Many, perhaps most, Christians believe that God’s worship must be regulated. For this majority, worship is regulated by sincerity and ability to evoke “authentic” emotions. I recently heard this comment, “I used to believe dance had no place in worship until I saw someone perform a ballet to Psalm 23. It brought me to tears. Since then I realize that dance really can be worshipful.” I did not ask how it is possible to get a sheep into a tutu.
The underlying assumption is that what pleases the worshiper is pleasing to God. This is not a safe assumption. It entices worshipers away from a right understanding of the one true God and invites his wrath. Confronting this sentiment is difficult. Grandparents do not understand why little Johnny cannot worship Jesus with a performance on his guitar. The congregation would be so blessed. This type of confrontation requires just the sort of pastoral hand that Jeremiah Burroughs provides in his work, Gospel Worship.
Where does one begin when addressing sentimentality in worship? As Reverend Burroughs would answer, introduce him again to his God. This he does beginning at the sine qua non passage in Leviticus 10. His objective is to set before the believer a vision of God that strikes at the heart of flippancy in worship. That vision is of a God who takes the life of two young men whose grandparents might not have understood why their “sincere” performance was unacceptable. There are other places in Scripture where men’s lives are taken away with breathtaking immediacy. Genesis 38 and Judah’s sons come to mind. But in Genesis 38 only six words describe God’s judgment, “so the Lord took his life,” (v. 6) or, “so he took his life also” (v. 10). [1]
Reverend Burroughs helps us to appreciate the gravity and drama of this event by pointing out two details.[2] The first is that Nadab and Abihu were “consumed” by the fire that came out from the Lord’s presence, and yet their bodies, still in their tunics, were able to be carried to the outside of the camp. (Lev. 10:2-5). The second is that the offense of these two men was committed against a non-explicit command.
“Where do we find that ever God had forbidden them to offer strange Fire, or appointed that they should offer only one kind of Fire? There is no text of Scripture that you can find from the beginning of Genesis to this place, where God hath said in terminis, in so many words expressly, You shall offer no fire but one kind of fire. And yet here they are consumed by Fire from God, for offering strange Fire.”[3]
Although, as Burroughs explains, there is no explicit command against burning “strange fire,” there most certainly is the insistence that God’s name must be sanctified in the tabernacle (Ex 29:43).[4] And, this sanctification will take place in one of two ways. Either, “the Saints do Sanctify God in their hearts when they fear God as a Holy God,” or “God sanctifies himself, that is in ways of Judgment upon those that do not in ways of Holiness sanctify his Name.”[5]
This consideration of God’s demand for sanctification either in the hearts of believers or in judgment develops a driving them of this book. When believers come to worship God, they must do so realizing they are “drawing nigh unto Him.”[6] And, he will be sanctified among them. Among many things then, Reverend Burroughs has us consider that sometimes, this sanctification involves submitting to commands of God we do not fully understand. “So God would have some ways for the honoring of him, that the Creature should not see into the reason of them, but merely the will of God to have them.”[7] As well we are to understand that “the glory of [God’s] Name is a thousand thousand more dear unto God than the lives of thousands of people; the lives of Nadab and Abihu must go, that God may be sanctified.”[8] This is a sobering thought. God be praised that he chooses to honor the glory of his Name by bringing many sons to glory.
As we draw nigh unto God then, we must do so with preparation. This is a theme Reverend Burroughs visits at length beginning in sermon three, and then revisits when he considers each of the aspects of biblical worship. “There must be due preparation unto the worship of God that we exercise ourselves in at any time.”[9] And, helpfully, he reminds us of reasons why we need to prepare: our hearts are not naturally prepared for every good work, God is great and the “duties of God’s worship are great duties,” because of “the great hindrances of the worship of God,” even the heathens prepare for their worship, uprightness of heart flows from preparation.[10]
The duty of preparation is an overlooked one. A father can attest to the difficulty of preparing his family for worship. His heart and the hearts of his children have great need of this each Lord’s Day. And when Reverend Burroughs reminds us there are “great hindrances of the worship of God,” we understand he does not only mean external ones.
