The Ancient Order …

EARLY CHRISTIAN WORSHIP AND ITS MEANING FOR US

In recent years the church generally has been taking a hard look at the meaning of worship, and the changes in attitude are encouraging. It is not so much a question as to whether we should be more formal or less formal, more liturgical or less liturgical, but of the nature of worship itself. We are coming to appreciate, I think, that worship, in its broadest sense at least, is not as much what we do as what we are. We are now questioning whether worship is measured in acts—such as “the five acts of worship” that we often refer to in our own circles—or whether it really has to do with a committed life. Am I now worshipping as I communicate with you over this typewriter or only if I bow my head and pray or lift my voice in praise to God? Or only if I make my way to some formal service and do certain things?

Jesus certainly was not indifferent to all the forms that we might call worship. To a leper he had healed Jesus said, “Show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to the people” (Matt. 8:4). Jesus intended that this ritual would not only have meaning to the man, but would have some public significance. One could easily conclude from this case that since the man was already made whole, and that by Jesus himself, why should he fool with a priest and ritual? But Jesus did not see it that way. The Lord is teaching him to respect and obey the law that God had given to Israel, but this may have also been his way of relating the man to the worshipping community, separated as he had been by his leprosy.

On the other hand Jesus placed peace between brothers equal to or perhaps above sacrificial worship. “If you are offering your gift at the altar,” he says in Matt. 5:23, “and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” In this case one is to go away from church, leaving his “worship” incomplete, in order to do the right thing. We are forced to the conclusion that one is worshipping as much when he serves as a peacemaker as when he is doing church. And if one must choose between them, it is clear which Jesus makes paramount.

It is clear from Rom. 12:1 that worship involves the whole of life, not only what we do ritually or formally: “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Living for God in our bodies every day is our spiritual worship—reasonable or intelligent worship it should be, meaning that it is in accord with reason, God being Lord of heaven and earth and therefore of our bodies, that we should commit all that we are to him. The typist, therefore, or the plumber, if she or he is doing it for God, is worshiping as much as if at church. So with jogging, picnicking or cleaning house.

And yet worship, which comes from several Greek words, is often used in Scripture to refer to ritual. Even in the same book, Rom. 9:4, Paul says that “the worship” belongs to Israel, just as did the law and the covenants, referring of course to the priestly system. It is ritual that the woman at the well has in mind when she tells Jesus that “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you (the Jews) say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship,” but he seems to have more than that in mind when he replies, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:20f.).

This must be saying that true worship is in the heart, deep inside one’s self, something to be keenly sensed as if it absorbs one’s very being, and it must be in truth. that is, sincerely given to God and Him alone and according to His will. Jesus made it clear, drawing from an Old Testament truth, that worship is vain if it is only from the lips and does not reach the heart (Matt. 15:8).

But worship seems to be both, in the heart and on the lips. God not only wants us to love Him with all our being, which is the real worship, but He also wants us to show it, and He has ordained ways in which this is to be done. This too is real worship when it comes from a worshipful heart.

In our own history we have used some non-Biblical terms that may nonetheless have scriptural import, such as corporate worship and social worship. The terms really mean about the same. The latter term is not used much any more, but it was a favorite of our pioneers. One may worship alone, true, and of course she does if she is a true believer. But God has ordained that we should worship together also, and this is social worship. Social worship has distinct characteristics. He intends that the church do things as an assembly that are not to be done as individuals. Generally this truth has been neglected in Protestantism where such stress has been placed upon individual religion. If the sense of community or family has not been lost, it has hardly been sufficiently appreciated. God works in history through His community, and it is there that one should seek Him rather than in isolation.

So, I think it not amiss to speak of “going to worship” if we are referring to what we do as a Body of believers as distinct from the worship we engage in when we go to work or take the family to visit grandmother. It may be misleading to talk about “acts of worship,” but it is still true that there are experiences we have and ordinances that we recognize as God-given when we assemble as the Body of Christ-corporate (body) worship. What were the basic characteristics of corporate or social worship in the early church?

First, we should identify the aim of the service, and then see how all the parts supported the overall purpose. A reading of 1 Cor. 14, which tells us more about primitive social worship than any other chapter, makes it clear that the aim was the building up of the saints. We quote the last verse of that chapter, “All things should be done decently and in order,” recognizing the restrictions that that principle places upon our conduct in assembly, but we do not sufficiently emphasize the principle of edification, which is really the theme of the chapter. The key phrase of the chapter could be in verse 19: in order to instruct others. Paul chose understandable language over tongues “in order to instruct others.” When one lines up several of the verses that show the aim of social worship they are impressive:

Verse 4: “he who prophesies edifies the church.”

Verse 5: “so that the church may be edified.”

Verse 12: “strive to excel in building up the church.”

Verse 26: “Let all things be done for edification.”

Verse31: “so that all may learn and all be encouraged.”

We should not talk about decency and order less, which is once referred to, but about edification and encouragement more, which are referred to again and again as the purpose of the service. Eph. 4:15-16 describes this as “We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” and goes on to speak of how each part of the body working properly “makes bodily growth and up builds itself in love.”

We gain much from the Ancient Order when we implement this principle: the aim of the assembly is for the Body to build itself up in love through instruction and encouragement. We do not assemble simply to do certain things and thus fulfill a prescribed ritual. We are not simply to sing or pray or teach, for these things are not necessarily edifying. Some singing is depressing and some teaching boring. “Let all things be done for edification” is the rule. We may not always succeed, but we are to “strive to excel in building up the church.”

