Thoughts on Worship: Brandon Cruz

When I was asked to write a Harvest post, I was told I could write on a subject that I may be thinking on or studying here at Asbury Seminary. In this case, that particular subject has been “what is worship?” Honestly, it has been a subject that has consumed my mind recently since my first class in Worship Formation here at Asbury, and I do not see this thought going away anytime soon. I do not think this is a terrible thing. Worship is something worth struggling and wrestling with. It is not a simple term or act and should not, in my eyes, be reduced to such. So, that brings us back to the question, what is worship?

If there is one thing I can say about worship, it is active. I say this because our God is a living God. He is not some lifeless idol that does not hear, speak, or move. The Christian God is a God of encounter. Our God is the Father who sends His only begotten Son. He is the one who comes enfleshed, and He is the Spirit sent to comfort us. Our God is a God of encounter. He desires active, loving participation with the world He has created. Therefore, Christian worship must be a response, an active worship. A passive worship can never satisfy the living God; in the words of Robert E. Webber, “Worship is a verb.” It is being at work in a similar way to Aristotle's aim towards virtue. Never does one come to the point where they say, “Ah, I have finally claimed courage.” It is a constant aim for the good and better, but the Christian aims for something much higher than the good of virtue. For the Christian aims for the True Good, God. This leads into my next question. If worship is an active work, what kind of work is it?

I have come to the idea that the work of Christian worship is the devotion of knowing God. I say this because, to me, worship is that which brings us into attention and relationship with God. Or, to shorten it, Christian worship is communion with God. For if you have communion with God, you have intimacy with God. If you have intimacy, you have knowing of God; and if you have knowing, only then can you have the beginning of right worship of God. For how can you worship and glorify a God you do not know? It is impossible to worship only one aspect of God, for God’s very nature is in relationship with Himself. Here are some scriptures to help support this claim:

All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. - Matthew 11:27 (RSV)

...That all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. - John 5:23 (RSV)

The Triune God is in full knowing and relationship with Himself. Therefore, the beginning of right worship calls for the knowing of God. Ultimately, this leads to my next question, how do we come to know God?

Luckily for us, as I mentioned before, our God is a God of encounter. He comes to us, but He does not force Himself upon us. Our God is a God of true intimacy and respects our choices. Therefore, we have two possible responses to the encounter of the living God, the heart of the Pharisees and the heart of David. The heart of the Pharisees is a heart of stone. It is a heart that rejects the living God who comes enfleshed before them. We see that despite them being the spiritual leaders of Israel, their hardened hearts make all their spiritual acts dead. These acts are not just simple man made traditions, but things Christ calls us into like prayer, fasting, and reading scripture. But without knowing God, these sacramental acts mean nothing. So, we come to the heart of David. It is the heart of flesh. It is the broken and contrite heart that cries out for God in intimacy. It is the broken and contrite spirit that knows its need for God, thus it is here where worship begins. We see this in David crying out to God in Psalm 51. The knowing of God begins when we realize our own failings and understand that we cannot go on alone and call out in desperation for relationship. For now we know there is no life outside of Him. It is the story told in so many testimonies. When the heart submits to the Lord, worship begins. Therefore, the broken and contrite heart is that which brings us into attention and desire for God.

So we come back to the main question, what is worship? Worship is the process of knowing God. I say this because to know someone means to be in active pursuit of them. The broken and contrite heart is the beginning of this pursuit, but it will carry on for the rest of our lives. Faithful Christian worship is not something that simply takes place in a building on Sunday. It is a way of life. It is why I chose the word knowing, for the act of intimately knowing someone does not stop until their death; but our God is unending, and therefore, worship is unending. It is a constant moving toward the learning and celebration of God’s acts, promises, and life. It is worship.

Brandon Cruz faithfully served as a missionary intern for the Wesley Foundation during the 2018-2019 school year. He is now a student at Asbury Seminary, and continues to bless our community in Ruston with his prayers and well-timed puns.