Today in our series looking at the community of the church we looked at the subject of worship. Worship is often talked about, read about and sung about, but worship is much more than just singing.
In Gen 22:4-5, Abraham speaks about worshipping with his son; the word means to ‘bow down to the ground, to prostrate oneself.’ The posture expresses the respect, submission and loyalty that are all associated with worship. We worship God as One who is greater than we are.
In Ex 20:4-6 we are reminded that we are not to worship things or images. Idolatry was prohibited in the Old Testament, which meant not having physical idols. Worship involves acknowledgement of who God is and what He has done, which is often expressed through prayer and singing, but as 1 Sam 1:28 reminds us, worship involves our whole lives. John 4 talks about worshipping God in Spirit and truth; Rom 12:1 urges us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice which is ‘your true and proper worship.’ Worship is no longer linked to one place (the temple) and can include the physical (bowing, kneeling, dancing, lifting arms etc.) and the vocal. Our whole life can be worship, though, even those jobs which we would not necessarily call worship.
The essentials of true worship involve a spiritual centre. It is ‘more than a song’ (as the song ‘Heart of Worship’ reminds us), but is a life dedicated to God.
