What do we mean when we say "worship"?

What does it mean to worship? Is worship what we do on Sunday morning? How does one go about his/her worship?

Our discussion took us to awe and reverence. We mentioned gratitude. We talked about what we might worship in our everyday lives besides God. Most everyone admitted to a favorite form of idolatry.

I almost always start with Noah Webster, whose definitions (for the noun; verbs forms are similar) follow:

1. chiefly brit: a person of importance -- used as a title for various officials
2. reverence offered a divine being or supernational power; also, an act of expressing such reverence
3. a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
4. extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem (~ of the dollar)

What we were talking about Sunday morning, however, went beyond any of those definitions.

Evelyn Underhill in her book, Worship, makes this her first sentence: "Worship, in all its grades and kinds, is the response of the creature to the Eternal." (pg 3) And, she concludes that chapter with this: "Worship ... is an avenue which leads the creature out from his inveterate self-occupation to a knowledge of God, and ultimately to that union with God which is the beatitude of the soul." (pg 17-18)

The word "response" is an important one, I think. We are beckoned and lead into worship, invited by God.

Then, there's my favorite author, Frederick Buechner, and his delightful little book, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC."

"Phrases like Worship Service or Service of Worship are tautologies. To worship God means to serve him. Basically there are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for him that he needs to have done -- run errands for him, carry messages for him, fight on his side, feed his lambs,
and so on. The other way is to do things for him that you need to do -- sings songs for him, create beautiful things for him, give things up for him, tell him what's on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in him and make a fool of yourself for him the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love.

A Quaker Meeting, a Pontifical High Mass, the Family Service at First Presbyterian, a Holy Roller Happening -- unless there is an element of joy and foolishness in the proceedings, the time would be better spend doing something useful." (pg 122)

Now there's something to chew on -- especially for us Episcopalians and our desire for "decency and good order" in everything we do, including/especially in our worship. Joy and foolishness. AND, it's something we NEED to do. Amen to that!

FYI -- information on the above-mentioned volumes:

Buechner, Frederick. Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC. HarperSanFrancisco, 1973, 1993.

Underhill, Evelyn. Worship. New York: Crossroad, 1989 (first published in 1936).