A PHILOSOPHY OF WORSHIP

The story is told of a group of visitors touring the British Houses of Parliament, being led by Neil Marten, who was then a member of Parliament. “During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then Lord Chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office. Hailsham recognized Marten among the group and loudly cried out, "Neil!" Not daring to question or disobey the “command,” the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees!

This humorous, albeit, misguided example, can be viewed as a form of reverence, respect, veneration, and possibly even in a religious context - worship, but of course, it was all wrong and quite an erroneous reaction from an unsuspecting crowd of ill-informed spectators. What are we in the Church often times, if not, “…an unsuspecting crowd of ill-informed spectators…”; bowing when we are told to, raising our hands when prompted, singing and clapping at the prescribed times, and blindly following our guides through our houses of worship, all the while confessing that this is indeed a true form of worship to our God and Father, the Creator of the entire universe.

Well if that isn’t worship, “What is?”, you might ask. There are many, and I mean many lofty definitions for worship, probably none so grandiose as the one that William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury described. Warren Wiersbe referred to it as a, “…masterful definition of worship and quotes it as follows: "…the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose, and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin… (Wiersbe 119)"

OK, not a bad place to start, very flowery and eloquent, and probably true for the most part, but it doesn’t really resonate with the heart, does it? Another great Christian writer, James Packer describes worship in this way: “To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see. (Packer 15)” Now that is more to the point and has a rational basis that is easy to grasp, but it is still lacking an emotional and spiritual aspect.

A.W. Tozer puts it another way, as he begins to bring our emotions into it declaring that, “Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient mystery, that majesty which philosophers call the first cause, but which we call Our Father which are in Heaven. (Tozer 90)” 

It is in this context, that the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and wiped them clean with her hair, becomes the ultimate expression of true worship, in my opinion. Consider the story: “…one of the Pharisees asked Him [Jesus] to eat with him. …a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. (NKJV Luke 7:36-38)”

This display disgusted the Pharisee of course, and he said to himself, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner. (Luke 7:39)” Jesus, knowing the heart of this man, told a story of forgiveness of which the Pharisee proclaimed to grasp the theological meaning of, but then Jesus said, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. (Luke 7:44-47)"

  

Within this one story, all of the previous definitions of worship find their true meaning realized. Worship is submission, adoration, “…the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose…” But it is much more than that! It also involves our service to Him at the expense of ourselves; in the recognition of His worth and worthiness, and in acknowledgment of our unworthiness; inspired by His forgiveness and epitomized by the awareness that, our sins, which are many, are forgiven, if we love (worship) much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves (worships) little.

Unlike the definition of worship, its purpose is much easier to delineate. Professor Koessler provides an excellent explanation by borrowing from the Westminster Catechism declaring, “…that, ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.’ This is also the aim of the church when it gathers for worship. We come together to glorify God and to edify one another. (Koessler 2)” He goes on to say that, “Our worship is directed toward God but we are the real beneficiaries. Worship is not a performance. We're not entertaining God when we worship. Nor is the goal of worship to perform in the practical sense of the word. (Koessler 2)”

It is significant also that Jesus qualified worship as being strictly spiritual in nature, so that we are not even able to perform or entertain God with our carnal methods because, “…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24)” 

Methods and Means of Worship

While modern congregations might be quick to assume worship is merely singing songs and playing music in a certain way, the Bible is clear that it is much more than that. Yes, singing praise with music does play a role, but just the mere act of the congregation coming together for fellowship, the breaking of bread, the study of the word, and prayer are acts of worship as well. Thanksgiving, confession of sins, the giving of tithes and offerings, and performing acts good works and obedience such as baptisms and the Lord’s Supper also qualify as worship to God. 

Finally, we must remember that, “Through worship we instruct ourselves and proclaim the gospel to the lost. We find recognition and acceptance as members of the community of faith and household of God. In worship, we also find the context in which to face our sin. We speak to God in worship but God also speaks to us. Corporate worship is an event in which believer and unbeliever alike can experience the real presence of the living God.” Worship is so much more than singing songs, it is our entire relationship to God through His Son Jesus, and it takes on many forms that we must be aware of.

By Pastor Glen Mustian

Works Cited:

Koessler, John. The Worship of the Church. PS3310-L7V1-Koessler – Worship. Video. 

NKJV New King James Version. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2000. Print.

Packer, James. Your Father Loves You. Harold Shaw Publishers. Print. 1986. 

Tozer, A.W. Quoted in D.J. Fant, A.W. Tozer, Christian Publications, Print. 1964.

Unknown Author. Today in the Word. Moody Global Ministries. Chicago, IL: Print. 1993. 

Wiersbe, Warren W. The Integrity Crisis. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nashville, TN: Print. 1991.