Why do we do what we do when we gather on Sunday morning? Why do we stand up, sit down, bow, kneel, sing, say, listen, eat, and drink? Why do we say and sing the same things every Sunday? Why have we been confessing the same sins and reciting the same creed and praying the same prayer since we were children? Why does our pastor say the same things every Sunday? And why are all his sermons about Jesus?
Okay, so that’s a lot of questions. And I am not going to answer them all here. But I would like to answer these questions (and more) in as many posts as it takes. There is a lot of meaning packed into our liturgy (i.e., “orderly worship”), and I hope that if I can unpack it a bit, you can experience some of the joy it is designed to bring. It is designed to bring you Christ, and that is a marvelous gift!
But before we even start to explore the specific elements of our liturgy, we should take a moment to consider what worship is, because what we believe about worship dictates how we do it.
The most basic question to ask about the nature of worship is, who is serving whom? That is, when we show up on Sunday morning, are we coming to serve God, or does he serve us? Are we coming to offer him our praise and adoration, or do we show up on Sunday morning to receive Christ’s gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation? Who is really giving the gifts?
The answer is, Jesus serves us. God is giving the gifts.
But you might be thinking, wait a minute, don’t we offer God our praise and adoration? Yes, of course we do. And that is good. But that is not the primary focus of worship. The primary focus of worship is God serving us. Remember, we are dealing with the God who owns the cattle on thousand hills (Ps. 50:10). If he were hungry (and he is not), he would not tell us (Ps. 50:12). He does not need anything from us. So instead, God comes to serve us.
Jesus taught about his own mission, saying, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). God serves us. That might sound backwards, but that is the way it is. That is the way it must be, because in our relationship with God, he is the one with all the gifts. So as we pray, sing, confess our sins, confess our faith, hear God’s Word, and receive his body and blood, we should see an emphasis on what God does for us. Throughout our entire lives we all continue to be sinners and doubters, so our greatest need is always to receive anew God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
Then we respond in two ways: thanksgiving and love toward our neighbor. We offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving (Ps. 50:14), but we should never consider a sacrifice of thanksgiving as anything compared to the gift. When you receive a gift, what is greater, the gift or the thank you? The gift, of course!
And then we respond with love toward our neighbor. We won’t end this series on worship without discussing acts of love toward our neighbor. We have nothing of value to offer God, but we do have something to offer those around us, so God directs our worship response outward.
So as you come to worship, look for the forgiveness, life, and salvation God gives to you, and cling to those gifts.
The peace of Christ be with you all,
Pastor Dan