Revelation 4:9-11: Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.

Every week, we gather here at the University Inn, in these comfortable but less than splendid surroundings, to sing, pray, confess, listen, eat. That’s what it looks like from the outside, but we really assemble here to be drawn up by the Spirit to our Father in heaven, drawn up into the perpetual heavenly liturgy in praise of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

That liturgy, which John sees when the sky cracks and he enters the throne room of God, sets the pattern for our liturgy. Heavenly worship begins with an act of humility. John sees 24 “elders,” the angel-priests of the heavenly temple, bow and cast their crowns before the throne. They are kings, but when they appear before the heavenly King, they fall in homage and confess that the King of kings is worthy of all glory and honor.

At the end of the book, though, those crowns are not strewn about on the crystal sea before the throne. They’ve been picked up, and not by angels. By the end of the book, the saints sit on thrones judging the tribes of Israel, reigning with God as kings and priests.

That is precisely what happens every week here. During the week, we hold different titles – President, CEO, Director, District Manager, Dr. We have real authority as fathers, husbands, parents, bosses, teachers. We have vocations and rightly want to succeed in those vocations. But when we enter the presence of God here on the Lord’s day, we abdicate and cast those crowns before the King. Before this King, we are all unworthy servants. Before this King, we all bow.

But we don’t stay on the ground, and our heads do not remain uncrowned. God raises the humble, confers glory and honor on the lowly. He raises us up, gives us our crowns back, seats us here at the marriage supper of the Lamb, then He sends us out as kings and priests.