What is worship?

Now that is an interesting question. I do not doubt that after reading the word "worship" the first thing you thought of was singing in church. Am I right? It's ok, that's to be expected. After all, in America we have taken the concept of worship and stripped it of almost all its substance and then attached all sorts of baggage, and in the process have redefined and shaped it into something that images our own personal feelings, wishes, and desires. But worship, in its purest sense, isn't necessarily about singing and all of that stuff. It is above all a participation in the very life and being of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You see, shared within the Trinity is something like worship, a mutuality of porous and permeable persons who adore one another - who are in essence nothing more or less than self-giving love. And this God, through His gracious provision in Jesus Christ, the God-man, has entered into the human situation so that through him and in his Spirit we may enter into and participate in His very worshipful being.

Now that sounds awfully abstract, I know. Perhaps that's because we don't want to talk about God's being; we are solely concerned with His function, i.e. what He can do for me. I apologize if that sounds like a trite, stereotyped suggestion, but it is true nonetheless. The irony of our time is that we openly confess that "it's not about me" and then arrange our lives, relationships, ministry, and worship as though it is. So worship becomes my own efforts to do something for God. I sing to Him. I pray to Him. I cry because of how He makes me feel. And somewhere in the midst of all the "I's" and "me's" we snuff the very life of God in us out like a dimming candle.

I want to posit an alternative. Yes, let's dialogue about worship style. Let's discuss drums and organs and podiums and multimedia projectors. But before we do, let's just SHUT UP. Before a single word is spoken, before a single note is sung, before a single prayer is offered, let's be still and acknowledge that worship is not something that we come to God to DO to or for Him. Instead, let's acknowledge that worship is something that God does within Himself, and through the Son in the Spirit draws us into. God's speaks, acts, and works first. We can only respond. Only in the silence of responsive self-givingness will we ever hear the melodious call of the Triune chorus beckoning us home in Him.

Take the following hymn as an example. It comes from The Divine Liturgy of Saint James (4th century). Notice how the hymn begins with a call to silence, then after proclaiming who God is and who He has revealed Himself to be in what He has done ends in glorious praise and worship:
This Lent, I offer to you this suggestion. Before you read your Bible or pray during your quiet time; before you go to church on Sunday and participate in the service; before you dare to sing a song or play an instrument or preach a sermon, do this: Be still. Don't say anything, don't do anything. Stop swinging your arms, crying, clapping your hands, and all the rest for just a moment and be still. In the stillness, acknowledge in your mind and in your heart that it is God who descends to us in order to take us up in ascension with Him. Your words and your songs and your very life will thus become a sacramental expression of your participation in the doxological Triunity of God.