Covenantal Worship

Much of what I want to share with you today is based on Worship Old & New by Robert Webber.  He is a master at the subject of worship and I highly recommend his writings.

So let’s look at the foundation of covenantal worship through the text of Exodus 24 and understand from the very beginning that worship is not a free for all. God sets the parameters. God regulates how we approach Him.  “Our covenant with God is based on His words, His terms, not our own words and terms.”  (David Guzik)  In our “its all about me” society it is especially important to remember that it is God who determines what is acceptable worship and what are acceptable worship practices.

Scripture sets out the standard of acceptable behavior. We are bound to His requirements and He is bound to His promises. It is a wonderful arrangement! God’s Word informs us of what God expects of us. God’s Word informs us of what we can expect from God. We are not left in the dark when it comes to worship.

Abraham

In worship we remember how God initiated a relationship with Abraham.  God called Abraham to follow Him in faith and Abraham obeyed.  The result was a covenant with God who promised to bless him (Gen. 12:1-3).

One foundation of worship is the blessing given to the whole world through Abraham and the salvation that God offers to us all through Christ.

Moses

Moses had his own private worship experience at the burning bush.  Note that it was God taking the initiative (as with Abram), calling for a response from the worshipper.  Even before Sinai, the concept of covenant has been impressed upon the one who would be revealing the covenant with Israel.

The notion of covenant proceeds still further.  We know the story of how , through Abraham, God brought into being the people of Israel; how they were held in bondage and how they called out to God to remember his covenant with Abraham.

The Exodus Event

In this event God delivered the people of Israel, made them a great nation, and entered into covenant with them at Mount Sinai.  The ceremony that established this covenant, which consisted of the people assembling before God at Mount Sinai for the reading of the Book of the Covenant and the ratification of the covenant with blood, was a worship event.

From that moment on, Israel’s worship would look back to this as the historic event that they would continually proclaim, recall, and celebrate.  “It contains the most basic structural elements for a meeting between God and his people” (R. Webber, Worship Old & New, p.20).

The Worship Character of the Event (Exodus 24:1-8)

·         Basic structural elements:

·         The meeting was convened by God

·         The people were arranged in a structure of responsibility.

·         The meeting was characterized by the proclamation of the Word.

·         The people responded. They accepted the conditions of the covenant thereby indicating a commitment to obey the Word.

·         The meeting was climaxed by a dramatic symbol of ratification of the covenant—the sprinkling of the blood.

 Christ

Christians believe the Exodus event is a type of God’s saving action in Jesus. Let me contrast:

Israel in bondage to Pharaoh	all people in bondage to the power of evil (Eph. 2:2)
God sent Moses to deliver Israel from bondage	God sent Jesus to deliver us from sin (Matt. 1:21
God entered into a covenant with Israel	God enters into covenant with the church (Heb. 8:8-12)
God established a tabernacle with a high priest for worship	God established a new high priest and an entrance into the Holy of Holies through Jesus (Heb. 9:11-14)
The tabernacle was characterized by sacrifices	New covenant is characterized by once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus (Heb. 10:15-18)
Israel looked forward to the promised land	Christians hope for the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21:1)

At its heart, worship proclaims, recalls, and celebrates God’s saving events.  Israel is the people of the Exodus event. Their history and their worship look back on this event.  Christians are people of the Christ event.  Their history and their worship look back to this event.

This understanding of covenantal worship is reinforced by Peter’s first letter:  “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  (I Peter 2:9)

Conclusion

I know that this has been a rather long blog and if you are still with me………YEAH!!!............hang on a little more.  I have tried to be as concise as possible yet still cover the basics.

Hear Webber’s own words:

“Imagine yourself in the first century.  When you assemble with other Christians for worship, you go to someone’s home and eat a full meal.  In the context of a joyous meal, you hear stories about Jesus and apply them to your own life.  You break bread anticipating that the Jesus who broke bread with his disciples will be present with you, even as he was present on the road to Emmaus and in the upper room.  You engage in fellowship with your friends, meet new people, hold up each other’s concerns in prayer, and give money and assistance to those in need.  In that context your heart is full of joy and gladness.”

Can we recover a view of worship in The Salvation Army that sees it as covenantal?  Can we approach Sunday morning believing steadfastly that God has invited us to meet him in the gathering of our flock and that he has something special to say to us?...every week? Can we capture the awesome responsibility that is ours to help our people, often blinded by ignorance, distraction, sin, etc., enter the holy place to meet with God?