After a hiatus of 3 months, our congregation will finally gather together to worship again inside our church this Sunday.   3 months!  3 LONG MONTHS!  89 days to be exact, but who’s counting?

Yes, the Bible clearly shows us that the church is people and not a building  (Ephesians 5:25-27).  But there is something undeniably special about God’s people gathering together inside a building designated for the worship of God to worship God.

Consequently, it seems appropriate this week that we focus on worship.  So what is worship?  How does one define worship simply and succinctly? 

A stuffy secular dictionary definition describes worship as “formal or ceremonious rendering of honor and homage to God.”   A somewhat stuffy Christian definition states that worship is “an expression of praise from the depths of our hearts toward a God who is understood through His Word.”  A less stuffy definition summarizes worship as “a focus on love – God’s love for us and others, and our love for God and others.”  Yet another describes worship as “God speaking and his people responding.” 

The people who penned those definitions are undoubtedly wiser than me.  But how would I define worship?

As the folks in our congregation know, I recently took a poll of our people asking them to choose the 5 aspects of worship they were most eagerly anticipating after worshiping at home for so long.  I provided a long list of options from which to choose, but 6 choices quickly rose to the top of the list.

And every selection has one common denominator.  It’s not deep or complicated.  In fact, it’s a very simple trait.  The shared aspect of the most frequently selected items could actually be summarized with the word … “sharing.”  In short, worship of our God is a sharing.  Or more accurately, Christian worship is multiple sharings!

In public worship, God shares with us, we share with God, and we share with one another.  And all that sharing is what makes Christian worship so very special.

So what were the 6 aspects of worship that the St. Paul people indicated they were most eagerly anticipating when we returned to formal, united worship?  The choices were God’s Word, the Sacraments, the songs, being together (fellowship), the Sanctuary (worship area), and “the whole experience.”

Probably not overly surprising choices.  And not difficult to see the multilayered sharing aspects in most of the choices. 

God, of course, does the most and best sharing.  He shares truth, love, faith, forgiveness, salvation, perspective, power, direction and motivation with us in his Word and Sacraments.  Best of all, he shares his Holy Spirit – the Spirit silently and secretly sweeping throughout the Sanctuary, flowing into hearts and firing up faith.  This is profound sharing that descends from heaven.

But we the worshipers share with the One we worship as well.  We share our sorrow over our sins, and our grateful praise for God’s forgiveness.  We share our inmost concerns in prayer.   We share our love with he who showed and taught us love, and our devotion and dedication with a devoted and dedicated God.  We share honor and praise in word and song with the God who is the most honorable and praiseworthy.  We share our all with the One who is All.  This is a sharing that ascends to heaven.

And worshipers share with other worshipers as well.  This is a “horizontal” sharing, and it is no less special than descending or ascending sharing.  Being together is a very underrated aspect of worship.  Rejoicing in the same God and the same truths of God with a congregation creates a unique atmosphere and forges a powerful bond.  Speaking, singing, praising, praying, and communing together – being shared with and sharing – uplifts in ways like nothing else on earth. 

Even the Sanctuary is part of the sharing process!  It lends the altar and the cross on the altar, the baptismal font, the stained glass illustrations of Jesus, and so much more as visuals of God’s love and faithfulness.  It offers the pulpit and the screens where God’s Word is shared, the pipe organ and keyboard which accompanies our music and the vaulted ceiling which amplifies our singing.  The church Sanctuary sets the mood and adds so much to the sharing experience.

“The whole experience” of gathered worship is the ultimate in sharing.  God sharing with us and others; we sharing with God and one another.

Luke’s description of the early Christian Church is striking.  In Acts 2:42 he wrote that the early believers … “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship (translated literally, to “sharing!”), to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  (Yet more sharing!)

It’s not surprising that David wrote, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD’”  (Psalm 122:1).  Nor is it surprising that God’s people would be eagerly anticipating the same thing!