What is worship?
When I became an Anglican, I was at first quite puzzled by the choice of Scripture passages that Anglican (that is, Church of England) services kept coming back to—the Benedictus (Luke 1.68–79) in Morning Prayer, the Magnificat (Luke ane.46–55) in Evening Prayer, and the Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2.29–32) at night. For 1 affair, all these come from ane gospel and one department of that gospel. For another, if you were going to repeat a small number of passages again and once again, are in that location not other passages yous would choose offset? How well-nigh the hymn to love in one Cor 13? Or the summary of the gospel in ane Cor fifteen? Or the 'Christ hymn' of Paul in Phil 2? Or John's magisterial prologue in John i? (Of course, most of these exercise observe their way into Anglican liturgy in the form of credal affirmations or canticles.)
It took some fourth dimension for me to realise the importance of the passages from Luke equally programmatic summaries of what God was doing in Jesus; fulfilling the hopes of his people Israel in bringing forgiveness, true liberation and peace (the Benedictus); enacting the Great Reversal of God'south grace over against homo pride, following the blueprint of Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel (the Magnificat); and bringing to completion God'due south programme not just for State of israel simply for the whole earth, in anticipation of Jesus' followers being his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (the Nunc Dimittis).
The other passage that puzzled me was the choice of Ps 95 (too known by its opening words in Latin, pointing back to the influence of the Vulgate translation), the Venite, and its alternative Ps 100, the Jubilate. But it has slowly dawned on me that Ps 95 offers a comprehensive account of what worship involves.
1. Invitational: 'Come…'
The repeated refrain of invitation, 'come let u.s.a. worship', has been picked upward in both mod ('Come up, now is the fourth dimension to worship') and traditional ('Come up permit us join our cheerful song') hymnody. But its importance here reflects the essential direction of travel in the worship encounter. Although there is a consequent theme of the worshipper as the i who seeks, in the thirst of Ps 42, the metaphorically interpreted desire of the Song of Songs, and Jesus' teaching on persistence in prayer in Luke 11, the primary notation in Scripture is of God seeking u.s.a., rather than the other way effectually. Information technology begins with God seeking Adam and Eve in the garden in Gen 3.nine, and ends non with u.s. going to heaven but the New Jerusalem coming from heaven to earth in Rev 21.2. In between it is expressed in God choosing his people, not they him (Deut seven.7), in his tender longing for his people every bit they become off-target (Hos 11.viii), in his seeking and saving the lost (Luke 15, Luke 19.x). Whether faith came to usa natural out of our curiosity, or as a surprise when we were least expecting information technology, the underlying theological reality is that our worship is a result of God'south initiative, and non ours. In the antiphon of divine-human see, it is God who issues the telephone call and we who offer our response.
2. Corporate: '…let us…'
There are enough of individual psalms, in which the psalmist expresses personal faith, seeking, frustration and questioning of God—religion is at all stages a personal reality. Still, throughout Scripture, the relationship of God with his people is first and foremost expressed corporately, and the personal flows from this. This is especially clear in the corporate regulations for worship in the Pentateuch, but continues to exist evident in the corporate descriptions of life and worship in Acts and the Pauline letters. Personal feel is rooted in corporate practice, flows from information technology and is nourished past it. The psalmist anticipates that his personal longing expressed in Ps 42.ane would be met in the corporate experience of Ps 42.iv. A similar prioritising of the corporate in our families might reduce the loss of faith in the teenage years; and encouraging corporate rather than relentlessly personal devotions might enable united states of america to appoint more effectively with the non-book cultures effectually u.s.a..
3. Physical: '…shout aloud…bow down…'
There is no mistaking the concrete nature of worship that is envisaged here at every stage. The first invitation is to 'shout', and the Hebrew term is used both of the cry that calls the people to war and of the great belly-roar of triumph over ane'southward enemies when victory is won. It suggests a kind of visceral roar of celebration, and makes usa wonder why the frisson of concrete feel that we find on the football game terraces Sat by Saturday isn't as well present in our worship Sunday past Sunday. Though the presence of God might at times pb us to awed silence, most often information technology will call on all our physical skills of music-making, and involve concrete actions of 'bowing down' and 'kneeling'. One of the great recoveries of the charismatic renewal movement was the importance of bodily experience and expression in worship, and this should be a feature of all Christian worship.
4. Theological: 'The Lord is a great Male monarch above all gods…'
At that place is, in the start half of this psalm, a constant interplay betwixt large theological claims and exultant affective response. In that location are three massive theological ideas effectually which the response of worship orbits; in reverse club: God as creator; God as the merely truthful god; and God every bit the saviour of his people. Recognising that Yahweh is 'our maker' focusses on the creature/creator divide, and the fragility of man being in dissimilarity to the power of God. Simply the theme also includes God's sovereignty over the created world; it is worth noting the binary contrasts (depths/peaks, sea/state) which both part as merisms that take two extremes to include everything in between, and also reflect the theme of separation in the cosmos account of Gen one. Recognising God every bit king makes explicit an thought which is implicit in the earlier parts of Scripture but which get increasingly visible in the period of the monarchy and reaches its full flourishing in the preaching of Jesus of the coming 'kingdom of God'. Although here expressed in henotheistic terms (God amongst the gods), the contrast easily moves into the accented monotheism that nosotros notice in Isaiah ('At that place are no other gods beside me', Is 45.v; compare the similar movement in 1 Cor 8.4–six). In the NT, the kingdom of God is contrasted with the kingdom of this world, and the two are in eschatological contrast. And in a world of competing spiritual powers, it is the God of Israel who saves his people.
