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On Worship By
Norman Buselmeier
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship him. God is a spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24).
According to this statement of the Lord by John, God wants
worshippers who shall worship him in spirit and in truth. That it is
these only that shall be the true worshippers. The Lord says further
of those who worship God — that in spirit and in truth it must be
done.
There are some phrases so simple in construction and yet so
specifically definitive in their meaning, that to fail in
understanding would seem impossible; but which at the same time,
upon meditation, open up a field for thought far beyond the horizon,
which would seem to defy the human intellect to comprehend. This, to
me, is one. And what I shall say here could be only a bare
beginning.
Worship is essentially a spiritual business. It has to do with God
on one hand, the spirit and soul of man on the other. Man acts — God
receives. The Spirit acts — man receives. This is a realm in which
God's word is the only authority, the law final! God has in every
respect the right to say who shall worship Him, and how. This He
does. True worshippers worship in spirit and truth.
In Spirit: This has to do with the feelings, the emotions, the
sensibilities, and the ability to demonstrate them; which are
endowed by our Creator only on his humankind. And it would seem,
since God is "jealous," that these attributes were given us for the
special purpose of directing them, demonstrating them, first and to
the highest degree, toward Him who made us. To worship Him in spirit
then, in the ideal, would be to exercise our feelings, our emotions
and sensibilities exclusively toward God while we worship; to devote
ourselves wholeheartedly, without thought for anything else; without
reservation or purposeful distraction, entirely intent, to think, to
feel, to show, by our attitude, that no extraneous thing engages our
attention at the same time. Man's soul and intellect completely
attuned to God in this spiritual exercise.
In Truth: Those deeds which God has let us know will please Him, as
worship, and which He has made known that He will accept as worship,
and only those — no others!
The word "worship," like the word talk, has at least two grammatical
designations: as a verb, both transitive and intransitive; and as a
noun. The transitive verb is meant here — with God as the direct
object. As a verb, one would sing (songs); preach (the word); pray;
give; eat and drink — proclaim by showing. As a noun — as the act
itself, the deed. We have the command to worship (verb), with
precepts and examples of worship (the noun). We would have to
pluralize or compound the noun, since there is more than one noun
included in the noun worship. In other words, we would sing
spiritual songs; pray prayers; preach the word; give money and
service; eat and drink bread and wine, (memorial of body and blood)
(proclaim by showing the Lord's death).
Each of these five acts for which there is precept and example is
subject to certain elements to make them classify as acceptable
worship to God. They must show reverence and devotion from an honest
contrite heart. They must glorify and exalt God, etc. If these are
present, the doing of the acts then becomes worship by faith, in
truth, by the true worshippers.
The latter act being mentioned last by no means indicates a lesser
significance; rather, if all the implications of this act of worship
were generally appreciated, it could well be the most important,
which is probably why Luke ascribes the chief purpose of the
disciples coming together to be the "breaking of bread."
In addition to worship in "truth" one must be sincere, earnest, and
honest, with God and oneself. Merely a pious mien, merely a show of
reverence, going through the motions of doing the acts, even showing
emotion without feeling it, would hardly do. That would be like the
hypocrites whom Jesus castigated (Matt. 6), and like the "whited
sepulchers," appearing beautiful outside, but inside "full of dead
men's bones and all uncleanness." (Matt. 23:27) To worship in truth
by true worshippers implies integrity, complete honesty and purpose.
One more thought it seems necessary to include here that has to do
with preaching as worship. Preaching is the one act in worship done
by one person. Is preaching any the less worship on the part of all
who hear, for this? Is "hearing" not implicit in preaching? What
good is there in preaching — if there are none to hear? For we who
hear are having our thoughts directed into godly channels. We are
taught spiritual things. In our thought we become separated from the
worldly; we consider holy, divine, uplifting, and edifying to
ourselves, and in so doing, do we not exalt God? Do we not revere
and praise Him the more, and by our attention show that we do? That
preaching and hearing is desirable to God as worship should be
unquestioned, since every necessary element is present. The one
factor which would delete "hearing" from worship classification
would be to have the ears open and mind closed. And by the same
principle, any other item of worship could be struck off.
I cannot leave this short discussion on worship without emphasizing
briefly one more point, concerning the benefits derived from "mass"
action; the mass influence of all doing the same thing together at
the same time. The primary definition of the word mass in my
dictionary reads: "an assemblage of things that collectively make
one quantity." Is the idea of assembling to collectively make one
quantity not included in the Lord's prayer "that they all may be
one, I in them, that they may be made perfect in one" (John 17), or
in Paul's fervent expressions "if there be any fellowship of the
spirit — be ye likeminded — having the same love — of one accord —
of one mind — let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus" (Phil. 2)? It may seem puerile for one to suggest that there
is a reason for this idea, a very special reason; but since some
seem to deny, I would urge that there is, and I believe the reason
is apparent in the mass influence of all doing the same thing —
together. Further, to do anything else in worship, I believe would
defeat the whole purpose of God. Thus it is, in part, for true
worshippers to worship God in spirit and in truth.
Norman Buselmeier
By way of North Charlottesville Church of Christ bulletin
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Photo from inside home looking out on
Nazareth—Courtesy of University of the Holy Land. |
Among His Own Relatives
But Jesus said to them, “A
prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his
own relatives, and in his own house.” (Mark 6:4 NKJV)
The occasion of the statement above was His rejection by those of
Nazareth, the town of His youth (cf Luke 4:16, 24).
Christians who have learned to their bewilderment the truth
expressed in this maxim are innumerable. Frequent, indeed, is the
reenactment of a scene
similar to the following: A person learns the truth and is amazed by
the simplicity and perfect harmony of God’s revelation of His plan
for man’s redemption. He sees clearly, that the Lord has the same
plan of salvation for all people, that He adds all who obey Him to
the same church, that His Word alone will lead to heaven. He gladly
obeys. His happiness is enhanced by the fact that not only will he
be serving his master, but he can present the opportunity to his
friends and relatives, who are near and dear to him, when he reveals
to them his new found knowledge.
To his great dismay and anxiety, is news is not received as he had
expected. In fact, he may be rebuked harshly for even suggesting
they need any salvation. “After all”, they may exclaim, “Those in
one’s own family should not get so uppity, they think they can
change us.” They may even tell him he has become unloving and
judgmental, and that he should realize they are satisfied with what
they are!
The participants in this scene may be a parent, a child, a brother,
a sister, a husband, or a wife. The closer the relationship, the
more perplexing the rejection, and the deeper the distress it causes
to the Christian.
Many who were not sufficiently rooted and grounded, have not been
able to overcome this spurning, and have gone back to walk no more
with the Lord.
Please read carefully these words of Jesus, and be thou faithful
unto death. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did
not come to bring peace but a sword. 35For I have come to ‘set a man
against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36and ‘a man’s enemies
will be those of his own household.’ 37He who loves father or mother
more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter
more than Me is not worthy of Me. (Matt. 10:34-37)
Remember Jesus also was rejected. He is our example. (1 Pet 2:21)
By C.A. Burcham
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