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PRINCIPLES OF
REFORMED WORSHIP
Adopted September 19. 2000 by the
Consistory of the Escondido United Reformed Church
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In preparation for the invasion of Canaan, our covenant God
promised to destroy the nations before us (Deut. 12:29). His
chief complaint against the nations was their pagan worship.
He warned,
…and after they have been destroyed before
you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods,
saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will
do the same." You must not worship the LORD your God in
their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds
of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons
and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods (Deut.
12:30-31).
Here Scripture connects two essential Biblical principles,
antithesis and worship. Antithesis means that God's people are
to be clearly distinct from the surrounding pagan culture and
that difference is to be expressed in worship. Not only are we
not to worship the pagan gods, we are to worship the true God
truly. It is significant then, that to this warning he added,
" See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or
take away from it."
This principle is not confined to the Old Covenant Scriptures.
Our Lord Jesus taught the same doctrine in Revelation 22:18-19.
This is so because God's covenantal Word is united by one covenant
of Grace: I will be your God, you will be my people (Gen 17:1-14;
Ex 6:7; Jer 7:23; 31;31-34.). There is only one Lord, one faith
and one baptism, i.e., one covenant of grace under different
administrations (Ephesians 4:5; see also ). Under Moses, this
covenant was expressed in types and shadows (Col 2:17; Hebrews
10:1; Rom 5:14). In Jesus Christ we have the reality of what
was promised.
Always in the history of salvation, God comes to his people,
announces our redemption and then declares the terms of his covenant:
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out
of the land of slavery. You shall have no other God's before
me." (Exodus 20:2). Indeed the first four commandments speak
directly to worship, "You shall not make for yourself and
idol"; "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord"
and "Remember the Sabbath day."
Thus his covenant word, including his teaching on worship
is sacred and inviolable. The circumstances in which we worship
have changed, but the nature of the God whom we worship has not
changed.
These passages reveal another fundamental principle which
continues to guide worship which is Reformed according to the
Scriptures. We may do that and only that in worship which is
required explicitly or implicitly in God's Word. In other words,
the question is not, "May we do this?" but rather,
"What must we do?"
We are to worship intelligibly and in a way which edifies
God's people, not babbling vainly (Matthew 6:7). We are to worship
in spirit and truth. Where the woman at the well was concerned
about circumstances, our Lord was concerned about attitude and
object (the Triune God) of worship. Our attitude is to be one
of joyful reverence and the triune God is the only object and
audience of true, spiritual worship (John 4:23-24).
God established a dialogic pattern of worship in the history
of salvation. God speaks, and his people respond with praise
and thanksgiving. Psalm 18 is a classic example of this pattern,
in which the Psalmist recounts God's mighty saving acts for his
king and people and then responds with joyful, submissive reverence
in v. 50, "Therefore I will praise you among the nations,
O LORD; I will sing praises to your name." This dialogic
pattern is fundamental to Biblical Worship.
The other foundational Biblical principle of worship is the
nature of the Biblical message itself. God's Word distinguishes
clearly between Law, i.e., what God demands of us, and Gospel,
i.e., what Christ has done for us. Paul makes this distinction
in Romans 3:20-21:
Therefore no one will be declared righteous
in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we
become conscious of sin.
The function of Law is to teach us our sin and drive us to
Christ. Thus, immediately in the next verses he declares:
But now a righteousness from God, apart from
law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ
to all who believe.
The Good News is that Christ has done for us, what we could
not do for ourselves. Reformed worship must express this great
truth.
Our Confession
This Biblical principle has come to be summarized as the
regulative principle of worship. In the United Reformed Churches
in North America we confess that Biblical principle in the Belgic
Confession (1561) and Heidelberg Catechism (1563). Because we
regard the teaching of our confessions to be a summary of God's
Word it is binding upon all confessing members. Belgic Confession
Art. 7 says in part,
For since the whole manner of worship which
God requires of us is written in them at large, it is unlawful
for any one, though an apostle, to teach otherwise than we are
now taught in the Holy Scriptures….
