The world’s most famous catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer is equally well-known: “To glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” This answer provides a very comprehensive worldview. It gives a definitive purpose: to glorify, and a definitive state of being: to enjoy him forever.
But what strikes me about this catechism answer is the use of the word “and.” It separates the concept of “glorify” and “enjoyment.” These are two separate exercises. The answer is not to glorify God by enjoying him forever, though it would be true. But we glorify God, and we enjoy him forever. This is not abstract art or philosophical meandering; it’s a very distinct answer to life’s questions.
In an age when people walk around wondering what to do in life and when people seem uncertain if there is an objective way of looking at the world, the catechism comes right at you with no apologies. We glorify God, which is to say, we make his name weighty. We carry the weight of God wherever we go, and as we make God’s name weighty, we also have a distinct pleasure of enjoying him. There is a duty and a state of being.
Worship brings these two acts into focus: in worship, we make the name of God weighty, substantial. And we also enjoy God as we enter into this state of rest in the context of his people; the Word, the Sacrament, the fellowship, the singing, the enthusiasm of being with one another in heavenly places.
Let us glorify God and enter into a state of enjoyment together with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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