When we reflect on the demands of godly worship we realize how far short we fall. No man is able to say he is always perfectly prepared. He cannot say that he always attends upon the worship of God without distraction, or that he always utterly sanctifies the Name of God in his heart in the performance of worship. When we noted earlier that Reverend Burroughs intends to introduce us again to our God, this lowliness of heart is the desired outcome. When we look into the real demand of worship, we should only conclude that we sin. That God cares about the minutest detail of his worship, and sincerity cannot cover over our failure to worship him in the heat of his gaze. He is not like us.
We see that “the work of religion is a hard and difficult work to flesh and blood.” And, we have “aggravated [our] sins by [our] holy duties.” Therefore, when we draw nigh to God, we do it not in our own strength.
In Sermon VIII, Reverend Burroughs begins to deal the special duties of God’s worship. They are: the hearing of the Word, receiving of the Sacrament (the Lord’s Table), and prayer. In seven sermons he explains how each of these duties must be carried out. Specifically, he shows how God’s Name is to be sanctified in them.
As in general, so in specific, each of these duties must be approached with a due measure of preparation. The aim of this preparation is to engage our soul in the gravity of our participation in this duty. With regard to the hearing of the Word, what is it we are going to hear? “That what you are to hear is the Word of God, That it is not the speaking of a man that you are going to attend upon, but that you are now going to attend upon God, and to hear the Word of the Eternal God.”[11] In all, attendance upon the hearing of the Word of God is to be done with preparation, temperament of soul, and a readiness to humble ourselves before it.
As well, we can appreciate the reproach he casts on those who wish to attend upon sermons from home – in Reverend Burroughs’ day that involved reading sermons. In the modern day that involves any number of different media. The same truth holds true in his case as in ours,
“you come to attend upon this Ordinance for the conveyance of some spiritual good that (it may be) hath not been conveyed before, or in a further degree than it hath been conveyed before: and so you should come to hear the Word with your hearts possessed with that meditation, That it is the Word of God, and the great Ordinance that God hath appointed for the conveyance of spiritual good.”[12]
The hearing of the Word is followed by the sacrament of the Lord’s Table. Reverend Burroughs defines this sacrament as “outward things that are made holy, for holy and spiritual ends.”[13] It is the seal of the Covenant of Grace, and as he views it, “there is no duty in all the book of God that I know of, that is urged with more strength and severity than this is.”[14] Hence to sanctify the Name of God in the Sacrament must be met with due mindfulness, again – preparation. It is not “an ordinance to make holy.”[15] That is the ordinance of the Word. The unregenerate may attend upon that ordinance with frequency. Instead, the Sacrament “supposes conversion.”[16]
Reverend Burroughs’ practical considerations in this portion are gems. For instance, he reminds us that Christ gave it to all, therefore the elements should not be placed individually in the hands (or mouths). Rather, all should observe it at once. “Christ did but give it once, he gave it to them all, and said, Drink ye all of this, so it was done.”[17]
Prayer is the third of the three duties of worship. Here there is, again, excellent instruction on preparation. He also gives excellent instruction on the manner of praying for certain things. He wrote, “Spiritual things may be prayed for absolutely; but outward things must be prayed for conditionally.”[18] Prayers for salvation ought to be offered absolutely based on the promise of God. Prayers for physical healing ought to be offered conditionally. We ask conditionally understanding God does not always heal or answer in the way we would like.
In all of these duties, we approach with preparation. How much could be gained by calling the people of God simply to prepare themselves for worship, and then to guide them in it? Might we expect fewer brothers and sisters to be moved by ballet movements to Psalm 23, and rather to see greater beauty in its exposition? This consideration is certainly convicting on a personal level, and is of significant use for the pastor and parishioner alike.
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the NASB.
[2] Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel-Worship: OR, The Right Manner of Drawing Nigh to God, in General: And Particularly in These Three Great ORDINANCES: Viz. 1. Hearing the WORD. 2. Receiving the Lord’s SUPPER. 3. PRAYER. (Titus Books, 2015), Kindle Edition.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
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