Because we regard the Scriptures as the sufficient rule for
faith and life (sola Scriptura) the Reformed regulative
principle is that we do that in worship and only that which is
taught explicitly or required implicitly in God's Word. The exact
same doctrine is taught in Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 96:
96. What does God require in the second Commandment?
That we in no wise make any image of God, nor worship Him
in any other way than He has commanded us in His Word.
This principle is in contrast to the Lutheran and evangelical
approach which holds that we may do in worship whatever is not
forbidden. The primary reason we worship as we do is not because
it is pleasing to us, but because God has revealed his will for
worship in his Word.
Belgic Confession Art. 32 also says in part,
Therefore we reject all human innovations
and all laws imposed on us, in our worship of God, which bind
and force our consciences in any way.
Since the fall, the unbridled worship has been playground
of the sinful human imagination. The tyranny of the human will
and imagination is not, as some believe, the way of freedom but
of slavery. Worship is not an optional assembly for the Christian.
When God's people are gathered on the Christian Sabbath, the
day of "sacred assembly" (Leviticus 23:3), the Word
and Sacraments administered, the Christian must attend.
If he must attend, then the church must not burden his conscience
with any ceremony, rite or element (music, prayer, sermon, sacrament
etc) which God has not ordained. Thus the principle at stake
here is the freedom of the Christian to worship only as God has
revealed.
Church Order
For these reasons, the Church Order of the URC (based on the
Church Order of the Synod of Dort [1619]) teaches that God's
Word authorizes the elders and minister to call the congregation
to worship twice each Lord's Day as well as on other days (H.C.
Q. 103; C.O. Art. 37). When the congregation is gathered worship
"shall be conducted according to the principles taught in
God's Word" (C. O. Art. 38).
That is, there are certain essential elements which are necessary
to worship according to Scripture. The preaching of the Word
has the "central place". Preaching has this centrality
because it is through the "preaching of the Holy Gospel"
by which the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts (HC Q. 65).
Because the administration of the Word (Law and Gospel) in
the sermon is the chief means of grace through which God has
promised to work faith, we make available the means of grace
to God's people twice each Lord's Day and the second sermon ought
to "preach the Word as summarized in the Three Forms of
Unity, with special attention given to the Heidelberg Catechism
by treating its Lord's Days in sequence." (C.O. Art. 40).
The sacraments are the other divinely instituted means of
grace because it is through the administration of the Holy Sacraments
by which he confirms our faith (HC Q. 65; CO Art. 41-46). Baptism,
as the sign and seal of initiation into the covenant is celebrated
as often as necessary. Our present practice is that the Lord's
Supper as the sign and seal of covenant renewal is administered
8 times a year.
Our Liturgy
Scripture requires that in worship everything must be done
"decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40). That
is, worship must be intelligible and edifying. Following the
teaching of Scripture, its summary in the confession and catechism
and its application in the Church order, we follow in our worship
services an historic Reformed liturgy which we believe reflects
these Biblical and confessional priorities.
Because it is God who made and redeemed us, he has the first
word so our services begin with a call to worship from God's
Word, an invocation and Greeting from God, followed by a response
by God's people.
We read God's Law, confess our sins, and rejoice in the declaration
of God's grace toward his people (CO Art. 38)
Out of gratitude we give tithes and offerings and. since prayer
is the chief part of thankfulness (HC Q. 116), we offer our hearts
in thankful prayer in morning and evening worship (CO Art. 38).
Continuing the dialogic pattern, God speaks to us in the sermon
and we respond in worship and praise.
God has the last word as the minister pronounces God's benediction
upon his covenant people. Just as the service begins formally
with the call to worship so it ends formally at this point. The
doxology may be sung in response, but this has the same standing
liturgically as a song service before the call to worship.
