Worship--what it is and why we do it

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).

We gather in church to worship God. But I wonder how many people understand what worship really is? Some people feel that they have to attend church because they owe it to God in exchange for His mercy. That is not worship. Some come to church hoping to be entertained by good music and an uplifting sermon. That is not worship. Some go to church hoping to please God and earn a reward from Him. That is not worship.

Worship is built around three things: your sin, God’s salvation, and your response. It all starts with sin. Sin is a problem that every person faces. Sin destroys your relationship with God, cutting off access to heaven. Sin destroys your relationships with other people, leaving you frightened, hurt and alone. Sin eats away at your well being, destroying both physical and mental health. Sin is a problem that has no earthly solution.

Only God can solve the problem of sin. He sent His Son Jesus to suffer and die for your sins. Then He restored His Son to life so that Jesus could offer you forgiveness and lead you to eternal joy in paradise. In Christ, despair is replaced with hope; when we are weak, Jesus lends us His strength.

Freed from the oppression of sin, we respond. We respond by telling Jesus thank you. We respond by telling others about the great things God has done for us. We respond by living our lives according to the teachings of the Bible. We respond by going to Jesus in prayer whenever we are troubled with problems. We respond by making Christ the center of our lives.

Our sin, God’s salvation, our grateful response—this is the pattern of a Christian’s life. Our sin, God’s salvation, our grateful response—this is also the pattern of Christian worship. And notice what is at the center: between our sins and our grateful response, there is Christ—saving us, teaching us, blessing us. The center of worship is Christ and His work on our behalf. Worship is not about us trying to please God or make ourselves feel good; worship hinges on Christ reaching into our lives with His saving love.

Our need, God’s help, our response—our liturgy is built on this pattern. Worship begins with us coming before God and admitting that we are miserable sinners who desperately need His forgiveness. Then you hear the wonderful news that your sins are forgiven, which fills you with both relief and joy!

Next, the congregation is invited to read together an Introit or a Psalm. Originally, the Psalms were written to be sung; King David composed many of them, and you will remember that David was a skilled musician. Regrettably, no one today knows what the original music sounded like, so hymnals offer choices based on Gregorian Chant, a style of singing that has been popular in the church for well over 1,000 years. An Introit is made by blending Psalms with other verses in the Bible.

We start the worship service by confessing our sins to God. Next, we receive God’s forgiveness in Jesus and are uplifted by words from Scripture. Next, it is time for us to respond to the Lord’s goodness; we do this by singing a hymn of praise.

Then the pattern starts over. The Hymn of Praise is followed by the Collect for the day. A Collect is a prayer offered for needs that all Christians have in common. After we ask God for His help, He responds by giving us His words in readings from the Bible--typically an Old Testament reading, a lesson from the Nrew Testament, and words from one of the four Gospels which quote Jesus. After God has blessed us with His words, it is time for us to respond again—this time by reciting one of the creeds. We show God our loyalty and understanding by stating out loud what we believe in our hearts. In fact Paul urges us to do this in Romans chapter 10: if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

The next part of the service is the sermon hymn. Usually, the hymn chosen will speak of our need for God to help us overcome the problems caused by sin. This is followed by the sermon, where the pastor shares God’s teachings and promises with the congregation. After the sermon, it is time for another response—this time, you are asked to show God your thanks by giving Him an offering to support the work of the church, at home and around the world.

After the offering is collected, the cycle repeats again. We take our needs to God in the Prayer of the Church. On a Communion Sunday, we receive a wonderful blessing from God—we are allowed to personally touch the Savior as we receive His body and blood through the bread and wine. But whether there is Communion or not, the people still receive a blessing from the pastor. If you check out Numbers chapter 6 in the Bible, you will find that God gave these words to Aaron the high priest, and promised to bless the people whenever they were spoken. Then the worship service concludes with you saying “amen” three times. When you respond with “amen”, you are telling God that you believe the teachings and promises He has spoken to you, and you intend to live your life according to His will. You say “amen” three times to honor the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Our need, God’s care, our gratitude—this is the pattern of worship. But how do the hymns fit in? Hymns do the same thing that the Psalms have always done—they help us to show God what lies within our hearts. The types of hymns relate to the three parts of worship.

In worship, we go to God for help with the problems caused by sin. Many hymns tell God how desperately we need Him—we need His forgiveness, we need His reassurance, we need His strength. One example of such a hymn is “Lord Jesus, Think on Me.” Verse one asks for freedom from sin; the other verses speak about problems with anxiety, conflict, pain and confusion.

The heart of worship is when God reaches out to us. Some hymns teach us God’s word like a sermon does. Let’s look, for example, at “The Tree of Life.” In Genesis chapter three, Adam and Eve cursed themselves and us with sin and death, yet God promised them a Savior who would free humanity from that awful curse. In Eden, a tree led to our downfall, but on Calvary, Jesus used the tree of the cross to free us from sin and give us eternal life. Hymns like this help us to understand the Bible.

Other hymns give us God’s comfort and reassurance. A great example is “Be Still, My Soul”. Verse one reminds us to be patient, knowing that in time God will bring us relief. Verse two reminds us that although there are times when we don’t understand why we are suffering, we can be sure that God has not stopped loving us. Verse three reminds us of Job, who for a time lost nearly everything but never gave up on God and was eventually blessed with even more than he had lost. And verse four points out that no matter how much you are suffering, it cannot compare to the wonders of heaven that can be yours in Christ.

The third part of worship is our glad response to God’s wonderful gifts. In the liturgy, one response was singing God’s praise. Let’s consider the hymn “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”. Like quite a few hymns, the last verse praises the three Persons of the Trinity; it is the custom in many churches to stand at this time in honor of our Triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Another response in the liturgy was to speak our faith out loud and together. In the hymn “We All Believe in One True God”, we are honoring the Lord the same way as when we recite the Apostles’ or Nicene Creed. But speaking the faith is important for another reason as well—when we talk about our faith with others, strangers are invited to meet the Savior. We are reminded how important this is through hymns about mission work and personal witness—one example is the hymn “Hark, the Voice of Jesus Crying.” If we don’t share our faith, our unbelieving friends may end up doomed to everlasting punishment in hell. The words of this hymn remind us that no matter what our abilities, God has equipped each of us with a way to help spread the Good News about Jesus.

We also show God our gratitude through our gifts offered to His glory. Consider the hymn “We Give Thee But Thine Own”; here we are reminded that everything we have is a gift from God. Since He has entrusted His good creation to us as stewards, we dare not waste His blessings foolishly or hoard them exclusively for our private use.

At the end of worship, our “amen” tells God that we are dedicated to serving Him. A hymn that speaks of such commitment is “Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways.” When we sing this hymn, we tell God that we love what He has taught us and want to live our lives according to His will; we also ask for His help to resist temptation, and His mercy when we stray from the path of righteousness.

Our weakness, God’s strength, our response—these are the three elements of Christian worship. The liturgy gets its rhythm from them. Our hymns serve this pattern of worship. And it all centers on God’s word. Hebrews chapter 11 tells us, without faith it is impossible to please God. And where does faith come from? Romans chapter 10 says, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. God pleasing worship hinges on the Word of God. That is why so much of our liturgy quotes the Bible. That’s why our hymns are based on readings from God’s Word. That’s why we focus our singing on what God does for us, not on how we feel.

We don’t worship God out of a sense of obligation. We don’t attend worship to flatter Him. And we certainly don’t go to church to be entertained! We gather in church because it is a wonderful opportunity to have our sins forgiven, receive God’s blessings, and learn how to show God our gratitude through how we live our lives. That’s Christian worship.