Come before the Father now, and do so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we worship the Lord according to His Word, we reflect His glory into the world. But in the Bible the word glory is more than just a simple matter of brightness; it also carries the idea of weight. The Scriptures teach us about the weight of glory.
As we worship God in this small town, we want to do so in such a way that all the autonomous man-made structures of it are brought to the point of collapse. They cannot bear the weight of God’s glory which we, through our worship, are bringing into our community. Of course, apart from the grace of God, established in the ordinances of His church, we cannot bear that weight either. This means that the ordinances of our own devising must go. What we hold to is not always what the Bible requires.
And this is why reformations are always attended with the sound of much creaking and groaning. We have developed our makeshift offerings and liturgies, our platforms and shelves, built out of slender two by twos. The sound of splintering wood should therefore be a delight to us.
God is giving us a kingdom which cannot be shaken. Therefore He shakes down everything which is not part of that kingdom, and He shakes it to pieces. As we worship Him now, by His grace alone, we are some of His instruments in that shaking.