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What does the word worship mean to you? If you’re like many
folks, the words “praising God, service to God, prayer, fellowship, etc.” may
come to mind. But is this what worship is all about? Why do I have to go to church for
that? The word worship comes from
the Old-English word ‘worth-ship” - to give someone worth (praise). Certainly
God is worthy of our praise, but is that the basis of worship? The answer is
“No.” My praise, service, prayers, etc. are never the basis for worship of God,
in fact, you have it backwards.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites
had a sacrificial system of service. I brought an animal to the Priest; I laid my hands in
faith and repentance upon the animal’s head and confessed my sins before the Priest;
The Priest then examined the animal (not me) to make sure it was spotless and acceptable
for sacrifice, and if the animal was acceptable, the Priest took the animal and sacrificed
it so my sins were atoned (covered) by its blood.
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| Since Jesus came, he fulfilled the requirements
of the Law and His blood was shed on the cross for the atonement of my sins, in fact, the
sins of the whole world. Since Jesus, I don’t have to bring an animal anymore. I
confess my sins both publicly (James 5:16), and privately (1 John 1:9) before God, seeking
His forgiveness, and God examines Jesus as the acceptable sacrifice for my sins, not me.
Because of Jesus’ righteousness, His sacrifice is perpetually acceptable to God for
my sins. My sins are therefore atoned (covered) by the blood of Jesus and God grants me
forgiveness on His behalf.
We
also know that Jesus took on the role of a servant when he came to us. “For even
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:44). Jesus
demonstrated this once by washing the disciples’ feet in John 13:1-17. Peter refused
to be served by Jesus in this way and Jesus told Peter, “Unless I wash you, you
have no part with me” (John 13:8). In other words, Jesus was saying, unless I
serve you Peter, you have no part with me. This is true for us as well, and this is the
true heart and nature of our worship, that is, God serving us.
In German this is called “Gottesdienst,"
which means "God’s Service," or rather, Divine Service” in the Lutheran Church. Think about
it - If God knew your name before he laid the foundations of the earth, and took the
initiative to seek you out, call you, begin a covenant with you in baptism, serve you by
giving you Jesus to die for you, and continues to serve you by giving you new life, the
Holy Spirit, and forgiveness of sins, why wouldn’t He continue to serve you today to
sustain your faith and help you grow spiritually? He does, and he does it through two
principle means:
Through the 1st means of grace -
God’s Word – The Bible - God serves us, sustains us, and encourages us in faith.
When we hear the word spoken and preached to us, the Holy Spirit is active in the word and
in us creating and sustaining faith. Through the 2nd means of grace - Communion - God
gives us by faith, through the body and blood of Jesus, forgiveness of sins, and when we
come forward for communion, we hold in our hands by faith the physical signs of our
forgiveness - the bread and the wine - the body and blood of Jesus.
People try very hard to serve God all
week, and then think they have to come on Sunday to serve God some more. No wonder why so
many people burn out. It’s backwards! We have all week to work and serve, but Sunday
is a day of rest, a day we let the Lord now serve us by strengthening and encouraging our
hearts, our spirits, and our faith. The truth of the whole
matter is that it is God who serves us
Sunday after Sunday through His Divine Service - His Word and Sacraments. They are His
means of His grace to us. Oh how He loves you and me! And he shows it week after week by
continuing to serve us. This puts worship in a whole new light. We come to church each
week so God may serve us, then and only then, may we rightfully give Him our thanks and
praise.
Part 2
In response to “Why go to
church?” Someone may ask, “Can’t I just stay home and read my Bible and
pray?”
Well … Each of us are always encouraged to read
our Bibles at home and pray each and every day, but do you?
Some 500 years ago, people asked the same thing of
Martin Luther. When people told Martin Luther they could read the Word of God at home with
as much profit as having to listen to a preacher, Dr. Luther apparently made a significant
distinction and said such things as, "Even if they do read, it is not as fruitful or
powerful as it is through a public preacher whom God has ordained to say and preach
this."
You see, even though God's Word has been given for each Christian, there has always been
the danger of private interpretation which might be contrary to the interpretation of the
Church over the years. That is, the Pastor is the guardian of the "proper"
interpretation of God's Word for the Christian, which has been normed by thousands of
years of thought, debate, and defense against error. I think this way of looking at things
would both include my personal Bible reading and thinking, as well as pastoral preaching
and teaching. Let me put it another way:
We are all familiar with the Apostle Paul’s words
in Romans chapter 10: 9-16
9 If you confess
with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and
with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
11 For the Scripture says,
"Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same
Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved."
We all know these verses above and have
heard them many times, but how about verses 14 - 17 which follow?
14 But how are they to call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never
heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is
written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says,
"Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" 17 So faith comes
from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Do you see what Paul is saying? Saving faith comes from
hearing the “preached” word of Christ. Paul is asking rhetorically how can
people call on the Lord to be saved if they do not believe, and
how can they believe if they do not hear the preached word? The
answer is that they can’t. In fact, nobody can without faith, and faith, as Paul
states, comes from hearing the “preached” word of Christ. That is how important
preaching is to the faith of the believer, because Without faith it is impossible to
please God, (Hebrews 11:6).
Yes, you can read your Bible at home, and you can pray
at home. We are told in Scripture to do those things anyway, but Christ has given us His
Body, also called His Church, of which we are a part of by our Baptism into Christ. And
Christ has chosen that through His Body, called the Church, that His Word be preached, and
that through the preached Word of Christ, faith is given, strengthened, encouraged and
grown, so that people may believe upon him, call upon him, and be saved. There is no other
way given by God. May you cherish in your heart the precious
gifts God has given us by his Son, and may you avail yourself of
every opportunity to enter in to the Divine Service of God
Pastor Rob Taylor, STS
St. Thomas Lutheran Church
Streetsboro, OH
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