Seeker-Sensitive Worship and the
Worship Wars
We want to be seeker-sensitive, but we must identify the true
seeker in worship. Scripture teaches that "no man seeks
God", certainly not the unregenerate, rather it is God who
seeks us (Romans 3:11). Our Lord taught us that the Father seeks
those who will worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23). Therefore
the primary focus in Reformed worship is our living, holy, righteous,
awesome Triune God. Thus when we gather before his face (Hebrews
12:18-20) we are in a sacred assembly where he has promised to
give us an audience. More than that God has promised to be with
us as our covenant God (Genesis 17:7-10; John 14:16, 26; 15:26;
16:7; Matthew 28:20), to make us a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5)
It is our earnest prayer that it will be so obvious that God
is in our midst, that when an unbeliever enters the assembly
he will be convicted of his sin, fall down and worship God exclaiming,
"God is really among you!" (1 Corinthians 14:25).
Because we live in the era of so-called worship wars, the
matter of "praise…in song" (Art. 38) has become
hotly controversial. One side wants "traditional hymns"
and the other side calls for "contemporary songs."
Speaking strictly, however, Reformed worship is neither, "traditional"
nor "contemporary." Rather we operate on revealed principles
which must be applied in every age. C. O. Art. 39 says,
The 150 Psalms shall have the principal place
in the singing of the churches. Hymns which faithfully and fully
reflect the teaching of the Scripture as expressed in the Three
Forms of Unity may be sung, provided they are approved by the
Consistory.
It is our conviction that the Psalms are both traditional
and contemporary. Though written a millennium before Christ,
they are as timeless and as relevant as the Word of God. The
Psalter is a "Bible in miniature," teaching God's Law
as well as his Gospel, pointing us to Christ's work on behalf
of sinners and the Spirit's ongoing gracious work in his people
in justification and sanctification. We believe that the Psalter
is Christ's principal songbook for his people and that it is
rightly given the "principal place in the singing of the
churches."
Nevertheless, we also recognize that there are other songs
which may be sung in Christian worship. The elders have approved
the use of the 1959 CRC Psalter-Hymnal. Other songs to be used
in worship which not contained in the Psalter are to be approved
by the Consistory. Thus what is sung in worship is not a matter
of private preference but publicly stated principles administered
by authorized office bearers.
The age of a tune is morally indifferent. Tunes from many
eras may be used so long as they are express the mood of the
text and are appropriate and conducive to corporate worship.
There are older tunes which are now considered traditional which
are just as inappropriate as some of the contemporary praise
songs and contemporary tunes which are quite suitable to be used
in reverently joyful public worship.
Much of the modern confusion about worship is due to the confusion
of public and private piety. Reformed worship is not a concert,
revival meeting, nor a private prayer circle. In Biblical worship,
God speaks to his gathered people and they reply corporately.
Therefore what is done must be appropriate to corporate public
worship (1 Corinthians 11:10). Therefore there are certain music
forms which, while perfectly appropriate to private settings
are inappropriate in public worship in which all God's people,
of all ages and backgrounds are gathered (1 Corinthians 11: 22;
chapter 14).
Having lost confidence in the preached Word of God as a means
of grace, many evangelical congregations and even some Reformed
congregations have added elements to the liturgy, namely liturgical
dance and drama. It is our conviction that such additions are
contrary to God's Word and are the moral equivalent of the "strange
fire" condemned in Leviticus 10:1-2. Scripture not only
forbids false gods, but also human innovation in Christian worship,
even that which is well intentioned (e.g., 2 Sam 6). The sacraments
are the only divinely sanctioned visible Words of God to his
people.
Conclusion
It is our conviction that the fundamental principle at stake
is that God's Word, not our own desires nor the culture around
us, must shape our worship. Therefore we shall continue to worship
in way which is as ancient as the Psalter and as relevant as
the Gospel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, ever seeking
to worship in a way which pleases God and edifies his people.
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