霍顿论敬拜1：敬拜的改革Part 1 of a 6-part series onWorship: Reforming Worship
作者：Michael S. Horton 译者/校对者: 思恩/王一
“毫无疑问,义的首要根基是对神的敬拜。当这一根基被推翻的时候，义的其余部分就像一座破碎倒塌的建筑分崩离析了……如果你不犯奸淫玷污自己的身体但却亵渎神至圣的名，这算是怎样的义？又或你不杀人但却努力除去对神的记忆，这又算是怎样的义？宣扬没有信仰的义是徒劳无用的。”
"Surely
the first foundation of righteousness is the worship of God. When this is
overthrown, all the remaining parts of righteousness, like the pieces of a
shattered and fallen building, are mangled and scattered.... What kind of
righteousness will you call it if you do not defile your body with fornication,
if with your blasphemies you profane God's most holy name? Or that you do not
slay a man, if you strive to kill the remembrance of God? It is vain to cry up
righteousness without religion."
当以色列被从奴役中解救出来的时候，主亲自保护照料他们，并命令他们不可有别神。哪怕他们是在敬拜真神，也不可以越过神的自我启示，按照自己的想象或喜好去行。以色列人必须通过上帝的话和圣礼去敬拜祂，并以此来预表那不可见之神将来在肉身的显现。不是金或石的神，而是血与肉的神——耶稣基督——祂不仅拯救了我们，而且还向我们启示了圣经的意义，以及我们需要知道上帝和他救赎计划有关的一切。有一天，一个从种族、宗教和性别上来看，耶稣都不应当与之谈话的撒玛利亚女人问他，真正的敬拜是在耶路撒冷还是在她们本族人的所相信的那座山上。耶稣回答她：“时候将到，现在就是了，那时人们敬拜上帝也不在这山上也不在那山上。因为上帝要寻找的是在灵里和真理中敬拜祂的人。”
When
Israel was liberated from its bondage, she was taken into the protective care
of her Lord and was commanded not to have any other gods. Nor were the
Israelites to worship even the true God apart from his own self-revelation,
according to their own imagination or whim. Rather, they were to worship him
through his Word and sacraments, anticipating through them the coming of the
one who would be the incarnate presence of the unseen God. Not a god of stone
or gold, but of flesh and blood, Christ Jesus, the Messiah, not only saved us;
he revealed to us the meaning of Scripture and, therefore, the understanding of
everything we needed to know about God and his redemptive plan. One day, a
Samaritan woman--of neither the right race, religion or gender for Jesus to be
talking to in his day, asked him whether true worship was taking place in
Jerusalem or on the mountain that her people believed was the true temple.
Jesus answered her, "A day is coming and now is when people will worship
God neither on this mountain or that mountain. For God is seeking people to
worship him in Spirit and in truth."
但“在灵里和真理中敬拜上帝”却是一件复杂的事。当一切悬浮在理论阶段时还好，但当我们准备下周日礼拜的时候，我们怎么知道自己是在正确地敬拜上帝？上帝是接受传统敬拜还是现代敬拜？还是都接受？我们怎么知道把什么带入到礼拜程序当中？甚至礼拜程序或仪式还有必要存在吗，它们会不会消灭圣灵的感动？如今问题实在是太多了，因此回到这个基本主题才至关重要：到底什么才是正确地敬拜上帝？
But
this is often a complicated business, this worship of God in Spirit and in
truth. It's okay when it's all up in the clouds and theoretical, but how can we
know we are worshipping God properly when we're putting together the service
for next Sunday? Does God accept traditional worship or contemporary worship?
Or is it both? How do we know what to put in the order of service? Should there
even be an order of service or a liturgy, or does that stifle the Holy Spirit?
There are so many questions these days that it is very important for us to go
back to this basic subject: What does it mean to worship God properly?
