Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.” (NLT)

Do you ever struggle to engage in worship? I think it is easy to forget what worship really is about. The verse we are looking at here shines a light on this topic. This set of verses can be a bit challenging because it is John’s interpretation of a set of visions he experienced while exiled to the island of Patmos. In the opening of Revelation 4, John describes seeing a door open in heaven and hearing a voice inviting him to come up. From this heavenly view, he would see future events. When he arrived, John saw God on a throne, surrounded by twenty-four other thrones. In front of God's throne was a sea of glass, and four living creatures were nearby. As these creatures praised God, the elders on the twenty-four thrones worshiped him, casting their crowns at his feet.

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In chapter 7 of The Party Crasher, author Joshua Ryan Butler talks about “gathered practices” (those things we do when we gather at church) and “scattered practices” (the things we do in the rest of our life outside of church). This set of verses relates to the first gathered practice described, which is the “Call to Worship.”

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The author painted a poignant word picture that the biblical focus in this practice is not, “’Hey, everybody, let’s worship!’ (with an emphasis on our action); it is a pulling back of the curtain to unveil, ‘Here’s the One we’ve come to worship!’ (with an emphasis on who God is, as the object of our adoration).” What John experienced during his vision is this “curtain pulled back” moment, which opened his eyes to the presence of the Author of Creation and gave a glimpse of how the occupants of heaven reacted to this moment: with wholehearted worship.

Okay… true confession.  I don’t always treat the worship time during a church service as an acknowledgement of who God is or who I am in relation to him. If you are like me, the phases of the service can become almost formulaic. This is one of the reasons why this section of the book hit me so strongly. It was a great reminder of what the call to worship really represents. When I read about how the four creatures and the 24 elders responded to God’s presence, I was embarrassed with my response. Likewise, I look at the overall thesis of Butler’s book and realize that, in the same way, I allow my attitudes about politics and the associated issues to be equally formulaic. I can find myself judging people based on their political stances, instead of acknowledging that they are a creation of God just like I am. We are all equally called to worship God together and show our alignment to him alone as fellow members of his Kingdom.  

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Jeremiah 32:39-40 comes to mind: “And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me.” As Pastor Brian mentioned in a recent sermon, God’s purpose for us is to worship God and enjoy him forever. I need to keep my “head in the game” when it comes to worship and remember the “why” of it more than the “what.”  Do you share this challenge? If so, let’s seek to make our worship truly about the sole object of our worship: our God who is on the throne!

Dear God, thank you for who you are and what you have done for me. I ask for forgiveness for all the times that I failed to fully recognize who you are during a call to worship. Reveal yourself to me every day and let me remain in awe of who you are. In Jesus’ name, amen.