Do this in remembrance of Me." And here we have the gospel in sound, taste, sight, smell and touch. If a member is missing one or more senses, the gospel is available to the other senses. Christ is the bread to sustain us, the wine to enjoy (as I have said earlier). The gospel for those who may not hear the sermon, or see the words of Scripture (1 Cor 11:26). Christ condescends to us here.

There are other elements in the service, but these are those elements which I find are central to communicating the gospel weekly. Any thoughts? Omissions? Good gospel practices from your church?