Worship In, Through, With, and By Christ

WORSHIP NOTES Volume 19, No. 3 (March 2024) Statue of Phillips Brooks, by Augustus Saint Gaudens In the midst of the congregation I [Jesus] will sing Your [the Father’s] praise. (Hebrews 2:12b) Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. (Hebrews 8:2) Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. (Hebrews 10:19–22) We are accepted by God, not because we have offered worthy worship, but in spite of our unworthiness, because He has provided for us a Worship, a Way, a Sacrifice, a Forerunner in Christ our Leader and Representative. This is the heart of all true Christian worship. (James B. Torrance, “The Place of Jesus Christ in Worship,” 352) She was a small, unassuming woman, librarian of the Presbyterian seminary sponsoring the conference I was speaking at in Nigeria. At the end of one of the sessions, the moderator asked this woman to close the time in prayer. I will never forget how she started her prayer: she said, “In Jesus’s name,” and then went on with her prayer to the Father. I was struck at what a profound theological insight that simple practice (her regular practice, as I got to hear later) demonstrated. We habitually tack on “in Jesus’s name” at the end of our prayers, all too often in a rote manner and without reflection on what we are really saying. But prayer in Jesus’s name, and worship in Jesus’s name too, should be based on the conviction that it is only in, through, and by Christ that we en­ter into the Father’s presence with our prayers and our praises. . . . Praying and worshiping in Christ’s name is far more than just tacking on Christ’s name at the end for maximum effect. Rather, it is acknowledging that it is only in Christ and through Christ, by Christ’s priesthood and dressed in Christ’s righteousness, that we can draw near to God at all. . . . We can come confidently and boldly and with assurance precisely because He has opened and shown us the way to the Father (Heb 10:19–22); and not only that, but in fact Jesus takes us with Him into the Father’s presence! (“Be­hold, I and the children God has given me” [Heb 2:13].) Jesus represents us before the Father and presents our prayers and our worship to Him on the basis of His redeeming work on our behalf. We can be sure that our petitions and praises are always accepted because we come in Christ. What a bold way to acknowledge these amazing truths, by beginning prayer with “in Jesus’s name”! It is recognizing that His name—that is, His person and His saving work—is the “key” that opens the door into the Father’s presence; His name is the “password” that gives us entrance. (Ron Man, Let Us Draw Near: Biblical Foundations of Worship, 247–49) God does not throw us back upon ourselves to make our response to His Word. But graciously He helps our infirmities by giving us Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to make the appropriate re­sponse for us and in us. (James B. Torrance, “The Place of Jesus Christ in Worship,” 58) Whenever true worship happens, it is because Jesus Christ is in the midst of his people, leading them in their praises and presenting them to the Father as part of his own perfect offering of praise. No matter what form or style our worship may take, no matter what language, instruments, architecture, or art forms we may use—the power of true worship, in all its wonderfully varied manifestations, is the living Christ in our midst. God accepts and delights in our worship, not because it is so good, so well-rehearsed, so sincere (though all these things are important), but because our Lord Jesus presents it to the Father in our place and on our behalf—and the Father is always pleased with his Son. It is the Son’s excellence that gains the Father’s favor. (Ron Man, Let Us Draw Near: Biblical Foundations of Worship, 316) ___________ Christians, if Jesus is our brother [11b]; if Jesus and we are both of one [11a]; if Jesus says, “I will sing Thy praise in the midst of the congregation” [12]; if He is the leader of our prayers and praises before the throne of God, then we may approach the Father without fear and without doubt! Christ’s peace is our peace, and our worship is the worship of perfect acceptance, of perfect trust and love in union with the Head of the Church. . . . Now He presents the Father our sacrifice of thanksgiving, our adoration, our petitions, and the Father hears the voice of Jesus in the voice of the church. (Adolph Saphir, The Great High Priest: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 147) [On Hebrews 2:12] It is Jesus who is here speaking through the mouth of the Psalmist, and now through this epistle to the Hebrews. It is Jesus who says to His Father, “I will declare Your Name.” It is Jesus who says to His Father, “I will sing Your praises in the great congregation.” It is Jesus who leads us in our worship at the throne of God and says, “Here am I, and the children You have given Me.” [2:13] So that when we say that our worship is centered upon the Lord Jesus Christ, we recognize that it He who invites us and says to us, “Let us worship God, My Father.” It is He who is the One who prays for us as our Advocate and Intercessor. It is He who is the true preacher of the gospel in our hearts, expounding His truth so that His sheep recognize His voice and follow Him. It is He who says to us in the Communion, “This is My body; take it and eat it. This is My blood; take it and drink it.” He presses Himself upon us. And it is He who pronounces over our needy spirits His holy benediction, “My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, but MY peace I give.” And, oh my dear friends, for all the frailty and inadequacy of our worship, for all the frailty and inadequacy of our forms of worship, let us see this and glory in this and have our hearts drawn Lord’s Day and Lord’s Day after this. (Sinclair Ferguson, “Christ-Centred Worship” http://www.tapesfromscotland.org/Audio5/5532.mp3) When we have these high-level conversations about worship pastoring, we can start to get in our head about all the things that need reform, all the things that need changing. and the burden can feel awfully heavy. And we can start to feel either inadequate or a little bit too arrogantly charged up, like I’ve got to change everything. And there’s just a simple reminder that it is Jesus Christ Himself who is every church’s worship pastor: Hebrews 8:2 uses the language ton hagion leitourgos in Greek, a “minister in the holy places” or a “liturgist in the sanctuaries,” or the closest thing to the title “worship pastor.” And the only person ever really given that title in Scripture is in that moment, in Hebrews 8:2: and it’s Jesus, not you or me. And that means that Jesus is more committed to pastoring your local church in worship, and leading us in holy adoration, that you or I ever are. And that’s a relief. That means that in a sense there’s a bit more freedom to process these things without the feeling that If I don’t do it, then our church is sunk. That would a Messiah complex, that would be untrue. And the truth is that Jesus Christ is every church’s worship leader, and Jesus will see us through unto the end. (“Gospel-Centered Worship with Dr. Zac Hicks” on Worship/Theology podcast, at 1:04:32) The all-sufficiency of Christ envelops, enriches, fulfills, and perfects our worship. (Ron Man, Let Us Draw Near: Biblical Foundations of Worship, 315) Related