Worthwhile Worship
by Jared Johnson
What exactly is worship?
Do you wonder just what that word encompasses and means? I do.
Last week’s pieces by Debbie and dad weren’t the 1st time I heard “worship is a lifestyle” or something like it.
No doubt you’ve also heard that “worship is more than singing.”
Yes, ok ... so what is it?
Is worship warm emotional squishiness when we see “Swedish Jesus?”
Is it, instead, an overwhelming sense of awe?
Does it depend on a specific mental/cognitive state rather than emotions?
We can cut through a lot of noise by going to worship’s history/etymology.
Our English word’s most direct predecessor is West Saxon’s combination of 2 words that mean “worthy” and “state/condition.”
Worship is when we attribute worth (and I’m certainly not the first person to say that).
This month, what’s worthwhile is swirling through my head moment-by-moment. What’s my truck worth; do I tell my mechanic to “go ahead” with the bigger, more expensive repair? Our youngest loves splashing around in our above-ground pool. My winter close-up job was ½-baked this year. What’s it worth to shore that up for the next 4-5 months before we open it again? I still don’t like what my scale has been telling me since Thanksgiving. Is more prep time at lunch today, and maybe forcing myself to step away from my desk and go walking mid-afternoon, worth seeing a better number in a day or two? I love my family indescribably, but for Christmas ‘24 specifically, how much financial worth should Melinda & I dispense to them?
I’m writing this on a Monday; yesterday we were confronted with a few pointed questions during the sermon. One was about musician Taylor Swift and her visit to Indy just a few weeks ago. I’m completely “agnostic” on her; nothing against her, I just never will comprehend the insanity that’s suddenly mushroomed around her in the last 5 years. As such, it’s incredibly easy for me to look at fandom around a musician, and for that matter, athletes, sports teams, politicians and more, and get all snarky and maybe even cynical about it all.
Cynicism is the last thing I want to fend off during Christmas.
Whether it’s our 10yo running through our house, randomly belting out a song he heard at church on Sunday morning, or seeing my preacher and his wife sit in my line-of-sight, attributing worth to our Savior and God, I’m glad for reminders about what ... about Who ... can receive all the worth we might express. A sermon a couple years ago reminded me that “God’s glory,” in Hebrew, carries an idea of mass, of “weightiness.” Only God is substantial enough to receive it all.
I’ll sign off with 2 verses about worth; one from the First Covenant, when everything was broken, and our last word today is from the One who, soon enough, will have the last word.
What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols – only to become worthless themselves.
Jeremiah 2.5
They sang a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered – to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing.”
Revelation 5.12
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Old Testament/Hebrew worship: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7812.htm
New Testament/Greek worship: https://biblehub.com/greek/4352.htm
