We gather every Sunday morning for worship—corporate worship. We often miss that word when speaking of “Sunday worship”, as if worship were a Sunday-only thing. What makes worship on Sundays distinct is we worship corporately, or as the body of Christ. It is that unique experience in the life of the church when the Lord enters into his assembly in his fullness. As Ignatius famously wrote over 1,900 years ago, “wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church”—the church according to its whole (Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans 8).
It is true we worship God on Sundays. It is rightly called a “worship service”, for our service to the Lord ought to be worship. We actively worship God in Trinity. The gathered assembly is that time when we as the people of Christ assemble together in the very act that constitutes what it means to be the church. One cannot be part of the assembly of Christ without actually assembling. Assembling together is not passive; we do not merely show up and sit in the pews. We actively worship the Lord. We serve him in this way, hence it is our worship service to the Lord.
That’s all true, but the apostles would find it strange if we only ever referred to worship as that which we do on Sunday mornings. It would be foreign to limit the idea of worship to the gathered assembly. In that assembly we worship corporately, as the singular body of Christ. The apostles also saw worship as a way of life. That is, the right response to the Lord and his salvation is a life of worship. Think of the first eleven chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans. In those eleven chapters he lays out the beauty of the gospel of Christ. Then what does he say?
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1 ESV
Therefore. Because the gospel is so wonderful and beautiful and life-giving, present your bodies as an act of worship. That is, how you live your life in response to the gospel of Jesus is worship. Consider with me Paul’s letter to the Colossians. There he gives very practical, everyday instructions for a life of worship.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12-17 ESV
He addresses them as “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved”. This is their identity. This is who they are. This is what informs their choices, their desires, their actions. To be God’s chosen ones is to be those chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). Paul said he endured everything “for the sake of the elect” (2 Tim 2:10). He said he’s an apostle “for the sake of the faith of the elect” (Tit 1:1). Peter wrote his letter “to the elect exiles” (1 Pet 1:1). Paul told the Thessalonians God “has chosen you” (1 Thess 1:4). Jesus said all those the Father gives to him will come to him (John 6:37). He said his Father’s will is that he “should lose nothing of all that he has given me” (John 6:39). To be God’s chosen ones is to be recipients of God’s mercy and grace. This is who they are, and this determines how they ought to live.
As God’s chosen ones, Paul says, they must put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Notice the action required. They must pursue these qualities as those who are God’s chosen ones. These qualities directly impact the community of the local church. He adds they must bear with one another and must forgive one another. They must put on love for one another for love unites them together. They must let the peace of Christ rule in their hearts. This is not a personal, individual peace; he says “to which indeed you were called in one body”. The peace is peace in the local church.
Further, they must be thankful. He elaborates on this thankfulness. They must allow the word of Christ to dwell in them by teaching one another, particularly by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Notice what he says: “with thankfulness in your hearts to God”. They must be thankful, allowing the word of Christ to dwell in them by worshiping together with thankfulness. Thankfulness appears to be a central part of worship!
We tend to think of thankfulness as gratitude for what we have. We should be thankful for the many blessings we currently experience. Thanksgiving, however, ought not be limited to what we currently have. New Testament scholar David Pao explains.
…unlike our notion of gratitude as an expression of thanks for a prior act of kindness, for Paul thanksgiving can be forward-looking as it represents a call to respond to God’s future act as if it is already an accomplished reality.
David W. Pao, ZECNT
Gratitude—thanksgiving—is for what is true and good, even if what is good is a future reality not yet experienced. We give thanks to God for what God will do, for if he has promised it’s as good as received. God’s promises are secure, whether they are future promises or present experiences, for they are rooted in his character. If he says he will do a thing, that thing is as good as done, even if we must wait a little longer.
After urging the Colossians to strive to live out their identity as God’s chosen ones, he gives them a household code, which are practical ways worship happens in the home, with right relationships in the household. Then he turns his focus back on the church.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
Colossians 4:2 ESV
He calls them to this life of worship, a life rightly ordered around the Lord and his glory. A significant way in which our lives are rightly ordered is this: we continue steadfastly in prayer. Again, David Pao is helpful.
The call to “devote yourselves in prayer” points to the need to be consistent and faithful in one’s worshipful existence. The imperative “devote yourselves” can carry the sense of “perseverance,” especially in contexts where endurance in the midst of persecution is noted (cf. Rom 12:12). In this context, however, it points to the total devotion of oneself in the life of prayer, and the translation “devote yourselves in prayer,” as adopted by many contemporary versions, reflects this sense.
David W. Pao, ZECNT
Paul’s expectation is for their lives to be characterized by prayer—not a slavish devotion to praying for a specific amount of time at the same time every day, as if by fulfilling the ritual of prayer you’ll be heard. Remember Paul’s encouragement: “as God’s chosen ones”. If God has chosen you in Christ before the foundation of the world, he wants to hear from you! God does not save a person for that person to then not have a relationship with God. In response to who God is and what God has done, we must devote ourselves to prayer.
He adds, “being watchful in it with thanksgiving”. What an interesting addition! We pray while being watchful or alert. Alert to…what, exactly? He says, “with thanksgiving”! Remember, thanksgiving—this is the word Eucharist!—is not merely gratitude for what we already have, but gratitude for what God will do. That is, we pray in earnest expectation that God will hear us and will answer. We pray with so much expectation that not only do we pray, we offer thanksgiving to God for his incredible gifts. We celebrate the goodness of God to us in Christ. We celebrate God’s promises as if we have already received them, for it is only a matter of time.
Implicit in this instruction to continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving is the very reason we pray. We pray for we are God’s chosen ones and God delights to hear from his people. Not only does God delight to hear from his people, God delights in giving them good things. Jesus himself said this.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:7-11 ESV
God delights to give us good things! We should ask for good things, recognizing that what we think is good may not be good. In the Anglican prayer book I came across this prayer recently:
O God, your never-failing providence sets in order all things both in heaven and on earth: Put away from us all hurtful things, and give us those things that are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
ACNA Book of Common Prayer
When we pray—not if! When we pray, we must pray continually and steadfastly, in eager expectation that God in Christ through the Spirit hears us. We pray in thanksgiving, trusting that on the basis of who God is and therefore who we are in Christ, God hears us and will provide for us.
What this really means is we must keep praying. Keep praying in grateful and hopeful expectation that God will hear your need for reliable transportation or for a good medical outcome or the financial resources to meet a pressing need. Pray earnestly with thanksgiving for God to work in a loved one’s life, to draw him or her to faith and repentance or to bring about spiritual maturity. Pray for that new job and for opportunities to connect with neighbors. Pray for your own strength and endurance in following Jesus. God wants to hear from us. Praise him for who he is. Praise him for what he has done. And pray with thanksgiving for what he is yet to do.