There
are at least two ways “worship” may be defined. Firstly, worship should be a way of life. This is reflected in two of the Hebrew and Greek
etymologies, ebed or avad (Exo 3:12; Ps 100:2; Deut 10:12–13)
and latreuo (Acts 24:14; Rom 12:1), both
meaning “to serve” or “service.” Thus, just as scheduled breathing is spurious,
our “spiritual act of worship” (latrein; Rom
12:1) is not an act done in interval with other acts of non–worship, but is the
conscious and uninterrupted offering up of our bodies to God. It is a life of
integrity and consistency, and hence it has moral–ethical connotations (Rom 6:13). Worship is not an abrupt supernatural event in a life characterized
generally by an “ever-increasing wickedness” (Rom 6:20), as if worship is a
miraculous interposition of something sacred amid our ungodly routine. Rather,
it is a way of life, so that it is actually the acts of wickedness that are the
unwelcomed intrusions to a life of service to God. Unfortunately, the ought is not always reflected in current
state of affairs, or the is. For many Christians, worship is
something we do once or twice a week when we gather for about an hour or two at
“Church.”
To
understand worship as a scheduled event or act done by a gathered community is
not altogether negative. Even the Israelites in the old covenant congregated at
the Temple to offer their sacrifices. The Diaspora Jews gathered in the
synagogue to listen to and reflect on the Word. The early Christians met
together on special and designated days for worship in their homes. Like us
today, they gathered to sing songs, listen to the Word, and then adjourned to
return to their respective employment and tasks as civil servants, merchants, slaves,
mother, father, children, and so on. In fact, this is the second way we may
understand what worship is: worship as a
special event. This will be the main focus of this presentation, although
it is by no means argued that the first definition is less important.
Why
will this presentation focus more on worship as an special event than worship
as a lifestyle? It is because there are more confusions that need to be
addressed in defining worship as an special event than in understanding it as a
lifestyle. It will not be surprising that responses will be variegated should
the members of a single congregation are asked what the purpose of worship is.
The pastor or worship organizer may have a different mission or agenda in the
worship service than what the members are looking forward to in coming to
worship. There are song leaders whose definitions of what true worship means do
not match those of the worshippers. Worshippers have different expectations. We
all have our different understandings of what worship is, what the purpose of
worship is, how worship should be done, why we worship, and so on.
The
greatest problem of contemporary worship, however, is the loss of God as the
heart of worship. This is the root of all confusions in worship. It is because
we have dethroned God and enthroned ourselves in worship that terms such as “dissatisfaction”
has become a possibility in worship. It is because of the elevation of the self
and what it gains in worship that questions like “Are you blessed?” have become
important. Rabid pragmatism and utilitarianism that emphasize meeting human
desires, needs and wants have become the categories in which worship is planned
and carried out. Worship services have been turned into an entertainment café
where the value of the event is located in the satisfaction of customers
through great music, good food, and the talk from the stand–up comedian. Customer
satisfaction replaced God–centricism in worship. With Marva J. Dawn, “We must
recognize this for the idolatry it is.”[1]
As C. Weldon Gaddy also wrote, “To use Christian worship for any purpose other
than the glorification of God is to abuse it.”[2]
The
purpose of this presentation, therefore, is to put God back in his proper place
in our worship services: at the center. We are going to accomplish this, by (1)
defining what worship is, and (2) providing examples from both the biblical
traditions and the early church on how God is placed at the center of worship.
By doing (2), we hope to discover both the richness of their traditions and
learn some principles we can apply today.
I. WHAT IS
WORSHIP?
