What is Worship?
The ancients understanding of worship.
Lord have mercy on me.
I have been truly burdened on the topic of “worship” for a good portion of my life. I have always sought to give a good sacrifice unto our Lord, but He has always permitted me to know that there is much missing; but only recently has He unveiled as to what.
In many circles I have been a part of, worship was considered to be songs lifted unto the Lord, but I have realised that this is a definition that has come out of the 1950’s (and was contested for at least a decade among the denominations). Truly, this definition is alien to the Ancients; to them songs were considered “praise” (that is veneration) but not worship. So then, what is worship? Worship, from the Ancients paradigm, is sacrifice and feasting. It requires an altar as ordained by the One worshiped. Now, I am not speaking about the Ancients generalised, rather the Ancients of our Faith.
To the Ancients, the notion that God changed worship after the cross was a ludicrous assumption. Christian history proves this, as worship remained sacrifice and feasting from the altar. So for us in the modern world, especially among the low-Protestant churches, this will be a hard wrestle.
However, the command to come and worship is called a “Sacrifice of Praise”, in Hebrew it is the word “Todah” which is a liturgical word. This word is used for a choir in the Temple, for confession, thanksgiving and the offering of our coming to Temple communally. In Greek “Thysia Ainesis” meaning “to sacrifice with thanksgiving”. Which is used, by the Apostles and Church Fathers, in the same context as the Hebrew’s “Todah” in liturgics. Thus, what is the meaning of a sacrifice of praise? It is the putting off of our own will’s (and even control) to humble ourselves as a community before the Altar of Grace. For at the Altar of Grace, we partake of the offering Christ our Lord is offering before the Father. Thus, in the Liturgy it is said, “We offer You, Your own from Your Own”. The purpose of worship is to bring the Priesthood of all Believers to their convenantal duties before God. It is not a spectacle, it is not a performance, it is a sacrifice! It costs us everything. As it is written, “Come and buy these things from me. Yes, buy them, but not with money.” What does it cost us then? Faith, and Life.
The worship of God’s nation has always been militant, that is to say, regimented. Each member has a duty in the prayers and offerings. The Clergy have a duty to serve at the altar, praying and offering the Mysteries on behalf of the Laity. Whilst, the Laity (that is the people) have the duty to respond prayerfully to the Clergy’s duty. Therefore, we see that the Liturgy is a call and response conversation. Why is this so? Because this is joining with Heaven’s Liturgy. Heaven’s Liturgy calls down to Earth and Earth’s Liturgy responds unto Heaven’s. This is the model He, the Ancient of Days, has ordained before His Throne. Thus, this is what the Faithful shall do unto Him, for He is the One who deserves all worship and honour and praise!
Now, many will be reading this and saying, ‘Man, this sounds like dead works to me.’ And, you’ll be right; only if within your own heart you have made your will equal to God’s! Gathering at Church has nothing to do with us, although we need it for the benefit of our own souls. Truly, our Gatherings, Biblically speaking, is ordained on the foundation of our own self-denial in order that we may give an unblemished offering. It is for this reason the Psalmists and Prophets write, “A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit. A Broken and humbled heart God will not despise”.
On this note, where does this leave spontaneity in worship? There is no room. Now, spontaneity cannot be confused with a free-will offering. This is a completely different matter altogether. The free-will offering is a devout practice that still had the guidelines ordained by God based on His commandments. Spontaneity, on the other hand, is based on our Egocentrism. Though it seems to be a pure and humbled offering to God, it is a false-surrender because it is predicated on our feeling accomplished in the day, there is no denial in this offering. Though we may say, ‘God have your way!’ Truly, He has already revealed His way to us, we simply need obey Him in repentance for spitting on the practices “handed to the Saints once and for all”. Furthermore, historically speaking, spontaneity is the pagan practice. Because they crafted the vessels of their gods, they thus considered it their rite to define the terms and conditions of worship. To the pagan, worship was: we give to the gods food and drink, and they give us our pleasures. This mentality has no place in Christianity! Yet, unfortunately it is found in more than most Western churches. Of course it is not said in the same terms, but the very fruit of this ‘spontaneous and free’ worship is the same fruit of the pagans. It reveals our ‘self’ as god, in the place of the Living God and unveils our will in place of His will.
[Please note I am not calling you pagans. Rather, I am simply showing the origins of such practices and the fruits they bear in history.]
So, is there a place for music and song in God’s practice? Yes, but not as worship, beyond the Liturgy and the liturgical hymns. We see musicality all throughout the Psalms and the Prophets as the means of venerable procession towards the Altar of Grace. When they arrived at the Altar, however, the music of instruments ended and the music of voices began in accordance with the liturgical ordinance commanded by God; which is constantly confirmed by the Spirit throughout the ages.
Now, I recognise this is a hard word for many. I know that you will be saying, ‘Does this mean I have never worshiped God?’ or ‘If this is true, then where do I stand? As I see this as a dead work..’ I understand these wrestles. However, if I may be bold as to point the question to the crux of the issue. The question should better be put in this way, ‘Do I trust His Bride?’ Because, ultimately our Lord has entrusted these things to His Bride to practice and disciple the nations herein. If we say, ‘I trust God but I don’t trust in the Church’ then you are saying that you don’t trust God at all; because how can one trust the Bridegroom and not his Bride? And to say that one cannot trust His Bride is to say, ‘Where it matters the most, you are untrustworthy!’ Because they are One! If someone were to trust me and not my beloved wife, they are saying, ‘In the most intimate things, you cannot be trusted to choose well.’ Therefore, where does that leave my bond with them? In this way, where does that leave our bond with Christ?
Truly, until we can trust His Bride, thereby denying ourselves, the ordinance of worship will seem like a foreign and dead work. Heaven forbid this remain so all our lives.
I am not writing this as a bash-fest against music in churches, nor am I slamming my brethren. Rather, I am looking at the ancient paths decreed by our God and sharing that these “boundaries and posts” have not been changed by Christ but greater realised through His being infleshed! This is what the Prophets were martyred for, and what the Apostles were persecuted for; thereby showing the importance of this command in the Gospel. Selah.
Let us realise that God is in His Liturgy! As He was in the midst of Israel’s Liturgy, so is He in the midst of His Church’s Liturgy. Why? Because He set the parameters of the Covenant and the Communion (or intimacy) thereof! So let us not consider the Tradition (called the Gospel) a foreign thing to His communion. It could not be farther from the truth! It is here that we sacrifice, here that we feast on what He gives us, it is here where we partake of the Mysteries and here that Heaven and Earth’s reality of worship are joined as one before His Throne! Here and here alone! Let us not consider this a small and meager thing. This is why it matters and the wrestle is a necessity for those who profess His Name. Selah.
Finally, I am not denouncing encounters with God. Rather, God will come to those who diligently seek Him wherever He can. Yet, as I said in the previous reflection, this does not equate to His condoning the events happening where He reveals Himself. Outside of what He has already revealed as practices He condones; of which, many churches do not practice the same thing as revealed in the Scriptures and Traditional writings.
If you have questions, I would be more than willing to discuss them. Either leave a comment or send an email to: whenwisdomcalls@outlook.com
May the Lord’s mercy guide us to all truth.