棘手的是，我们连这个问题都不经常提。我们关心的是自我满足和自娱自乐，最重要的是如何解决我们自己的事。但是基督教是以上帝为中心。换句话说上帝的存在不是为了我们的快乐，我们的存在乃是为了上帝的喜悦。我们起初被造是为了敬拜，被救赎也是为了敬拜。但是我们真的知道这是什么意思吗？我们是不是在星期天早上太急于让自己快乐而忽略了上帝？我们敬拜是不是基于人想要的而不是上帝的自我启示？以色列一次又一次陷到这个困境中，教会也在每个时代面临这个挑战。每一代的教会都应该清楚其目的不是讨人的喜悦而是讨神的喜悦。
The
problem is, we don't often ask this question. We are interested in our own
pleasure and happiness, so the biggest questions tend to be about how we can
get our problems fixed. But Christianity is God-centered; in other words, God
doesn't exist for our happiness, we exist for his. We were created in the
beginning to worship and are redeemed to worship. But do we even know what that
means? Are we too busy trying to make ourselves happy on Sunday morning instead
of God, by making our decisions about the service on the basis of what the
people want instead of God's own self-revelation? Israel fell into that trap
again and again, and the church constantly faces this challenge in every era, and
it must remind itself in every generation that its purpose is not to please
men, but God.
在宗教改革时期，敬拜是个重大议题。马丁路德对比了荣耀神学和十架神学。论到荣耀神学，马丁·路德说堕落的人性总是在寻找一条通往至圣所的秘密通道，想不通过默想就能见到上帝的真面貌。他们想成为神的朋友、哥们，也不满足于上帝所许可他们知道和感受到的。所以他们找来了楼梯借此想偷偷地爬到神的面前。一些人借用功德的楼梯。他们所建的教会往往充满了跑步机上的仓鼠。他们认为只要例行属灵的程序或者发挥属灵的恩赐就可以爬到神的面前，但并没有意识到他们只是在轮子上跑却没有到任何地方。另一些人创造了臆想的楼梯。这些人说，“嗯，我认为的神就是这样这样。” 并且他们根据自己的想象和观念而不是圣经清楚的教导来设计敬拜。还有一些人则发明了神秘主义的楼梯。路德对三个楼梯都非常了解，但这第三个楼梯对修士来说尤其有用。爬这个梯子的人深信如果他们洁净自己罪恶的思想，节制自己有罪的私欲，并且向神敞开心，立刻他们就在神的面前了。神秘主义者并不在乎教义，认为这会消灭圣灵。他们也不受神话语的约束，因为他们会问：“哪一个更强大呢：话语还是经验？我想直接经历到神并和神有个人的关系。”所以神秘主义者一直向上爬，以为自己正在爬向天堂，但当他到达自己情感历程终点的时候，却发现是地狱。
At
the time of the Reformation, the issue of worship, of course, was a very big
question. Martin Luther contrasted the theology of glory with the theology of
the cross. By the theology of glory, he meant that fallen human nature is
always looking for a secret passageway to the holy of holies, to see God as he
really is, without any mediation. They want to be his buddy, his pal, and they
aren't content to know and experience only that which he allows them to know
and experience. So, they invent ladders which they climb in order to steal into
his presence. Some use the ladder of merit. The churches they build are liable
to be full of hamsters on treadmills. They think that by sticking to a
spiritual routine or by exercising their spiritual gifts, they can climb into
God's presence, not realizing that they are simply running on a wheel that
never goes anywhere. Others create a ladder of speculation. These are the folks
who say, "Well, my idea of God is..." and they devise a worship that
is based on their own imagination and opinion rather than the clear teaching of
Scripture. But still others invent a ladder of mysticism. Luther knew all three
ladders well, but this third one was especially useful to the monk. Those who
climb this ladder are convinced that if they just purge themselves of their
sinful thoughts, restrain their sinful passions, and simply open up their heart
to God, suddenly they will be in God's presence. The mystic isn't concerned
with doctrines, for these stifle the spirit. Nor is the mystic bound to the
Word of God, for there again, which is more powerful, asks the mystic--a Word
or an Experience? "I want to experience God directly and have a personal
relationship with him," says the mystic. So upward he climbs, thinking he
is climbing toward heaven, when at the end of his emotional journey all he
arrives at is hell.
