Simon Chan’s Liturgical Theology, in chapter two, reiterates (as many have done before) that true worship is always a response to God’s initiative. God moves first in revealing his divine glory (which is simply disclosing who he is), and we respond by “glorifying” God, that is, acknowledging him for who he is. God’s revelation; our response. Three implications follow:
Worship can never be something we do for God.
True worship begins with recognizing that everything we have and are is a pure gift from God. We can never come to worship in a semi-pagan stance of offering “our” gifts in an effort to “placate” our God. Instead we realize that even the gifts we offer have been given to us first by God himself. Matt Redman’s excellent song “Breathing the Breath” is worth quoting in its entirety here:
We have nothing to give
That didn’t first come from your hand
We have nothing to offer You
That You did not provide
Every good, perfect gift
Comes from your kind and gracious heart
And all we do is give back to You
What always has been yours.We are breathing the breath
That you gave us to breathe
To worship You, to worship You
And we’re singing these songs
With the very same breath
To worship You, to worship YouWho has given to You
That it should be paid back to him
Who has given to You
As if You needed anything
From You and to You and through You
Come all things, O Lord
And all we do is give back to You
What always has been Yours
Who said charismatics can’t come up with some solid theology? That says
it about as well as any song I’ve heard. Nuff said: worship isn’t
something we do for God, it’s a gift God bestows, just like everything
else.
Second implication: Worship is never meant to serve any other purpose except the glory of God.
“The end of worship is worship.” “Man’s chief end is the glorify God
and enjoy him forever.” Our modern pragmatic world has trouble with
this. Surely worship must serve some higher purpose? But no, the very
nature of Christian worship lies in its “aimlessness”. This doesn’t
mean it has no meaning. Think about comparing liturgy to the play of a
child. Romano Guiardini says it this way:
[Play] is life, pouring itself forth without an aim,
seizing upon riches from its own abundant store, significant through
the fact of its existence.”
Worship is not “for” anything else but itself: “to the praise of God’s
glory.” We have a hard time with this. It’s much easier for us to
believe the church must exist for some useful purpose, “something more
earthy, more noble, such as restoring the fallen creation or serving
humanity.” But it is simply “for the praise of his glory.” I like how
Marva Dawn puts it: “Worship is a royal ‘waste’ of time” (at least it
appears that way to modern people). Cheeky, but effective in getting
the truth across.
Now, just because worship has no practical “purpose” doesn’t mean it
doesn’t have practical benefits. You could call them “fringe benefits”
or “byproducts” of worship. In true worship, God’s people are formed as
God’s people, and so worship does some real work amongst the
worshipers. We have to be careful, though, that we don’t start to think
that this is what worship is for. We do not worship God in order to be
better people, but as a matter of fact, certain good things do happen
to people when they worship God in spirit and in truth. We may call
these byproducts “intrinsic goods.”
Final implication: Worship is response to God’s total character.
We need a full, big, rich picture of God’s character if we are going to
worship rightly, both his “kindness” and his “severity” as Romans 11:22
puts it. Both transcendence and immanence (something I’ve written about
before).
Both fascination and fear. Both holiness and love. That’s the full
picture of God’s glory. Again, Matt Redman puts it as well as anyone in
his song “The Friendship and the Fear”:
I am longing to discover
Both the closeness and the awe
Feel the nearness of your whisper
Hear the glory of your roarI want the friendship and the fear
Of knowing You…
Even more than experience both the transcendence and immanence of God,
true worship must also reflect the triune nature of God. Here is what
really sets Christian worship apart from every other religion’s
worship: the worship of the Three in One, the One in Three, the One God
who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The ancient liturgical doxology
was to the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit.
So there are theological “norms” in worship, and if our worship does
not reveal and reflect God in his holiness and love, his transcendence
and immanence, and his triune nature, it has fallen short of the glory
of God. May God himself help us to worship more truly.
That was beautiful. Thanks!