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| introduction
to the City's Gate |
Section
2 - the
vows IV - A |
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IV.
Commitment to
the Church as a Family
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| Vow 4: "Do you promise to
support the church in its worship and work to the best of your
ability?”
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A. “...support the church in its worship....”
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1.
The Idea of Church in Scripture
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| The English term, “Church,” does not
capture the fullness of the original Hebrew and Greek words that it
translates. Uniformly, those
original words mean gathering,
assembly, or congregation.
Do not miss the principle fact that these words do not conceive
of the church apart from people, the many as opposed to the one. Though certainly made up of individuals, the Church, by the
force of these words, is the gathering, the assembling, the
congregating of people together. The Church is the community
of believers.
Another way to understand the concept of church is through the
imagery the Bible uses to depict it. In the Scriptures, the church is often referred to as the Body of
Christ, the Bride of Christ, a city on a hill, and the like; each
depicting various aspects of the church’s character, make-up, and
function. It is again important
to note, that these images tend to stress the corporate, or
community-like nature of the church: Christians not only belong to the
God who bought them at a great price, but they also belong to one
another. For an enlightening
study on this idea, use a concordance to find the “one another”
passages in the Scripture. Look
each passage up and keep an account of the blessings, promises, and
commandments from each reference.
What is the purpose behind this stress on
the people of God gathered? We
might postulate several: worship, evangelism, mercy, apologetics, a
foretaste of heaven. All of these and more may very well be valid reasons.
But in the Scripture, God makes it plain that chief among all the
reasons given for gathering as God’s people is so that we might worship
Him.
Although there are many other benefits, the
gathering of God’s people is primarily in order that they might
worship Him. It is not primarily
for training, though training is good; not primarily for healing, though
we may need it desperately and God may be pleased to give it; nor
primarily for counsel, though God does promise to give us wisdom.
No, we assemble/congregate/gather for worship. The Old Covenant pattern amply illustrates:
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God led the people out of Egyptian
bondage so that they could worship him in the desert. The purpose of
the Exodus was not so much to take them to Palestine, but to bring
them to worship.
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The giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai
plays a pivotal role in the Old Covenant, but it was above all a
meeting with God by the whole assembly. Throughout Israel's history,
the three major Feasts were celebrated each year, not by individuals
in their homes, but by (at the least) all the men going up to and
assembling in Jerusalem. |
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The New Covenant displays the same pattern,
but on a much larger scale. Hebrews 12:18-24 shows the differences
between the Old and the New.
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| But you have come to:
 Mt. Zion, heavenly
Jerusalem, city of the living God
thousands upon thousands of
angels in joyful assembly
the church of the firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven
God, the judge of all men
the spirits of righteous men
made perfect
Jesus, the mediator of a new
covenant
the sprinkled blood that
speaks a better word than ... of Abel |
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| Despite the differences, there are common
features: the assembled people meet with God in the presence of a
mediator to respond to his message. That is primarily what the church is
all about.
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| It is of interest to
note what defines the assembly in
the New Covenant. In some cases the church refers to the
group meeting at someone's house. The church can also refer to all the
congregations in one city. Sometimes church means the entire body of
Christ, i.e. believers everywhere. And in the Hebrews passage, it even
includes the heavenly assembly.
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2.
So, what exactly is worship?
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| Many writers have pointed out that the word
comes from the Old English "worthship".
In other words, the worth of an individual is proclaimed. That does
give us one perspective on what we do in worship.
It is also helpful to view worship as response.
In fact, that pattern appears over and over in the Biblical
record. We read over and over about people worshipping God in response
to his mighty acts.
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| we sing for joy, because of his redemption
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| we confess our sins, because of his perfect holiness
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| we pray, because of his mighty power
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| we confess our faith, because of his commitment to us
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| we listen and obey, because he is the Lord |
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| It is entirely possible to go to church to
hear an interesting sermon, but if there is no response to what God has
done, you have not worshipped. And if you have not worshipped, you've
missed the whole point. The conclusion of the matter is simply that we
don't come to church to get, but to give. We are here to give God the
glory due his name. In worship, he is the audience and we are the
performers. And in giving God our praise, prayers, thoughts, affections,
loving obedience and yes, even our hurts and failures and doubts,
we find ourselves blessed.
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