Worship Matters

So your friend asks, “What is worship?” It seems like such a simple question doesn’t it? I think that we often think to ourselves that we have to go to church and worship… or we’re going to a worship service… or because we are singing it is the “worship part” of the service. But what is worship really? I think that the answer is much more complicated than just singing, praying, or anything that brings worship down to just one thing.

This question is a lot like if I were to ask you to explain Football, Baseball, or any other sport to someone that has never seen the sport played. You couldn’t just say “You throw/catch/run the ball” or “you have to score a touchdown/basket/run.” Neither of those would be an ample explanation for what is going on during the game. Neither could you just hand your curious friend a book and tell them to read it through so that they understand without the hassle of your explanation.

What do we do then, in response to our friend’s inquiry about what we do every Sunday morning? Could we show them a bulletin and try to explain the whole thing to them? This might help a little bit to know what is going on in that particular service. Could we just send them to a Pastor? Perhaps he would have a rather informed answer for our inquisitive friend, but I think it more important for us to know about what it is that we do when we worship… and for that we must turn ourselves to the Bible.

The Psalms seem to be the first logical choice to turn to; they seem to be overflowing with “worship language:”
Psalm 7:17 “I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.”
Psalm 9:1 “I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”
Psalm 29:2 “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.”
Psalm 95:6 “Come let us Worship and Bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker…”
Psalm 109:30 “With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him.”
Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.”

So worship is Praise, Prayer, singing, kneeling, clapping, and even bowing? It would seem that if you look to the Psalms for direction in worship, it would suggest a very physical response to worship. In fact, the words that the Hebrews used for worship are suggestive of that as well. In fact, the Hebrews, when the Word of the Lord was read, would stand in reverence, and would bow with their faces to the ground in times of prayer.

Looking to the New Testament, Jesus, and later the Apostles, takes the idea of worship to the level that it was intended to be. Worship was never intended to be simply an event that was limited to a single day, week, festival, or celebration… worship was meant to be a way of life! Jesus points this out to the religious leaders in Matthew 15 when He quotes Isaiah saying, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Later, Paul talks about giving our lives to God in what has become one of my favorite verses in the Bible, Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Worship isn’t something that we should be saving for a Sunday morning… worship is a life transforming act. When we sing songs, pray together, and hear the Word, it is to be something that changes our lives each and every day. Remember: WORSIHP IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT and just as athletes have to change their lives to train and play the game well, so we need to refocus our lives on God, read the Word, Pray, Sing, and train for our lives for worship as well!