The Reorienting Power of Worship

I used to work in the mental health world, some of you know, and one of the things that

you're trained to do in the mental health world is to do cognitive assessments.

That means you're assessing somebody to see if they're alert and oriented times four.

You want to know if a person knows who they are, if they know where they are, if they

know what time it is, day, month, year, and if they understand the situation, if they

understand what has happened to them and their circumstances.

It's very important to make sure that your patient is alert and oriented times four, because

if you send somebody out into the world and they're disoriented, normally bad things are

going to happen.

It's also indicative of the fact that there's probably something not right with them, and

that issue or problem needs to be dealt with.

More recently, I've been thinking about this in terms of my life, and I've been thinking

about what it would be like if God were to give me that assessment.

If God were to ask me, do you really understand who you are?

Do you really know where you are?

Do you really understand the time that you're living in?

Do you accurately understand and perceive your circumstances and the situation that you're

in?

And I wonder would I pass that assessment?

Because the truth is, life can be profoundly disorienting.

I realize that my life can be profoundly disorienting.

I can be in an argument with my wife, and I can be so focused on justifying myself or on

proving my point that I will say and do things that hurt her, that are unloving in the process.

Or I can sometimes tend to become overly focused on very small problems such that they kind of

take over my life, and at the same time I can be minimizing or denying some massive problem

that really needs my attention, but I just don't feel like dealing with it.

I can read the news, and I can read the stories at the top of my news feed, and I can start

to hear about all of the disaster and the struggle and all of the trials around the world, and

I can just start to feel like all of this is hopeless, like the world is falling apart,

and I can just really get into this place of despair.

And you know, if I'm in my right mind, I'm not going to do these things.

I'm not going to think these things.

But I think the point is, I'm not sure how often we are in our right mind, because I

think life can be profoundly disorienting.

If you look at John, the author of the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible,

the Apostle John is living in exile, and he's on the Isle of Patmos, and he has faced persecution

and suffering, and his church has faced persecution and suffering, and so it's not a stretch to

think he's probably feeling pretty disoriented, because it's very easy to lose perspective

in circumstances like those.

And so what we're going to look at tonight is how God ministers to John and through him

to us.

Because when God comes to John, he says, you're disoriented, you're trying to make sense of

all of this, the first thing that you need to do is to come and worship.

And he invites him to a heavenly worship service.

And so what we're going to see as we look at Revelation chapter 4 and 5, these amazing

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

chapters, is we're going to see this truth, that life can be profoundly disorienting.

And so we need worship to reorient us.

God would be worthy of worship, and that would be reason enough to gather.

But beyond that, we need worship, because worship is how God reorients us to what is real and

true and important and meaningful in this world and what is not.

So we're going to look at three examples in these chapters in Revelation of how worship

reorients us.

Let's pray.

Lord, we recognize as I stand here and even under some of the imagery on the cross behind

me, Lord, that this is a beautiful and amazing description of heavenly worship.

And it is ongoing and eternal.

And we recognize that when we gather here, we are joining into a worship that is already

underway, that we are joining our voices with angels and archangels.

And so we pray that as we are gathered around Your Word, You would reorient our hearts toward

You in all of the ways that only You can do.

We pray this in Your Son's holy name.

Amen.

So worship reorients us in three ways.

The first way that we see in Revelation chapter 4 is worship does this by re-centering us on

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

God's throne.

It re-centers us on God's throne.

Verse 2, it says,

So here's John.

He's on the Isle of Patmos.

A door opens in the heavens in this amazing vision.

The Spirit takes John up into this door.

He comes into the heavenly sanctuary where liturgical worship is underway.

And the first thing that jumps out to John is the throne.

And more than that, if you read the description, you recognize that all of the heavenly creatures,

all the living creatures, everything there is oriented toward that throne.

Everything is centered on the throne.

And this is the throne of thrones.

Later in the chapter, you could almost translate the word, the enthronement.

It's not necessarily the one who sits on the throne.

It's the enthronement.

Meaning, this is the essence of all thrones.

All kingly authority, all government authority, all human authority is derived from this throne.

