Four Faces of Worship 5 "Eagle Face"
We don’t usually make idols out of bad things. We make them out of good things—things we like.
It’s weird how we can turn anything into an object of worship.
We look back at human history and think the ancients were so stupid for worshiping golden cows or statues made out of rock. But if they saw the way we obsess over our phones, they’d probably think we’ve discovered a new pocket sized god who’s really good at ghosting our prayers.
“Watch it, Frank, what’s funny is other people’s idols—mine aren’t funny at all.”
We trust all kinds of things to guide our lives and basically make them our personal deities. Celebrities show us how to dress and how to be cool, our favorite politicians tell us what’s right and wrong, and our careers and children sit at the highest place of honor giving ultimate purpose for meaning and existence. But all those things we love and identify with—we’re so busy worshiping all these things, it’s no wonder we hardly have time to think about God.
We think those silly ancient people were so dumb for dancing around their little handmade idols, sacrificing their children in the hopes that their false gods would give them the good life in return. So barbaric! But what do we sacrifice our children for? Convenience? Greed? Ambition? Hoping for a better life? What we worship always gets our soul—and we throw in our kids as a bonus.
That’s why we’ve spent the last five weeks talking about worship. It’s the most important thing in the world. It’s the first Commandment—you shall worship God alone, you shall worship no other gods.
It’s not whether you’re going to worship or not—there are no non-worshipers. We are made to worship as sure as we’re made to breathe. The only question is: what are we going to worship. We either worship God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—or we’ll worship just about anything else. And whatever we worship, other than God, will destroy us along with the thing we’re worshiping. It’s God’s kindness that demands our worship.
So, in this series we’ve been looking at those strange living creatures the Bible describes with eyes all over them, wings, and multiple faces, the cherubim, the angels that surround the throne of God in heaven. We’ve been looking at the Biblical meaning behind their four faces and what they tell us about Jesus—His nature and His character—and what they say about how we should approach the one who’s sitting on the throne—how we should worship the LORD. The face of a Lion with its strength and boldness and courage. The face of an Ox with its faithful and humble service, and last week Kemper talked about the face of a Man and how it reflects that we are made in God’s image, that Jesus took on flesh and became one of us, and how we are to worship with our intellect, our mind, as well as our emotions.
Today is the final week in this series and we will look at the Eagle Face. Obviously, proof that of all the nations on earth, the United States is God’s favorite. Why else would the cherubim have the face of an eagle, and a red, white, and blue flag wrapped around his shoulders, carrying two AR-15s in his talons. No. That’s silly. Everyone knows an eagle would carry a copy of the Constitution and a baseball bat.
Not really. In the Bible an eagle is a symbol of vision, soaring faith, and persistent determination.
In Isaiah 40:28-31 it says:
"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
The God we worship is everlasting, He’s the Creator of everything, He is beyond us and unsearchable. It’s true that He loves us and has the power to save us but His plans unfold in ways that we could never have imagined. As we worship Him, we wait on Him—which in Hebrew means the same thing as “we hope in Him”—we run and we walk in faith. And when we do, He promises that we will accomplish the plans He has made for us. He will make sure the good things He created us to do will be done according to His will. The strength of our youth may fail but when we trust in the LORD, He will make us soar—not in our own strength—but in His, the way it looks so effortless when an eagle glides on the wind.
The face of the eagle reminds us that we will persevere in our faith. Not in our own strength, not because we try really hard, but trusting in His. We walk (we soar) by faith.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul is struggling with the weakness of his flesh but Jesus said this to him:
'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' (and this is where he lands…) “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Worshiping God means we rely on His strength, not our own. It means,
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:124
It means to
“Be strong in the LORD and in the strength of His might.” Ephesians 6:10
It means we’re called to
“Lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:1-2
The face of the eagle reminds us to persevere in our worship all the way to that throne room in heaven.
The eagle also reminds us to have faith and a clear vision of what worship actually looks like.
Everyone’s heard the phrase “Without a vision, the people perish,” but the actual Bible verse says,
“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” Proverbs 29:18
Which is directly related to the topic of worship because it’s saying without the word of God, the wisdom of God—the things worship is built on—people will do all kinds of foolish things. A big part of our worship is hearing God’s word, believing it, and doing what it says—creating a clear vision for our lives. Where we’re going, who we’re going to be. Is the vision for your life based on God’s word? His vision for your life. Or is it based on whatever looks good to you? There’s a way that seems right to us but it leads to death—Jesus is the only way that leads to life. Don’t trust your eyes, they’re too easy to fool. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” That’s eagle-eyed vision. We only get it through proper, Biblical worship.
