Compared to Hinduism

Picked up a book at the library and I wish I had known about it when I taught Acts at Southwest Baptist University. It is called Thirty Years that Changed the World: The Book of Acts for Today. I was thinking of working some material I had into something similar. Now I found this book and I don’t know if what I want to do is necessary. We’ll see…

The author, Michael Green, writes about the pasts of people he has known who have come to faith in Christ from different religious backgrounds. He tells the story of a former Hindu who was grateful of his Hindu past but wanted to make it very plain that in Jesus he found three things of which he never dreamed in Hinduism:

He found God as Father, a Father who cared about him personally. He found forgiveness of sins for which he had gratitude to Jesus. This was in contrast to the process of karma where there is no forgiveness: you have to pay your debts. And he found the Spirit of Jesus coming to indwell his life and start transforming him from the inside, supplying power and a joy to which he had been a total stranger. There was nothing in Hindu meditation, in which he had engaged, to begin to compare with that (page 39).

Random Thoughts

If you think I'm done with my "worship" series, you are mistaken. I haven't done leitougia or a look at worship in Revelation. But here I post some random thoughts.

Great article on combating AIDS in Uganda as well as combating political agendas - http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=28442

Tim Chester (author of Total Church) wrote recently on evangelism in a pluralistic culture and had this observation about absolute truth

But if you take truth away you are left with pure coercion. If there is no right and wrong then there is only strong and weak. A feminist anthropologist was working in West Africa. When she challenged the mistreatment of women in traditional African societies, she was told by tribal leaders she had no right to impose her Western worldview on them. It was a line of argument perfectly in tune with her own postmodern views. She found herself forced to choose between her relativism and her feminism. If there is no truth then there is no basis to say the mistreatment of women is right or wrong. She chose her feminism. If there is no truth then you can’t challenge injustice.

Full post here - Tim Chester's blog

Ranking coffee in Columbia
On the basis of just the coffee alone:
The Coffee Zone – house blend (Rocket Fuel). Not only great coffee, but on my most recent visit they played the new Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin cd and followed that with "In Rainbows" and "OK Computer" by Radiohead.
Starbucks – anything brewed bold
Lakota – fair trade
Kaldi’s/Cherry Street Artisan – I think they both brew Kaldi’s coffee, which I find bitter and kind of weak. Twice I had Artisan coffee and it was lukewarm.

I have not tried Café Berlin yet. Need to make it over there, but it reminds me of Café Brazil in Dallas and I did not like their coffee very much (weak).

Kind of blah on the new Beck release, need to give it another listen, but Gamma Ray is fantastic. Download it for free on Spiral Frog, you can’t burn a disc or put in on most mp3 players, but you can sample the whole thing and see if you want to buy it. (You can do the same with Coldplay’s new release as well).

Worship as Sacrifice

In Hebrews chapter 9, the writer is discussing the sacrificial system of the first covenant. There were regulations for worship. The tabernacle was prepared according to specifications including a description of the Holy of Holies (the place where the Mercy Seat was, the place where the atoning blood was taken). In English, this discussion of the sacrifice is translated as “worship” (verses 1, 6, 9) from the Greek word latreia. We see this again in Romans 9.4 when Paul is referring to the institutions of Israel, the covenant, the Law and the “temple service” (NAS) or “temple worship” (NIV). The word temple is implied by both translations. The word again is latreia. The noun form of this word is found 5 times in the New Testament. In John 16.2 it refers to offering service to God in the form of members of the synagogue killing converts to Christianity. This service can be seen as an act of allegiance and worship to God.

The term latreia has the sense of service or duty to God. Three of the five instances of this term refer to the sacrificial ministry of the first covenant (OT). In the LXX (Greek OT), the term has a sacrificial connotation (Joshua 22.27; the rite of the ritual slaying of the lamb for Passover, Ex. 12.25).

With this in mind we look to Rom. 12.1. Paul encourages believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices (zosan thusian) as an act of worship or service (latreian). Once again there is the connection of worship with the sacrificial system. Instead of offering animals as sacrifices, believers are exhorted to become the sacrifice. This is manifested as a “living sacrifice of inner life and outer conduct that constitutes…a service of God…” (TDNT).

How is this manifest in the life of the believer? I believe that our living sacrifice is best seen as acts of obedience. As Samuel told Saul, God desires our obedience above our sacrifice (or acts of worship; see 1 Samuel 15.22). A lifestyle that is characterized by true worship is one that sacrifices (worships) in spirit and truth. This is the self denial (and cross bearing) that Christ speaks of in Luke 9.23. You cannot separate worship from obedience.

A succinct summary of this concept from Deut. 10.12-13:

And now, Israel, what does the lord your God require from you, but to fear (revere) the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and his statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?

Trying to Wrap Up proskunesai

It may be helpful to take a glance into other usages of the word proskunesai in Matthew to get a fuller picture of how it this term is used. (See previous posts).