There is no divide hither between agreement and melancholia response, between thinking, feeling and acting. Worship is rooted in theological understanding, and theological understanding inevitably leads to a response of worship.
five. Dialectical: 'extol…bow downwardly…hear his voice…'
The first half of the psalm includes some striking contrasts which nosotros might have missed because of our familiarity. The commencement notation is ane of celebration, exalting in the conservancy that he brings to his people and rejoicing in his mighty ability. If this feels like a motion upwardly, and so the contrast comes in the move down, bowing in humility and awe in verse 6. Both the upward movement and the down are essential in worship—God is the source of our joy, but God is no mere celestial chum with whom we party. What is most fascinating is the manner that these two movements are aligned. We mighty wait a response of awe to God's power—merely in fact this leads to celebration, since the psalmist is convinced that God is for his people and (essential) on their side. What leads to wonder is the fact that this mighty God, in all his power of cosmos, salvation and defeat of his enemies, a God not to be trifled with, is the tender shepherd of his people, one who knows their needs and meets them with his provision. This God is not vulnerable instead of being mighty; he is both, and the wonder comes in the holding together of the ii convictions.
6. Repentant: 'Practice not harden your hearts…'
The second major dialectical tension in the psalm is 1 that Anglican liturgy tin barely cope with, and simply manages by making the ending of the psalm optional in liturgical recitation. There is the sharpest of contrasts in the unfettering joy and commitment expressed in the start one-half, and the stern alert of sentence that awaits us if we do not apologize and belief in the second. It is the kind of contrast we also struggle with in the educational activity of Jesus, when reports of calamity provoke Jesus' response: 'Unless y'all repent, you as well volition perish!' (Luke 13.iii, 5). Not exactly gentle Jesus, meek and mild and inclusive. Merely this tension points to the reality of respectable Christian leaders who end up being calumniating, congregations with practiced biblical teaching who are oblivious to the globe around them, and all of u.s.a. as nosotros come up to God with distinctly mixed motives. Worship services which focus on commemoration and find the downbeat of confession of sin also stark a contrast with the upbeat of feeling skilful almost God ignore this tension at their peril. The language of the BCP in describing sin as an intolerable brunt to miserable sinners needs to be recovered.
seven. Canonical: '…equally your ancestors did…'
The psalm begins with a hint at the story of God's dealings with his people in the mention of the 'stone of salvation', but this story become clearly (and uncomfortably) explicit in the second one-half. Worship of God past the people of God is rooted in the particularity of God's dealings with his people and their response to him. Indeed, some psalms, like Ps 136, are entirely structured around the story of our experience of God as his people. The general refrain 'His beloved endures forever', which on its own is in danger of becoming a theological slogan, only makes sense when understood in the calorie-free of the particulars of God'southward action. In a similar way, it is hitting that Paul assumes that the story of God's dealings with his people State of israel has become the story that now belongs to the mixed Jewish-gentile group of followers of Jesus in Corinth, so that they are all inheritors of this canonical story of faith (i Cor 10.6). Reading Scripture when nosotros meet, and thus locating ourselves in this story, is not something that leads to worship—it is a constituent part of the worship itself. Christian worship will empathise Jesus equally the climax and fulfilment of this story—just it will not ignore the earlier episodes.
Responding to God's initiative, confessing our sins, celebrating in song, locating ourselves in the story of God'due south people, reflecting on theology, living with tensions and contrasts, and expressing all this in bodily action as we encounter together—all these are essential parts of our worship. If any of them is missing, God is reduced, our worship is macerated and we are the less for information technology.
Follow me on Twitter @psephizo.Like my page on Facebook.
Much of my work is done on a freelance basis. If you accept valued this post, would you lot considerdonating £i.twenty a calendar month to support the production of this blog?
If you enjoyed this, do share it on social media (Facebook or Twitter) using the buttons on the left. Follow me on Twitter @psephizo. Similar my folio on Facebook.
Much of my piece of work is done on a freelance basis. If yous have valued this post, you tin can make a single or repeat donation through PayPal:
Comments policy: Good comments that engage with the content of the mail service, and share in respectful fence, tin can add together real value. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Make the almost charitable construal of the views of others and seek to learn from their perspectives. Don't view debate as a conflict to win; address the statement rather than tackling the person.
Source: https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/what-is-worship/
Post a Comment for "What is worship?"