Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Two Sundays in a row absent worship at Boulevard Presbyterian seems quite odd. But I've made good use of this week, getting a significant amount of a Bible study on Revelation written. I mention this because one of today's psalms reminded me of Revelation's depiction of the heavenly throne room. There was lots of worship filled with lots of singing. Psalm 66 has a similar feel. "Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise. Say to God, 'How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.' "

It's amazing how much singing of this sort is in Revelation. I suppose I've rarely noticed because, like many mainline Christians, I have a tendency to ignore the last book of the Bible, which unfortunately leaves this book in the hands of irresponsible and even dangerous interpreters. But Revelation isn't really a book of predictions. It is a call for Christians facing persecution and even death to continue embracing Psalm 66 despite all that. John of Patmos insists that his readers not accommodate their faith to Roman culture, but to trust that God is indeed the Lord of all the earth. Despite their fears, they should live and worship in ways that proclaim the God worshiped in Psalm 66.

I'm not sure that much of the worship I lead really appreciates this, but Revelation and probably Psalm 66 see worship as more "real" that the "real world" outside of worship. The heavenly worship depicted in Revelation is totally focused on God and the Lamb. And this is precisely the world we pray for when we ask for God's kingdom to come and will to be done on earth as it is already done in heaven. In other words, worship that is totally focused on God enacts what it will be like when the kingdom comes, enacts the fulfillment of human history.

And so perhaps the biggest question when it comes to how best to do worship is: How do we become so radically centered on God that we cannot help but offer thanks and praise and song? So how do we do that?

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