It is an echo or even an invitation of this throne.

This is the true seat of authority in the world.

And everything is centered on it.

And so here's what this is showing us as we need to be reoriented.

This is how life is meant to work.

This is how life is meant to work.

So think of a solar system.

These massive planetary bodies that are flying through space at unimaginable speed.

And when we take measurements of the solar system,

all of these massive, disparate, seemingly disconnected bodies are moving with beauty and order and exact precision.

And you ask, well, how is such a thing possible?

And it's only possible because everything in our solar system is oriented around the same central object,

which is the sun.

If it weren't for the sun, if it weren't for that shared orbit, there would be chaos.

If you were to take the sun away, everything would fly out of orbit.

Planets would start crashing into each other.

It would be total chaos.

And this is the reason that human beings are always crashing into each other.

This is the reason that our lives don't work and that the world doesn't work the way it should.

It's because we've lost our orbit.

And so instead of order and beauty and precision, there is always a certain amount of chaos.

And the truth is, if you look at your own heart, as I've been looking at my heart,

you realize that our orbit, the thing around which we orbit, is constantly changing.

It's constantly in flux.

Now, I know some of you, even if you don't admit it, you're going to go home tonight and watch Game of Thrones.

Right? Game of Thrones.

It's a great, popular, huge TV show.

Not necessarily recommending the show.

Good storytelling.

Yada, yada.

But essentially, Game of Thrones is about all of these various characters who are all vying for the throne.

They all want to sit on the Iron Throne.

And if you'll pardon the analogy, our lives are like a great Game of Thrones.

Because there are all of these things, all of these people, all of these issues, all of these feelings,

that are all vying for the throne.

They all want to sit on the throne of our lives.

Right?

So sometimes when I look at my own life, I recognize that my needs sometimes occupy the throne.

And whatever that thing is, you're going to orbit around the thing.

It's going to take over.

It's going to start to determine and shape and define you.

And so if my needs take the throne, it means that your needs aren't nearly as important to me.

Right?

Sometimes it's my fear.

Fear and anxiety, it has a way of just taking over.

And if you let fear take the throne, then you begin to see everything through the lens of that fear.

You begin to operate and act out of fear.

You make decisions that are fear-driven.

Sometimes it's just a need for personal comfort and escape.

That takes the throne.

Sometimes it's a desire to be affirmed and recognized.

Sometimes it's a desire to indulge anger or resentment.

Whatever it is, the throne of our hearts is a throne that is constantly under contention.

And we need to recognize that that is how our heart works.

If we recognize the truth of our hearts, then we recognize why it's so important that we gather and do what we're doing right now.

It's why it's vital.

It's because we need to be re-centered on the throne of God.

We need to be reminded.

I need to be reminded.

I need to be reminded that my life doesn't work when I'm the center of it.

Because I will leave and I will go home tonight and I will immediately forget it.

And I need to be reminded again and again and again.

I need Jesus to displace me as the center of my life.

We come here because we need a kind of Copernican revolution of the heart.

We need whatever pretender, whatever steward is sitting on the throne ejected.

Because we need the rightful king to sit at the center of our lives.

And when that happens, it's just like our solar system.

Think about how do we see all of the planets and moons and objects that are in the solar system.

Well, it's because they're all cast in the light of the sun.

And what you realize is when Jesus re-centers on the throne in the center of your life,

what happens is that you begin to see all of those other things in the light of Christ.

That fear that used to be so overarching and so overwhelming, you begin to see it in the light of Christ.

It's no longer at the center.

It's in orbit.

And you say, how could I ever have been so overtaken by that, felt so hopeless?

Your needs that felt so massive, you see them relative to other needs in the light of Christ.

And you see, how could I have been so focused on myself?

And it begins to reorient you.

By the way, this is why it is so important that you marry somebody who shares your faith.

People ask, is it a sin in the Bible to marry somebody of a different faith?

And I would just say this, if you're asking it like that, you're missing the point.

If you understand what marriage is, if you understand what Christianity is,

and what both call us to,

then you recognize that marriage is already extraordinarily difficult.

