WORSHIP?
“Sunday Worship Service: 8:45 and 11:00 AM”. The Reader-Board in front of the church announced the times for congregational assemblies. Most of us think of this as “worship”, an English colloquialism that dominates the mindset of the religious devotees. Part of the regulated organization of life. Not for everyone (anymore) but at least for those who show some behavioral consequences of belief.
If you attend one of these services, you soon discover that once more there is a proper regulation imposed by scheduling. What is billed as “worship” is usually a mixture of greetings, glad-handing, announcements, pulpit prayer, liturgy, singing, special music, a sermon or homily and, lest we forget that God’s needs our money, the offering. If your visit occurs at the right time, you may participate in a communal experience of the Lord’s Supper, complete with throw-away (sanitary) cups and some semblance (in thought only) of bread. Served by serious looking people with dour faces, surrounded by ritual pomp and mystery that is not altogether intelligible except to the “initiated”. (“Please, Johnny, don’t swish the grape juice this time!”)
When we strip away all the extras, we’re usually left with “worship” that is subsumed under the category of following-the-bounding-ball singing from projection screen words without music. Hopefully you know the tune. Otherwise you can fake it. This is called “praise and worship”. As the carefully scripted lighting and sounds rise and fall, every decibel is massaged in order to bring the audience to a state of emotional preparedness. Don’t ask what you are being prepared for. Continuity is not a high priority. Packaging is what counts. “I feel the presence of God among us today” says the voice. But I wonder where God was before we had to invite Him to join us with the rock band on the stage.
We are a long way from any appreciation of worship as found in the Bible. I don’t mean to suggest that the experience of worshipping God in the Bible had no connections with music (it certainly did) or singing (oh, yes) or even shouting, dancing, lifting hands and weeping. All of these human reactions occurred during the experience of worshipping. But they are not worship. They are the expressions of those who are caught up in worshipping. They are not practiced routines, canned recitals or orchestrated programs. God will not be boxed in.
The biggest shift needed to understand the difference between our paltry attempts at worship and the experience of worshipping in the Bible is a subtle grammatical one. We think of worship as a noun. A noun, as you will recall, names a person, place or thing. So, in our thought processes, worship becomes first a thing and then a place. It is an entity. It can be packaged, programmed and promoted. I can actually announce that it will occur at such and such a time and place. How can I do that? Because worship is a thing.
In the Bible, the emphasis seems to be a little different. While there are many similar expressions in Biblical worship, worship in the Bible is really a verb. In fact, if you conduct some serious examination of the words translated “worship”, you will quickly discover that the primary word in Hebrew is shahal (a verb) and in Greek, proskyneo (another verb). Strangely enough, the only nouns associated with “worship” are nouns that mean “worshipper”, that is, someone who displays the act (verb) of worshipping. Not surprisingly, the Greek noun for “worship” does not exist in the New Testament. In the Bible, worship has no meaning apart from human activity. It is not a thing by itself.
This is a big shift. Worship occurs anytime and anyplace that someone is displaying worshipping. That means that what occurs on Sunday at 11AM at Fourth and Main in the brick building with the steeple is not necessarily worship. In fact, I can stand in that congregation and experience everything that occurs there and still not be worshipping. Worship is not attendance. It is not participation. It’s not singing, listening, speaking, drinking, eating, giving, smiling, reading or falling asleep. And it is certainly not obligation. Worship may actually include all of these things, but it is not reducible to the programmatic manipulation of any of these things.
The Hebrew shahal and the Greek proskyneo both carry the same imagery. Worshipping (verb) is “bowing the knee in obedience and submission”. Worshipping is this: humbling myself before the God of all Creation!
Worshipping is directly connected with paying homage, trembling before a vastly superior person, kneeling in total submission, serving from obeisance and duty. Worshipping is demonstrating reverence through physical, emotional and spiritual responses. Worshipping is what I do when I confront who God is.
According to the Bible, I am designed for worshipping. My whole existence is caught up in relationship to my Creator. When I acknowledge that relationship in all of its depth and dependency, I am instantly overwhelmed by God’s glory. I don’t need the song leader to direct my attention to the screen. I know that I need God! He occupies all of my attention. In the Biblical record, this is the time when men fall on their faces in fear. Today we sit comfortably in the pew and let the professionals handle the humility.
Shahal and proskyneo. Down on your knees, face to the floor in the presence of God All Mighty. When was the last time that happened in your life? When did you last experience “worshipping” in the church? We have been seduced by affluence. We think worship is another part of the program, all there to keep us motivated and entertained. Why don’t we fall to our knees? Because the distance between the edge of the seat and the floor is measured by the size of our ego images. Worshipping from the floor is too degrading for us. We are not about to demonstrate public humility and obeisance. No wonder we have to ask God to join us. He was outside sitting in the gutter with the homeless family.
