Worship and Edification | Dana C. Baldwin

Introduction

There are two aspects to worship: vertical, which is between the person and God, and horizontal, which is between the worshipers. Both are a necessary part of our assembly time. Some erroneously believe that the only thing that matters is the vertical. If that were the case, then why would we meet together at all? It reminds me of the story of the little boy who was taken to a worship assembly. His mother had told him how important it was to be quiet and to sit still. The little boy watched as his mother bowed her head and closed her eyes. Sitting still for only a short time, the little boy began to watch as others around him were doing the same thing. Filled with curiosity the little boy leaned over to his mother and whispered, “Mom, who are we hiding from?”

The vertical is important. But there are too many “one another” passages in the New Testament to either ignore the horizontal or to act as if it is secondary. This morning we are going to look at the importance of the horizontal in our worship. Paul in 1 Corinthians calls it edification. The Hebrew writer calls it encouragement. Two different words with similar meanings. In both places the idea is to build up and to urge to action. Let’s begin with a time of greeting one another. While we have come to express praise to our Father, we have done so together. We are not here to hide from one another, nor are we here to isolate ourselves. We have come together to enter God’s throne room and together to encourage each other. Let’s greet one another.

Why Worship Together?

The Hebrew writer is trying to persuade Jewish Christians not to give up their faith in the sufficiency of Christ to deal with their sin. He has written about the superiority of Jesus to the angels, to Moses, to Aaron as high priest, and the superiority of the new covenant which Christ established to the old covenant which came through Moses. Beginning in 10:19, the writer begins the conclusion of the letter. The “therefore” of verse 19 is a summary word. Based on what he has written, the Christian has the confidence needed to enter God’s throne room. Because of Jesus’s death on the cross, then we can approach God with great confidence and boldness.

What the writer would have us understand is that Jesus’s death on the cross was so that we could have an intimate relationship with God. Jesus himself becomes our mediator. Unlike a high priest whose sin had to be dealt with first, Jesus had no sin. He completely and fully dealt with our sin. Therefore, we can boldly go into the Most Holy Place or the dwelling place of God because Jesus has sufficiently provided that bridge for us.

This letter was written to Jews. It is filled with references to Jewish practices. This section is no different. The basis for the writer is the fellowship offering found in Leviticus chapter 3 and 7. While Jesus is the sacrificial offering to deal with sin, when we approach God in the Most Holy Place we do so because He has extended a covenant of fellowship to us. In this offering the blood of the sacrifice was caught in a basin and was sprinkled on the altar to symbolize atonement, but the body of the animal was roasted on the altar as a fragrant sacrifice to the Lord, and then it was shared with the worshipers at a fellowship meal. It was understood that the meal was hosted by God. The meal symbolized the intimacy of the fellowship with the Lord. It became an occasion for the public confession of God’s covenant faithfulness. This fellowship offering stressed the reality of being set apart for God’s purposes. With this background we can now appreciate what the writer is saying.

Let’s notice the way the author alludes to the peace offering in the next four verses. Verse 22 tells us we draw near. Drawing near is a way of describing worship. Notice in 10:1 the same phrase is used. Sacrifices alone could not perfect the worshiper who draws near to God in worship. According to verse 22 because of the blood of Jesus we can now draw near to God to worship Him. Our worship is acceptable because of what Jesus has done for us.

Then in verse 23 we are to declare the goodness of God and his covenant love. It was at the fellowship offering that a person declared his complete commitment. He made a vow to remain close to God and the worshiper declared the goodness of God.

Verse 24 tells us that the fellowship offering was never made in isolation. The fellowship offering was not just between God and the worshiper. The entire family or a group of families took the meal together. It was a time of thanksgiving and of celebration. It was time to announce God’s goodness and to revel in his love. It was a time to declare one’s unswerving commitment to honoring God with his life.

Surely the similarity between our own worship assembly and the fellowship offering cannot be missed. As the fellowship meal expressed faith, hope and love, so our assembly announces the same things. While one may express faith and hope vertically, the expression of love according to the Hebrew writer is only possible in community. We join together to express thanks to God for his covenant and we gather to mutually encourage one another to faith, hope, and love. This is the reason why the Hebrew writer warns those who are not at the assembly. Worship and mutual encouragement are the responsibility of those who are in covenant with God. To neglect the assembly was to insinuate that God’s covenant and each other were unimportant.

Application

So what are we to do with this information? If our meeting together is to emphasize not only the vertical but the horizontal, then we must make a concerted effort to emphasize both. The first point is that encouragement doesn’t just happen. It must be planned for and allowed. We have heard so many good things about our assembly time. I know a lot of encouragement takes place after the assembly and that is good and it needs to continue. But during the assembly time we isolate ourselves. Paul writes about the importance of edification in 1 Corinthians 14. The entire first letter to Corinth was written to people who were divided. The purpose of the letter is to restore unity. Paul addresses the assembly in later chapters. His point is they are not acting in love. In fact they are more interested in edifying themselves than each other.

Paul says we must think about how we can edify the other person. We must give conscious thought to making edification and encouragement a part of our assembly. Encouragement doesn’t just happen. It must be planned and implemented. We need to ask the question, “How can we maximize encouragement in our assemblies?” We have good unity. We must be willing to demonstrate that unity in our assembly time as well.

Second, if you wanted to encourage someone, how would you do it and what would be most effective? We might write a card. We might have someone over for a meal. We might say something verbally. All are very effective. Let’s suppose that you had someone over for a meal. You would probably sit around a table. Can you imagine saying nothing during the meal? As host, what if you said, “During our meal let’s just quietly reflect on our friendship and what we mean to each other. Then after the meal you can leave.” You might host that family once, but probably not again. We share a meal together every Sunday. Is there a way to demonstrate the horizontal during that time?

Third, our discomfort with edification doesn’t free us to ignore the command. The Hebrew writer and Paul emphasize the importance of encouragement. Both emphasize encouragement during the assembly. Our hesitancy, our reluctance, our uncomfortableness with change do not excuse us from following the directives of scripture. I will never forget Bess Stewart’s decision to be baptized. Bess was crippled by arthritis. Climbing stairs was a real chore. What if she had said, “You know I’m just real uncomfortable taking these steps or I’m reluctant to take these stairs.” While other arrangements could have been made, the point is she was determined to obey God. Let’s not be any less determined to make encouragement a part of our assembly.

So how do we do this? I don’t have all the answers. God has given us all a certain level of creativity to think through these things. If there were only 15 of us, our assembly would be radically different. Pews, microphones, and formality would go by the wayside. For 200 of us, we have more formality. But must we exchange encouragement for formality? You think about how it could be done. What would you do right now to encourage someone? Just because you don’t think you need it doesn’t mean that everyone is just like you. There are some today who need to be encouraged. How would you do it?

I’m not encouraged through isolation. I freely admit that I like to be with people. Perhaps those geared to being introverts can be encouraged without having anything said to them. Perhaps just being here helps you to feel connected. I hope so. But I’m thankful that God didn’t allow us to remain isolated. With clear purpose he sent Jesus into this world so that we would know we are not alone. God actually came and lived among us. Jesus spent his ministry touching people, talking with people, eating with people, looking people in the eye and telling them how important they were and how they needed to see things from God’s perspective. He encouraged people to walk close to God. When he stooped down and washed the feet of Peter and Judas he told them that his followers would serve that same way. Physical demonstrations of an attitude which says, “I am here for you. Together we will honor God.” We must not ignore the wish of our Savior for our own comfort levels.

Giving our lives to God means that we recognize that we need to change. Our own comfort is not important. What is important is that we change so that we honor God.

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