Heavenly Worship
http://www.protomartyr.org/heaven.html
Even though the Church on earth lives simultaneously in two dimensions, the heavenly and the earthly, her worship is focused on the heavenly realm. God does not come to where we are that we might worship Him. Rather, we go to where He is, to His heavenly Kingdom, to the heavenly Holy of Holies. This is clear in the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church which begins with the words, "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen." Our worship begins with an announcement of God's Kingdom which is present here and now. Then begins our ascent into the heavenlies! From a physical standpoint, we gather for worship in a place of worship, a Churchbuilding with icons, candles, incense, and an altar-all of which are biblical and necessary. But in a mystery, our worship is conducted in the heavenlies. Present are: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the holy angels, and the saints enrolled in heaven. In worship during the Divine Liturgy, the Church on earth joins the Church in heaven
in praise and thanksgiving to the Blessed Trinity...In Isaiah 6:1-7, we see worship in heaven through the eyes of the Prophet Isaiah who lived in the years surrounding 700 B.C. He was caught up into the heavenly dimension and describes for us what took place. He says, "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple." Present as well were the seraphim singing: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah goes on to describe a heavenly altar, the smoke of incense, and the door of entrance. It is significant that one of the seraphim takes a set of tongs and removes a coal from the altar and with it touches Isaiah's lips, saying, "Behold this has touched your lips, your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged." For anyone acquainted with Orthodox worship, this line will sound familiar. It is very similar to that spoken by the officiant at the Divine Liturgy just after he himself receives Holy Communion. Clearly the Church has not overlooked the connection between Isaiah's vision and the Holy Eucharist! My friend, heavenly worship is reality, our ultimate reality...Just as Isaiah experienced the liturgy of heaven, so we, too, joined to Christ and risen with Him in the heavenlies, may enter His presence in heavenly worship.
The New Testament passage I wish to point out is the twelfth chapter of Hebrews. The passage begins by reminding us that "we are surrounded" by a great cloud of witnesses-not all that unlike the heavenly hosts in the Gehazi Episode. These witnesses are the saints who have gone on before us to their rest, in this case, those the author of Hebrews has just mentioned in the previous chapter: the "greats" of Old Testament times. Then, toward the end of Hebrews 12, we read again of our ascent as Christians into the heavenly realm. For we have come "to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant . . . ." It would be difficult to mistake what is happening here, would it not?
The Church on earth is actually stepping into the heavenly dimension for worship. The Lord is present as are the saints and the angels-the entire host of the Church in heaven. What an array! I cannot imagine why an Orthodox Christian would shrink back from any opportunity to experience this celestial encounter with the Triune God every time the doors of the Church are opened.
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