Revelation 4:3,5a – And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald…From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder…
I’m going to say something that’s controversial which, if you know me, is not surprising – the worship of God is highly produced and passionate and engages all your senses. We would call this production. Right now in the presence of Jesus, I don’t know if an angel’s running the lightboard, but we see “jasper”, “carnelian”, “a rainbow”, “an emerald”, and “flashes of lightning” – that’s lighting and color.
In addition, there’s audio – “rumblings” and “peals of thunder” – and this is my case for subwoofers. I’m not sure if, when the rapture happens, the amps are going to go too, but I do believe Jesus loves Him some bass.
We tend to read this and overly spiritualize it, but it’s very practical. For those of you who are highly religious people, you may say that church shouldn’t be like a concert with smoke, sound, a band, and lighting because that’s just mirroring the world. I think that, right now, there’s something that looks and sounds a lot like a concert in the presence of God.
When we worship, I don’t believe we’re copying the world, I believe we’re copying the Kingdom and people, whether they know God or not, were made for creativity, art, beauty, environment and lighting. People were made to have an entire sensory response to something magnificent, overwhelming, passionate and motivating, so they settle for concerts. We as Christians don’t settle for concerts; we worship.
If you’re a person who hates lighting, you’re going to be disappointed in Heaven. If you ask, “Why do we have subwoofers?”, wait until you see the perfect subwoofers. Throughout Revelation, there are multiple musical instruments mentioned, there are at least 10 new songs sung, there is lighting, there is production. Worship is meant to awaken the passions and appeal to the totality of the whole person because we’re supposed to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.
God cares very much about atmosphere and beauty. I love art, creativity, music, sound, lighting and interior design. I like things to be of a Kingdom quality because, when we get to Heaven, our throne is not going to be broken, there’s not going to be graffiti on the streets lined with gold, there’s not going to be litter in the presence of God. Things will be put together in a beautiful and intentionally architected way and this means that worship environments, beginning in Revelation 4 in the presence of God, should be intentionally architected and designed so someone can respond to God in worship with their whole being.
How many of you are like me and love going to concerts? I definitely love live music and the entire experience but sometimes I think concerts are the counterfeit of worship. Those going to a concert are looking for God whether they know it or not. As Christians, we should at least be as excited to worship God as someone is to attend a concert and we should have at least as much excellence as those putting on a concert would have.
What’s your favorite concert you’ve ever been to? Imagine how much better a heavenly worship “concert” in the presence of God will be.
To get daily devos sent texted to you Monday-Friday, text DEVOTIONS to 99383. Click here to find the sermon series that accompanies this devotional series.