Worship seems so easy. We jump into the car and drive over, find a place to sit, and then we just get started. What could be hard about that?

When we think about what we are doing, though, it doesn’t look quite so easy. We are entering into the presence of the Creator of heaven and earth, who is a Holy and Righteous Judge, who, the Bible says, dwells in “unapproachable light.” By what right do we approach what is unapproachable?

We dare not come unless we’re invited. We dare not enter unless we’ve been called here.

What we do every Sunday morning is not easy at all. To make this possible, Jesus had to die on the cross, to tear down the veil that separated us from the presence of God. To make this possible, Jesus had to rise from the dead, and ascend into the heavenly sanctuary to open up a way for us.

And even then the work wasn’t over. Paul says that we have access “by one Spirit to the Father.” Jesus made us a way, but that way is not open until the Spirit falls at Pentecost. It’s the Spirit who ensures that “all who call on the Lord shall be saved.”

It’s the Spirit who blew you in here, and the Spirit who will blow you out again. You can enter the Holy Place only because of this: Because the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”