Without trying to be too critical, I want to recount an experience I had tonight as well as a remedy for the issue represented therein.
I attended a big church (1000+ attendance) tonight and they were launching a sermon series on worship. “GREAT!” I thought. Certainly a topic worthy of a sermon series!
As the speaker progressed through the message, I was greatly disappointed and saddened. NEVER, not one time, did the speaker offer a description, definition, or explanation of what the Bible understands worship to be. He offered his own definition (which could have described worship in an Muslim, Hindu, you-name-it context (i.e., did not describe how Christian worship is unique), but NOT. A. WORD. on a biblical definition of worship. This is a HUGE swing and a miss.
I don’t get it America. How hard is it? Can we at least act like there is an authoritative text in the room that is the absolute ANCHOR to all that we do?
I’m hoping at this point that this is constructive criticism. I don’t want to just point out the failure, but remedy with a proper consideration of worship because worship is worth thinking about.
The Bible’s single longest book is a worship book—THE PSALMS!!!! This means that the Bible (arguably) has more to say about worship than almost any other topic! Not only this, but there are countless texts in scripture that speak to worship in both New and Old Testament contexts. Putting a message together about worship would have been as easy as picking a worship Psalm and exegeting it! Period. Done. How much easier can it be?
I honestly do not understand how this went overlooked…
Okay, now that I’m off my soapbox on that, what is worship according to the Bible? Here are some helpful texts:
Lexham Theological Wordbook
Worship is the reverential response of creation to the all-encompassing magnificence of God (Isa 6:1–6; Exod 15:11; Psa 148:1–14). In the OT, worship encompassed a variety of activities. Bringing forward an offering to God was an act of worship (קָרַב, qārab). Bowing down in the presence of God was an outward display of an inner attitude of reverence before the Creator (חָוָה, ḥāwâ). The verb רוּם (rûm) could indicate that a person was “lifting up” or “exalting” God with praise. Together, these last two terms provide a rich image of worship: People both bow before God and lift him up in praise and wonder. The verb הָלַל (hālal) could be used to designate the act of celebrating God. The word “hallelujah” is derived from the Hebrew phrase הַלְלוּ־יָהּ (halĕlû-yāh), meaning “praise Yahweh.” This praise could involve זָמַר (zāmar, “singing”). Worship could also be described as “serving” (עָבַד, ʿābad) God. The ritual life of devotion was emblematic of a whole life given over to God.The nt carries over many of the actions described as worship in the ot. The verb προσκυνέω (proskyneō) means to bow down as an act of worship, while κάμπτω (kamptō) signifies bending the knee or bowing in reverence to God. Other words for praising God include δοξάζω (doxazō), for the act of giving God glory, and εὐλογέω (eulogeō), for praising or blessing God.
Esau McCaulley, “Worship,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook (Lexham Bible Reference Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
Expression of reverence and adoration of God. The 1500 years from the days of Abraham to the time of Ezra (c. 1900–450 b.c.) saw many great changes in the form of worship in ancient Israel. Abraham, the wandering nomad, built altars and offered sacrifice wherever God appeared to him. In Moses’ time the tabernacle served as a portable sanctuary for the Israelite tribes journeying through the wilderness. Solomon founded a lavish temple in Jerusalem which lasted more than three centuries until its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 b.c. When the Jews returned from exile they built a new temple which, though less splendid than its predecessor, at least until Herod the Great renovated it, has served as the center of Jewish worship to this day. Though all the temple buildings were destroyed by the Romans in a.d. 70, the foundations remained, and by the western (wailing) wall the Jews still pray.If the form of worship changed with times and situations, its heart and center did not. God revealed himself to Abraham, promising that his children would inherit the land of Canaan. Abraham demonstrated his faith through prayers and sacrifice. Throughout the biblical period listening to God’s Word, prayer, and sacrifice constituted the essence of worship. The promises to Abraham were constantly recalled as the basis of Israel’s existence as a nation and its right to the land of Canaan.
Modern people tend to restrict worship to what happens in church on Sunday. Ancient Israel had a much broader concept of worship, offering worship in the home as well as in the temple several times a day, not merely on the sabbath and at great festivals. Worship involved both the individual family and the whole nation.
Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 2164.
YALE ANCHOR BIBLE DICTIONARY (EARLY CHRISTIAN WORSHIP)
WORSHIP, EARLY CHRISTIAN. Early Christianity differed strikingly from other religions in the Roman world in that it had no cult statues, temples, or regular sacrifices (whether of animals or produce), or the customary musical accompaniment. Christian worship had a primarily verbal character, and in this respect it was similar to synagogue Judaism, with which it had strong historical ties. Yet Christians did have religious gatherings where various types of rituals were practiced. Christians gathered to eat together (i.e., to celebrate the Lord’s Supper), to baptize new members, to read Scripture, to listen to God speak to them through other Christians, to experience healing, to pray and sing hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God. These activities were not tied to particular places but could be practiced virtually anywhere. The primary unifying feature was temporal rather than spatial (cf. Smith 1987: 94f.): Christian worship occurred primarily on Sunday, the day commemorating the resurrection. Narrowly viewed, not all of these activities can be characterized as the worship of God (Marshall 1985), though all are part of the distinctive Christian conception of divine service. Despite the fact that Christian baptism, prayer, and sacral meals were rooted in Jewish traditions, the choice of new times and places for worship were means whereby Christians distanced themselves from Judaism (Ign. Magn. 9:1; cf. Perrot 1983). Christian worship can be understood as the reverent homage paid to God and Christ in the context of a Christian assembly. Christians assembled for various reasons, and each type of assembly was a complex of several kinds of ritual behaviors and celebrations all combined into a unified whole. Thus while particular features of religious services may not in themselves constitute a ritual of worship, the context in which they are set means that they are part of the constellation of activities which constitutes Christian worship. In this article the focus will be to describe what can be known about religious activities which characterized Christian assemblies.
Aune D. E., “Worship, Early Christian,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 973–974.
KEY BIBLE PASSAGES ON WORSHIP:
Psalm 95:1–11
Matthew 28:8–9
John 4:21–24
Romans 12:1
Revelation 5:8–14