The
word “worship” comes from two Anglo–Saxon words: weorth, meaning “honor” and “worthiness” and scipe, meaning “to create.” From weorthscipe, it became worthship,
and finally to the form we know today as “worship.” It basically means “to
attribute worth” or “to create honor.”[3]
This is precisely what the Psalmists beckoned us to do:
“Ascribe to the
Lord the glory due
his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth” (Ps 96:8–9)
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth” (Ps 96:8–9)
Because
“Great is the Lord, and
greatly to be praised” (Ps 96:4), we must “extol the Lord our God” (Ps 99:9). The
other biblical terms to express worship reveal this basic orientation of
glorifying God. The Hebrew shachah (Gen 24:26–27, 52; 27:29;
Ps 66:4; 1 Sam 25:23; 2 Sam 14:33; 24:20; 2 Chron 7:3; 19:29) and
its Greek equivalent proskuneo (Matt
2:11; John 4:21–24) literally mean “to bow down” or “to prostrate oneself.” If
in the Psalm worship is done through words, proskuneo
is a worship done through action. It is the gesture of bowing down to a
ruler or master. An instance of shachah, followed
by words of praise is in Genesis 24:26–27, when Isaac “bowed
his head and worshiped the Lord and said,
‘Blessed be the Lord’.”
Indeed, “all creation worships (shachah)
[God]” (Ps 66:4). Related to shachah and
proskuneo are the Hebrew yare and its Greek equivalent phobeomai, which stress the awe and respect with which God’s people must approach
him. This is where the idea of “the fear of the Lord” is strongly emphasized.
The early church, for instance, was characterized by Luke as “living in the fear of the Lord” (Acts 9:31). The relationship
between fear and worship is most typified in Revelations 14:7: “Fear God and
give him glory… and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the
springs of water.” To fear God is also related to avad and latreuo, or
worship as lifestyle, because to fear God “is to obey his voice” (1 Sam 12:14),
to walk in his ways (Deut 8:6), to keep his commandments (Ecc 12:13), and to
turn away from evil (Job 1:1; Prov 3:7).[4]
II. THE CONTENT
OF WORSHIP
Of
course, we cannot “create” God’s honor. Honor and glory are inherently God’s.
Our role as worshippers is to devise ways to honor God in a way that does
justice to his worthiness. On the one hand, all our creaturely attempts to do
this are inadequate, so long as we are finite, but on the other hand, we can
still worship him according to our utmost capacity. The goal of the worship planner
is to create a platform where we can extol God so that the congregation that
gathers is able to give their best in ascribing honor to God. So the questions
are: “How do we bring glory to God in what we do in worship?” “What are the
essential parts of the worship service that facilitate the exaltation of God?”
Owing to time constraints, we are going to limit ourselves with J three major worship components:
(1) prayers, (2) music and songs, and (3) reading of and listening to the Word.
(I do not have the full manuscript for (2)
music and (3) Word, so only (1) prayers will be given here. The powerpoint
presentation will have slides on music and Word.)
III. WORSHIP IN
PRAYERS
A. Prayer as
Confession
In
an age where the self and what benefits the self are emphasized, prayers can
become avenues of self–assertion, self–indulgence, and self–promotion. In our
technological–economic–utilitarian age, prayers can become too concern–oriented.
We pray because we have “concerns” that require attention or we pray because we
have needs that need to be met. This is all too evident in Prayer Meetings,
where most (if not all) of mentioned prayer requests are actually personal and
communal concerns that we hope God can do something about. God is only a part
of the Prayer Meeting as the recipient of our requests, or as the Santa Clause
receiving our wish lists. So if worship is primarily the human attempt to bring
honor to God, how can our self–centered and need–oriented prayers in worship
services accomplish such an honoring of God?
Jewish
prayers are different. One of the primary types is called berakah (plural, berakot), from barak, meaning “to bless.” Its Greek counterpart is eulogetos. It is a prayer concerned with
blessing the name of God through proclaiming his qualities (Ps 89:52; Exo
18:10).[5]
Exodus 34:6–8 beautifully illustrates this:
“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
but visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
and the children’s children,
to the third and the fourth generation.”
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
but visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
and the children’s children,
to the third and the fourth generation.”
