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Feb 04, 2018

Servant Leadership: Liturgists

Servant Leadership: Liturgists

Passage: Psalms 48:1-14

Speaker: Michael E. Karunas

Series: Servant Leadership

Category: Leadership

Sermon Delivered at Central Christian Church  February 4, 2018 Michael E. Karunas

 

Read Psalm 48

The temple in Jerusalem – built 900 years before the time of Christ – sat high on a hill.  The hill was so high it was called a “mountain.”  Zion was its name, Mt. Zion.  Therefore, to enter the temple one had to climb up; ascend; travel upward.  As pilgrims came from places far and wide, they would see the temple sitting high on Mt. Zion – majestically; as though it were perched there by God for all to see.  And when these pilgrims saw the temple off in the distance – they would begin to sing (or chant) Psalms to God. 

There are 150 Psalms in the bible and all of them were meant to be sung or chanted.  Some of them were called “Psalms of Ascent” and they would be chanted by the pilgrims and worshippers even before they got to the temple.  Even before they arrived at the house of worship; before worship had even started, they would sing.  As they ascended up the hill to the temple, they would sing as a way of getting ready to step into God’s presence.  The temple was God’s holy house – the literal home where God really and truly lived.  So to step into the temple was to stand in the very presence of God. 

PS 48 is one of those Psalms of Ascent, recited to get worshippers ready to meet God and worship God.  Here are vv. 1-2 of that Psalm again (PS 48:1-2) We have the feeling, as we read this, of the pilgrims looking at the majestic temple far off in the distance and admiring its beauty as they approached it.  The purpose of these Psalms of Ascent – like PS 48 – was to proclaim God’s greatness and how worthy of praise and worship God is.  In fact, the temple itself was a monument to that greatness.

In the ancient world, every culture believed in polytheism.  That is, they worshipped many gods.  But even so, they believed that one God was supreme over all other gods.  They believed that the gods would battle with one another until one god emerged as the greatest of them all.   And they would build a shrine or monument to that god.  The size and scope of the monument was a sign of how great you believed your god was.  Well, our ancestors knew – as we know – that our God is not only greater than all other gods, there were (and are) no other real gods beside our God; that our God was / is the one true God.  And so the temple had to be the greatest of all shrines and monuments in the world!  Which, PS 48 tells us, it was.  Read PS 48:1-2

And how did one god reign supreme over all other gods?  How did our God stand as the one, true God (over all other gods were really imposters)?  By controlling the weather.  In this part of the world, the Middle East, then and now, rainfall was scarce and famine was common.  Whichever god could control the weather and “make it rain” was clearly the god who was most powerful.  Therefore, we have a wonderful story in the Old Testament of a people in the far north worshipping a god they thought could control the weather.  But during a famine, 450 priests of that god gathered on a mountain and even though they prayed to that god all day for rain, no rain came.  Immediately afterward, one prophet of our God – Elijah – prayed a simple prayer asking for rain and our God brought rain to fall.  That’s why PS 48 says: Read PS 48:2b-3. 

So Psalm 48 begins with the people gathering at the temple to worship and they way to prepare for worship is by praising the greatness of our mighty God!  Read 48:1

But then there is a shift in the tone of Psalm 48 once we get to the middle of it.  Here’s what vv. 9-10 say: Read PS 48:9-10.  The purpose of coming to the temple in worship in praise of God was to ponder God’s eternal love, which reaches every part of the earth.  To meditate, reflect, consider God’s great love.  This is similar to PS ??? which says: “When I considered the ways of the world; why things happen the ways they do; and how things in life often don’t make sense; I was confused… until I went to the sanctuary of the Lord.”  Why do we come to God’s holy house?  Why do we come here and worship?  To gain perspective and make sense of life; to gain understanding; of God’s love and promise to provide, in spite of whatever may be happening out “there.”  As we said last week, we come to worship to be reminded that God’s Word can always be trusted… even if the promises seem late in arriving. 

Because love is the defining characteristic of God.  God loves you!  And God promises to take care of those God loves.  That never changes.  The conditions of our earthly life will change, but God’s love for you in the midst of those changes never will.  We come to the sanctuary of the Lord – the house of God – to reflect on this truth so that we never forget it.  This is the heart of PS 48. 

And then, finally, PS 48 ends with the people going out and walking around the temple again; for the purpose of proclaiming what was just learned in worship.  That God is great; that God is love; and that God will be our guide forever.  Read vv. 12-14  I have never been to Las Vegas.  But even still, I’m aware that there is a saying that goes “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”  But that is not so in the church!  PS 48 reminds us that what is received in worship, what is experienced in the temple, is not meant to stay here.  It is meant to be shared.  So that others – in particular the generations after us – will know of God’s love and God’s promise to be with us forever. 

And that is the format of our worship services even today.  Our services are modeled after Psalm 48.  First, we gather – with music, a call to worship (responsive reading), and an invocation (an opening prayer).  Second, we meditate on God’s Word – through the reading of scripture, a sermon, and communion (a symbolic expression of God’s love).  Third, we go out – sharing what we have received here (in church) with others. 

Today is week four of our sermon series called “Servant Leadership.”  Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant.”  Each week we are looking at a servant role in our church; some of the ones most associated with worship, with the goal of sharing the ministry of this church with more and more servant leaders.  Today our theme is Liturgist.  The Liturgist is someone who helps us with the first part of worship – the gathering.  The role of the Liturgist is to help us gather for worship – by leading us in two things: a Call to Worship, which is always done responsively.  Because the word “Liturgy” means “work of the people” and so calling us together for worship is something we all do and not the ordained ministers.  In the Call to Worship we proclaim the greatness of God, just like PS 48 encourages us to do.  And the Liturgist also offers an “Invocation.”  This our opening prayer and the word “invocation” means to “call upon.”  To call upon God to be present with us in our worship and bestow upon us the vastness of God’s steadfast love.