Hi All -
It was edifying and thought provoking - our discussion on Worship. As promised last Friday, here is continuing that discussion on the Blog. I have compiled some thought on this matter. Unfortunatly it goes miles and miles! Add your to the end.
Jewish Perspective on Worship
According to the law given to Moses, all Jews everywhere were to come to the temple (Jerusalem or wherever the temple was) for Worship. Hence the statement by the Samaritan woman - John 4:19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
Deut 12:5 says (talking to the Jews) that God will to find a place, to put his name there for His dwelling. And where he dwelled, the people were to bring sacrifices, offering etc and come for worship. Temple was the place where God himself dwelled (Shekhinah), hence the requirement to come to the temple for worship – e.g. Ps 132:7. In the same chapter Deut 12: 11-13, God reiterates this requirement, stressing its importance.
Deut 12:13,14 clearly warns against private alters and sacrifices. This was the reason why Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18:22 destroyed all private places of worship (important to note that these were alters to the Lord not to pagan idols).
Joshua describes to us what was involved in OT worship - Joshua 22:27 “… that we will worship the LORD at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings.” From several Psalms we know that worship also involved physical show of humility– bowing down and kneeling (Ps 95:6) etc
If the temple was unreachable, and someone was lead to worship, he or she would face the temple direction and bow down (Ps 5:7; 2 Chronicles 29:28) – because in the temple resided the Shekhinah of God and his holy presence. This explains why Daniel prayed facing Jerusalem. It was in recognition of the presence of God.
Attitude in Worship
There are attitudes in worship that is true even in modern times. Reverence (Ps 5:7), fear (Ps 22:23), Honor and Respect (Mal 1:6), give your best to God (Mal 1:7-8, 13, 14 having this attitude), delighting in Worship instead of considering it with contempt or burden (Mal 1:13).
Having detailed some of the facets of OT worship, we get a peripheral understanding of what Worship was, what God intended, and what Worship involved. Nevertheless we only have a blurry idea of the exact definition of Worship.
The New Worshiper
In His conversation with the Samaritan woman, Christ was rewriting and establishing a new way of worship (John 4:23(a) – “Yet a time is coming and has now come when …). He was not changing the meaning of worship, or the attitudinal requirements or it’s intend. Instead He was redefining the procedure and establishing a new standard.
He was establishing that the age of worshiping at Jerusalem (temple worship or in any mountain) and the age of sacrifices, festivals etc are over. A new age is coming and has come, where true worshipers will worship God the Father in Spirit and Truth.
He effectively made worship free from the restriction of time, place and regulation and made it ubiquitous.
What does it mean to “Worship in Spirit and Truth?”
“In Spirit”: means a worshiper with these experiences (listed below) or anyone who believes in these and are waiting on Lord’s time for its fulfillment in their life
- “Born (regenerated) of the Spirit” (John 3:5,6)
- led by the spirit (Rom 8:4,5,6,9,13,14,16 )
- Sealed by the Spirit (Eph 4:30)
- Indwelling of the Spirit (Act 19:1-6)
“In Truth”: Two times in separate settings, Jesus ascribes the word “Truth” to himself
- John 14:6- "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except throughme. ..” Christ is the only access to Father (GOD). So your worship should be in Truth (or the Worship should be in the name of Christ)
- In his conversation with Pilot - John 18:37 - "… Everyone on the side of truth listens to me”
God the Father is looking for Worshipers who are filled, led, born and sealed by the spirit and who believes and have put faith in Christ (the Truth, Son of God and Lamb of God) and in his sacrifice and fail not to obey his commandments.
It is not enough to just worship in Spirit or just to come in the name of Jesus, Both these experience should be personal and co-existent.
NT Worship: We come together in His Name
In Mat 18:20 (“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them”)
We see that it is in the community of believers and in the unity of purpose the physical presence of Jesus is manifested. A plurality of believers is emphasized in this verse. When we come together in the name of Jesus, and if we are united in purpose, the father in heaven works on our behalf or we worship him. Christ which was absent in the OT worship is a key component when we come together today. Further emphasizing worshiping in Truth
Private/Personal Worship
It is true that private (personal) worship is neither prohibited nor encouraged or even mentioned in the NT order of worship (correct me if I am wrong here). But neglecting corporate gathering is warned in Heb 10:25.
Moreover there are only a handful of instances of private personal worship in the whole bible, which is valid in extraneous circumstances. We should be careful against making the uncommon the norm. We will be led or we may desire to worship in our private realm, in doing so, we should be careful not to neglect or consider insignificant - corporate worship.
Church
In the bible Jesus was the first to use the word Church. Apart from when talking to Peter, in Mat 18:17 He specifically talks about how the members in the Church should resolve a problem. It is interesting to note that he did not use the words “synagogue” or “temple”. It was in his mind well before his death that the collection of NT worshipers should be called “Church”. It is also in this context that he uses the now famous verse – “… For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” How marvelous it is this understanding - when we come together for worship in his name, Jesus himself, though invisible is present among us.
All the epistles were written to the Church except for Timothy, Philemon etc. Jesus critiques the Church as a whole in Revelation - “to the angel of the church….”
Church is and will be an unavoidable reality of Christianity. We should associate with a Church that worships in Truth and Spirit and that which believes in the complete Gospel
The Benefit of Corporate Worship or a Church
If nothing else, corporate worship/gathering helps in the sharing of Spiritual gifts and spurring one another to do better and achieve greater spiritually which is impossible in a private realm.
- 1 Cor 14:26 “what then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
- Heb 10:25 : “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” This verse indicates that we need to increase the number of meetings as days go by.
Songs and Hymn in Worship
It should be self explanatory from these verses that Hymns and Songs were integral in worship.
- 2 Chronicles 20:18, 19: "Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice."
- 2 Chronicles 29:28: “The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.”
- Psalms 50 and 73–83 are associated with Asaph, as the master of his choir, to be sung in the worship of God. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms)
- 1 Cor 14:26 “what then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn….”
Propriety and Order in Worship
Corporate worship demands order. Again emphasizing a group
- 1 Kings 10:6-8: When everything came together in order as per requirement, the glory of God descended and worship was possible in the 2nd temple
- 2. Heb 9:6: "When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. "
- 1 Cor 14:26-40: Likewise without order, worship not possible in the NT church. Paul write to Corinthians about Orderly worship
We Worship an emotional but perfect God!
We worship an emotional God. He is not emotionless – all these emotions in perfect measure can be attributed to our God - anger, Love, sympathy, joy etc. if you are skeptical, read the books on Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Even then if you are unconvinced let me know. Our God will be moved emotionally by our Worship if it is in Truth and Spirit.
God made us as emotional being, because he made us in his image. In that sense, we also have the freedom to worship God with our emotion. A word of caution here - our emotions are to follow the overflowing/burden of our heart.
- 1 King 9:1: “…. My eyes and my heart will always be there...” God the Father emotionally moved after the consecration of the 1st temple
- God the Son - Christ showed empathy at Lazarus’s grave – He wept!
- Heb 5:7: Jesus during his days on the earth prayed with loud cries and tears
- Warning against grieving the Holy Spirit – Eph 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God”
In worship our emotions should follow the overflowing of the heart. In an orderly environment, shouting out praise, crying for Joy, praising, emotionally moved by a song because of the majesty of its words and the majesty of our God is all part of worship. In a spirit filled environment outpouring of the heart is one facet of Worship. So let us shake off our inhibitions!!!!!
