Unformulated Worship
Matt. 15:22
And behold, a woman who was a Canaanite from that district came out and, with a [loud, troublesomely urgent] cry, begged, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is miserably and distressingly and cruelly possessed by a demon!
Matt. 15:23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.
Matt. 15:24 He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matt. 15:25 But she came and, kneeling, worshiped Him and kept praying, Lord, help me!
Matt. 15:26 And He answered, It is not right (proper, becoming, or fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.
Matt. 15:27 She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little pups eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table.
Matt. 15:28 Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you wish. And her daughter was cured from that moment.
Welcome To The Light-Washed Path,
I’m always impressed with what makes worship truly worship. The Canaanite woman, without a covenant position from which to approach Jesus, succeeds to engage Him and receives her petition, by the means of 3 simple words:
“…Lord, help me!”
Today’s Christian churches expend so much resource and attention on making the worshipper feel like he’s worshipping. It’s amazing the lengths we go through to create an environment to coax worship out of people who attend church. And yet I wonder, for all our efforts, as God is among us, how often, would God say that people are actually worshipping Him. I suppose one indication might be to review how often our petitions are getting answers from Him!
With all our focus on creating a mood so that the worship will be a fulfilling experience for the worshipper, I hope we’re actually pleasing God. It makes one pause and think about what constitutes real worship. I’ve always believed that God, Who is Spirit, receives something from us as worship, that is different and beyond the fleshy influences that make us feel like worship is significant. We often define our worship by certain wordy phrases or music styles. But God, according to the testimonies of scripture, is impressed by something entirely beyond such externals. In many churches, the Canaanite woman’s cry to Jesus, would never qualify as worship, much less satisfy the need of the congregation to feel like they had worshipped God.
Clearly, there exists no formula whatsoever that constitutes the “proper” language of worship. While most churches, whether intentionally or simply by habit, create a scripted experience for their worship, the truth is that no one has actually begun to worship God until their heart is talking to Him.The thief on the cross merely said to Jesus:
“Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
And at those words Jesus saved his soul. It’s amazing and wonderful to consider how simple true worship actually is. Most Christians mistake what churches do to get people into the “mood” to worship – special music, certain key words, and special exhortations – as worship itself. Too many Christians withhold their worship because they aren’t getting the music they like. Maybe flowers, chocolates and low lights would help? I bet it was the special lighting in that Philippian jail that enabled Paul and Silas to worship God at midnight. The point is that worship begins with a decision. The question is how high are your demands before you will decide to worship our Lord? What does it take for you? Are you easy for God or hard to move?
Step one is understanding that God defines worship. And Jesus has said worship is based around two elements:
John 4:23-24 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
“Spirit” – Our spirit, our innermost heart reaching out to the Holy Spirit.
“Truth” – Truth from God’s perspective, His Word, and honesty from ours.
Consider the Canaanite woman’s worship in 3 simple words:
“Lord…” – I suppose this is the most abused and trivialized word in worship. Tossed up without any heartfelt consideration for it’s meaning, Christians often use this word without a personal concept or commitment to Jesus’ Lordship. But on that day, in the mouth of this foreign woman, the word, “Lord”, came from her heart with a level of comprehension and humility that Jesus recognized. It probably wasn’t in the way that she uttered it or the tone in her voice. No doubt that Jesus heard a heart that understood, on some level, that He was the capable and willing One.
“…help…” – The world seems to be full of people who avoid approaching God because they are afraid that He’s unwilling to hear or help. Sometimes their sense of guilt restrains them. Other times they believe their requests are unworthy or unimportant to God. These are typical hindrances to would be petitioners who don’t know God’s Word. But somehow this woman was able to get free of all such obstacles and see Jesus as both able and willing to help. Regardless of how He seemed to put her off with His references to “dogs”, there was no offense in her, and her faith was only refined by the challenge.
“…me!” – If we knew how willing God is to personally attend to us we would waste far less time trying to get something out of “our worship experience” and more time worshipping God. We’d cry out to God more and care less about how we sound or feel doing it.
True worship is that kneeling of the heart to the lordship of Jesus. And understanding the fact that He, as Lord of all, is the God of goodness, mercy and grace. And more than willing, He is desirous, to help you in your time of need.
Stay On The Path!