The highest form of worship is concerned not with what God has done for us, but with who He is in Himself.
The highest, the holiest, the most sublime ministry of the church is the ministry of worship. God has given us the unique privilege of being able to minister directly to Him and thus to glorify His Name; nothing can exceed this priority. The Lord has not only saved us, but He has made us “kings and priests unto God and His Father” (Rev. 1:6). The primary function of any priest is to worship, and, this being so, it is important that God’s expectations from His redeemed people should be realized.
Having said this, one feels that there is a great need for us to take a fresh look at this important ministry in our assemblies. For example, it would appear that many assemblies are losing their primary focus on worship and are becoming distracted by secondary things. Also, the number of functioning priests is becoming fewer by the day. The quality of worship appears to be deteriorating to the point where many worship meetings have become opportunities to share with each other, instead of ministering to God.
The importance of worship
Peter reminds us, “Ye are a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). This tells us that God expects that His people will become worshippers. We see this illustrated when the children of Israel left Egypt. Moses’ message from God to Pharaoh had been, “The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us; and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days journey into the wilderness, and that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God” (Ex. 3:18). God redeemed his people by the blood of the Passover lamb and then led them out to serve him as priests in the wilderness. God covets the worship of His people’s hearts.
The highest form of worship is concerned not with what God has done for us, but with who He is in Himself. The Levitical offerings help to illustrate what we have in mind. There were certain offerings that were offered because of sin and trespasses. But there were other sacrifices—the sweet savor sacrifices—which had nothing to do with sin but were the expression of the purest form of worship, unrelated to what the offerer received in the way of blessing. Indeed, we read in Leviticus 1 that the highest grade of sacrifice—the burnt offering—had nothing for the offerer or priest whatsoever. It was all burnt on the altar for God. As new believers we first understand that, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” But when we mature spiritually, we come to understand things about Christ that have nothing to do with what we have received as sinners. The hymn writer captured this thought when he wrote, “Blessed Lord our hearts would treasure, All the Father’s thoughts of Thee.”
Hindrances to worship
There are many things which could come between our souls and God to prevent the expression of worship that He so much desires. Here are some of the prime candidates.
Idolatry – When God gave the Law to His people, the first and foremost was, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” As they left Egypt, the children of Israel spoiled the Egyptians and came out with vast quantities of silver and gold. Sadly, the very things with which God blessed them became a snare to them and deflected their worship. We remember that sad day when Moses came down from the mountain with the tables of the Law and found the people dancing around a golden calf saying, “These by thy gods, O Israel.”
Sadly, in our day, the very things with which God has blessed His people can become a stumbling block to us, and a source of the lack of worship arising to God from our hearts. Idolatry is simply devoting our time, our talents, and our hearts to anything or anyone other than our God. If anything in our lives is given a higher place or priority than the Lord, it is idolatry.
Sin – Under the Levitical economy, every time a priest approached the tabernacle or functioned at the altar, he had to wash his hands and his feet at the laver, “lest he die.” So it is in our day. Before we come into the presence of God, it is important for us to avail ourselves of the laver of God’s Word, and to see to it that all sin that it reveals is confessed. This is what the apostle had in mind when he wrote to the Corinthians, “wherefore, let a man examine himself, and so let him eat… For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep” (1 Cor. 11:28-30). Unconfessed sin hinders worship and threatens our very lives if we persist in so coming to the worship.
Materialism – In a sense, this overlaps with the sin of idolatry, but it is deserving of special mention. We all remember well that beautiful scene in John 12 where the woman came in and broke her precious alabaster box of ointment and anointed the Lord Jesus in a supreme act of worship. John tells us that the odor filled the whole house. But there was one man present who was completely unmoved by this great expression of worship: Judas. He was a materialist. When the woman broke the box, the first thing he thought about was the price, and, then, to excuse his lack of spirituality, he hid behind the curtain of charity to the poor and to try to make the woman and the disciples feel guilty at what he called “this waste.” A materialistic spirit is completely insensitive to spiritual values and can only trade in the coin of the world. May the Lord preserve his people from the spirit of materialism and may many a fragrant box be broken as we gather together to worship Him.
Busy-ness in Service – This might seem a strange thing to put forward as a hindrance to worship, but indeed it can be. We have already mentioned the case of Judas, and, in that situation, one of the other things he said was, “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” (Jn. 12:5). Judas felt that time spent ministering to the Lord was wasted time and that it would be better to be out there dealing with the real problems in society. We remember the Lord’s rebuke, “Leave her alone…the poor ye have always with you.” Martha is also an example. She could not understand Mary’s sitting at Jesus’ feet when there was so much to do. But the Lord Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her” (Lk. 10:41f).
It is possible to be so busy doing things for the Lord that we neglect to direct our worship to the Lord Himself. Nothing—even legitimate service—must be allowed to interfere with that hallowed opportunity to gather to worship Him.
Restoring our worship
In order to worship as we ought, we must first make worship the highest priority in our spiritual lives and allow nothing to take the Lord’s place. He has said, “I am the first and the last.” May we give Him the place of pre-eminence.
Secondly, we need to recover the truth of the priesthood of all believers, and each practice our priesthood in the holy exercise of worship.
Thirdly, we must recognize that holy priesthood is vertical in its direction and not horizontal. When we come to worship, we do not come to minister to the house of God, but to the heart of God.
Fourthly, we must live every day in the spirit of worship and communion. We cannot live our lives in isolation from God and His presence during the week and then expect to be able to turn on the spiritual switch on Lord’s Day morning. It just doesn’t happen that way. Our lives must be lived daily in the presence of the Lord, and our days should be punctuated with personal worship.
Lastly, we must rid ourselves of things that hinder worship even if it involves sacrifice. Anything less is idolatry.