Romans 12:1 is one of the better-known uses: “I urge you,
brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy
and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Worship is the
giving of our entire self, our thoughts and our emotions, to God’s use. All of
life is an act of submission, an act of worship. Our service to God is not
centered on a time or a temple, but is done whenever and wherever we are,
because we are the temple of God. The emphasis is taken away from ceremony, seasons, places and rituals, and
is shifted to what is happening in the inner person. Worship should invade our
entire lives. The
test of worship is not only what happens at church, but what happens at home,
on the job and wherever we go.
Paul used another word for worship in Romans 1:9: “I serve [latreuo, one of the Greek
words for worship] God with my whole heart.” How? “…in preaching the gospel of
his Son.” A similar thought is in Romans 15:16: “God gave me the grace to be a minister of Christ
Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming
the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to
God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
In these verses, preaching the gospel is an
act of worship. Paul was not a Levite, but he had a priestly duty, and that was
to worship with all his heart by preaching.
In our worship services today, the sermon is just as much a
part of the worship as the songs are. Whenever the gospel is preached, worship is being done. God’s
greatness is being proclaimed. Worship is in the listening, too, as people seek
to learn what God wants us to be doing. A worshipful attitude toward God is one
that respectfully listens to what he may be saying to us.
Every act of
obedience is an act of worship. It declares
that God has worth. And whenever we
share the gospel with someone, we are declaring God’s worth. We are engaging
in the priestly
service of preaching the gospel, the worship of
being a witness to God’s grace. We tell what a great thing God has done in
Jesus Christ, and how that has been good news in our life. We are declaring his
worth. We are giving worship in everyday life. We don’t have to wait for a
church service.
Romans 15:27 uses this word: “If the Gentiles have shared in
the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to minister to them” — literally, to give
liturgy to them — “with material blessings.” Paul uses this word for worship to describe financial
help. This seemingly ordinary service to the saints was actually an act of
worship, a religious activity.
We see a similar thing in Philippians
4:18, which Paul wrote after receiving financial help from
the Christians in Philippi: “I have
received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have
received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an
acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” And in 2 Corinthians
9:12, he wrote, “This service – this liturgy – that you
perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing
in many expressions of thanks to God.” The people were worshipping with their money, which we can do
with our offerings today, as well.
Hebrews
13 combines two New Testament forms of worship. “Through Jesus, therefore,
let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise —
the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and
to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased”
(vv. 15-16). Some worship is given in words of praise, and some worship is
given to God when we help one another.
Summary
Worship is the giving of our entire self, our thoughts and our emotions, to
God’s use. All of life is an act of submission, an act of worship. Our service
to God is not centered on a time or a temple, but is done whenever and wherever
we are, because we are the temple of God. Therefore;
1.
The test of worship is not only what happens at church, but what happens at
home, on the job and wherever we go.
2.
Whenever the gospel is preached, worship is being done. God’s greatness is
being proclaimed. Worship is in the listening, too, as people seek to learn
what God wants us to be doing. Ro 1:9;15:16
3.
Every act of obedience is an act of worship.
4.
Giving your material things or money to help others or for ministry is an
act of worship. Ro 15:27
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