For the longest time, I thought our worship was something we acquired over the centuries, invented by the church as it went along. "Surely," I thought, "The apostles and the early church worshiped spontaneously, with random clapping, shuddering, speaking in tongues, etc."
But then, I stumbled on Liturgica.com . Thanks to this amazing website, and some Coptic videos on youtube, I discovered that I couldn't have been more wrong about worship in the Early Church.
It turns out the apostles worshiped much the same way as we Orthodox do today. There was a clear-cut order and structure to their prayers and hymns.
I decided to test what I read online against scripture, to see if could find a biblical foundation for Liturgical Worship. Here's what I discovered:
I. The Old Testament.
- The Lord clearly dictates to the Israelites how they should go about worshiping him. Sacrificial
rituals and the priestly office are described in great detail. (Exodus Ch.26-28, Leviticus
Ch.16). The writer of Hebrews mentions that all the liturgical rituals and artifacts mentioned in
the Old Testament are a "copy and shadow of what is in heaven." (Hebrews 8:5) It would
seem that the Lord wanted the Israelites to have something as close to Heavenly worship as
possible.
- The Prophet Isaiah Describes a vision that he saw in the Temple (Isaiah Ch. 6.) In it, he
sees heaven opened up, and the angels worshiping God. The "Holy, Holy, Holy.." chant of
the angels is mentioned, and it's interesting to see that "the temple was filled with smoke." At
one point, probably the most important part of the vision, an Angel flies down "with a live coal
in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar." The coal was placed in Isaiah's
mouth, for the remission of his sins.
Sound Familiar? Let's go on to the New Testament.
II. The New Testament.
- Christ explicitly states that he has not come to do away with the law and the teachings of the
prophets, "but to fulfill them"(Mathew 5:17.) The Gospels show that the Lord reguarly took
part in Jewish worship by attending Feasts in the Temple (John 7:14, 12:12), and regulary
visiting and preaching in the synagogues (Mathew 4:23, 9:35.)
-The Apostles continued to worship as Jews even after the ascension of Christ. In the Book of
Acts, we see the Apostles Peter and John going up to the temple for the ninth hour of prayer
(Acts 3:1.) At many times church leaders are shown praying at "liturgical hours"(Acts 10:2-3,
9.) On top of that, it seems that the New Testament church observed some sort of church
calendar, since St.Paul seems determined at one point to be in Jerusalem for the feast of
Pentecost (Acts 18:21, 20:16.)
-The book of Revelations is a liturgical goldmine, especially the eighth chapter. We see an Altar
(verse 3,) Angels serving and offering incense with a censer (verse 3) In Chapter six, we see
the communion of the departed (verses 9-11.) Ch.5:11 shows us the liturgical
nature of heavenly prayer.
Imagine my amazement! Suddenly, it became quite clear why the church continued to practice this ancient form of worship for millenia. If it's good enough for the apostles, it's good enough for me! :)
6 comments:
Reading your post, I remember going through these same feelings when I discovered that the Qurbana that I had attended all my life really did have apostolic roots and was not just words.
You are about to enter a very interesting and awe-inspiring journey, my friend ... welcome! :)
In the words of C.S. Lewis, ""I want God, not my idea of God". This is what I love about the pre-denominational roots of Orthodoxy.
I wouldn't say that it's "exactly" as the Early Church. What's more important is that it's in fidelity with the continuity of the Apostolic worship. We CAN change things as long as the changes enhance the feeling and mindset intended by the worship at its core.
Praise Him with timbrel and dance. Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes. Praise Him with LOUD cymbals Praise Him with CLASHING cymbals. (emphasis added for effect)
This is found in Psalm 150...which as you know is read as part of morning prayer before Qurbana. This type of boisterous worship instruction is not limited to this Psalm alone.
So my question is...where does this types of worship fit into the Orthodox, liturgical style of worship?
Sabu Chach,
Here's my take on it:
The psalms were written by King David, and yes he did sing psalms of praise w/ Harp and cymbal during NON-liturgical/personal worship. But David never used cymbals when participating in Jewish (liturgical) worship. Cymbals and extemporaneous worship was not the norm in Solomon's temple nor earlier in Moses' time, when Aaron presided over the levitical priesthood. I think praise and worship definitely has it's place as a supplemental way to praise the Lord, but our main form of worship is liturgical.Do the Marvahsos count as cymbals? :P
I understand the rationale given for liturgical worship. I also see great value in non-liturgical worship, not only because it has become commonplace today but because there is evidence in Scripture that Christ desires the kind of freedom and creative lisence that appear in churches which do not follow the same structure. To me, style of worship is an open-handed issue that matters to the individual worshipper or community of worshippers and there is a wide range of acceptable styles that can please and honor our God. I was perusing this website and found it to be useful in this regard.
http://www.gci.org/God/worship
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