Ministry of Worship

Lectures 6-10 Study Notes

 

Here are the current lecture study notes.  For a printable/downloadable version for each lecture, click on the links provided below. New notes will be posted after the lecture is presented.  

 

This page was last modified on Sunday, June 06, 2010

 

 

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Review: If you had to teach you’re congregation about what you’ve learned so far in this class about worship what would you say? Maybe test question?

1.                  According to Webber, the basis of New Testament worship may be discovered by examining the attitude of Jesus toward worship and the meaning of the Christ event.

2.                  Jesus supported Israelite worship.  Luke and John both tell us that Jesus taught in the temple (Luke 19:47; John 7:14; 10: 22-24), and all four Gospels give us the cleansing of the temple which shows Jesus’ love for His Father’s house.  Jesus went regularly to the synagogue on the Sabbath, “as was His custom” (Luke 4:16).  He attended the feasts and major festivals of Israel.  Question: Do you think that Jesus ever made a personal sacrifice for Himself in the Temple? If so what does that say about His personal understanding of Himself?

3.                  How did the writers of the New Testament use and adapt the Old Testament worship themes, such as the Jewish hopes for the renewal of worship in a restored Temple?  If you will remember, the temple and the tabernacle were regarded as meeting-points between Heaven and earth, the place where God’s glory might be seen on this earth. 

4.                  John’s Gospel clearly saw God’s presence no longer tied to the earthly Temple.  Notice Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4: 21-24).  Clearly Jesus’ and John’s understanding of the focal point of worship was different from the Old Testament emphasis in which everything centered in the Temple in Jerusalem.

5.                  Perhaps the most significant statement about Jesus fulfilling the function of the Temple is seen in John 1:14 where John states: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling (tabernacling) among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
 

Everything in the Christian faith centers in and around Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection mean that there has come a totally different way of relating to God. 

6.                  Therefore, Jesus and the authors of the Gospels believed that Jesus superseded much of the Old Testament understanding of worship!  He was greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6; John 2:19), and rendered its rituals obsolete. When Jesus celebrated his final Passover, he viewed himself as the final sacrifice and the true lamb of God (Matthew 26:26, 28).  All the important categories of the Old Testament like sanctuary, sacrifice, altar, priesthood, and covenant are taken up and related to the person and work of Jesus Christ. No wonder Jews cannot agree with much of what we believe!

7.                  Jesus also assumed the right to reinterpret the customs of Jewish worship.  The conflict over the Sabbath, “Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath,” was not so much over legalism but over Jesus’ authority and therefore His true identity (Mark 2:27-28).  The issues of cleanness, fasting, and prayer were instances in which Jesus was proclaiming himself and His authority as superior to everything before Him. 

8.                  The Christ Event.  In the same way the Exodus is the focal point and celebration of salvation history in the Old Testament, the New Testament proclaims Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection as the focal event of its faith and practice. Early Christian worship from the very beginning is directed at who Christ is and what He did.

9.                  All our understanding of worship, faith, and practice comes from our theology about the Christ event and our eventual life with Him.  Let’s define some terms: 

Christian theology (how we think and talk about the Holy Trinity) focuses on doctrine (what should be taught in the church about Jesus and life in Him) rather than the law (as practiced in the Jewish faith), because Christianity is a faith in a person more than a way of life.  Consequently, first and foremost, Christian is not primarily a revelation about how to live (rules, regulations, etc.) but the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus which is the Good News (example, 1 Corinthians 15:17).  Then, of course out of the primary revelation of Jesus Christ, comes the way which we should live. Never get the cart before the horse in your thinking and theology of Jesus Christ.

Draw out a diagram illustrating biblical studies, theology, and doctrine!  Relate it to farming, cooking, a balanced diet, and the passing down of nourishing recipes’.  Even the crucial theme of Jesus’ own teachings about the Kingdom of God is subordinate to who Jesus is—the Christ.

