Shaped By His Very Presence
By Michael Shipman
Please Read: Isaiah 6:1-9 & Leviticus 10:1-3
We ought to make a couple of very important observations from both passages: First, take notice that as Isaiah encountered God’s majesty, the view of himself shriveled. Notice the overall “vertical” nature of the passage. Everything is surrounded around God and His holiness. Isaiah is wounded (literally “Undone”) by this majestic reality called YAHWEH. This spiritual trauma needed to be cured, thus the angel and the coal. When Isaiah receives this true view of himself (debased & ruined), because of his view of God, he is then empowered by the glory of God to go! To go and preach the message God gave him; he was not empowered by so-called “self-worth” or “self-esteem.” He has tasted and now sees the surpassing worth and joy of losing oneself in the beauty of the King. Isaiah was shaped by the presence of God; and so are we!
Briefly consider the account in Leviticus. Notice that this is the opposite of Isaiah’s experience. Nadab and Abihu do not approach God on His terms. There seems to be an irreverence in their “religious duties.” There is a horizontal bend in their actions. It is possible they were too lazy to offer what God had required. Or they were blending some of the pagan practices of the time with what YAHWEH had prescribed; just as an admin note, since they were the sons of Aaron, they certainly knew what was acceptable. Regardless of what the actual reason was, they were consumed by His majesty instead of being empowered by it.
So, what’s the point?
Our God is a Holy God.
As the eternal Triune God of the Universe...He is altogether different from us (even though we are created in His Image “Imago Dei,” He is Holy, separate, uniquely different from us). Therefore, He must be approached in a manner that reflects this reality. Reverence, awe, & A Holy Fearful Joy (I make no apologies for using this word “fearful”…its biblical) should accompany our decorum in our Lord’s Day Worship. In a world of “Levity”, “Crudeness”, “Glibness”, “Entrepreneurialism” & “Sarcasm”: Our worship must contain a Holy Gravitas... A joyful separate weightiness... A God-Wardness... an otherness. Therefore, our worship must have as its root, God (His Holy Majesty) if we expect to have the desired fruit: Communion with this majestic God! We are not the center. We are not the “doers” (Nadab & Abihu) ... but the “receivers” (Isaiah)... Therefore!!!! We must also consider that we are creaturely beings that are shaped by what we are subjected to externally. We are not static - immutable - unchanging beings that are unaffected by our experiences. Therefore, God’s holiness and our creatureliness are two of many reasons why we must give careful consideration to the manner & mode in which we worship... Plainly stated... We are shaped by Liturgy... Whether biblical or unbiblical.
Because of this truth... Worship must be according to His desires, and not ours.
Liturgy, plainly defined means: “Acts of Worship”.
Our liturgy should contain 3 main guiding principles (These are not the details):
○ Biblical Fidelity - We do what the Bible explicitly commands (The Regulative principle of worship): We pray the Word, Confess our sins in response to the Word, Sing the Word, receive the Preached the Word, & partake of the visible Word in the Bread & Wine, The Lord’s Table.
○ A Gospel Shape or a Christocentric intentionality - Every movement of the Worship service should aim to point the worshipper’s heart & mind to Christ: His perfect life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return.
○ A volitional congregational response - There must be various points where the people of God receive and respond to God’s condescending love: Standing, Singing, Praying, Confession of Sin and Belief, Responsive Reading, & the Lord’s Supper.
In these three principles the mind, heart, and will are evoked with the majesty and beauty of God... We are thus “Shaped.”
In closing: Our worship…our liturgy… will inform what we believe about God, which will inform what we believe about self, which will inform what we believe about sin, and will ultimately inform what we believe about salvation...
The question is, are we striving to worship our great God and Savior in a manner that honors Him and molds our hearts? Here at VBC we are committed to this reality, and we take it very seriously. We understand that the first question & answer in the Shorter Catechism is true: What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
“Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
Therefore, our worship is aiming at the glorification of God that our hearts and minds may enjoy all that He is in the Person and work of Jesus Christ through the power of His Spirit and the administration of His Word.