Matt. 8.2 – a man with leprosy comes to Jesus and kneels before him (proskunesai). The man knows that only Jesus can do what he needs in order to be clean so he bows as a subordinate asking a king to grant him a request.

This is very similar to the synagogue ruler (Matt. 9.2) who asks Jesus to raise his daughter. He asks an important man a seemingly impossible request. With no other hope, he bows before the one who can give him what he needs.

In Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman kneels before Jesus (proskunesai), begging him to answer her plea. Her answer to Jesus’ question shows she has put her faith in the one who can give her what she needs.

All three of these episodes (although not translated as worship) show supplicants beseeching the Lord as subjects might ask a request from a king. Their faith in Him is not misguided as the one who ushers in the Kingdom is mighty to save (and heal) and is worthy of respect and the humility (worship) they show before him.

More Worship in the Gopspel of Matthew

There are two incidents I want to cover here that English translations translate the word proskunesai with worship.

Matt. 22-33 – The disciples are out on the lake by themselves. A storm arises and frightens them. Jesus walks on the water to them. Peter also begins to walk but is distracted by the storm and sinks. Jesus rescues Peter and they climb into the boat. Those who were in the boat “worshiped” (proskunesai) him. This time they added the exclamation “Truly you are son of God.” It is important to note in the OT, it is Yahweh alone who controls the raging storms of the sea (cf. Jonah 1-2; Ps. 104.7; 107.23-32).

The worship of the disciples was in amazement over Jesus’ power of the natural (and supernatural). They bowed before him because of what they say he could do and in recognition that he was not an ordinary mortal. He was superior in essence and was worthy of them bowing down before him.

Matt. 28.9, 17 – This chapter records the post resurrection appearances of Jesus. First, when Jesus appears before the women, they clasped his feet and worshiped him. Later, when he appears before the disciples, they worshiped him (both times, forms of the word proskunesai). This could be the only response to the man who conquered the grave and came back as he said he would. This response would be to fall down before him, kneel, bow low or fall at his feet. The response is to pledge allegiance to their King and to their God. Proper worship is to bow before one’s God and pledge undying loyalty because he is worthy.

Worship in the NT part 2

John 4.4-42 (especially verses 20-24)
In this passage I am dealing with Jesus and his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. After perceiving that Jesus was some kind of prophet, the woman begins to discuss the proper place for worship.

The physical focus of Samaritan worship was on Mount Gerizim, close to the ancient town of Shechem. This is where the “faithful” Samaritans offered sacrifices. Of course there would have been direct tension with Jews of the period who believed the only proper place for sacrifice was Jerusalem. Even though the same word for worship is used as was in the previous post (proskunesai), one cannot disconnect in this passage the proper place with the proper worship. On both Mount Gerizim and on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the place of worship is where sacrifice is offered. I don’t think it is illegitimate in this passage to interchange the words for sacrifice and worship in this passage and do any harm to the meaning and intent of the passage. Tell me what you think:

Our fathers “sacrificed” on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to “sacrifice.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you “sacrifice” to the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when those offering true sacrifice will sacrifice to the Father in spirit and truth.

Jesus had asserted that the "place" of Jewish worship (the temple) was not going to be around much longer (see Matt. 24.2 and Luke 21.6). Thus, true worship would take place in spirit and truth. The temple's reason for being was the sacrificial system. If, because of the work of Jesus, the sacrificial system was no longer needed, then the temple as a place of worship would no longer be needed.

In this passage, when talking about the place, it is sacrifice and when talking about the attitude, it is worship, which is bowing down and offering allegiance and praise.

Worship in the New Testament

I’ve written on this before, but I have decided to write a series of posts on worship in the New Testament. I am constantly being taught “true” worship by song leaders. Most of this has to do with my attitude while I am singing or offering praise. While I think that singing and praise can be incorporated into worship, worship is much more than the 20-30 minutes of a church service that leads up to the message. In fact, as I encounter the English words worship in the New Testament, there is very little (if any) singing involved.

Matthew 2.2, 11 - 2“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.”

11And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

The magi arrived from the east, being led by a star, looking for the King of the Jews. The term used by Matthew to describe worship in verse 2 is proskunesai, which means to fall down, to do obeisance to (or to kneel or curtsy before), to prostrate oneself before a person. This was done before kings as an act of total loyalty and as sign of acknowledging someone’s utter superiority in rank and in essence. This would often be accompanied by prostrating oneself before a person, kissing his feet, the hem of his garment, the ground, and so forth.

In verse 11, the verb is coupled with another verb pesontes which means “to fall down”. Thus, the worship that the magi offered showed their respect, honor and humility before this “king of the Jews.” It also signified their obedience as willing subjects at the call of their master. The magi did this before they had received all of the information about who Jesus was and what he was going to do, they acknowledged his greatness and the pledged themselves to him.

Worship, in this sense, then can be seen as completely humbling oneself before Jesus and acknowledging his status as King and pledging oneself in total obedience to his will.