唯一的办法就是十架神学。我们必须要认识到这一点事实：有罪的人凭着自己的聪明、自己的义和自己的经验不能靠近神。必须是神亲自接近我们、拯救我们并启示自己。这恰恰就是神为我们已经做成的，不是通过我们的直觉、观念或属灵经验，而是凭借主耶稣基督的生、死、复活和升天。
The
only answer, therefore, is the theology of the cross. We must come to terms
with the fact that God cannot be approached by sinful human beings by their own
cleverness, in their own righteousness, or through their own experience. God
must come to us and save and reveal. And that is precisely what he has
done--not through our hunches or opinions or spiritual encounters, but through
the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.
统计数据告诉我们许多被归类为“离开教会”的人并不一定对基督教不感兴趣。事实上根据乔治·盖洛普（George Gallup）民意调查，许多人远离教会是因为他们不再认为教会真正的目的不再是神学或属灵的了。但我们环顾四周，在物质丰富的同时正发生着巨大的属灵饥荒。一名备受赞誉的世俗历史学家杰克逊·里尔斯（Jackson Lears），提出了一种其他历史学家和社会学家都认同的解释。里尔斯说“随着加尔文主义渐渐变为陈腐的人文主义，美国基督新教失去了古老严格信条所带来的厚重。由于缺少了属灵上的压载，资产阶级文化进入了尼采所称的‘失重阶段’ （ weightless’ period）。当宗教信仰退化成了情绪化的宗教盲信时，人对自我的坚实认知就被更进一步削弱了，导致了一种物质舒适但精神无味的失重文化。应运而生的失重人渴望从强烈的体验中找到对自己空虚生命的某种定义，和些许清晰的轮廓和实质。”
Statistics
tell us that many of those who would be classified as "unchurched"
today are not necessarily uninterested in Christianity. In fact, many stay away
from church, according to George Gallup, simply because they don't think that
the real purpose of the church is theological or spiritual any more. And yet,
we look around and there is a sense of incredible spiritual famine in the midst
of material plenty. One highly praised secular historian, Jackson Lears,
suggests an explanation that many other historians and sociologists have found
plausible. Says Lears, "As Calvinism softened into platitudinous humanism,
Protestant Christianity in America lost the gravity provided by older, sterner
creeds. Lacking spiritual ballast, bourgeois culture entered what Nietzsche had
called a 'weightless' period." Lears says, "The decline of religion
into sentimental religiosity further undermined a solid sense of self, leading
to a weightless culture of material comfort and spiritual blandness...breeding
weightless persons who longed for intense experience to give some definition,
some distinct outline and substance to their vaporous lives."
虽然出自世俗历史学家，但真的是令人惊讶的分析。无独有偶，统计数据似乎也得到同样的结论。请留意他们的这一观点：改革宗信仰甚至给在文化生活中的非基督徒提供了某种意义感和目的感，这是现代生活里的情绪主义所无法给予的。
That's
a pretty amazing analysis, coming from a secular historian. But you know what,
he's not alone. And the statistics seem to support their account. But notice
what they're saying. They're saying that the Reformation faith provided a sense
of meaning and purpose even for non-Christians in the culture in a way that
modern life simply can't recreate through its sentimentalism.
具有娱乐性质的以我为中心的“敬拜经验”或“庆祝”可能会短暂地刺激我们，就像看MTV或“我爱露西”重播来打发时间一样。但是它们不能真正地改变我们；不能重新把焦点从我们自己身上转向神；不能让我们举目仰望上天；也不能让我们与神和好，因为从一开始他们对神就不那么感兴趣。现在请听我说：在谈话里时不时提到神和真正花时间传扬神在圣经中所启示的属性和作为，并不是一回事。我们感兴趣的只是人际关系、家庭和解决每天的实际问题，但是我们对神本身并不感兴趣。
The
entertaining us-centered "worship experiences" or
"celebrations," as they're called these days, may stimulate us for a
while, the way watching MTV or "I Love Lucy" re-runs can kill an
hour. But they can't really change us. They can't reorient our focus from
ourselves to God. They can't raise our eyes toward heaven. They can't reconcile
us to God, because they aren't that interested in God in the first place. Now, hear
me out on this. To talk about God is not the same as taking the time to really
proclaim God's attributes and work as that is unfolded through the pages of
Scripture. We're interested in relationships, in families, in solving practical
problems of everyday life, but we aren't interested in God.