8 And
Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
In
the OT, there are numerous instances where shouts of exaltation just erupts, beginning
with the words “Blessed be the Lord” followed by adjectives and reminiscing of
God’s acts (Gen 9:26; 24:27; Exo 18:10; Ruth 3:10; 1 Sam 25:32, 39; 2 Sam
18:28; 1 Kings 1:48; 5:7; 8:15, 56; 10:9; 1 Chron 16:36; 29:20; 2 Chron 2:12;
6:4; 9:8; Ezra 7:27; Ps 28:6; 31:21; 41:13; 68:19; 72:18; 89:52; 106:48; 113:2;
115:15; 124:6; 135:21; Luke 1:68; Eph 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3). In the NT, the word Amen is usually the response the
congregation utters at the close of doxologies that ascribe praise to God and
to Jesus Christ (Rom 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 16:27; 2 Tim 4:18; Heb 13:21;1 Pet 4:11;
4:11; Jude 25; see also 2 Cor 1:20f).
When
we pray by proclaiming who God is, we are engaged (1) in worshipping God, i.e.
bringing honor to him, and (2) in theology. It is when we use human language to
express the qualities of God that prayer also becomes an act of confession. This
is what we need to recover. As the Greek Orthodox theologian Alexander
Schmemann wrote:
Ultimately, the liturgical problem of
our time is… a problem of restoring to liturgy its theological meaning, and to
theology its liturgical dimension. Theology cannot recover its central place
and function within the church without being rooted again in the very
experience of the Church (in thanksgiving and supplication)… Theology must
rediscover as its own ‘rule of faith’ the Church’s lex orandi, and the liturgy reveal itself again as the credendi.[6]
Truly,
lex orandi lex credendi, “what we
pray is what we believe.” It is when prayer is an act of giving honor to God
that we are engaged in reflecting about the Thou we encounter. Prayer,
therefore, is theologica prima. The
more abstract form of critical reflection is but a secondary act.
B. Prayer as
Thanksgiving
Another
Jewish prayer form is called hodayah, “to
give thanks.” In the NT, it is closely connected with homologeo and eucharisteo (Ps
30:12; Isa 12:1; 1 Cor 14:16; 2 Cor 1:11; 9:12; 1 Thess 5:18). Like berakah, it is concerned with giving
praise to God not only for his attributes but also because of his mighty acts. Daniel
can be cited as an example:
“Blessed be the
name of God from age to age,
for wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons,
deposes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my ancestors,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power,
and have now revealed to me what we asked of you,
for you have revealed to us what the king ordered” (Dan 2:2-0–23).
for wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons,
deposes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my ancestors,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power,
and have now revealed to me what we asked of you,
for you have revealed to us what the king ordered” (Dan 2:2-0–23).
Hodayah is basically a
prayer to make confession or affirmation of God’s goodness. For instance, David
wrote:
You have turned
my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever (Psalm 30:11–12)
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever (Psalm 30:11–12)
It
is for this reason that anamnesis, the
act of remembering, is very important in Jewish life (Deut 6:21–25; Acts
2:22–26; 1 Cor 11:24). In fact, the hodayah
prayers of the OT do not only recall up to the Exodus from Egypt or the
election of Abraham. Psalm 136 is a classic example of a thanksgiving prayer
that combines the elements of berakah,
hodayah with an anamnesis of
God’s work and goodness since creation!
