Worship and Mission for the Global Church

An Ethnodoxolgy Handbook

James Krabill, Frank Fortunato, Robin P. Harris, James Krabill, Frank Fortunato, Robin P. Harris

• Publisher: William Carey Library
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781645080503
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Rituals & Practice

Worship and Mission for the Global Church offers theological reflection, case studies, practical tools, and audiovisual resources to help the global church appreciate and generate culturally appropriate arts in worship and witness. Drawing on the expertise and experience of over one hundred writers from twenty countries, the volume integrates insights from the fields of ethnomusicology, biblical research, worship studies, missiology, and the arts.This book is the first in a two-volume set on the principles and practices of ethnodoxology. The second volume, entitled Creating Local Arts Together, guides the practitioner through a detailed seven-step process of assisting a local community's efforts at integrating its arts with the values and purposes of God's kingdom.

SECTION 1

FOUNDATIONS

ENCOUNTERING GOD: WORSHIP AND BODY LIFE

BIBLICAL

1. BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP

By Andrew E. Hill

WORSHIP IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Definitions of biblical worship abound. For the purpose of our study, worship in the Bible may be defined briefly as “the expression of a relationship with the Triune God—always simple and always complex, both an event and a lifestyle.” This relationship is God’s initiative, established with humanity through a series of covenant enactments.

Although the term covenant is not specifically mentioned, the foundation for the biblical covenants is established at creation in God’s special relationship with Adam and Eve (Gen 1–2). These covenants begin formally with Noah and his family (Gen 9), continue with Abraham (Gen 12; 15; 17), and are renewed with his descendants (Gen 26:2–5; 28:10–15). The covenants are extended to the Israelite nation through Moses at Mt. Sinai (Ex 19–24), and are expanded to include the kingship through the line of David (2 Sam 7). Finally, they are consolidated and universalized in the New Covenant proclaimed by Jeremiah (Jer 30–33), and fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ (Luke 22). Covenants are initiated by God and regulated or maintained by stipulations or laws attached to the covenant agreements. In both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT), the requisite response to God’s covenant initiatives is one of absolute loyalty motivated by loving obedience (Deut 30:15,16; John 14:15; cf. Matt 22:36–40).

Who is the God of the biblical covenants? Why does this God declare himself worthy of the unequivocal worship of humanity? Above all, this God is a holy God (Ps 99:3–9; Rev 4:8). Indeed, a favorite epithet of the OT writers for God is the “Holy One of Israel” (2 Kgs 19:22; Ps 71:22; Isa 1:4). The holiness of God speaks of his otherness or transcendence, his inaccessibility and inapproachability, his mysterious and inscrutable nature. If this inscrutable transcendence alone were true of him, how could we worship such a terrifying and unknowable God?

Thankfully, not only is God holy and transcendent, he is also “the Holy One in your midst” (Hos 11:9, NJB). God is the one who dwells “in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit” (Isa 57:15). God’s autobiographical declaration to Moses reveals his basic nature and is a call to worship: “the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Ex 34:6,7). God merits worship because he is able to answer those who call on him in prayer and repentance and to forgive their wrongdoings (Ps 99:8). The presence of a holy God abiding with Israel made them a holy people and raised their consciousness of sin and their need for forgiveness (Isa 6:4,5). The intimate presence of a holy God also prompted heartfelt worship and praise (Ps 99:3) and a keen desire for holy living (Lev 19:2).

But such forgiveness, worship, and holy living would be impossible for us if God’s holiness was not conjoined with his sovereignty. The sovereignty of God involves his absolute authority and power over all creation, which he uses to accomplish his redemptive will. God’s sovereignty is basically the application of his attribute of omnipotence, his utter and unlimited power to providentially care for the created order, including the natural world and the progress of human history (Gen 50:20; Isa 14:24; 40:22–24; Dan 2:20–23). Israel’s deliverance in the OT and humanity’s redemption in the NT could only be accomplished by such a God.

The holiness of God, the immanence of God, and the sovereignty of God are aspects of his uniqueness. The prophet Isaiah understood this uniqueness of God as a call to worship the Lord as King and Redeemer of Israel. He quotes God as saying, “I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? . . . Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one” (Isa 44:6–8). The only proper response to this unique God is to assemble before him, turn to him in repentance for salvation, and bow to worship in his presence (Isa 45:20–23).

