The Lutheran Way - It Makes A Difference? (Series 3 of 9)

(Worship or Divine Service)
 

The very word “worship” is defined in the following ways: a religious ceremony, the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity, a show of reverence and adoration for a deity, to honor or show reverence, to bend over or bow down in a gesture of respect or submission. Some have suggested that worship comes from “worth ship” meaning that we worship someone or something, a deity who is worthy of being worshiped. When we look at the above definitions of worship we might well note that they are all pointing in one direction. They all define worship as something people are doing for something or someone, perhaps a deity, a god. The definition of worship is from a lower to a higher.
 

There are those who describe worship as such: God is the audience, the congregation are the actors, and the organist, choir, praise band, etc., are the prompters. Thus, worship is our show of praise and exaltation before our God, and so worship is something we are doing for God because He deserves our worship. And most certainly God does deserve our worship and praise, but the question we might ask is, “Does God need our worship and praise?” or as some have asked, “Does God need us to build up His self-esteem through our praise songs?” Actually, we might simply ask, “What does God need from us? Does He not already have everything He needs? It is not He who is the one who gives everything to us in the first place? And if He is the One who gives us everything in the first place, then what we are giving to Him is simply some of what He has already first given to us, which is His in the first place.
 

This understanding brings us to what we do on Sunday mornings which is that we come to “Divine Service.” Divine Service is just that. It is divine because it is God’s service. God is the actor. God is the One giving. We are the audience or better said, we are the ones who are given to. We come to Divine Service, not because God needs us to come, but because of our need. We come because of our need to be strengthened in faith. We come because of our need to confess our sins and be given His most beautiful words of absolution. We come to hear His Word read and proclaimed, that Word which works faith, strengthens faith, forgives sins, and gives eternal life. We come to Divine Service to bring our prayers and petitions, not that God does not already know even before we ask, but because of our need to express and acknowledge our needs. We come to sing praises, again, not because God needs to hear our praises, but because of our need, our overflow of faith, which He first gives to us. We come to present our offerings, preferably our first fruits and tithes, not because God needs our money, but because of our need to respond in faith, that is, to respond to the fact that He has given us life, faith, vocation, talents and abilities to work to earn a living and our need to respond in thanks and faith. Indeed, our offerings are a response of faith. To not give in response is to deny God as the prime mover and the giver of all the gifts. To not respond is a lack of faith for indeed, our giving of our first fruits and tithes acknowledges and thanks God for our vocations, our work, and for our wages. It expresses our faith that He will continue to provide. Thus, we might summarize “Divine Service” as our focus on God and what He gives.
 

So, what is that thing we do on Sunday mornings? Is it “worship” or is it “Divine Service?” Because we believe we get it right when we point to Jesus, because we understand it is the Law, not the Gospel, which points us to ourselves (showing our sin, etc.), because we believe we are born with nothing and will leave this earth with nothing, and everything we have while we are here on this earth has been loaned to us by God of which we are to be good stewards and because we believe God needs nothing from us but rather we need to be given to by Him, we come to “Divine Service” to be given all the good gifts and blessings our Lord has to give. We come to be given to in the way in which He has given to us to come to us.
 

Next time, why and how does “worship” “practice” match and have to match “Divine Service” and “doctrine”? And what does the design of the church building have to do with anything?