Road Trippin With Rachael

Fall semester of my final year of college, I needed to take an arts class that fell within the heading of my major. This was supposed to be a class that wouldn’t require too much head space, and would be easy for me to get through – you know the typical “I just want to be done” philosophy. Little did I know that class would turn out to be one of the most shaping classes I sat in while I was in college. I took Worship History and Leadership with Dr. Jonathan Blackmon.

During that class, my preconceived notions of what it meant to worship were challenged. I had my view of music, congregation involvement, environment, and planning of the a service challenged. Now, more than ten years later, I can tell you that this was a formative class that I would recommend every ministry student take. It taught me to consider how peoples senses were being directed, how to involve the congregation during worship, and how to connect the music to the preaching. It changed how I view worship.

Now as we continue to go through Ezra 3, and we look through how the Israelites were preparing for worship with the rebuilding of the temple after their return from Babylon, we are going to look at three necessities that they were focused on: where, why, and how. It is my hope that you will be able to answer these three questions for yourself by the time you are at the end of this blog post.

The Where of Worship

Let me be very clear before we get too far into this: you can worship anywhere. However, that doesn’t mean that there is not still a “where”. For the Hebrew people, their where was supposed to be the the temple. It was meant to be a central gathering place for the people to gather, to offer sacrifices, and for the people to collectively make offerings as well as celebrate specific holidays.

Since the people of Israel had not been in the land for seventy years, and the temple had been torn down by King Nebuchadnezzar, they did not have a central place to worship. For a people who were originally designed to be a theocracy (a nation that is ruled by God, not a monarch) not having a central place of worship was disruptive to the flow of the whole nation. Even with their neglect of proper worship leading up to Babylonian captivity, the temple and celebrations were still a central part of their way of life. Ezra 3:1 opens with “When the seventh month arrived, and the Israelites were in their towns…” (CSB). It is an approximate five month trip from Babylon to Israel, which would mean that the people took approximately two months to provide shelter, get a crop in the ground, and to get themselves into a version of organization. By beginning the building of the foundation and the altar, they were creating for themselves a definitive place to worship; even though worship can take place anywhere, having a central place brings the people together and helps to set both minds and hearts in an attitude of worship. This was part of why there was a tabernacle, and later there was Solomon’s temple. It was both an act of worship on the part of the people to build the temple, and for them to have a sanctuary to focus on worship.

Focusing on a specific on aspect of worship: worship is a heart issue. It isn’t necessary to have a physical place – it is a benefit to have a specific place. One such example of having a specific place of worship is in Daniel 6:10 – Daniel prayed three times a day near open windows in his upstairs room of his house that faced Jerusalem. However, understanding what worship is – a condition of the heart of the believer towards God – is necessary to understand that it isn’t about having a place. Below is the definition of worship given to me by one of my college professors – Dr. Jonathon Blackmon and Dr. Bruce Leafblad.

Worship is communion with God in which the Triune God of the Bible reveals Himself through Word and Spirit to His people, and in which believers, by grace, center their minds’ attention and their hearts’ affection on the Lord, humbly glorifying Go in response to His greatness and His Word.

We no longer have to have a “place” because God is with us (John 1), but we do need to have an attitude of worship. Our minds and hearts need to be focused on worship as he is revealing himself to believers. Having a physical place to go and do that aids in cultivating that attitude.

The Why of Worship

I could tell you, dear reader, to refer back to the definition of worship and that will explain the why we do it, but that misses out on so much of what God does through more than one piece of scripture. As we look to Ezra 3:4-5, the wording indicates that it had been a while since these offerings had been offered and the Festival of Shelters celebrated; if we go back to Leviticus 23:33-43 we can read about how the Festival of Shelters was meant to be a remembrance of the Israelites’ time in the wilderness when they were eating manna and living in tents. Part of worship is remembering what God has done. He describes himself as “I am the God who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2). And the Israelites are commanded to remember the things that God did in Egypt and what he did for them as they were in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). God did incredible things.

God is still doing incredible things. The Israelites were commanded to celebrate these things and remember what God has done for them in the past: He brought them out of Egypt, provided for them in the wilderness, he delivered them from their enemies (as we see in the book of Judges), and as we are reminded in Ezra 3 he has brought them back to the land that was promised to them through Abraham. All these things still apply to believes today; we can see how God has been faithful. Not only do we see how God has been faithful, but we an see how he is still being faithful. We get to worship the God who not only brought his people out of Egypt, who provided in the wilderness, who brought a remnant out of Babylon; we get to worship the God who sent his Son, to live a sinless life, to die on the cross, and was raised on the third day – so that all who believe in him and confess that God raised him from the grave will have life in his name (Romans 10:9).

The How of Worship

We have discussed the “where” and the “why” of worship, now is the time for the “how”. If you are an elder millennial or a millennial that was born in the early 90’s you may have some memories of the Worship Wars. For those of you who may be a bit younger, the Worship Wars centered around what type of music was to be used during a worship service. Hear me say not all music is appropriate for congregational worship, some of it is an expression of personal experience. However, music is not the only part of the corporate worship experience – it also involves the reading of scripture and the participation of the congregation. The most important part of worship for the believer, is that it is sincere.

Sincerity is what God wants from us when we are worshiping. We tend to think of God as having all these rules that we are supposed to follow – but really, all he is saying that because we each love him, and he loves each believer this is how that love can be communicated. It is like saying “I love you.” If it is said willy-nilly it looses its meaning; but when it is said in all sincerity it is a beautiful thing to hear from your loved ones. In Malachi 1:10 the lack of sincerity has God saying that he would be happier to have the temple doors shut and offerings were no longer made, because the people were only putting on a show (they weren’t even trying to be sincere). In contrast, God says through Ezekiel (36:26) that he is going to put a new heart in the chests of those who are called to him, and who honestly believe. Even though we continue to live in a sinful world, sincere belief in God and wanting to worship him in spirit and truth are marks of faith. And when our hearts are softened, when we are sincere in worship, and when we heard the preaching of the word, we are reminded of how good God is (Psalm 19). Do not bring simple actions or an attitude of “I have to do this” to the altar of God; bring a sincere heart that wants to worship him.

Final Thoughts

As we look at Ezra 3, we want to remember these important truths about worship of God. We need to have a place for worship. This doesn’t need to be a physical place, but it does help to have a place to help believers center their attention on worship. We need to remember why we are worshiping. If we are doing this because “we’ve always done it” or because ” we feel compelled to participate due to family, friends, or due to social expectation, that isn’t worship. Worship is sincere as we remember what God has done, what he is doing, and what he will do. It is remembering the gifts that he has given us, and praising him because of who he is. Finally, we are reminded how we are to worship – with a sincere heart. If we can’t be sincere in our praise, then it is all for naught.