I don’t want to freak anyone out but we’re a Lutheran church—part of the LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod). All that means is we share Luther's emphasis on the Word of God in worship: The importance of Scripture and preaching in forming our faith and making us who Jesus wants us to be. So, we’ll always have God’s Word at the center of everything we do here.
It also means we have a really high appreciation for music as a means of teaching and reinforcing the Gospel message. Luther said, "Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise” because of its power to communicate and reinforce Scripture. We become what we sing. We become like whatever we worship.
Every Christian is called to worship and serve God in our daily lives—but what we do here on Sunday morning lays the foundation and sets us in the right direction. Now, a lot of LCMS churches are highly liturgical—very formal and traditional in their expression of worship. And that’s fine, we have no problem with that. I personally love formal liturgy when it’s done well. But that’s not what we do here. It was very important to Luther that everything done in worship on Sunday was accessible and understood by the people. It was also very important to him that when people came to church, they weren’t surprised by a bunch of weird innovation—that worship happened as close to what they were used to as good theology and the word of God would allow. Which is funny, because in the Reformation, that meant keeping as many of the Roman Catholic liturgical elements as Scripture would allow. It’s pretty much the opposite for us—because most of us come from non-liturgical backgrounds. Baptist, charismatic, non-denominational churches. I mean, I know we have some former Catholics and some Anglicans here—but most of us aren’t used to the formality of liturgical worship. So, our challenge is pretty much the opposite of Luther’s—we have to find ways of getting all the important elements of Christian worship, what the Lutherans call Divine Worship, we have to find modern ways to keep all of those vital components as part of our weekly worship service in a way that all of us can embody it. Or at least as often as we can.
The traditional Divine Service—which is based on the liturgies of the synagogues at the time of Jesus, and has been used down through the ages—it’s designed to lead us worshippers through confession, absolution, hearing the Word of God, receiving Communion, and being sent out in faith to change the world. To form and strengthen our identity in Christ through Word and Sacrament. It’s designed to inform every aspect of our lives.
So, when we planted NewChurch, we looked at all the elements of the Divine Service and made sure to include them as much as possible in what we do. You ever wonder why we do what we do here? The Invocation (beginning in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—so we know WHO we’re worshipping), Confession and Absolution (so we repent of our sin and receive assurance of God’s forgiveness because of Jesus), the Kyrie (where we ask for God’s mercy), the Gloria in Excelsis (songs of praise to God), Salutation and Collect of the Day (greetings and prayers that walk through the church year), Readings (from the Bible), Songs and hymns, a sermon, the creed (to remind us of the apostolic faith), Prayers of the people (where we can bring our needs), an offering (to give back a portion of what God has given to us), the Benediction (a blessing over the congregation to send us in peace), baptisms (when needed), and Holy Communion (which we usually celebrate once a month on the fourth Sunday).
I know we don’t look particularly liturgical but we are. Every church has a liturgy, it’s just that some let the congregation in on it.
Our worship is formative. It forms us. It makes us into the people God wants us to be.
When I was a teenager, I was into martial arts. Our youth group had a thing called The Karate Club. Our youth pastor was an instructor and he took several of us under his wing and taught us—we had uniforms, belts, and everything, it was legit. I don’t know if you’re familiar with how martial arts are taught but they have these sequences of punches and kicks and blocks called Katas—which means “forms.” They’re like dances where you pretend to fight an invisible opponent. The higher the belt ranking, the longer the kata. The idea is that it gives you a way to practice all the blocks, punches and kicks you’re learning. It’s also a way for the instructor to see how well your training is going. Here’s the thing: it’s not really fighting—it’s getting you ready for when you have to face a real fight.
What we do here on Sunday is like that. The elements of the service are training you for life in the world out there. This isn’t the end goal of our worship, anymore than katas are the end goal of martial arts—this is training you for an entire life of worship—it’s forming you. When you walk out those doors at the end of this service and go back to your regular life—your family, your job, your friendships—all those things that you’ll be tempted to make into idols. All those things you’ll be tempted to worship instead of God. Your desires, your fears, your ambitions. All those things you’ll be tempted to trust in, cling to, and rely on instead of Jesus. All those things you're going to be tempted to influence how you live your life. What we do here is liturgical training in Christian Kung Fu—we’re training for the fight of our lives. It won’t be easy. You won’t win every fight. You will get tired. You will lose your perspective and take your eyes off the Lord. This is when we need to remember there is grace. This is when we need to remember Jesus.
