The proper approach to worship has concerned faithful men ever since the first crime was committed by Cain, whose mistaken idea of worship led him to murder his brother Abel. In the days of Micah the prophet, the proprieties of worship were again brought into focus when he said, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Then comes the classic answer—"He hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good; . . . do justly, . . . love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 6: 6-8).
Today in our earnestness for the finishing of the work of God upon earth we might be able to paraphrase the questions of Micah by substituting certain promotional objectives, as for example, in place of "thousands of rams," would it be more meaningful if we said thousands of subscriptions for the Signs or These Times? And in place of "ten thousands of rivers of oil" say ten thousand Silver Vanguards for Ingathering? It is good to have goals and objectives so long as such goals do not destroy humility and get in the way of worship.
The consciousness that the believers' worship is acceptable to God brings great peace and calmness to the heart of every Christian. But it is so easy to unconsciously accept a custom or follow a tradition in some ritualistic round of religious service and fail to discern that God is not present, however laudable the method of worship may appear to men.
If the Lord of heaven were to enter into our church sanctuary some Sabbath morning we might well be shocked, especially if He were to say to the waiting congregation: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. . . . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55: 8, 9). We all recognize that even after we have done our best we come far short of the standards of God. This should cause us to give more study to our approach to God in Sabbath services that our worship might really be acceptable to Him.
The messenger of the Lord counsels us to "weed out of our conversation everything that is harsh and severe."—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 225. This is good counsel not only for us individually in our everyday life but also for the church as a whole regarding our worship hour. And we as a people would profit greatly if we would accept this counsel as a standard of conduct in the regular Sabbath services and especially during the Communion and the ordinance of humility.
I have found through experience that there is sometimes an unconscious feeling of awkwardness among our believers regarding our communion services. This, I believe, could be removed and changed so that this sacred worship hour might be the most inspirational of all our services, and be more acceptable to the Holy Spirit as well as to believers and even unbelievers.
I have also noticed that there is some uneasiness in having this sacred service conducted during the eleven o'clock hour, especially where we have large congregations. Instead of seeking to solve the problems and remove the awkwardness of this sacred service, it is shifted to a remote and more secluded hour when only believers are present.
The same inspired counsel quoted above declares that "the prevailing monotony of the religious round of service in our churches needs to be disturbed. . . . The Holy Spirit's power will move upon hearts when this dead, lifeless monotony is broken up, and many will begin to work in earnest who never before thought of being anything but idle spectators."—Ibid., p. 204.
Is there anything the church could do today to change the "monotony" of the Communion Sabbath? How might we turn mere spectators into participants and create in them the desire to become earnest workers in the cause of God? In answering these questions let us think of that first Lord's Supper when the Master served His disciples. This, you remember, was only a few hours before His trial and crucifixion. First He prepared those who were to partake by washing their feet, a beautiful symbol of cleansing their hearts. Then He gathered them around Him as He talked about the divine provision for our victory over sin.
Would it help if our elders, deacons, and deaconesses were to conduct the first service of preparation between Sabbath school and church? To prevent undue haste in this service of preparation it might be wise to plan an extra ten minutes between Sabbath school and the worship hour. It would not be difficult to have the church members separate immediately following Sabbath school; then when the whole congregation meets for the service of worship, instead of the pulpit being in the center of the rostrum the Lord's table could be there. The elders and pastor could take their places immediately around the communion table, and worship could be led from the table of the Lord. As the pastor expounds the Word from his place at the head of the table he could more easily lead the congregation to enter into the spirit of real family fellowship, as did the Master and His disciples. And this could be done in the ancient way as was the Sabbath worship in Nazareth when the Scripture says, "And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them. This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4: 20, 21).
It was customary for the rabbi to be seated as a teacher when giving forth his message. If the communion worship hour were made a real type of the final great supper of the Lamb it would have far-reaching effects upon the congregation. It is always inspiring when the pastor draws lessons from the Word of God that focus the attention upon the great marriage supper of the Lamb, when immortal saints from all the ages will meet around a table miles and miles in length and be served by Him whose victory on the cross makes possible our victory over sin. We conquer through the blood of the Lamb. This should be emphasized at every communion service.
Our congregations need to experience a new Pentecost, and we believe it will help if such a simple plan as this is carried out. It could well have been that the apostolic church was seated around the communion table when the Holy Spirit fell, for we read in Acts 2:2: "Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting."
This suggestion is not an attempt to be different, but a sincere desire to encourage true fellowship and also break up the "monotony of the religious round of service in our churches," as we are admonished by the messenger of the Lord.
No service is richer in spiritual possibilities than the communion service, especially if the choir were to sing quietly that beautiful hymn "Break Thou the Bread of Life" while the deacons distribute the bread to the congregation. And again the consecrated choir might echo the feelings of all hearts as they sing "My Jesus, I Love Thee" as the congregation receives the wine representing the spilt blood of Christ for the sins of the world.
When the entire membership joins anew in worship through the communion service they cannot help radiating the love of God to their neighbors, their fellow men, and to one another. "Then will the church have power to move the world."—Christ's Object Lessons, p. 340. Should we not be seeking for this power in ways out of the usual? If this challenge is accepted in the spirit of humility I am confident it will bring great blessing to the church. This service has been instituted to bring spiritual strength to God's people and to lead us into a consecration which will prepare us for the final crisis of this world's history.
