BY LYLE V. HEISE

OES YOUR CONGREGATION KNOW the way into the presence of God? Is there a road map for the journey? Uncertain answers may motivate you and your congregation to dream about worship renewal. We approach the subject under the three categories that follow.

The encounter between Cleopas and his fellow traveler with the stranger on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35 is one clear map for our journey into God's presence. Our worship, like theirs that day, takes shape around four themes.¹

Stage One: The Gathering
"Jesus himself came up and walked along with them" (Luke 24:15).* Like Cleopas, perhaps bowed under heavy burdens, we take our first few steps. The doors of our hearts open. Jesus draws near. The distractions begin to melt away. This gathering is not always inevitably sad or painful. Some gatherings in Scripture take our breath away-as in 2 Chronicles 5:12-14: "All the Levites who were musicians-Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives-stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: 'He is good; his love endures forever.' Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God."

Such exercises bring us into the presence of God and prepare us to hear His Word. And worship leaders who understand this will banish the dreaded expression "preliminaries." We will become more aware of how music, other creative arts, and warm-hearted hosting can take us on the journey into God's presence.

Stage Two: "The Burning Heart"-Hearing the Word
"Did not our heart burn within us?" they asked (Luke 24:32, KJV). Imagine Cleopas hearing Jesus, "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets," explaining to them "what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (verse 27, NIV). Our hearts burn when in the experience of worship at its best we hear "the recitation of God's mighty deeds of salvation."² Worship leaders as well as preachers have an enormous responsibility here, for it's not only in preaching that we experience the "burning heart."

Stage Three: "The Lord Is Risen"-Meeting Jesus with Thanksgiving at the Table
"Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him" (verse 31). Cleopas knew Jesus in the breaking of the bread. We know Him supremely in that experience. No other experience in worship "can equal the intensity of Table worship. We literally enter into the unrepeatable historic event of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and our life in faith is empowered by the pattern of death of resurrection . . . . Having communed with Him, we go forth with an eternal 'thank You' on our lips."³ All the beauty of thanksgiving and testimony-even prayers for healing in worship-cluster around this theme of table and thanksgiving.

Stage Four: Going Forth Into the World
"They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem" (verse 33). Worship for us, as for Cleopas, ends in action. Transformed lives are filled with the desire to go and tell others.

Let us explore what Rex Miller has called the Millennium Matrix,⁴ a useful way of finding our place in the tapestry of Christian worship. Miller divides the history of Christian worship into four eras, each defined by the predominant modes of communication of their time, and each having an ongoing impact on Christian society.

Oral-until about A.D. 1500.
Print-from the 1500s to the 1950s.
Broadcast-from the 1950s to 2000.
Interactive-since the explosion of interactive communication around 2000, symbolized by the World Wide Web.

Worship communities that suit the cultural moment grow best. And understanding the changing modes of communication over 2,000 years can make us less inclined to judge the worship practices and preferences of others.

In exploring the main theological ideas and worship forms associated with each era, we must be charitable, looking for the best in each. Especially since each one is represented somewhere in Seventh-day Adventism, now a worldwide, multicultural denomination.

Oral/Liturgical Worship
Developed in the context of a stylized ceremony for devout, but often nonliterate, believers, liturgical worship centers on visual rituals and symbols, highlighting the experience of the Lord's Supper. Worship functions like an intricately scripted play, adopting a rhythm reflecting the passing of a whole year in which events in the life of Jesus are played out. Liturgical worship often appeals to those in the Adventist family who love church history and the arts. The sermon will be short, while the repetitive and artistic elements of word, song, and prayer will make a major impact.

Print/Reformed Worship
The influence of the printing revolution was striking. Faith and theology became the subjects of widespread mass communication. Worship materials were circulated in print. Newly accessible Bibles, prayer books, and hymnals became essential to the worship experience. Christian mission was accompanied by a commitment to literacy, because Christianity was now the religion not only of the Person-Jesus-but also of the Book.

Print/reformed worship is sermon oriented, designed to reinforce the reasonableness of the faith. The validity of the Bible and commitment to Jesus become important themes. Music centers on hymns rather than liturgical chants.

Seventh-day Adventist worship has been overwhelmingly print/reformed. And because this style has often been regarded as a fundamental tenet of the faith, variations here have been resisted almost as vigorously as variations in belief. (But should matters of worship and communication style really be debated at the same level as matters of doctrine and faith?)

