Yeshua Explored

5th June 2023

Worship

Are we worshipping false images?

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:4-6)

This has become …

Feel free to place your affections and favour anywhere you like, as long as you don’t hurt or disrespect anyone. Whatever decision you make is yours and yours only and it is not up to anyone else to pass judgement on your choices.

We all worship, it’s built into our natures. Its most basic definition is complete absolute submission to God. For most of the World it is not an issue, the act of worship is seen in trivial terms, but for Christians it is a major issue. If you’re worshipping anything other than the Lord God, a wide-ranging punishment is promised.

So we need to get it right. First we must think hard about what we mean by ‘worship’ in the first place. The following are ideas expressed in my book, Hebraic Church:

 ‘Times of worship’ have been traditionally deemed as musical interludes, led by the worship leaders on piano or guitar (or just voice). We warm ourselves up with a few repetitive choruses, perhaps with a hymn or two. Maybe some prayer and a Bible reading. When the musicianship and singing is good, we feel good. Is this because we feel entertained? Be honest. Does God feel entertained? Is this what it’s all about? Is it about the quality of the sounds we make? This sounds cynical. Forgive me. But …

We call this worship? So … what is worship?

God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

This is the verse that underpins it all. It emphasises the absolute solid bedrock of the truth, presented to us in Holy Scripture (“sanctify them bythe truth; your word is truth”: John 17:17), personified by Jesus Christ (“I am the way and the truth and the life …”: John 14:6) and illuminated to us by the Holy Spirit. Everything else follows from this.

It is where God’s people meet their God. It is not localised, it doesn’t need to be in a specifically ordained location, because God is everywhere.

And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3)

Let’s look at a couple of scenarios from the Gospels. Firstly, we look at the reaction of Peter and the disciples after witnessing Jesus walking on the water.

Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:33)

Did they whisk out a washboard and a penny whistle from their robes and beat out a rousing chorus? Then there’s the blind man who was healed by Jesus with a lump of mud.

Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him. (John 9:38)

Did he belt out a Psalm or two, accompanied by his parents, acapella-style? Probably not.

To get to the very heart of worship we need to understand the very heart of God. What does He want from us? This is simple and familiar:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:   “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:34-38)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

These may seem to be cherry-picked verses, but there are many others that I could have chosen that support the theme that God wants us to love Him and use all that He has given us, in worship back to Him. Instead the institutional Church, in its Greek thought-patterns, has transformed “worship” from a verb (a doing) into a noun (a thing). Or, more specifically, from a function to a form. Worship has become a packaged entity, even existing as a genre of music that’s available as downloads or on metal discs.

More on this … next week This is an extract from the book, Sinner’s Charter: Are the ten commandments for today?, available for £10 at https://www.sppublishing.com/the-sinners-charter-260-p.asp