Give thanks to
the Lord,
for he is good (His love never ends)
Give thanks to Him,
the God of gods (His love never ends)
Give thanks to Him, the Lord of lords (His love never ends)
Who alone does great wonders (His love never ends)
Give thanks to Him, the Lord of lords (His love never ends)
Who alone does great wonders (His love never ends)
Who by
understanding made the heavens (His love
never ends)
Who spread out
the earth on the waters (His love never
ends)
Who made the great lights, the sun and the moon (His love never ends)
Who brought Israel out from Egypt (His love never ends)
Who made the great lights, the sun and the moon (His love never ends)
Who brought Israel out from Egypt (His love never ends)
Who divided the
Red Sea into two (His love never ends)
Who led his
people through the wilderness (His love
never ends)
He remembered
us in our lowly estate (His love never
ends)
He rescued us
from our foes (His love never ends)
Give thanks to
the Lord, for he is good (His love never
ends)
C. Prayer as
Invoking and Beseeching
Another
practice in worship today that would have been weird for early Christians is
not beginning with prayer. In many churches, services begin with either a Call
to Worship or with songs. The Call to Worship is actually practiced in the
synagogue too, but it is different from what we do today in our churches. In
the synagogue worship, the Call to Worship is led by an attendant (Luke 4:20)
and is essentially a berakah:
“Blessed ye the Lord, the One who is to be blessed,” and the people respond in
unison: “Blessed be the Lord forever” (cf Neh 9:5).[7]
Thus, because it is a berakah, it is
centered on honoring God, and makes God the Subject of worship. This is unlike
what some congregations are doing, i.e. replacing the berakah with a casual greeting by the pastor in a false attempt to
create “community” and make worshippers feel comfortable. Others, with more
well–meaning motives, but still questionable, do the Call to Worship as an
exercise directed to worshippers. In this, what matters at the beginning of the
service is my readiness, my awareness, my experience, and my response.
The
early Church, on the other hand, started worship always with a prayer called
the Epiclesis, which is basically the
Invocation of the Holy Spirit into the worshipping community. What is
emphasized by this prayer is that we do not know how to worship or how to pray
as we ought and that it is only through the Spirit that we are able to
communicate with God, with or without words (Rom 8:26). It is easy to miss what
Don Saliers calls as “the paradox of prayer,” or the fact that when we pray, we
exist in the tension between knowing and not knowing. In fact, for him, “too
much certainty about God leads to presumptive prayer” which is “the seedbed of
idolatry.”[8]
The Epiclesis recognizes what Jesus
said to his disciples that the Spirit, when he comes, will teach them all
things (John 14:26).
The
importance of the Epiclesis is that
by giving prerogative to God’s work in the assembly, worshippers are not only
made aware of the significance of divine help in worship but also that God is
again placed at the center of worship. When we gather for worship, we honor God
with words and rituals, but we must realize that such are Spirit–empowered and
enabled. We do not worship or we cannot worship on our own innate capacities;
rather, we can only worship in the power and presence of the Spirit, who lifts
us up into communion with the Father through the Son. This idea of “empowered
prayer” is not so far from the concept of mediated prayer. The former is
pneumatological; the latter is more Christological. Mediated prayer refers to
the fact that when we pray, we always pray “in the name of Jesus.” In the first
place, no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). In the second
place, we only have confidence to “enter the sanctuary by the
blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us
through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we
have a great priest over the house of God” (Heb 10:19–21). We do not come to
Father and we do not pray according to our own significance or in the
significance of our own names; rather, we come to the Father in prayer in the
name of Jesus Christ, who is our Savior, High Priest and Mediator (Heb
4:14–16). It is by acknowledging that it is only in Christ and in the Spirit
that we worship that we put the Triune God as the primary Subject of worship.
[1]
Marva J. Dawn, Reaching Out without
Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for the Turn–of–the–Century Culture (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 87.
[2]
C. Weldon Gaddy, The Gift of Worship (Nashville:
Broadman, 1992), 40.
[3]
Ralph P. Martin, Worship in the Early
Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 10–12; Dawn, Reaching Out, 76–77.
[4]
See Robert E. Webber, Worship Old and
New, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 29–30.
[5]
It is also concerned with the confession of sin or protestations of
unworthiness and faithfulness (1 Kings 8:60). See Paul F. Bradshaw, The Search for the Origins of Christian
Worship (New York: Oxford U. Press, 1992), 15–16.
[6]
Alexander Schmemann, “Liturgy and Theology,” Greek Orthodox Theological Review 17 (Spring 1972), 100.
[7]
Martin, Worship in the Early Church, 25.
[8]
Don E. Saliers, Worship as Theology:
Foretaste of Divine Glory (Nashville: Abingdon, 1994), 110–111.