When you have to figure out how to spend your money and how to raise your kids

and how to resolve the inevitable conflict that you'll face,

how to deal with the deep-seated sin that emerges in that kind of intimate, vulnerable relationship,

when you have to deal with unexpected tragedies and hardships,

when you have to...

This is already hard stuff.

But if you share the same orbit,

if you share the same orientation toward the same center point,

if you have a common vision for life and a common set of priorities

and you agree on what's most important,

it's going to be hard, but it's going to be doable

because you have a common aim.

But if you're starting out with two different orbits,

it's going to be exponentially harder

because try as you might,

you have two different points of reference

and invariably you will crash into each other

again and again and again.

So it's vital that we have a common center

around which we orbit.

Right?

So this is the first way we need to be reoriented.

We need to be re-centered on God's throne

at the very center of our lives.

But this is not all we need.

We also need to be refocused on God's Word.

And the two go together.

I think one of the most disorienting things in life,

certainly in my life,

is suffering.

How do you deal with your own suffering?

How do you deal with the suffering of the people that you love?

And I think the reason that suffering is so disorienting

is because it always raises the question of why.

Why me?

Why this?

Why now?

And to be totally honest,

there are not that many good answers out there

that are comprehensive enough

to satisfy that question.

And so we struggle with

how to make sense

of all the suffering in our lives.

It can be profoundly disorienting

and it can sort of lead you

to begin to see all of life

as being meaningless and random.

You know, you start to give in

to that view of reality

articulated by Richard Dawkins

where he says,

there is no design,

no purpose,

no evil,

no good,

nothing but pitiless indifference.

That's very disorienting.

And I think it's possible

that John was maybe

starting to go in that direction

as he sat there on Patmos

in light of his own suffering and persecution.

You know, Jesus rose.

He overcame death.

Somehow I thought it would be better than this.

You know, why am I here?

And then he's taken up

into this heavenly worship service.

He sees the throne

and then he turns,

verse 1 in chapter 5,

it says,

then I saw in the right hand

of him who is seated on the throne

a scroll

written within

and on the back

sealed with seven seals.

Now normally,

if you were writing a scroll,

you would only write on the front side

and then you would roll it up

to protect the writing.

The only reason you would ever write

on all the front

and all the back of a scroll

is if you had a lot to write down

and you only had one scroll

and so you're going to use

every available square inch

of that parchment

and this scroll

is absolutely covered in writing.

And the reason that it's packed

is because this is all of history.

It's all been written down.

Everything,

every detail,

every jot and tittle,

every aspect of every life,

it's all here.

It's all been written

by the author of history

and it was all written down

before time even began.

So this is the final word

on history.

It is history.

Past, present, and future

written down by the one

who was and is

and is to come.

This is God's plan.

The plan that is unfolding

right now in our lives

and in the world.

And so when John sees the scroll,

when we see the scroll,

we realize something

very important.

It refocuses us

on the idea,

on the truth

that this life

is not meaningless.

It's not nihilistic.

It's not a world

of pitiless indifference.

Indifference

that everything

has a purpose.

Everything has meaning.

Every tier

will be accounted for.

One day,

even though it's not today,

one day it will make sense

when we get to the end

of the scroll

and we look back,

we'll say,

oh, that's how that fit in.

That's why this had to happen

the way it did.

It's not now,

but one day it will be.

It's all been written down.

It's all there.

What this also means

for you

is that there is

a purpose

for you in the world.

There's a purpose

for your life.

There's a meaning

and a divine intentionality

behind you

being here

wired as you are wired,

gifted as you are gifted.

There's a part

that you play.

You're a thread

in the tapestry.

And you will never

fully understand

who you are

unless you understand

how you connect

to that purpose.

And we'll never

fully understand

that purpose

unless we open

the scroll.

And this is why

we gather

every week for worship.

We don't get

the whole scroll.

What God has given us

in the form

of the scripture

is that part

of the scroll

that He has

revealed to us.

And it is everything

that we need to know

to be reconciled

to Him

and to join in

that great divine

unfolding story.

He says,

this is what you need

to become a part

of all that I'm doing.

