As many of you know, I’m a pastor of a church. And a big part of what we do is this thing called worship. We hold it on different days of the week but generally we do this thing on Sunday mornings. There are many styles of worship. Some people use tons of songs while others use none at all. Some worship is packed with teaching and others use an interactive style approach to the time of worship. 

But before we can really get to the point of how we worship, it’s probably a good idea for us to tackle a more fundamental question what is worship anyway?

The root of the word worship actually comes from an Old English combination of two words that carry the weight of worth ship. The thrust behind the word we use today as worship really is derived from the idea that we have to bring our worth or give worth to the object of our worship. In the case of the Christian church, if it’s not communicated properly, we can run the risk of seeing our Sunday morning gatherings in this light. Thinking that we bring some sort of worth to God by our presence there.

Now that is a pretty absurd idea, isn’t it? How can I bring any worth to the God who created everything? There’s nothing that I can bring to the table that could make God any more worthy of praise and honor. So if it’s not about our worth-ship then what is it really all about?

The idea behind the word we translate as worship really has the thrust of service. It’s about being served. When we come together on a Sunday or Wednesday, or whatever day you gather, you are to be served. Not serve others. Not give to God. That’s really not the point. The point of worship is to be filled up or poured into – served by God himself.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to look a little deeper into the traditions, and even some of the more modern developments, in the worship world. Our goal will be to see exactly where the focus of our worship is given. We’ll also identify the times when we put the focus in the wrong place. It’s important to keep in mind throughout our times of worship that the prime actor in the story of worship is God. The story of worship simply put is about God’s initiating the movement. He blesses us. He comes to us, just as he came to us in the incarnation (birth of Jesus), He still comes to us today in worship.

It’s then, and only then, that our part is cued up. Only after God makes the contact are we invited to give our response. Only after we’ve been served by God through the words of the bible, the waters of baptism, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the feeding at the Lord’s Supper are we able to return to God our thanks and be moved to serve others.

This week, I encourage you to look and listen. Pay attention to the time of worship. Is it a time of somehow giving God worth? Or is it a time to be filled by God and poured into by his Spirit?

What is worship? It’s receiving from God all that he promised. It’s really that simple.