M I N I S T RY | WO R S H I P
What the Apocalypse Reveals About Worship Lessons from the Book of Revelation
By MELISSA ARCHER
A
fter watching the 1972 film A Thief in the Night in church as a child, I grew up scared to death of the Book of Revelation. Nevertheless, one of my fondest memories from my days at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, was singing parts of Handel’s Messiah and watching audience members stand to their feet during the “Hallelujah Chorus.” Revelation was Handel’s inspiration for this familiar chorus. The apostle John wrote Revelation in the late first century to a network of seven churches in Asia Minor. We derive the title from the opening words: “apocalypse [Greek apokalupsis] of Jesus Christ.” The word “apocalypse” means an unveiling or revealing. This is how many Pentecostals have read the Book of Revelation — as a tale of terror to be revealed in the last days. Yet the book is the “apocalypse of Jesus Christ.” It comes from Jesus and reveals Jesus. Some branches of the Church ignore Revelation, while others pore over its pages to develop end-time charts. Either way, we often miss what Revelation reveals about honoring, exalting and worshipping the Lord.
74
Winter 2022
Spirit-Driven Revelation 1:9 references John’s experience on the island of Patmos, where he was an exile “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” John says he was “in the Spirit” when he heard a voice and saw a vision (verse 10). Despite his circumstances, John’s focus was on God and His presence. This is how ordinary places — like Patmos or Ephesus or our own local churches — become sacred spaces, where we encounter the Spirit and meet with Jesus (Revelation 1:13–20). Worship is not about performance but about experiential participation in the Spirit. We can’t be so concerned with being relevant that we squelch the Spirit’s active work in our services. Multifaceted When reading Revelation with an eye toward worship, we discover images of worship, such as the incense (5:8), altar (8:5), and temple (11:19). We encounter familiar worship elements: congregational blessings (1:3; 14:13), a doxology (1:5–6), and a closing benediction (22:21). We hear liturgical words, including “amen” (5:14) and “hallelujah” (19:1). We discover calls to repentance (2:5), worship songs (4:8; 5:9–10; 7:10), the posture of
