Magnifying God in Worship

On April 24, 1990 NASA launched one of the most expensive camera’s ever built into orbit around our planet. The Hubble Space telescope was the culmination of years of research, engineering and taxpayer dollars, coming in at a whopping $2.5 billion.

In the scientific community, expectations were high as astronomers were giddy over what they might discover once the ultra-sensitive lenses aboard Hubble peered into deep space. What made Hubble unique from any other telescope was its ability to escape Earth’s atmosphere. Beyond the confines of our clouds, Hubble could look directly toward distant galaxies and planets without the image being distorted by Earth’s atmosphere.  

Every 97 minutes, Hubble was to complete a spin around Earth, moving at the speed of about five miles per second—fast enough to travel across the United States in about 10 minutes. As it traveled, Hubble's instruments were supposed to capture unbelievable images from galaxies far, far away. 

However, almost immediately after Hubble went into orbit, it became clear that something was wrong. While the pictures were clearer than those of ground-based telescopes, they weren't the pristine images promised. They were blurry.  After months of investigation engineers finally located the problem. 

Hubble's primary mirror, polished so carefully and lovingly over the course of a full year, had a flaw called a “spherical aberration.” The lens was just slightly the wrong shape.  The tiny flaw — about 1/50th the thickness of a sheet of paper—was enough to distort the view.  Finally by 1993 NASA astronauts fixed the problem after a painstaking five day space-walk mission. 

When the new images were transmitted back from Hubble, astronomers were astounded at the unknown beauty lying in the far reaches of our universe just waiting to be discovered. One of the first stunning images that came back in 1995 was dubbed “the Pillars of Creation.” which shows a part of the Eagle Nebula where new stars are forming. The tallest pillar of gas and dust is around 4 light-years high!  

Just as there is a principle of magnification in optics there is also one in worship. What makes the Hubble telescope so special is its ability to focus in on a majestic celestial body and magnify it so that all the intricate details can be seen. Worship is ultimately about magnifying Christ. It’s about focusing on Him—His power, his love, His grace.

In Psalm 34:1-3 we read, “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” John the Baptist also had this frame of mind when he said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

When we worship biblically God becomes larger and larger in our hearts. True worship is that which begins and ends in God. Over time as our affection and understanding of God continually grows then we are transformed from the inside out. Only God is big enough to fill the existential void in our hearts, and only God can be a perpetual novelty to us as we spend eternity learning more and more about Him. Don’t waste your worship on an idol that will not last beyond our finite existence. Worship the true and living God and you will not be let down by the disappointment of little gods. –DM