1 Tim. 1 (Part 2): Praise is Protest
August 10, 2011
If Paul is emotionally impacted by his reflections of God's grace in a manner which makes him burst into praise, a second thing to note about this praise is that it is in essence an act of protest.
The titles Paul uses in his doxology make this clear:
'King of the Ages' (or `Eternal King') speaks of God's absolute sovereignty and thus denies the legitimacy of any kingly claims made by other pretenders to the throne, whether false gods or human beings.
`Immortal' marks God off from all creatures. Only he neither comes into being or passes out of being; and it is a failure to recognize this which is part of human depravity (Rom. 1:23). To assert his immortality is to deny any pretensions of the creature to being god.
`Invisible' refers to something characteristic of God throughout scripture: he cannot be seen by mortals. This is not primarily a philosophical or metaphysical point, though such would not be necessarily excluded. It is really in line with Ex. 33:19-23, underlining the transcendent and unapproachable holiness of God. Like Gregory the Theologian later, Paul is overwhelmed by the mystery that is God and realizes there is a point where one must speculate no further but simply bow down and worship.
'Only God' is an allusion to the Shema of Dt. 6:4. Originally a polemical hit against the Egyptian polytheism with which the children of Israel would have been familiar, here it stands in opposition to the pantheon of pagan gods of the first century world. It is, of course, just as vigorously opposed to the pagan gods of the twenty-first century, especially those manufactured by our own hearts.
Then, at the very end Paul ascribes to this God `glory and honour,' those things that are to be ascribed only to a person of high repute. This is standard in New Testament doxologies and is, again, polemical: in ascribing these things to such a God as he has described, Paul is implicitly denying them to all other gods.
Paul's worship is thus polemical through and through. But notice: it is not motivated by a meanness of spirit or expressed using nasty rhetoric; its polemical edge arises as a direct inference of who God is (theology) and it is expressed in words of joy, awe and wonder (doxology).
Our worship today must be polemical too. To ascribe glory and honour to this God and to no other is to put to the sword the claims of all other pretenders to the throne. Debates about worship which focus primarily on aesthetics may be important - form and content are never neatly separable. Far more important than reflection on aesthetics per se is reflection upon who God is.
Ultimately, to praise God is to make a theological and doxological protest against the claims of all pretenders to his throne. When the church gathers on Sunday morning, what we have is a protest meeting, a gathering of those who simply will not put up with the arrogant claims of the world any more. That should be the starting point of any discussion about seeker sensitivity, about worship style and about how the church relates to the culture around it.
Make no mistake: praise is protest. If it is not protest, it is not praise.
The titles Paul uses in his doxology make this clear:
'King of the Ages' (or `Eternal King') speaks of God's absolute sovereignty and thus denies the legitimacy of any kingly claims made by other pretenders to the throne, whether false gods or human beings.
`Immortal' marks God off from all creatures. Only he neither comes into being or passes out of being; and it is a failure to recognize this which is part of human depravity (Rom. 1:23). To assert his immortality is to deny any pretensions of the creature to being god.
`Invisible' refers to something characteristic of God throughout scripture: he cannot be seen by mortals. This is not primarily a philosophical or metaphysical point, though such would not be necessarily excluded. It is really in line with Ex. 33:19-23, underlining the transcendent and unapproachable holiness of God. Like Gregory the Theologian later, Paul is overwhelmed by the mystery that is God and realizes there is a point where one must speculate no further but simply bow down and worship.
'Only God' is an allusion to the Shema of Dt. 6:4. Originally a polemical hit against the Egyptian polytheism with which the children of Israel would have been familiar, here it stands in opposition to the pantheon of pagan gods of the first century world. It is, of course, just as vigorously opposed to the pagan gods of the twenty-first century, especially those manufactured by our own hearts.
Then, at the very end Paul ascribes to this God `glory and honour,' those things that are to be ascribed only to a person of high repute. This is standard in New Testament doxologies and is, again, polemical: in ascribing these things to such a God as he has described, Paul is implicitly denying them to all other gods.
Paul's worship is thus polemical through and through. But notice: it is not motivated by a meanness of spirit or expressed using nasty rhetoric; its polemical edge arises as a direct inference of who God is (theology) and it is expressed in words of joy, awe and wonder (doxology).
Our worship today must be polemical too. To ascribe glory and honour to this God and to no other is to put to the sword the claims of all other pretenders to the throne. Debates about worship which focus primarily on aesthetics may be important - form and content are never neatly separable. Far more important than reflection on aesthetics per se is reflection upon who God is.
Ultimately, to praise God is to make a theological and doxological protest against the claims of all pretenders to his throne. When the church gathers on Sunday morning, what we have is a protest meeting, a gathering of those who simply will not put up with the arrogant claims of the world any more. That should be the starting point of any discussion about seeker sensitivity, about worship style and about how the church relates to the culture around it.
Make no mistake: praise is protest. If it is not protest, it is not praise.