1.                  The identity of Jesus is taken up in numerous ways in the New Testament:

One, is by the Prologue (John 1: 1-18, the pre-existence of Christ),

another is the birth of Jesus (Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55 is perhaps one of the earliest hymns of the early church);

third is who Jesus Himself says He is (the Gospels), and

fourth, the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection (seen in all four Gospels, and taken up by themes of baptism, preaching, and Lord’s Supper in Paul’s letters.  For example, how the cross is viewed in relationship to evil is seen Colossians 2:15 where God has “disarmed the powers and authorities” and has “made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  This is a theological and doctrinal statement handed down by the church on one aspect of the Christ event—the cross). 

2.                  Another part of the Christ Event that was important to the life of the early church, yet as Baptists we don’t emphasize enough, is the Ascension.   According to Phillip Cary, Eastern University:

“The earliest recorded Christian hymns, prayers, and sermons envisioned Jesus as raised from the dead and exalted to the throne of God at the right hand of the Father (see Acts 2:29-41). From this central vantage point, worshiping Christ on high, the early Christians looked back at the meaning of his earthly life and death, and even to his existing with the Father before his birth.  And they even looked forward to his coming again in glory to restore all things, raising the dead and establishing the Kingdom of God on earth” (“The History of Christian Theology,” Course Guidebook, The Teaching Company, page 7).

If you had a person who didn’t know anything about Christianity or Christian theology, where would you start trying to teach them about Jesus? The Gospels? Paul’s writings? John 3:16? 1 John? Where they are at?  Peter starts with the exalted Christ!  If I teach the New Testament theology, that’s where we will begin. From the lofty perch of the Ascension, we will look forward and backward to see the Christ of faith.

3.                  The picture here is of the exalted Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father.  Looking backward at his life and work, and onward toward His coming again as king. As I said in considering early Christian theology this is an excellent point to begin one’s study.  In fact, the incarnation, the birth, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension becomes much of content of early Christian worship.

4.                  From these Christ events many themes in the New Testament are so pervasive that many scholars view portions of the New Testament as products of early worship (Webber, 43). Good cases in point being Paul’s Christological hymn in Philippians 2:6-11 and John’s famous prologue as being good cases in point.  They both speak to the early churches understanding of whom Jesus was and what He came to do.  A great deal of debate among scholars in the last several years has to do with whether or not Jesus saw himself in the same Christological light that Paul and other New Testament writers saw Him. Paul especially has been accused of reinventing Jesus to suit himself and his understanding of the Jewish scriptures.  But even Paul says that he is passing on what he has been taught about Jesus (See 1 Corinthians 15:1-8).

5.                  The New Covenant.  First of all, remember Jesus taught that he came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-20). Yet so radical was his challenge concerning the traditions of the scribes and Pharisees that he raised questions concerning the role of the law and the Book of Covenant (which speaks of cultic responsibility before God). 

6.                  We say that Jesus was sacrificed for our sins, yet Jesus’ whole life was an example of sacrificial service to God and his people.  His obedience to the Father led him to offer himself in death as the final and perfect expression of uncompromising worship and service to God.  Jesus interpreted his death as a fulfillment of what was written in the scriptures (Isaiah 40, Suffering Servant) about the ultimate sacrifice that He would make. He therefore, “offered himself as ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28) and as a perfect sacrifice for sins.

7.                  Just as the yearly sacrifice for the sins of Israel on the Day of Atonement was offered, Jesus the High Priest (Hebrews) offered Himself as a sacrifice once and for all for our sins.  In doing so, He established a new covenant through His blood sacrifice that stands good for all time.  The Lord’s Supper is a symbol of recognition of that fact (see the Lord’s Supper discussion later on in our course studies).

8.                  Is a blood sacrifice so foreign to our society and culture that it no longer holds the meaning it should?  Does the concept of sin mean anything today?  If not, then does atonement have significance in our world?  The problem is that only some of the consequences of sin matter in our culture (for example, things that contribute directly to human suffering. Not too many people are wise enough to understand the indirect causes of suffering and decay that come from sin), but sin as an affront to God Himself has been for the most part lost. 

