What is worship, really?
Worship is not a place, a style of music, or an item on a Sunday schedule. It is your whole self answering God: spirit and truth, in response to mercy. Jesus dismantled the idea that worship lives at an address, and Paul called the presentation of your ordinary body an act of spiritual service. Wherever you are, worship is what you are doing with yourself before God.
Begin by reading
Go into the Word
Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
Jesus took worship off the map
The Samaritan woman tried to turn a conversation about thirst into an argument about real estate: 'Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.' Jesus refused both options: 'Neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem.' Worship was never going to live at an address. That should reorganize our instincts, because most of us still quietly assume worship is somewhere we go.
Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father.Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
True worship is spirit and truth
What replaces geography is a manner: 'the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers.' Spirit, because God is not a thing you can reach with rituals alone; truth, because worship shaped by anything false is not worship of Him at all. Notice who does the seeking: the Father seeks worshipers. Worship is not us manufacturing a feeling for a distant God; it is answer to a pursuing one.
But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Worship is offering your whole self
Paul's word for worship startles anyone who thinks it means singing: 'present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.' Your body: your hands, commute, calendar, and money. Under the old covenant worshipers brought animal sacrifices; under the new, God asks for the worshiper. What He wants from you is not a performance on an hour but the possession of a life.
Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Worship is a response to mercy, never a bribe
Romans 12 opens with 'Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God': eleven chapters of grace come first, and only then the call to offer ourselves. Paul cannot even write the transition without erupting into praise: 'For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.' Worship that begins with what we owe is pressure; worship that begins with what we have been given is the only kind Scripture calls true.
Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Continue this trail
Why does God want worship? Doesn't that seem needy?→“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.”Can God actually hate a worship service?→“Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”If God is a consuming fire, how can anyone approach Him?→“Yahweh’s anger was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.”Is it right to worship Jesus, or only God?→“I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!”And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”What are God's people supposed to do when they gather?→“They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”Why does the Bible command singing? And what if I don't feel like it?→“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”What is the Spirit's role when the church gathers?→“What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has another language, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to build each other up.How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”Is all of life worship, or only what happens on Sunday?→“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”What will worship be like in the new creation?→“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”What is Paul saying about men and women in the church?→“But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
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