Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Scripture: Revelation 5.11-13
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and
the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,
“Worthy is the lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor
and glory and blessing!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in
them, singing,
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and
ever.”
Devotion:
Blessing. Honor. Praise. Power. Might. Glory. These are words we hear over and over again. In truth, Christianity is full of repetition. I once had a congregation member say to me: “Why should I go to church every Sunday? It’s pretty much the same thing every time; it’s not like I would miss anything by staying home.” We sort of prickle up a bit at the suggestion that we Christians are boring, but there is no denying the repetition: we say the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday, we sing the Doxology every Sunday, the order of worship remains the same each Sunday, and we repeat phrases like “In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God.” Every. Single. Sunday. Why? Are pastors just not creative enough? Are we just boring people? If we are repeating these things and the routine is the same, why bother to do it every week?
The truth is very simple: we need this repetition. When pandemic hit and suddenly basic parts of our daily routine, like going to the grocery store or school or work, like going to church, suddenly became either difficult or impossible to do, when all of the habits we rely on suddenly went away, we realized how much repetition and routine are crucial to our daily functioning. They create a foundation of expected things that we can rely on; they feel familiar and allow us to feel at home. More than that, we need to repeat words like “honor” and “glory” and “praise” like we find in today’s scripture because although we repeat them, we do
not know their fullest meaning. There are times when we need to wake up from our routine and revisit the
words that are so familiar to us, that we have heard a million times, and hear them in a new light.
And then there are times when our own words fail. When the idea of putting into words what we are feeling or going through is overwhelming, we rely on words spoken throughout time. In the same way that The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, a poem by T.S. Eliot, has phrases that express emotions deep in my heart, expressions I could not properly describe myself, in the same way that I can listen to an Ed Sheeran song and think “someone finally put words to that feeling of mine,” so the words of scriptures like this and the words of the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed and the 23 rd Psalm carry us through moments when our own words fail. Leaning into this repetition gives us comfort and respite and a firm foundation on which to land and walk. Certainly, new words and new worship experiences can come about to liven up our faith journey, but the old…the tried and true…will still be there as well to guide us.
This week, we’ll be singing a song, “Mighty to Save,” which might be a new song to some of us, but I think
you’ll find that this song takes some words and phrases that are quite familiar to us and gives us a chance to see them in a new light. I pray that you’ll lean into the routine and repetition and join us for worship on
Sunday, May 1!
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and
the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,
“Worthy is the lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor
and glory and blessing!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in
them, singing,
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and
ever.”
Devotion:
Blessing. Honor. Praise. Power. Might. Glory. These are words we hear over and over again. In truth, Christianity is full of repetition. I once had a congregation member say to me: “Why should I go to church every Sunday? It’s pretty much the same thing every time; it’s not like I would miss anything by staying home.” We sort of prickle up a bit at the suggestion that we Christians are boring, but there is no denying the repetition: we say the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday, we sing the Doxology every Sunday, the order of worship remains the same each Sunday, and we repeat phrases like “In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God.” Every. Single. Sunday. Why? Are pastors just not creative enough? Are we just boring people? If we are repeating these things and the routine is the same, why bother to do it every week?
The truth is very simple: we need this repetition. When pandemic hit and suddenly basic parts of our daily routine, like going to the grocery store or school or work, like going to church, suddenly became either difficult or impossible to do, when all of the habits we rely on suddenly went away, we realized how much repetition and routine are crucial to our daily functioning. They create a foundation of expected things that we can rely on; they feel familiar and allow us to feel at home. More than that, we need to repeat words like “honor” and “glory” and “praise” like we find in today’s scripture because although we repeat them, we do
not know their fullest meaning. There are times when we need to wake up from our routine and revisit the
words that are so familiar to us, that we have heard a million times, and hear them in a new light.
And then there are times when our own words fail. When the idea of putting into words what we are feeling or going through is overwhelming, we rely on words spoken throughout time. In the same way that The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, a poem by T.S. Eliot, has phrases that express emotions deep in my heart, expressions I could not properly describe myself, in the same way that I can listen to an Ed Sheeran song and think “someone finally put words to that feeling of mine,” so the words of scriptures like this and the words of the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed and the 23 rd Psalm carry us through moments when our own words fail. Leaning into this repetition gives us comfort and respite and a firm foundation on which to land and walk. Certainly, new words and new worship experiences can come about to liven up our faith journey, but the old…the tried and true…will still be there as well to guide us.
This week, we’ll be singing a song, “Mighty to Save,” which might be a new song to some of us, but I think
you’ll find that this song takes some words and phrases that are quite familiar to us and gives us a chance to see them in a new light. I pray that you’ll lean into the routine and repetition and join us for worship on
Sunday, May 1!