如果神和祂在基督里的工作，通过圣道和圣礼，应该塑造我们的敬拜，那么我们该如何理解教会以及我们与教会的关系呢？这听起来好像是抽象不相关的系统神学课题，但我确信这一点至关重要。
If
God and his activity in Christ, through the means of Word and sacrament, are to
shape our worship, then how are we to understand the church and our relation to
it? Now, at first, that sounds like some abstract, irrelevant topic for
systematic theology. But I assure you it is a vital question.
现今到处弥漫在敬拜中的“按需定制”、“管用就行”的心态，其实是一种想要变节教会的心态。教会被视为众多机构中的一个，常常被嘲弄，被认为是限制了许多圣灵充满、有魅力、热情和有创造力的属灵企业家成为大众的祝福。有多少电视布道家在讲台上趾高气扬的嘲笑“那些传统教会”。但当这些炫耀的孔雀一个接一个从高处掉落的时候，那些在某个小镇做着自己的工作且小有成就的“传统教会”仍旧在那里，经受住了时间的考验。
You
see, along with the make-it-up-as-you-go, whatever-works, mentality that
permeates worship so much these days is a renegade mentality toward the church.
Very often, the church is held almost in derision, as one of many institutions
that just keeps Spirit-filled, charismatic, enthusiastic, creative spiritual
entrepreneurs from being God's gift to humanity. How many TV preachers, for instance,
have you seen strut the stage, mocking "those traditional churches out
there." And yet, while those strutting peacocks fall one by one from their
lofty perch, the "traditional church" out there in some town that's
been there, doing its job, often with small success, is still around, standing
the test of time.
我们必须再次将第一次大觉醒及其以神为本高举基督的讲道，和第二次大觉醒及其以人为本情绪化的布道大会做一对比。这一转变不仅影响了敬拜的内容和方式，还完全改变了人们对教会的观念。从前，基督徒都委身于他们受洗和长大的教会。当然，现今社会的流动性使得我们很难做到了，因为工作或利益关系，我们无法始终停留在同一个地方。然而一种受了相对主义影响的灵入侵了教会说：“来吧，让我们跟着弗雷德弟兄，他的下场布道大会就在下一个镇。”从此跳教会（频繁换教会）就开始了。
We must again begin to contrast the
first Great Awakening, with its God-centered, Christexalting preaching, and the
Second Great Awakening, with its human-centered, emotional crusades. That shift not only
affected the content and style of worship; it totally transformed the view of
the church. Before, Christians were committed to the church in which they had
been baptized and raised. Now, of course, it's difficult for us today also
because of the mobility of our society: we can't always stay in one place,
because of our jobs or related interests. Nevertheless, a spirit invaded the
church as a result of revivalism that said, "Hey, let's follow Brother
Fred around. His next crusade is the next town over," and church-hopping
was born.
受到现今消费主义的影响，习惯了“跳教会”的人们又养成了“挑教会”嗜好。就好象到了一个购物中心，有没有看到你喜欢的？“可以为您效劳吗？”店员问道。“不，谢谢。”你回答。“随便看看。”当店员过来要帮忙打断了我浏览商品时，我甚至有点要发脾气。这种思维模式已经入侵了我们对教会的态度和对神的观念。牧师们就好像店主雇佣的店员，店主的名字可能写在店招牌或者购物袋上，但是店主却总不在场。店员应当做什么才能使一个繁忙又挑剔的顾客在这里而不是别的地方买东西？他们需要迅速又有魅力的向不经意的顾客介绍这件毛衣或者那套西装会比你在其他任何地方买到的都更令人满意。
Today,
consumerism has added to "church-hopping" a penchant for
"church-shopping." It's like going to a mall. Do you see anything you
like? "May I help you?", asks the clerk. "No thank you,"
you reply, "I'm just looking." I even get testy when the clerks
interrupt my casual glances at the goods with their invitation to assist me.