Knowledge of God is central to biblical worship because covenant obedience, whether in the OT or the NT, is dependent upon an understanding of God’s words and deeds (Deut 4:35; Ps 100:3; Eph 1:17). In the OT, the prophets attribute Israel’s covenant failures to their lack of the knowledge of God (Hos 4:6; Mic 4:12), indicting both the political leaders and the Levitical priesthood for failing to lead and instruct the people in the knowledge of the Lord (Jer 5:4,5; Mal 2:7). The pervasive knowledge of the Lord is one of the features of God’s work of restoration in the eschaton (Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14). Not surprisingly, this knowledge of God was meant to spread to the nations so they too will worship the Lord God of Israel (Isa 49:26; Zech 2:9–11). In the NT, the incarnation of Jesus the Messiah became the ultimate invitation to the knowledge of God, making known the Father to Israel and the world (John 1:18; cf. Heb 1:1,2).

Worship is a verb in the Bible. In the OT, the Hebrew people were called to an active and whole-person response to the God who initiated covenant relationship with their ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Ex 3:15). This holistic worship response is grounded in the creedal affirmation of the Shema, which calls the Hebrews to love God fully with heart, soul, and strength (Deut 6:4). The multidimensional nature of OT worship is demonstrated in the various terms used to express the worship response. Although the NT employs fewer terms to describe the worship response to God, it also presents worship as an active expression of the whole person in the celebatory telling and enactment of the Christ-event.

The exodus from Egypt was the defining event in ancient Israel’s redemptive history, and it was the basis for their worship of YHWH (Deut 4:32–40).¹ The Sinai covenant mediated by Moses is founded upon YHWH’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt (Ex 20:2). As a result, the expression “the God who brought you out of Egypt” becomes an identifying divine epithet in the OT (e.g., Deut 7:19; 8:14; 13:5; Ps 81:10). Israel’s worship response to God is contained in the psalmist’s lyric, “I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?” (Ps 77:12,13). When viewed through the lens of the NT, the exodus event foreshadows the life and ministry of Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God (John 1:29) and the ultimate Passover sacrifice (1 Cor 5:7).

Numerous other biblical themes undergird OT and NT worship. For example, the scores of names and titles for the Triune God in both testaments reveal his being, existence, character, personality, reputation, authority, and purposes for humanity. This revelation deepens our knowledge of God and consequently informs and enriches our worship of him. Along with God’s redemptive work in the Passover and the Christ-event, God’s handiwork as Creator is a core theme of biblical worship. The hymns, songs, prayers, and doxologies of the Bible extol God’s power and wisdom as Creator and his sovereign grace in making all things new—creating new heavens and a new earth (Isa 65:17; Rev 21:1,5).

The theme of divine presence is central to the biblical story and is the goal of redemptive history. God’s desire to live with his people is symbolized and represented in the tabernacle and in the temple of the OT (cf. Ex 25:8; 1 Kgs 8:10–13). This desire is realized in the NT through the incarnation of Jesus the Messiah (John 1:14) and the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:4; 1 Cor 3:16), and it culminates in the Triune God living with humanity in the new creation (Rev 21:3,4).

Hebrew worship centers of tabernacle and temple are pilgrimage destinations for Israelite worshipers, and they give rise to the place of the visual and musical arts in worship, especially with the Psalms—the hymnbook of ancient Israel. The church, too, developed pilgrimage as a form of worship, and as a result of the Incarnation, it has employed the visual, dramatic, and musical arts in worship. Historically, the Psalms play a pivotal role in the church’s liturgy, music, and prayer life. Finally, the worship of the Triune God by the nations is a theme that unites the OT and NT, finding its roots in the Abrahamic covenant, through which God chooses one nation to bless all nations (Ps 86:9; Isa 66:23; Zech 14:16; Rev 5:9,10; cf. Gen 12:1–3).

TOWARD NEW TESTAMENT WORSHIP

A cursory reading of the New Testament reveals that early Christianity was essentially Jewish. Jesus the Messiah was a Jew from Nazareth in Galilee. The twelve apostles were all Jewish. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was largely a Jewish event (Acts 2:5–11), and the initial missionary outreach of the church focused on the Jew first (Acts 6:7; 13:5; cf. Rom 1:16).

The hyphenated worship heritage of the church, Judeo-Christian worship, is rooted in the Mosaic covenant of Mt. Sinai. The basic structural elements of this treaty between God and his people Israel constitute the essence of corporate public worship in Judaism and Christianity, namely:

• God called his people to meet with him;

• the entire assembly of the people shared responsibility for the worship of God;

• God proclaimed his divine word and revealed his person, will, and purpose to Israel through his covenant law;

• the Hebrew community accepted God’s covenant and was continually involved in the experience of covenant renewal;

• and lastly, God sealed his covenant wi...