What Does It Mean to “Worship”
Text: John 4:19-24
Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says, “The Worship of God is not clearly defined in the scriptures.” (Page 1247)
In the Greek language there are five verbs and three nouns that are translated “Worship.”
The first and primary verb is the word Proskuneo which is formed from pros (toward) and kuneo (kiss) so in its purest form it means to come forward to kiss.
All of us can identify with that experience. Probably all of us at one time or another have had the pleasant experience (the key word is experience) of coming toward to kiss someone we deeply cared about.
In my daughter Michelle’s family we have developed a tradition. When the girls were very little each time I would kiss one of them I would say, “Wow!” Then one day after they were old enough to begin speaking one of them said to me, “Papaw, I want a wow.” Needless to say the word wow has replaced the word kiss in our family vocabulary.
That feeling of “WOW” is exactly the meaning of Worship. When we come to Worship God we should experience the feeling of WOW. It is what we as worshippers should seek. It is what our worship leaders should strive to provide.
God himself has promised that, “Whenever two or three of us gather in His name, He will be in our presence.” (Matt. 18:20). It is our act of Worship to experience His presence in our midst.
When we come to Worship we should experience God. If we do not do it then, at what point in our always busy weeks will we ever experience God.
In her book, Worship Evangelism Sally Morgenthaler says, “Real worship is a lot more than this week’s production. It is where we allow the supernatural God of scriptures to show up and to interact with people in the pews.” (Page 23).
When church attendance is on the decline and we are losing the interest of our people, the reason is usually very simple. It is because our services are doing very little, if anything to help our people meet God.
Paul told the Corinthian church that if they were doing things right and an ungifted man, probably meaning unchristian man came into their midst he would fall on his face and worship God saying, “God is certainly among you.” (I Cor. 14:25). It is that feeling that God is among is and we are interacting with Him that will fill our churches with vibrant, dynamic Christians. The question of where is God in our hectic busy lifestyle is the key element to success or failure in ever aspect of life.
If people do not experience God at church, when will they experience him? In a recent poll taken in America, people were asked how often church worship services brought them into the presence of God. Twenty-seven percent answered, “Always,” twelve percent responded, “Usually,” twenty-seven percent said, “Sometimes,” or, “Rarely.” The real shocker was that thirty-four percent of those polled said, “Never.”
A different study revealed that one out of every six Christians has never experienced God’s presence, inside or outside of the church. What a shame that is. It is especially disgraceful to the churches to have never brought those people into the presence of God.
When a church is not bringing people into the presence of the Divine the people will all drift away, unless all they are looking for is the security of going through the forms of religion. Paul warned Timothy that, “in the last days people would hold to a form of religion but would deny the real power of it.” (II Tim. 3:6).
I want to stop at this point and stress that the type music (with instruments or without instruments) is not fundamental to worship. However, what we do as we sing is fundamental. Our music should create an atmosphere where people can experience God, not just go through the motions of singing.
The communion service in particular should be a special moment each week when each partaker has an opportunity to experience God through the blood of Christ.
We should have a time of prayer that will also usher us into an experience with God. It should not be limited by time. Each worshipper should feel welcome to participate and open about sharing needs with the others present.
The sermon is also not fundamentally important in experiencing God, except that it should be conducive in helping us realize his presence in our lives. Not just while we are in church. It should prepare us to see God in the entire week ahead.
At some point in our worship we should give a special invitation to worshippers to give themselves wholly to God and experience Him in a personal way leading to baptism (the ultimate and consummating experience with God in this life) and salvation.
As we experience an actual, “Sharing,” of God in our worship we should be led to, “Share,” of ourselves with each other and especially those less fortunate than we are in the things of life.
The nearest definition of the, “WORSHIP,” of the New Testament Church is found in Luke’s Acts. It contains four elements that are almost to the letter described above. Those elements are, “Prayer,” “The teachings of the Apostles,” “Breaking of bread,” (probably the Lord’s Supper) and, “Fellowship.” The word used here means, sharing,” and in the epistles is used to describe, “Giving,” in relationship to the offerings being collected for the needy saints in Jerusalem. It is not the purpose of this sermon to go into the details of how each of these four acts is a part of experiencing God.
If you are expecting this sermon to give you an easy fix for the worship in your church, or define for you completely the act of worship, you are in for a disappointment. There are no easy fixes. To learn how to worship properly is to learn how to live properly.
It is not a matter of learning all the right things. It is not a matter of knowing all the most recent and effective methods. It is not a matter of having a great worship band or having no instruments at all. It is interesting to note that worship bands are so stressed today that the group Acapela has created a, “An Acapela Band,” where the sounds of instruments are created without the use of instruments. I am anxious to hear them. Especially the drums (tongue in cheek). It is not a matter of large screens and video projectors. Our worship of God is not dependent upon any of these things in themselves.
Proposition: Lets take a look at the, “WORSHIP,” life of David, who could easily be classified as the number one worshipper of all history. Perhaps we can find ways to improve our worship.
The first hint we have into the worship of David was that it was a way of life and not just religious forms and ceremonies.
When just as a boy, David won fame by defeating the giant Goliath he had these words to Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me and will strike you down and cut off your head.”
