Vic Turner’s classic study on spirituality (“The Darkness of God”) points out that the experiences described in Eastern Orthodox spirituality, actually have their origin in the monastic liturgies; a far cry from the disconnected individualistic fascination with personal phenomena common in discussions today.
The same is true of the Pentecostal use of spiritual gifts (1 Co. 12-14), which is always described, Scripturally, in the context of the gathered church; whereas, today, these have largely been relegated to the realm of personal devotional life.
Furthermore, collective worship has an eschatological dimension. This is usually as aspect of Catholic investigation under the rubric of “liturgy”, in particular the Eucharist itself. This is seen as the site of the Divine-human encounter.
And, as Paul wrote, it points to its as-yet unrealised actualisation in the future Kingdom: “until he comes” (1 Co. 11.26). While Jesus himself remarks he will not eat or drink again of this meal, until the Kingdom arrives in its fullness (Lk. 22.16, 18).
The Lord’s Supper, therefore, not only points backwards, in commemoration, but also forwards, in anticipation. It is the spiritual location of a trans-temporal reality, as we meet with Christ himself in the elements, by faith.
But this is true, not only narrowly, of the Communion meal, but of all worship. Here wwe may supplant the traditional term “liturgy”; originally referring to public service works of the Greek city council, such as bridge-building or viaduct construction), and transferred to the “service” of their gods, and then of our God.
All worship, all praise, is through Christ, and his death on the cross, through the blood (He. 10.19-22). But this is not limited to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Rather, it is through faith, in what the blood has accomplished for us. Through this one-off historic space-time act, we have access to the Father in worship. Not to devalue the Communion, which concentrates that access symbolically.
Entered into, through Christ’s sacrifice, however, the worship, which is largely envisioned in Scripture, is congregational. So we are enjoined not to neglect this means of grace and encouragement (He. 10.24-25). And that congregation is not only earthly, but heavenly (He. 12.22-24).
By faith, we join with the worship currently going on in the heavenly places, and which will one day fill the new heaven and earth. Simultaneously, then, we unite, along a double-barrelled dielectic, the trans-temporal, a trans-spatial spectrum: that is, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of eschatology. So, what is now, in the present, in the heavenlies, will also be in the future, when the heavenly and earthly are (re-)united in the new creation (Re. 21.1-2).
So, in worship, through the liturgy, we combine the experience now, of both pneumatic ranges. As John was enabled by the Spirit to perceive, and to participate in, the heavenly worship (Re. 4, 5, 7), so are we. Thus are we returned to the exercise of spiritual gifts, which are the “powers of the age to come” (He. 6.5). Jesus, too, came and inaugurated the Age of the Spirit, which the demonic powers recognised, although they suspected trickery, as it had happened before they expected (Mt. 8.29).
There is a danger, here, of concentrating on the subjective elements of worship, the “feeling” of the worshipper(s), from a particular worship session; which inevitably will become reduced to a evaluation by emotional stimulus and response.
Consequently, we need to underline that this is an objectively true experience, irrespective of the state of our affections. Just as God is “present” at all times, but a presence which we can consciously enter into, by faith, acting on the reality it entails; so too, we are also “present”, by faith, through the Spirit, like John, to these heavenly veracities.
And this meeting, this encounter, with the Living God, is always transformative; as we make ourselves present to the supernatural powers of his Presence. At its best, this is what we experience at KCBC; not always, because our own faith-level, and spiritual awareness, fluctuates. Nevertheless, at times, with the anointing, the falling down, of the Spirit, we do touch, collectively, the hem of his garment.
This means, therefore, that true worship is always missional. Not in the sense that it is a pragmatic means of producing conversions, or the seeker-sensitive atmosphere for church visitors. No, such worship, where the Age to Come comes down from heaven, may actually be so awe-inspiring that it scares people, with the actuality of God himself. As Annie Dillard once wrote, if we really understood what we were doing in church we would wear crash helmets for protection!
As we enter into praise, however, we do catch a vision of God’s heart, of his ultimate purposes; and this is eschatological. Thus we are mobilised to join in his plans, for the redemption of the entire cosmos: the Missio Dei. We don’t worship, instrumentally, in order to achieve this goal, as if we were the masters. But, we are saved, precisely in order to proclaim his praise (1 Pe. 2.9).
Thus, in surrendering to God, we expand our understanding of him, and are thereby enabled to increase our commitment to those wider intentions. Praise thereby is political; that is, we anticipate the justice God will establish on the earth, and receiving this inspiration, we commit ourselves, as a community to seek this goal.
This means that the first priority in mission, for ourselves, as well as for the community we serve, is the establishment of true Spirit. This is similar, in strategy to the Catholic monks, sent out into Eastern Europe, during the Middle Ages, to plant the Gospel. The first thing they did, was to launch the liturgy, in their case the Mass. Likewise, today, Youth With A Mission emphasise their own worship, in their mission teams, as itself a missional posture.
In this way, we lay claim, to this territory, in the name of Jesus, and proclaim that this patch of earth is now God’s Kingdom, in prophetic anticipation of the Day when the kingdom of this world, will have become the “Kingdom of the Lord and his Messiah, and he will reign for ever” (Re. 11.15).
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