Is Worship the Same as Divine Service?

The word “worship” has been a bit overused in churches today and too often it may be necessary to have the one using the word define what they mean when they speak the word “worship.” Most dictionaries define worship as something like “worth-ship” or worthy of praise. This definition more than implies an action on the part of those “doing” the worship. We might think in terms something like worshiping a movie star, not actually lauding them as a god, but wanting to be in their presence, talking to them, getting their autograph, etc.
 

The so-called Church Growth Movement even defined the Sunday morning activity of Christians, called worship in the following way. In worship God is the audience. The congregation are the actors. The pastor, choir, praise band, etc., are the prompters. The congregation is gathered to do something for God, i.e., praise and worship Him.
 

How does this worship compare with the Sunday morning event called Divine Service? The very words Divine Service speak of a different flow of actions. The very word “Divine” means “God” and the word “service” means an action; thus, Divine Service would mean an action performed by God. Thus, in Divine Service the action is from God to man. So, Divine Service would be defined as the congregation is the audience and God is the one serving the congregation. The pastor, the called and ordained servant of the Lord, is the one through whom God acts, speaking in the stead and by the command of God. The musicians and/or choirs would be instruments in any given response to the gifts of God given to them through the pastor by the congregation.
 

When we break down the definitions of “worship” and “Divine Service,” we can see that they are not the same thing but are two different activities with two different understandings as to who is doing what in each activity.
 

So, would our desire be to attend a “worship” service or “Divine Service?” To help us answer that question we should ask the question, “What does God need from us?” Certainly we would understand there is nothing that God needs from us. As a matter of fact, it is God who gives everything to us and has done everything for us. As Paul says in Acts, “24The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:24-25).
 

How can you tell if you are in worship or in Divine Service? You can tell by the actions which are taking place. Is the event one in which many people are involved as in doing something for God, like a show or action? Or is the event one in which the action is one or two people (the called and ordained clergy) acting in the stead and by the command of God? Does the event imply an action required of the participants, other than simply hearing and responding with prayers, hymns, and offerings?
 

As I often hear said of those who have come out of the “evangelical” service backgrounds, they hear the Gospel and then are chased back to the Law as they are constantly told they need to be “obedient” to God. This action is not unlike the Roman church which proclaims salvation by faith “and works.” And yet, worship is also a chasing back to the Law when it is either implied or even intended that one does something in worship because God needs something from them.
 

Divine Service, as a practice of Lutheran Doctrine, keeps the focus where it should be, on Jesus. It is the called and ordained pastor who comes to deliver the gifts to those who gather from the beginning of the service with the invocation remembering of one’s Baptism (sacrament) to the words of Holy Absolution (means of grace) to the reading and preaching of the Word (means of grace) to the giving of the Holy Supper (sacrament) to the final benediction. And it is the members of the congregation who gather to be given the gifts and to respond with their prayers offered by the pastor, with their first fruits, tithes, and offerings, and with their psalms and hymns.