This aim might come nearer being realized in our time in the “coffee and doughnut session” which I see here and there. This comes “before church” and provides opportunity for intimate and encouraging fellowship, even bordering on real celebration in some instances, and it may be here that we are most like the primitive church. This is of course social or corporate worship, and this notion that “the worship must begin at 10:45” is a delusion. Social worship has already begun back in the vestibule where the saints are embracing a dear sister who has just returned from a siege of illness or where they are welcoming believers from a distant state. When we start singing at 10:45 is not when we start worship. It is simply when we start singing! If it “starts” anywhere, it would probably be out in the parking lot. That is, if we really worship. People are not worshiping simply because they come together and do church.

I am only going to give a roll call of the makeup of primitive worship, with but little discussion. It does not necessarily follow that we are to do everything they did (it better not!), but everything they did should say something to us. There are basics and things not so basic. No primitive assembly was exactly like the next one, except in the basics. But already we have our working principle in that all the parts of social worship are to have one aim: to edify and encourage those assembled.

1. Prayers. There was probably great variety: in unison, individually, and maybe even with one person leading (1 Cor. 14:16). In our early history the practice of one person leading a prayer became a problem due to the Glasite background. In the Glasite churches “the prayers of the church” were voluntary and chain-like or successive. It would be interesting to know if in a primitive church anyone was ever called on to pray. It is just as well that we not talk too much along these lines about “following the pattern.”

2. Saying the Amen and crying Maranatha. These would really be part of the prayers, and of the celebration. Living in the hope of Jesus’ coming, they could pray with great meaning, Come, Lord Jesus,’ To say “Abba, Father!” was another way they spoke of prayer (Rom. 8:15).

3. Breaking of bread. Acts 2:46 probably means that bands of saints moved from house to house breaking bread, and did so daily. This is social worship in sharing time and food together, though there was likely a ritual of “breaking bread” that was neither a meal nor the Lord’s Supper, such as Jesus observed with his disciples (besides the Supper), such as in Mt. 14:19 and Lk. 24:30.

4. Singing and praising. We may not be able to establish congregational singing for certain, but there were surely solos (1 Cor. 14:26). If 1 Tim. 3:16 was an old hymn, as some think, it and others like it may have been chanted by the assembly. Several passages indicate that the believers praised God in word and song in and out of the assembly.

5. Reading. Paul urged that his letters be read in the assembly, such as Col. 4:16, and Rev. 1:3 gives a blessing to the one who publicly reads that book. Justin Martyr, in an exciting description of worship in the early church, tells that “On the day which is called the day of the sun there is an assembly of all those who live in the towns or in the country; and the memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then the reader ceases, and the president speaks, admonishing us and exhorting us to imitate these excellent examples.” He goes on to say that they pray together, with the people assenting with Amen, and partake of the Eucharist.

6. Giving of money. Justin included in his description: “And they that are prosperous and wish to do so give what they will, each after his choice. What is collected is deposited with the president, who gives aid to the orphans and widows and such as are in want by reason of sickness or other cause; and to those also that are in prison, and to strangers from abroad, in fact to all that are in need he is a protector.” This would be the most ancient source for a common fund (about 150 A.D.). It may have evolved after the apostolic period as there is no evidence that a New Testament church ever took an offering in assembly. Even 1 Cor. 16:2, commonly a proof text for this, almost certainly refers to a plan of laying by “at home” on each first day, and even that was temporary. They did of course raise funds in some manner for certain causes (Philip. 4:15). This lack of specific authority for a “church treasury” renders insipid all the fuss among us in recent years as to just how its funds can be spent. The whole thing is obviously our own arrangement.

7. Confessions, benedictions, doxologies. Jewish practices in the synagogue would have brought some of this into the Christian assembly. Such benedictions found at the close of Paul’s letters may well have been voiced in the assemblies, as well as confession of sins and profession of faith in Christ. Creedal statements also, such as Jesus is Lord!

8. Tongue speaking, This prevailed at least in the church at Corinth. Paul restricted it to only those instances when there could be an interpreter, so that it could be instructive.

9. Love feasts. There is sufficient evidence that agape at one time meant not merely love, but a love feast. In the earliest church it was connected with the Lord’s Supper, but they afterwards became independent of each other. Jude 12 has an interesting allusion to these.

None of these probably, except the first, would be basic to corporate worship, that is, always or nearly always present in any church anywhere, and yet they might be present and often would be in many churches. This means that any of them could have an appropriate place in this or that congregation, depending on the need for it.

This leaves us with three basics that are generally admitted to be such: the Lord’s Supper, teaching, and prayer. These are catholic in nature. Believers who do not assemble to share the Supper, pray together, and seek to build each other up through instruction run the risk of not being a true church.

This allows for lots of diversity and variety, which surely characterized primitive worship. There might be additional features that our time and culture would make appropriate, such as children’s church, periods of quiet meditation (like the Quakers), candle lighting, counseling and group therapy, sermons, regular offerings, congregational singing, choirs, etc. It is likely that none of these were in primitive worship, and they should be a part of our social worship only as they serve to enhance the three basics. If, for example, a church wants to have a symbolic candle-lighting to enhance the Supper (which would be in the same category of dimming the lights or humming!), it might be in order. But nothing can displace the Supper or its meaning.

Those who look for a “fixed pattern” might well give up their search. There is no pattern of Christian worship in the Scriptures. Anyone who tries to follow one only follows his own arbitrary interpretation, He will be forced to include things that are not in Scripture and leave out things that are, such as the above list.

But we have descriptions of social worship, along with some instructions. that provide us with three basics, along with other features that might or might not be appropriated, depending on the circumstances. And we might add still others, just as some New Testament churches did (that others did not!). so long as they meet the one crucial test of biblical authority: Let all things be done for the building up of the Body. —the Editor