Dear HeavensGate
Thank you very much for your comments.
Speaking for myself apart from the congregation, I have struggled not with the scoping and sequencing of worship (“forms and formats”), but as you have aptly observed the need to identify “the true nature of worship.” Once this “discovery” is achieved, indeed expressions, forms and formats of worship, may well fall in to place, as you have indicated.
Indeed, HeavensGate, there is understanding that worship is a God-centered activity, and so there is not naivety on this matter as you seem to presume. That being the case, I can quote you that “the main purpose of worship is to come to God, to give Him the glory, and to speak about His deeds.”
But this statement is easier said than done because as you also pointed out “worship is not something we do for ourselves. Worship is meant to be done for God and to God.” This being the case, you have indeed answered your own question of “who is to decide which form or format is appropriate for worship?” The answer to your question is not ‘I’ or ‘you.’ The one who determines form(s) and format(s) of worship is God. This being the answer to your question, then there must be “the right form of worship,” which is determined by God. There is the “correct form of worship” and that right form and correct form of worship is determined not by the worshiper, but by the one who is worshiped, the God that we (the worshipers) seek to worship. Torah is vivid on this determination through the story of Cain and Abel (Gen 4:3-5). The question of why was one form of offering (‘worship’) accepted over that of another is answered in the Christian scripture, Heb. 11:4: “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” The apostle Paul indicates in Rom 10:17: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So faith comes by the word of God. It can then be rendered that Abel’s offering by faith was in accordance with the word of God. If we worship God in faith, then do we not worship as the word of God directs? So indeed there are boundaries to form and format of worship that are acceptable to God, and one gleans what is acceptable form(s) and format(s) of worship from the word of God.
But, it is not that simple. One could deduce that a thorough search of “forms and formats” of worship of God from scripture may be the solution to identifying examples of ‘acceptable’ individual and corporate worship to be performed in our modern sanctuaries and contemporary settings. But worship according to Torah and the Christ is not that limited. When reading the words of God as spoken through the prophet Micah, the ‘world’ of acceptable worship of God explodes beyond any limited conceptualization of worship to include the whole of worshipers’ being and dong, including “mishpat” (justice), “chesed” (steadfast love), “tsana`” (humility). This means that worship as defined by the God who is to be worshiped is not limited to, for example, a Sabbath morning worship service, regardless of how well orchestrated in form and format, but extends into the very lives of those who worship God by doing God’s “mishpat” and “chesed” in “tsana`.” Interestingly, the characteristics of “justice” and “steadfast love,” we are told are identifiers (Isa 30:18), part of the essence, of God and are exactly those things which shall be carried out by the Christ (Jer 23:6). So, you see, HeavensGate, that you are correct. Once we have identified “the true nature of worship” the expressions, forms and formats of worship, will fall in to place. Indeed, when we have been clothed in Christ (Rom 13:14; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10), we shall take on the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5), so as to worship in truth and spirit (John 4:23).
I have gone this route of thought with you because of my struggle with the need to identify “the true nature of worship.” My struggle begins with the scriptural record, from the Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures that are filled with the evidence of peoples who wrongly derived what and how to worship God, and many times even got the whom to worship wrong. When I use the scriptural and historical evidence as a basis of how and what was done wrongly, then there must be a flip side of how and what is done rightly. This moves me toward your observation that the focus must be “what worship really is” and away from your mis-observing that what you have evidenced is an “abundance of good intent,” . . and a “plethora of personal opinions.” Indeed, “good intent” was never meant, but the search for what it means to worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:21, 23-24) was meant and pursued. The use of the first person pronoun, “I,” in the communication you responded to was meant to limit the application of a [dramatized] perspective to the writer of the communication, rather than to presume that perspective [dramatized or otherwise] as applicable to others. This intentional, limited, dramatized perspective was performed to draw others into the search [and the dialogue] for “what worship really is.” It worked!
I desire to pick up the text at Isaiah 6 where you indicate: “biblical worship involves also physical expression and touches the senses.” You then, I understand, give Isaiah 6 to support this observation, which by the way, I agree that indeed worship can involve physical expression and can touch the senses. But the citation of “the four senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, and touching” from Isaiah 6 does not support your observation. It is exactly the references to seeing (v. 9b), hearing (v. 9a), and touching (v. 7[?)]) in Isaiah 6 that allude to a people who wrongly worshiped their God because these senses had been withdrawn from them (cf. Is 43:8; 44:18; Jer 5:21: Ezk 12:2l Acts 28:25-27; Matt 13:14; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Rom 11:8; Deut 29:4). Indeed, this people could not worship their God rightly because they could not hear, see, or perceive their God. As a result, I marvel that you used these “senses” from the prophetic literature to support your observation, as oppose, to say, focusing on verses 3 of Isaiah 6. It is this verse that is indicative of the “true nature of worship.” It is Isa 6:3 that would indeed support your general conclusion that the “main purpose of worship is to come to God, to give Him the glory, and to speak about His deeds.” But, with what I can only determine to have been another agendum at work in your communication, you veered off in another direction that wholly works against your observation and general conclusion!
Isaiah 6:3 is explicit and purposeful for your argument. The seraphs proclaim, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Is not this proclamation the basis of your general conclusion? The weightiness, majesty, brilliance, and honor – the glory – of God is proclaimed as visible. While wallowing through the “plethora of personal opinions” with a missed appropriation of the very definition you yourself put forward as defining “what worship really is,” the link between Revelation 4 and your text of choice Isaiah 6 was missed. Revelation 4 picks up Isa 6:1-3 and Ezek 1:4-28, and Rev 4:8-11, echoes Isa 6:3.
I hope to engage with you further in fruitful discussions on worship.
Meanwhile, may I ask you why it is that you choose to anonymously identify yourself with the name of a well-known cult group, “HeavensGate,” yet carry an emblem of the ”Three-Angels” message on a blank blog site? Is there indeed something that you are communicating to others through this name and device? The originators of the HeavensGate cult group understood themselves to be the two witnesses spoken of in the Book of Revelation (11:3). They are also responsible for the murder of 39 people in 1997.