9.                  Pauline understanding of worship.   According to Peterson (page 167) the death of Jesus Christ as the means of reconciliation with God and the life that follows that death is the basis of the worship theology that Paul brings to his readers.  Furthermore,  according to Peterson, “Paul’s use of cultic terminology signals the end of the traditional cultic thinking, for there is now nothing holy in the cultic sense ‘except the community of the holy people and their self-abandonment in the service of the Lord to whom the world and all its dominions belong” (page 167).

10.              Let’s begin with the word “to serve” as seen in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10.  To be a Christian represents “worship as a consecrated lifestyle” of following Christ in which we have turned our lives from that of worshiping idols to serving the Living God.  Our service and therefore our worship is not an isolated act but that of a total commitment of life to the Godhead. 

11.              Furthermore, as seen though the rest of 1 Thessalonians, service means doing God’s will (4:3; 5:18); living so as to please Him (4:1; 2:4); avoiding sexual immorality; and pursuing brotherly love, in addition to living under the power and presence of the Holy Spirit (4:3-12).  To Paul, Christianity is to distinguish itself from other religions not so much by their cultic rituals or secret practices but by its consecrated lifestyle. In other words, show Paul a more holier way of living.

12.              The foundation of the Apostle’s teaching of worship itself is taken from Romans and mankind’s refusal to glorify and serve God (1:18-3:20). His argument is that mankind in the blindness and willfulness has suppressed the “truth about God” (1:25), namely, that there is one God and lord of the universe and that we as human beings are held accountable to him.  Our failure to acknowledge Him as Creator and Lord has led to false religions (beliefs) and distorted human relationships (sin and suffering) because our longings are misdirected.  It has led to every form of wickedness, abuse, hypocrisy, and injustice in human relationships.

13.              Therefore, the essence of sin is ignoring the true knowledge of God and its implications, and therefore a failure to worship Him acceptably giving Him the glory that is due (Peterson, page 169).  Ignorance in this case is inexcusable because according to Paul “God has made it plain to them” and to us (Romans 1:19-20).

14.              Does Paul believe as expressed in the Old Testament that the knowledge of God should lead to appropriate worship and obedience to God  (Hosea 4:1; Judges 2:10-13; 1 Samuel 2:12)?  Peterson believes he does believe as the Old Testament maintains that “knowledge leads to obedience” (page 170).  But what about Romans 7, “I do that thing that I do not want to do”? Are there different levels of obedience in which knowledge itself is enough? Maybe!

The Early History and Practice of Christian Worship

1.                  It appears that Jesus and his followers did their faithful synagogue attendance and the occasion temple worship when they were expected to.   Luke 4:16 indicates that it was Jesus’ custom to attend the synagogue on the Sabbath day.   Acts also tell us that early Christians worshiped at the temple until its destruction and in the synagogues until they were run out.

2.                  According to Bruce Shields and David Butzu in Generations of Praise: The History of Worship, we can identify three distinct patterns of worship in the New Testament (page 35).  They are synagogue, charismatic, and apocalyptic.

3.                  The synagogue-style of worship is described in Acts 2:42-45.  Here the early Christians worshiped in groups and in the temple. In this often small groups of Christians, they were taught the apostle’s teachings, broke the bread of the Lord’s body, said their prayers and had fellowship with one another.

4.                  The teachings of the apostle’s, or those who passed on the teachings of the apostle’s, appeared to have taken the place of the teachings of the Torah, although they certainly used the Torah and the prophecies of the Old Testament to teach Jesus as the fulfillment of the scriptures (Acts 2, Peters sermon; see also 1Timothy 4:13; Colossians 4:16).

