What is worship?
Worship ascribes worth to the being or object being worshipped. There is true worship and false worship. When the children of Israel made a golden calf in the absence of Moses and worshipped it, they were ascribing worth to their object of worship. However, when Moses showed up with the Ten Commandments, they found that their object of worship was not truly worthy of their worship.
True worship defies definition; it can only be experienced. In seeking to define it, we often cheapen the very act of worship.
To worship, according to William Temple, in his book, The Hope of a New World, is:
To quicken the conscience by the holiness of God. To feed the mind with the truth of God. To purge the imagination with the beauty of God. To open the heart to the Love of God.
Franklin Segler and Randall Bradley in their book “Christian Worship” lay out a basic understanding of worship.
Worship is a mystery.
It is both a revelation of God’s immanence (His ability to reside within the human heart) and God’s transcendence (His inability to be contained or understood)
The mystery is that we can at once grasp His personal attention while at the same time recognize that He is a Holy God far beyond our reach. Were it not for Him choosing to commune with us and granting us that privilege, we would never be able to reach Him.
Worship is a celebration
It is a celebration of God in History. His work at creation. His leading of the people in the Bible. His coming as a child, reducing His transcendence into the form of a helpless baby.
Worship is a celebration of Jesus life, His teachings, His suffering and His death in our place, as well as His resurrection and victory over the power of death.
Worship is, as writer Von Ogden Vogt put it: "an interruption of work to praise and celebrate God’s goodness." The problem with most of our society today is that they never stop working. I went out onto my porch at about 6 this morning, and was amazed at the amount of people heading to work or driving work vehicles already. We need to interupt our work to praise and celebrate God’s goodness.
Worship is Life or Lifestyle
In it’s broadest sense, worship is related to all human action. As a part of creation, humankind responds in gratitude to the creator. Every area of life belongs to the Kingdom of God; therefore, worship is practicing the presence of God in every experience in life.
When I talk with someone, I practice the presence of God…that is, I talk as if God were standing right there with me. When I eat, I practice the presence (and possibly the restraint) of God. When I study, I study as if God were there with me. When I pray, I practice the presence of God. When I go to Wal-Mart, I stand in line as if God were right there with me. (and He needs to be with me in the line.) Anything I do in life then, becomes an act of worship if I practice the presence of God.
Worship is dialogue.
Worship is a dialogue between God and the worshipper. God is revealed to the worshipper’s spirit through the Bible, through the fellowship of believers, through music, through symbols, through banners, through human actions and through God’s Spirit.
As God is revealed, the worshipper is moved to respond.
When I talk about the manger scene…Joseph and Mary struggle up the hill, exhausted as they take those final steps into Bethlehem. Mary may already be experiencing labor pains and Joseph is urgently seeking shelter because the baby is coming. When you read those words describing Jesus's beginnings, you are moved to respond. Think about someone who yells in a crowd: "Make some room, we have a pregnant lady with a baby on the way and we have to get her to the hospital." That revelation causes your response. You are compelled to move. As God is revealed, the worshipper is moved to respond.
It is more than a conversation though. It is an encounter. In the encounter, God confronts and makes demands on the worshipper.
There are times as we worship that we come under conviction. There may be something in our life that is out of line. God wants us to yield that to Him as we worship.
There may be a hurt that we have hung on to that is now eating our spirituality alive in the clutches of bitterness. Worship gently demands that we let go of it.
There may be un-forgiveness in the heart. God confronts us in worship with our own sinfulness and then asks, “If I’ve already forgiven you, shouldn’t you forgive one another?”
It’s an encounter where God confronts and urges the worshipper to respond.
Worship is an offering.
In the Old Testament system, worship always included a sacrifice. A giving up of something. Giving is central to worship; both what we have and what we are. True worship demands that we give of our selves and of our means.
Worship is Eschatological fulfillment
Gerhard Delling, in his book entitled, “Worship in the New Testament” pg 182 says: It is the continuing decisive working out of salvation in history, which ends in the eternal adoration of God.
Isa 66: 22,23 "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure. “From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD.
W.T. Connor, in his book, “The Gospel of Redemption” pg 277 states, “The first business, then, of a church is not evangelism, nor missions, nor benevolence; (meaning service to others) it is worship. The worship of God in Christ should be at the center of all else that the church does. It is the mainspring of all the activity of the church. (Emphasis mine)
The heart of worship then comes down to the heart of the worshipper. There is no possibility of the church being Christian without worship. There is no possibility of a Christian being Christian without worship. So the question begs to be asked: What is in your heart today?
Are you weighed down with the cares of life? Ps. 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. Let go and worship.
Are you seeking to see your way clear on an issue? Prov. 3: 5,6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Let go and worship.
Do you find yourself bound up in worry? 1Pet. 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Let go and worship.
Are you angry and unforgiving? Col. 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Let go and worship.
Whatever it is, let go and worship. Put aside the cares, the worries, the hurts, the pain and worship. Let’s go back to the manger, and worship Him. Let’s go to the foot of the cross and worship Him. Let’s go to the empty tomb and worship Him. Let’s go to the glorious return of Jesus that is promised and worship Him. Worship Him with your heart, worship Him with your mind, worship Him with your body, worship Him with all you have. Immerse yourself in worship. For then you’ve gone back to the true Heart of Worship.