Broadcast/Celebration Worship
Utilizing some of the communication styles developed in radio and television, the "celebration" worship, as described by Miller, has contributed with personal passion an open expression of faith, and an energetic outpouring of praise. Rather than emphasizing liturgical ceremony or the sermon, this kind of worship is, rather, an "event," with a more even spread of activity. It incorporates motivational preaching, a variety of musical forms, and personal involvement in prayer and testimony. Much effective Adventist church planting in the Western world employs broadcast/celebration style worship. Major youth ministry events have utilized this style for decades.

Interactive/Inclusive/Convergent Worship
Miller characterizes the present era as "interactive/inclusive/convergent." In the new and shrunken world of interactivity and the World Wide Web, the conviction is that small is beautiful. Denominational labels are seen as less relevant, while the capac-ity to interact with one another and with God is very important.

Adventist worship with its high appreciation for content and distinctiveness will need to understand this. The worship event is a "gathering," rather than a carefully prepared and produced "event." Interaction and dialogue become the prevailing modes of communication. "The ability to select and mix different styles of music during the service will allow congregations to use established meaningful music and tailor it for the worship moment. There will also be simpler services and 'unplugged,' acoustical worship, balancing highly technical productions. Worship will move from audience participation to audience collaboration in a stimulating and intimate experience."

Adventist congregations reflecting this approach to worship communication and community building can be found on every continent. On the World Wide Web, Adventist churches from Sydney to Seattle to Riga (Latvia) are drawing third-millennium people-via their computer screens-into fellowship with others and connection with God.

Adventist congregations vary enormously in size, worshiping in homes, retirement villages, and schools, as well as in churches. Given such diversity, issues of worship style can never be prescribed by denominational headquarters or conference session votes. Congregations must find their own consensus, and the discussion must be mission driven rather than simply "comfort-zone" driven. Instead of "What do I like?" the defining questions ought to be "Who are we trying to reach?" and "What insights do we have about the communication styles that will lead them into God's presence?"

The central motifs of the worship journey taken by Cleopas provide a way for Adventist worship leaders worldwide to find a consensus that is spiritual rather than cultural, theological rather than stylistic. The beating heart of Adventist worship is revealed in the four elements from the Emmaus road.

The Gathering, the first element, may be short or long, contemporary or traditional. But let Adventist worship leaders maintain their passion to move people from the troubles and triumphs of the weekly road onto the way to the heart of God. The journey can be via the hymns of their childhood, the songs of their youth, or the music of today.

The Burning Heart that has heard the Word can be set on fire by a variety of communication modes and styles:

The Word in the voices or sounds of musicians and their instruments.

The celebration of the risen Lord at the table, with thanksgiving, the second element, coming from the hearts of worshipers, deserves more attention in Adventist worship. Might we be drawn closer to God if we more intentionally and frequently associated the Lord's Supper with the spiritual milestones of our congregations? On worship days without the Lord's Supper, can we provide more opportunities for thanksgiving?

Going out into the world is the third element. In the benediction we acknowledge God's intense desire to go with us into the world, and we accept the conferring of His presence on us. Baptism is another worship arena in which the going out into the world can assume a much higher profile.

Adventists are uniquely poised to fulfill a noble mission, captured by the vision of an angel flying high in the heavens, calling the world's inhabitants to "worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water" (Rev. 14:7). We have three incomparable blessings to share: the gospel that enables us to touch and heal the most wounded spirits; the Sabbath, richest of days for a worship context; and a vision of the future that bathes our worship in hope.

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* Except where noted otherwise, Bible references in this article are from the New International Version.

¹ From Robert Webber, Worship: Journey Into His Presence (Mansfield, Pa: Kingdom Publishing, 1999).
² Ibid., p. 52.
³ Ibid., p. 79. Of course, we don't think Webber uses the word "literally" here in the literal sense..
⁴ Rex Miller, "The Millennium Matrix: Progressions of Change," chapter 4 of a forthcoming book. Access on the World Wide Web at www.futureworship.com.

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Lyle V. Heise, senior pastor of Avondale College church, was worship director of the Trans-Tasman Union Conference from 1997 to 1999.