WHAT IS WORSHIP?

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24 NIV)

You will find throughout the Word, and then continued throughout history, that when a human heart truly encounters the love of God -- in essence when the created connects with the Creator -- the response is worship, or worth-ship, as we often say. Worship as a response to revelation is displayed through consecrated lives (Romans 12), through wholehearted songs of love and devotion (the Psalms), and by living lives of love and justice (Micah 6:8). Worship is required not in perfection by man's standards, but in truth, by God's standards. He has never been impressed by offerings that look good, but offerings that are good. As the worship of God continues to gather momentum across the earth, so too does the awareness of His power and presence, along with the understanding of the authority that comes with exalting the name of Jesus over all things.

And whether we follow or lead, the ultimate goal of all we pursue in worship is His honor… As Pastor Jack Hayford has said, "Where worship is released, God's presence comes to dwell, and where God's presence abides, there will be power." Let's be committed to seeing the fullness of this word "worship," so that it may reach its potential on earth as it is in heaven. 

-- Darlene Zschech in “The Worshiper Magazine” Summer 2008 

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OFFERING AS AN ACT OF WORSHIP

“When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, Jesus went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.”  (Luke 7:36-38 NIV)

In Luke’s Gospel, we read the story of a woman who brought to Jesus a jar of expensive perfume which she broke open and poured out on Him… as an offering. She did not have to give it, but she made a choice. She did not give from obligation, but an open heart. She did not come for an hour, put her offering in a basket, and immediately leave to go back to her daily activities. She stopped. She wasn’t too busy or distracted by the world to surrender her thanksgiving and linger with her Savior as an act of worship. This outpouring of her time cost her, but it would be repaid by an outpouring of mercy and peace from Jesus.

There are many contrasts in the passage. The Pharisees were religious and educated. The woman was sinful and wasn’t allowed to study. The Pharisees were there to question Jesus. The woman was there to worship Jesus. The Pharisees were prideful. The woman was humble. The Pharisees shunned the sinful woman. Jesus showed her mercy. Because the woman was willing to come before Jesus with her broken offering, she received wholeness and redemption. What a moment. 

-- Excerpted from “Altar’d: The Transforming Power of Surrender” by Susan O. Kent

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WORSHIP AND WORK

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills -- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.’”  (Exodus 31:1-5)

To behold is to see beyond sight. I think of beholding as a participation in divine perceptivity. God creates, and God beholds. As divine image-bearers, we do the same. It's what we were made for.

This is precisely what artists do. Artists have a sense of vision beyond eyesight. They see what can't be seen, and they bring it into visibility through acts of creation so we can see it too. They behold, and in creating something for us to see, they train us to behold -- to see beyond our limited sight.

Behold -- the first art project in the kingdom of God is an installation of creativity that will point us not to the artist, nor to the art, but to God Himself. This is the divine calling of a holy artist -- to forge and fashion the vision of "on earth as it is in heaven" through every medium imaginable by all manner of creative work. I think I may have stumbled onto a definition of worship from the back side.

What if all work were approached in this same way? When work is done as worship -- which is to say, from a place of beholding -- it causes all work to rise to the level of art. It becomes a thing to "behold," which points us to the God of glory. There is a word for this kind of awakening: renaissance.

-- Excerpted from “Wake-Up Call” with J. D. Walt 

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GOD’S POWER AND SUFFICIENCY

The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV)

We worship because God is worthy, not necessarily because we "feel" like it.  In the midst of a crisis, if we only do what we feel like doing, we could remain stuck in a cycle of self-pity.  But when we worship, we get our eyes off of ourselves and our sorrow or problems.  We focus them on God, and this puts our difficulties into proper perspective.

Most of us think of worship as a Sunday-morning activity in which we gather in a church, sing some songs, and listen to a preacher.  Genuine worship, though, is when what flows out of our lips and out of our lives are words and works that glorify God and honor Him for who He is and what He has done.  We worship when we reflect His Glory -- His character and likeness -- to others in the way we live.  And doesn't it seem that everyone around us is watching especially closely when tragedy strikes in our lives?

Surely our worship in the midst of pain and sorrow is particularly precious to God -- because it costs us so much.  Worship is not made easier, but it becomes all the more meaningful when offered from a heart that is hurting.

The truth is, worship during these times can be some of the most meaningful worship we ever experience.  Perhaps we are more fully equipped to worship than ever before because we are acutely aware of our desperate need for God and our own incapacitating weakness.  We have our helplessness and inadequacy in proper perspective to God's power and sufficiency. 

-- Nancy Guthrie in “Holding on to Hope”

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THE MAGI’S RESPONSE

“After [the Magi] had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts…” (Matthew 2:9-11 NIV)

They bowed down and worshipped Him. The Magi chose not to resist, not to ignore, but to worship. In fact, they had been choosing to worship Jesus ever since they saw that star in the east and started their trek towards Jerusalem and then the short distance on to Bethlehem. They’d been worshipping Him by giving Him their time, by giving Him their energy and, finally, by giving Him their wealth. That’s what worship is – giving your all, your life, to Jesus as you put your wallet, your calendar and your mind at His disposal.

These Magi knew the King of the Jews had been born. They sensed He was the divine Shepard-Ruler. They had a decision to make. Resist or ignore Jesus, or worship Him? Resist or ignore Jesus, or let Him be the Captain of their fates and the Master of their souls, and discover lasting strength security, and peace, on into eternity and death?

They worshipped Him.

And they found joy -- heart-swelling, deep down, spring-in-your-step joy… The Magi finish the first Christmas heading home, back to normality, with a new meaning and a new feeling – with joy that lasts, and that will never end. 

-- Carl Laferton in “Rescuing Christmas: The Search for Joy that Lasts”

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