Worshiping Beyond Styles III
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Folks,
As I write this note I am reminded of the enormous challenge we each face for the year 2009. Yet, we are excited just knowing that the unexpected things will add spice to our journey of life. I am looking forward to what 2009 has in store for me and my family, for church and other ministry related work and most of all ‘Expecting Great Things from God’. It’s a great way to look back at 2008 and find out how much God has blessed us while also learning from past mistakes that we have a new year to start afresh. It is my prayer your 2009 will be a meaningful one. 2009 is going to be exciting! May yours be an exciting one too! Wishing you well!
Well, folks here is another blogging section on ‘Worshiping Beyond Styles.’ I hope it adds blessing to your worship journey.
New Testament Worship
Originating as a result of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the subsequent dispersion of the Jewish people during the Exile, the Synagogue (Literally means ‘a gathering place’ or ‘a place of assembly’) became the religious, education, and the social center of Jewish life. Unlike the temple worship where sacred rituals were conducted and practiced, there were no rituals in the synagogue worship. It’s focus was primarily on reading and understanding the word of God.
Early Christian worship has been greatly influenced by the synagogue. The Jews who had been faithful in their worship at the temple were faithful in their synagogue worship too. After the ascension of Christ, the disciples continually went to the temple praising and blessing God (Luke 24:51-53). A basic gathering of the Jerusalem church was the daily attendance of believers in the temple (Acts 2:46-47). Luke and John records Jesus teaching in the temple (Luke 19:47; John 7:14; 10:22-24). Jesus went regularly to the synagogue on the Sabbath as was his custom (Luke 4:16; 19:45-46; John 2:13-16).
Luke observes Christians continually went to the temple to bless God. They were found praying steadfastly (Acts 2:46). The apostles continued to teach daily in the temple (Acts 4:1ff). Much of Christian worship comes from the Synagogue. The Synagogue was the local center for worship. Christians inherited Scripture reading, preaching, singing, and prayer from Jewish Synagogue worship. A Synagogue worship consisted of a service of the Word in which the creedal (Duet. 6:4) was proclaimed. The service included Scripture reading and exposition, prayer, and benedictions. The book of Acts and the Epistles continues to reflect the involvement of Christians in Jewish worship. The Apostles, like Jesus, taught believers in the temple (Acts 5:25).
The worship practice of Christian worship slowly began to change by the time Gentiles were becoming Christians. The church had to develop its own forms of common worship. Although worship centered on the temple for Jewish Christians the relationship to the synagogue was equally strong. Paul made synagogue the starting point of his missionary work (Acts 13). He preached in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch and Iconium and found a house of prayer at Philippi. The division rather started to take place when the preaching of the Gospel became the central point of Christians, which forced them to hold their own meetings. The first church in Jerusalem met in the Upper room for prayer (Acts 1:14; 4:31; 12:12). The breaking of bread and the Lord’s Supper played an important role in the worship of the disciples and the new Gentile believers. Believers thus probably met in houses.
Rediscovering our Ancient Heritage
The church’s worship in the third century took place in homes or Catacombs. Worshipers sang Psalms, read the Word, listened to sermons and discussed their implications for their lives. The content was always the proclamation of God’s salvation and the anticipation of Christ’s return. The early Christian worship was fourfold: the gathering, the service of the Word, the service of the Table, the dismissal.
The conversion of Constantine changed the face of Christianity in the fourth and fifth century. The church shifted to a friendly environment from a church that was underground. The church grew rapidly. Worship theology became to be formulated in various creeds, and worship was developed to a more fixed form. Worship was caught in the transcendence of God. It became an elaborate spectacle to be observed with fear and trembling. Worship became the work of the priests with worshipers watching.
The sixteenth century saw a upheaval of worship among Christians. Martin Luther and John Calvin made efforts to strip off unnecessary traditions and return to the purity of the early church. Reformation shifted the Word of God as the center of worship. Followed by the reformation was the rise of Revivalism in the nineteenth century. The rise of Pentecostals, Charismatic, and the Praise and Worship movements in the twentieth century stressed style over substance. They emphasized its openness to the Spirit and supported the action of lifting hands, dancing in the Spirit, laying hands for prayer; which is essentially rooted in the early church.
Christian worship has traveled a long way. From the ancient church we learn the emphasis of the four-fold order; from the Medieval church, we learn the visual, mystery and transcendence; from the Reformation era we get the emphasis on the Word of God; from the Modern to Post Modern, our contemporary church inherits the sense of the Spirit and of intimacy.
Looking back at history makes us think about the intensity of worship and how worshipers struggled to bring meaning into their worship. Although Christian’s worship ritual developed from one tradition to another, one thing we know is, Christ has been and will always be the center of worship. No matter how intimate we worship, or how transcendent our worship might be, in the words of A.W Tozer, “The Christian church exists to worship God first of all. Everything else must come second or third or fourth or fifth.”
Thanks and Happy New Year!
To be contd. (Bibliography to be followed.)