5.                  The Greek word koinonia means fellowship.  The relationships that Christian community build is this koinonia. The general nature of these relationships (Galatians 2:9) was based on their love for Christ, their commitment to Him, their participation with Christ at the Lord’s table (which Paul calls communion 1 Corinthians 10:16).  According to Shields and Butzu, such close relationships connected with the giving of alms (Romans 15:26; 2 Corinthians 8:4; 9:13) have deep roots in the synagogues.

6.                  The breaking of bread or the Lord’s Supper is peculiarly a Christian event, although sacred meals were not.  The Supper is one of the earliest expressions of worship, and as far as we know was done every time that Christians came together to fellowship and eat. The Lord’s Day was the Christian day of worship (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10).

7.                  The Greek word for prayer is plural (prayers) and with the definite article (the prayers). It generally has the notion of set prayers, at specific times of day.  Also, Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer as a set or model prayer that we find in use in every period of church history (Luke 11:2-4; Matthew 6: 9-13).

8.                  There seems to be a more charismatic-style of worship in the Hellenistic churches which Paul helped start—where worship experiences radically differed from those of the synagogue. With Paul’s lecture on meat sacrificed to idols, it does not seem possible that these churches ever practiced animal sacrifices, realizing that Jesus’ sacrifice was enough once and for all.  But perhaps the early believers in Corinth and other Greek communities were influenced by the highly emotional, and even at times ecstatic, state of their previous religious affiliations.  It is also clear that Paul and many of the Hellenistic Christians were influenced by Greek intellectual concepts found in various schools of philosophy.

9.                  It is not surprising that after the gospel spread to non-Jewish communities that Christian worship began to change from Jewish roots.  In 1 Corinthians, Paul had to deal with problems of disruption in their worship services (chapters 10-14).  In chapter 10 and 11 Paul dealt with problems in the Agape Feast and the Lord’s Supper (11:20; 10: 14-17).

10.              The discussion of gifts, especially speaking in tongues in chapters 12-14, turns to the basic of Christian relationship and worship.  There is even a description of activities in the services such as “when you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.”  To which follows an immediate charge that everything should be done decently and in order (14:39-40) and for the edification of the body (14:26-30).  This seems to be a far cry from the rational and orderly reading and exposition of the Bible companied by prayers and the Lord’s Supper in the synagogue-style churches. 

11.              However, this charismatic worship style was not just tolerated but also encouraged by Paul as long as it was done in an orderly way with the edification of the church in mind.

12.              Apocalyptic-style worship is harder to locate geographically and maybe even harder to define and describe.  With the early church expecting the earthly return of Jesus, it shouldn’t be surprising that churches might try to model their worship after a heavenly worship.  Look at Hebrews 12:18-24 and 2 Corinthians 12:4.  There was apocryphal writing written in the inter-testamental period called the Testament of Levi which may have a parallel to Hebrews: 

In the uppermost heaven of all dwells the Great Glory in the Holy of Holies superior to all holiness. There with him are the archangels who serve and offer propitiatory sacrifices to the Lord in behalf of all sins of ignorance of the righteous ones. The present to the Lord a pleasing order, a rational and bloodless oblation.  In the heaven below them are the messengers who carry the responses to the angels of the Lord’s presence.  There with him are thrones and authorities; there praises to God are offered eternally.  So when the Lord looks upon us we all tremble. Even the heavens and earth and the abysses tremble before the presence of his majesty (3:4-9).

2 Enoch 20 reads:

And the men lifted me up from the there, and they carried me up to the seventh heaven.  And I saw a great light, and all the fiery armies of the incorporeal ones, archangels, angels, and the shining ortanim stations.  And I was terrified, and I trembled.  And men picked me up with their… And they said to me, ‘Be brave, Enoch! Don’t be frightened!’  And they showed me from a distance the Lord, sitting on His throne.  And all the heavenly armies assembled, according to rank, advancing and doing obeisance to the Lord.  And then they withdrew and went to their places in joy and merriment, in immeasurable light but gloriously serving him…