But that mentality is invading our attitude toward church and the things of God
in general. Ministers are increasingly becoming clerks who represent an owner
whose name might even be on the shop's sign and shopping bags, but who never
seems to be around. And what do clerks have to do in order to get a busy and
finicky shopper to actually purchase something here rather than somewhere else?
They have to quickly and charmingly demonstrate to the casual browser that this
sweater or that suit will be more satisfying than anything he or she could get
anywhere else.
今天的教会就像购物中心一样。那些不能维持灯光、摄像和其他活动的小型传统教会眼睁睁地看着会友奔向在城边刚刚建好的最大、最新的“购物中心”。问题是，十年前刚建好的购物中心，今天就已经落伍了。店铺一间接着一间关门，因为顾客都跑去最新的“超级购物中心”了。购物中心的例子应当成为今日教会的警戒。
So too, today, churches are now like
shopping malls. And the smaller, more traditional churches that can't afford
the lights, cameras and action watch their congregations run off to the
biggest, latest mall that's just been built on the outskirts of town. The problem is, you
can see a mall that was built just a decade ago and it's already
out-of-fashion. Its shops are closing one by one because the consumers have now
moved over to the latest megamall. The way of the malls ought to be a lesson to
the church today.
在1544年斯拜尔会议（Diet of Spires）上，加尔文站在皇帝查尔斯五世面前宣告“教会永远都会胜过她的敌人。我们会死去，但在死中我们已经得胜有余了，不仅仅因为通过死我们必定会进入更美好的生命中，而且我们知道，虽然现在人们轻看这神圣真理，我们的血必定会成为传播这真理的种子。”这些激动人心的话在我们今天的人听起来有些高大上。毕竟我们的身体还没有受到皇帝和教廷的迫害。但在某种意义上，这恰恰使得我们今天的处境变得更加地困难了。今日教会和宗教改革时期一样都遭受着威胁。虽然不是刀光剑影，但教会却在不见硝烟中因着自己看轻了神的话语而逐渐被消声了。并不是皇帝试图消灭真理之光，而是教会变得越来越像世界。教会并没有受到被屠杀净尽的威胁，而是面临着变成一个世俗的组织机构的危险：企业、政治游说团体、娱乐中心或是自助服务中心。简而言之，盐面临着失了味的危险。大家都清楚盐失了味还能做什么用。就像耶稣所说“无用只好丢在外面。”教会对社会缺少影响力并不是由于遭到迫害，而是来自神的审判。因为现在的教会不再是真正的教会，当教会和世俗机构竞争的时候，就会被扣上宗教偏执的骂名。是时候该重新寻回神宝贵的话语了，唯独这话语能恢复盐的味，这话语也能丰富一切被神儿子钉痕的手所养育的人。
Standing
before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Spires in 1544, Calvin declared,
"The Church doth always outlive her enemies. We will die, but in death be
more than conquerors, not only because through it we shall have a sure passage
to a better life, but because we know that our blood will be as seed to
propagate the Divine truth which men now despise." Those rousing words
seem a bit grand for us to quote today. After all, we're not being threatened
with physical punishment by the Emperor and the church. But in a sense, it's
even more difficult for us precisely because of that. The church is just as
surely threatened today as it was at the time of the Reformation. It may not be
at sword-point, but without the firing of a single shot, the church is
gradually silencing itself by silencing the Word of God. It is not the emperor
who is trying to extinguish the light of truth, but the church itself that is
becoming like the world. It's not in danger of being slaughtered out of
existence, but of becoming a worldly institution: A business, a political
action lobby, an entertainment center, a
self-help center. In short, the salt is in danger of losing its savor. And you
know what it's good for once it loses its flavor. As Jesus said, "It's
good for nothing but to be thrown out." The lack of the church's influence
in society is not due to persecution, but to the judgment of God. It is because
the church is not the church and when it tries to compete with worldly
institutions, it counters every criticism with the charge of religious bigotry.
It's time we recovered that precious Word, which alone can return flavor to the
salt, so that it can, in turn bring a richness to those who seek to be
nourished by the nail-scarred hands of the Son of God.
