Worship is not boring

I recently heard a friend talking about her church, and she said, "I love the people but the worship is boring." What an oxymoron! I know that she meant the music was not her preferred style, but as I thought about her statement, I realized that worship cannot be boring. Worship is the crowning achievement, the biggest moment, the ultimate intimate encounter of our life. It is when we engage in worshipping an Almighty God that we are practicing the eternal purpose that we were created for. It is impossible to be bored with spending time in the presence of our Creator.

I frequently reread Isaiah 6 as a reminder of what a worship experience looks like from a heavenly perspective. Is. 6: 1-4 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Hovering around him were mighty seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with the remaining two they flew. In a great chorus they sang, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty! The whole earth is filled with his glory! The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke.

I wonder what is was like to be Isaiah and experience the whole Temple shaking on its foundations because of the praises of Almighty God. Certainly not boring! (Whiners about loud music, beware!) There's so much in this passage about worship, but the thing that I recently noticed was the smoke. I became curious....why is there smoke in the Throne Room? And why is it mentioned here? What's on fire?

Then I remembered reading about an incense altar in the Old Testament that always had burning incense rising to the heavens (Ex. 30, 37) and followed that lead over into the New Testament where things began to make more sense. Heb 13:15 With Jesus' help, let us continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by proclaiming the glory of his name Rev. 8:3-4 Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to be offered on the old altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of the saints, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.

So back to the smoke in Isaiah. Our prayers and praises rise up to the Throne Room in the same way incense offerings did long ago. We do not have to wait for eternity to be actively engaged in worshipping God. Our prayers, and our praises are in his Throne Room now. With the angels. We are a part of the worship that is currently taking place in Heaven. It is not worship that is boring, it is that sometimes our perspective is limited. It is a beautiful expression of the created's love and adoration for the Creator. Worship and boring can't describe the same event. If they do, then it is time for a serious reevaluation of how we are trying to engage people in worship.