Because it those who trust in the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. When we put our hope, trust, and faith in the LORD, that’s when He’ll give us the ability to soar in faithfulness. We have to remember what we’ve heard here, we have to draw strength and perspective from our faith in Christ—not our faith in our own ability to have faith. Faith in His promises to us.
We have to keep our eyes focused on the vision He’s given us here through His word, through the preaching, through the songs, through the prayers, through the encouragement of our brothers and sisters. We need to stay focused on those eternal truths rather than our temporary troubles. We need to stay focused on what Jesus has done for us, and how He’ll see us through, instead of wallowing in our disappointments and frustrations.
And we need to remind each other of these things all week long—encourage each other. Encourage your wife or your husband to be strong in the Lord. Pray with them. Pray with your children. Point each other to Jesus. Hey, teenagers, blow your parents' minds and just walk up to them, put your hand on their shoulder and pray for them. Show them that your faith is YOUR faith—not just theirs. It’ll be awkward but it will be powerful and glorious.
We’ve been talking about worship for the last five weeks. God says to worship Him alone, to have no other gods. Sometimes people say something like, “Why is God so pathetic? Why does He need to be worshiped?” Have you ever thought that? Here’s the thing, God doesn’t need to be worshiped. It’s not for Him. It’s for us.
Worship is like a laser beam that shoots out of our hearts. It’s always shooting somewhere, always shooting at something. We’re like the X-Men Cyclops, the one who has the energy blasts that shoot out of his eyes. He has to wear special goggles to keep him from destroying anything he looks at. Imagine that—if he looks at anyone he loves, he’ll destroy them—and that would destroy him. It’s the same with us. Whatever we focus our heart, soul, mind and strength on—if we don’t deliberately give it over to God—we’ll be tempted to worship that thing or person. To orient our life around it—make it too important. And whatever we focus our worship on will be destroyed by us, and it will destroy us. The only exception is God. He’s the only safe place to direct our worship. He’s not being selfish, He’s protecting us. It’s God’s kindness that leads us to worship Him.
So, we need to learn how to worship. We need to worship God rightly. It’s the most important thing there is. Wrong worship, worshiping the wrong things, is the cause of every single thing that’s wrong in the world.
The English word “worship” means to “ascribe worth to”—as in “worthy is the Lamb who sits on the throne.” In the Bible, the word “worship” means to bow in humble submission. So I think it’s important to remember that the New Testament took place in the context of Rome—and the Latin word for “worship” is “cultus.” Cultus. Yah, it’s where we get our word “cult.” But it’s also where we get the words “culture” and “cultivate.”
We will become like what we worship. How we worship will cultivate who we are. What we worship will define our culture—our society. Like I said—it’s the most important thing in the world.
Lion, ox, man, and eagle—each face of that cherubim representing distinct attributes that are crucial to our understanding of who Christ is and how we’re supposed to worship. The lion calls us to worship with boldness and courage, reflecting the majesty of God. The ox reminds us of the importance of humble service and sacrifice, emulating the work of Christ for us. The man's face emphasizes our humanity, and the incarnation of Jesus, urging us to engage in worship with our intellect and our emotions—worship that’s both thoughtful and from the heart.
And the eagle reminds us to keep our eyes on the Lord, to look at and see His grace and wisdom—to wait on the LORD, hope in the LORD—take in everything we experience here in a worship service—and be assured that when we trust in Christ, we won’t just walk in faithfulness, we’ll soar in our faithfulness. The worship we do here together teaches us to have a higher perspective and Godly vision that transcends all of our earthly concerns and our stupidity—it shows us how to live without destroying everything and everyone around us, and it reminds us of the promise that He will carry us to where He is leading us. And it’s a life of worship—not just what we do here, in training, but what we do with the rest of our lives—cuz that’s what worship is all about. Everything we do must be in response to what God has done for us through Jesus—everything we do—EVERYTHING we do is worship. We are God’s people. He has saved us, redeemed us, and called us back to Himself so we can worship Him. So look through your eyes of faith—your eagle eyes. Can you see it? Like way out there on the horizon? A vision of where God is leading you? Of who God is calling you to be? You should have a glimpse of that. So, wait upon the LORD, hope in the LORD, trust in the LORD. He will lift you up on eagles’ wings and renew your strength. You will soar toward that place He is showing you and calling you to go—toward that person He is calling you to be. AMEN.