It's all right here.

And so we come together

not to just hear

my latest thoughts

or sources of inspiration

or funny anecdotes.

I mean,

if you want to hear that,

just buy me a drink

and I'll share it with you

as much as you want.

That's not why we're here.

We're here

to open

scripture

to be refocused

on God's unfolding purposes

in the world

and to ask,

how does this speak to me?

How am I invited in

to what God is doing?

That's what it's all about.

So in worship,

we open God's Word together.

The ministry of the Word,

the ministry of preaching

is meant to connect us

in our moment

to the eternal purposes of God.

So every week,

we need to be

re-centered on God's throne.

We also need to be

refocused

on God's Word.

And yet,

there's a problem.

A problem emerges

when we begin

to open God's Word.

We begin to read

what it says

because at first,

it looks like good news.

You begin to read scripture

and you realize,

and this is laid out

in the book of Revelation,

in fact.

We'll get to it

later in this series

that God's plan

is ultimately

to restore this world,

to put all things right,

to bring justice and peace,

to heal everything

that's been broken,

to wipe away every tear.

And you say,

well, that's really good news.

But in order to do that,

God has to judge the world.

The only way

to put the world right

is to bring perfect justice,

which means all wrongs

have to be punished,

all sin has to be dealt with,

not just the big stuff,

but also the seemingly small stuff,

including our own stuff.

And so,

here's really the problem

that we began to face.

It's a problem

that emerges

all through the Old Testament

as the Old Testament scholars

try to reconcile,

on the one hand,

God's desire for justice,

and on the other hand,

God's commitment to mercy.

How do you have justice

and mercy?

If God doesn't bring

perfect justice,

what hope is there

for the world?

If God does bring

perfect justice,

then what hope is there

for me,

for you?

You might say,

well, why doesn't God

just punish the big stuff,

the really bad people,

but overlook me?

I mean, I'm doing

the best I can.

I'm a pastor.

I'm trying hard,

living a pretty good life.

You realize that if God

were to do that,

that's not perfect justice.

That's divine favoritism.

A God who practices

divine favoritism

is not the kind of God

we need to fix this world.

And so,

we're left in this quandary.

How do we resolve

this issue?

How do you bring together

justice and mercy,

give hope to the world

and hope to people like us?

This brings us

to the final way

that worship reorients us

because it reminds us

of God's redemption

and how God resolves

that tension.

When John first sees

the scroll,

it is sealed.

And there's an angel

who says,

who is worthy

to open the scroll

and break its seals?

He's saying,

we need a champion.

We need a hero.

We need somebody

who is worthy enough

to open the scroll.

And John begins to weep

because he realizes

that unless this scroll

is opened,

God's unfolding plan

will not be enacted.

That it all hinges

on this champion.

It all hinges

on the one

who is worthy.

And so,

John weeps

because he thinks

justice may never come,

peace may never come,

suffering may never be ended,

the world cannot be put right

until this champion comes.

And then something

rather bizarre happens.

And by the way,

get used to that

in Revelation.

I'm going to say it

about every week.

Something bizarre happens.

Verse 5,

One of the elders said to me,

Weep no more.

Behold,

the lion of the tribe of Judah,

the root of David,

has conquered

so that he can open

the scroll

and its seven seals.

Now this is the interesting thing.

When John looks,

he expects to see

a conquering lion.

But when he turns,

he doesn't see a lion.

He sees a lamb.

Verse 6,

I saw a lamb standing

as though it had been slain.

Now in ancient literature,

lions are symbols

of strength and royalty.

Lambs, on the other hand,

are symbols of helplessness

and vulnerability.

And so the question becomes,

which is it?

This champion has arrived.

Is it a ferocious lion?

Or is he a feeble lamb?

And of course,

the good news of the gospel

is that he is both

at the same time.

He's both.

And this is how God

resolves this tension

between justice and mercy.

This is how God can bring hope

to the world

and also bring hope

to people like us.

Because the lion is the lamb.

Jesus is the judge

and yet he allowed himself

to be judged.

Jesus is the conqueror

and yet he allowed himself

to be conquered.