There is no doubt that David had carefully selected all the right equipment. He had checked his sling and chosen perfectly round stones. Yet his strength was in his relationship to God. It was not just for that moment, it was for every moment of his life. He lived his faith in his daily walk.
He details this for us, “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord” (Psalms 89:15).
This is also what Paul is talking about in the twelfth chapter of Romans. Based upon all the deep theology of the first eleven chapters, he says, “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).
In other words, it won’t matter what we do on Sunday, if we do not live correctly in the presence of God the other six days of the week. For us to experience God in our organized worship we need to be experiencing him in our everyday lives. If you don’t know God as a way of life you will not find him on Sunday.
Secondly, let us take special note that David’s kind of worship was total and dedicated.
Hear David’s testimony, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4).
The great worship cry of Israel was, “Hear oh Israel, the Lord is one God and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).
Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37).
It is no wonder, with this kind of dedication to God that David was called, “A man after God’s own heart.” (I Samuel 13:14).
As God looks today into your heart and measures your dedication to Him, how do you appear in His sight? Does He see enough dedication in you to allow you to step forward and kiss Him?
Thirdly, let us notice that David’s type of worship has a witness.
David says, “I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.” Psalm 57:9). He began that very public commitment in front of his own people.
In one of my favorite stories from the Old Testament the Ark of the Covenant was being moved from the home of Obed Edom to Jerusalem. David was leading the procession. He became so caught up in the moment that he stripped off his clothes and danced before the Lord. Even his unloving wife took notice of his actions.
When those who lead us in Worship get so caught up in their own personal worship it will have an affect on us as worshippers. When we as worshippers get so caught up in our worship the world will take note of what we do and want to join us.
David again says, “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will put their trust in the Lord.” (Psalm 40:3).
When our relationship to the Lord places new songs of praise in our hearts and minds and we enter into our corporate worship with those new songs that our heart has produced, wow, what a response we will get from our fellow worshippers. The overall inspiration of God in our lives has a direct impact on what happens when we come together to worship
The overall inspiration of God in our lives will also have a direct impact upon our immediate neighbors and eventually the world. A good illustration is how the music of Robin Mark has brought revival to Northern Ireland and has become popular in Worship all over the world.
Our worship should have a dynamic about it that is catching to those around us.
In conclusion; by looking at David we see that worship was the number one thing is his life because God was number one is his life.
Jesus gave us a good illustration of what I am talking about. He had a special relationship with Mary, her sister Martha, and their brother Lazarus. In an evening spent in their home in Bethany he entered into a spat between sisters. Martha came to complain to him about her sister’s not helping with preparation of the evening meal. Her sister Mary was sitting as his feet engrossed in what he was teaching at the moment. Here is the response of Jesus to Martha’s complaint, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). The application seems to be that Mary’s focus on Jesus and what he had to say was much more important than the things Martha was concerned about. I wonder how often that could be said of our lives. We worry about many things while our spiritual life goes to pot. I should give you a few minutes here to think about what in your life keeps you from total devotion to Christ.
Let me share with you another story from Christ’s teachings. On another evening with his friends and disciples a woman came to Jesus and washed his feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair and anointed them with an expensive ointment. There was a complaint that the expensive ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus responded, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me” (Matt. 26:10-11).
Have you ever been so caught up in the moment that you have done such wonderful things for the Lord? I have, and I have never regretted allowing the emotion of the moment to cause me to express my love for God in costly ways.
Another illustration of what I am talking about. Paul, in his instructions to the church at Corinth about the offering being taking for the poor in Jerusalem said this, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for god loves a cheerful giver.” The word that is translated cheerful there is the word “hilarious. It impressed me long ago, when I was just a teenager that perhaps what Paul is commending here is an act of giving that goes so beyond the normal means of the giver that the thought of it is hilarious. It takes complete dedication to God to do something like that.
Let me conclude with a personal story. I am a missionary. I serve in Russia. I have been in Russia since the fall of communism and the Soviet Union. When my wife and I moved to Russia over twelve years ago things were very sparse. There was not much available as far as materialism was concerned. Television was not a dominating factor in life. There was very little advertisement of anything.
The opportunity to hear the Gospel preached was new and exciting. There were few things conflicting with our Christian meetings. So, for the most part they were full of people who were inquisitive and interested in spiritual matters. In our preacher training school we had some of the best young minds in Russia. They had heard the Gospel and wanted to give their lives to its spreading.
Today, we have become a materialistic society. We can hardly drive on Moscow’s streets for the large number of cars being purchased and driven. There are clothes to buy here that are as expensive as Paris or Rodeo Drive. In the beginning I tried to not dress like an American. Today, most of our Russians, especially the young ones, dress very fashionable. A lot better than me.
A sad result is that we no longer seem to be attracting the best minds in Russia for the work of the Gospel. They are all seeking jobs that pay well so they can have clothes, cars, etc, just like all the materialistic societies of the world. We have seen it true that, “you cannot serve God and money.” (Matt. 6:24).
I say these things to emphasize that our Worship of God is deeply rooted in our entire life. If He is first in our lives, everything else, including our corporate worship will fall in place. It he is not first in our lives, everything else will only be going through the motions. There is much of that in our churches these days.
