So, how does this all look: Storming the gates of hell, offering our sacrifices of thanksgiving in the presence of God – the All-Consuming Fire – who transforms us through our praises? The truth is, it looks rather ordinary. God calls regular people like you and me into his presence, and then he accomplishes an extra-ordinary salvation through very basic signs and symbols of his grace. Think about it for a second: A little piece of bread and sip of wine? Tap water for baptisms? Off-tune singing and perhaps a sermon that was eight minutes too long (never at my church!)? It may not seem very fantastic at all, but that’s just fine.
So many Christians today are searching for an experience in worship. The problem with this is that experience, and feelings, change. What was new and exciting becomes rote and boring in no time at all. If we aren’t careful, our pursuit of a feeling in worship will lead us from church to church, always trying to grasp what we’ve lost. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t experiences to be had in worship. There are! But they aren’t shallow and reproducible by the entertainment industry. They’re the experiences of grace that fill our heart when we get a glimpse of the depth of our sins, and height of God’s love. Experience in worship comes from understanding God’s Word and apprehending his gifts by faith.
Behind the veil of ordinariness that we grasp with our senses, the sovereign King is at work in our midst. The bread and the wine we receive are a gift from heaven (Heb. 6:4), and the powers of the age to come are poking holes through the curtain of this world and shining God’s light upon us. We are surrounded by an unseen realm, “innumerable angels in festal gathering, the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, God, the judge of all, and the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.” (Heb. 12:22-24) In our very ordinary worship, heaven and earth collide.
Let us, therefore, go to the LORD, the true God of heaven and earth who calls us to worship him. Let us offer our whole selves to him in humble adoration, living sacrifices consumed by the fire of his love, transformed into a pleasing people who ascend into his presence by the Holy Spirit.
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. — (Ps. 95:1-7)