Jesus is the king

and yet his coronation

was a crucifixion.

The lion is the lamb.

And this is the great hope

of the world

that Jesus defeated sin and death

through his death.

And of course,

you realize what this is,

don't you?

In Revelation chapter 5,

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

you realize what's happening here.

This is the ascension.

This is the ascension of Christ.

We confess it every week

in the creed.

Right?

So in Acts chapter 1,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Jesus,

as the risen Christ,

appears to his disciples

and he promises the Holy Spirit.

He commissions them

for their mission to the world

and then he ascends

to the throne of heaven

and in that chapter,

Jesus ascends up

and the disciples look

and he's lost from sight.

And then we come to Revelation chapter 5

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

and what we're seeing here is

this is the ascension

from the perspective of heaven.

Everybody's gathered.

They're oriented toward the throne.

They're waiting.

They're worshiping.

But at this point,

there's been no singing.

They're just speaking

what they're saying.

And then the Lamb arrives

and all the heavens

break out in song.

They all begin to sing.

And it's beautiful

because Christ has ascended

to take the throne.

The Lion who is the Lamb

has conquered.

And so all the heavens rejoice.

Myriads upon myriads.

Choirs of angels.

Millions upon millions

of heavenly beings.

And all of creation

begins to worship the Lamb.

Verse 9.

Worthy are you

to take the scroll

to open its seals.

For you were slain

and by your blood

you ransomed,

you purchased

people for God

from every tribe,

language,

and people,

and nation.

And you have made them

a kingdom

and priests

to our God.

And they shall reign

on the earth.

This is a song

of global redemption.

And it's a song

of lordship.

Christ intends

to share

His throne

with the saints,

with His people.

And of course

this redemption

accomplished by Jesus,

the Lion Lamb,

is powerfully reorienting.

It's powerfully reorienting

for the heart.

Because if I can be

totally honest,

sometimes I can tend

to be smug.

And I can tend

to be a bit of a snob.

And it's very easy

for me to begin

to look down

on people

for all kinds of reasons.

And then I come

to worship.

And I am

reminded

that as smart

as I might think

I am,

as successful

or as intelligent

or whatever,

I might think I am,

it took nothing less

than the death

of the Son of God

to save me.

The lion had to become

a slain lamb

to give me hope.

And it reminds me

who I really am.

There are other times

when I am very prone

to self-criticism

and self-hatred,

self-loathing.

I can be

a horrendous critic

to myself.

And then I come

to worship.

And I'm reminded

that it was

the great delight

of God

of this ferocious lion

to become

a vulnerable,

helpless lamb,

to give himself up,

to give away

all of his power

and glory,

not just to save me

or to give me

a fighting chance,

but so that I could

share his throne.

I've been a pastor

almost 12 years.

I still can't fully

understand what that means.

Probably never will.

But I'll tell you

what it means

for my heart.

Who am I to judge

or condemn

or to criticize

a person like that

who will one day

share the throne

in and with Christ,

who is a kingdom

of priests

and a holy nation?

So in these ways,

we come to see ourselves

more and more

as we gather for worship,

as God sees us.

we see ourselves

as we truly are

in Him.

So you know,

life can be

very disorienting

and this is why

we need to gather

every week

and worship

like we're doing

right now.

It's why it's so important.

And so this not only

means that

this should be

a high priority

for all of us,

but it means that

even when you're traveling,

which a lot of you,

I understand,

you travel for work

and that's just a part

of the way your life is

and I totally get that.

But I would strongly

encourage you

if you're on the road

to find a way

to worship

with Christians

in a gospel-centered church

whenever and wherever

you can

because our hearts

are wayward

and they continually

need to be reoriented

in the ways

that we've talked about

this evening.

We need to be

re-centered on God's throne

again and again and again

and all of the pretenders

to the throne

need to be cast out.

We need to be

refocused on God's word

and away from all

of the confusion

and nihilism

in our society

and we need to be

reminded of our redemption

so that we come

to see ourselves

more and more

as we truly are

in Christ.

So I'm glad

that we're here together.

Let's pray.