What communication goes on during worship?

Worship FAQs, part 5 – What communication goes on during worship?

Let’s begin by talking about worship services. That name—worship service—hints at where should start.

In a worship service, who does the serving and who is being served? Many people would assume that it’s about us serving God. In reality, though the focus of a worship service is God’s service to us.

Do you know what worship services were called back in the German-speaking period of many congregation Lutheran congregations in America? They were called Gottesdienst—“God’s Service” or “Divine Service.” This name reminded everyone attending Gottesdienst that the focus was on God’s actions, words, and gifts. Let’s always remember that the main purpose of coming to a worship service is to be served by God. We are the guests, and we come primarily to listen and receive. God serves his guests with the Bread of Life in his Word, with the washing of spiritual rebirth in Baptism, and with Jesus’ own body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine in Holy Communion.

So what about all the parts of the service where we are doing the speaking—or, for that matter, the singing, the offering of gifts to the Lord, and so on? Well, any good conversation has two people speaking back and forth with one another, right? This is also true in worship, where God’s gifts and words to us cause us to respond back to him. It couldn’t be any other way. After all, James says faith without works is dead. So we would expect to see people responding to God as a natural result of listening to his voice.

So, God first speaks to us. His speaking to us creates in us a desire to respond in songs, prayers, and offerings. So, is that all of the communication that goes on in worship? No, it is not.
There is another important type of communication in worship that happens among the believers gathered in the pews. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us clearly that Christians have a duty to encourage one another by being in worship. You know how encouraging it can be to show up for worship and see every pew full and hear voices of your fellow believers singing and speaking boldly around you. You owe the same encouragement to those other believers. Be there! Sing out! Pay attention!

Worship services set the pattern for the rest of our lives. Daily we listen to God in his Word, remember our Baptism, and long for the next time we can enjoy his gifts in Holy Communion. Daily we respond to him by living our lives for him. And daily we encourage one another from God’s Word.