Weekly Pastoral Message prepared by Rev. Murray Adamthwaite
for Sunday 2nd March 1997

From the Pastor: Worship

This is the first of a short series on this theme in these pastoral meditations. Worship has, regrettably, become now become a cause of controversy and division among Christians: not the old "formal versus free" controversy, but what is designated (misleadingly) as "traditional" versus "contemporary". What is worship? In simple terms it is "worth-ship", i.e. giving (note!) to God what is His due, according to His infinite worth. This is eminently Scriptural: "Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His Name" (Psalm 96:8); "Who would not fear Thee? ... Indeed it is Thy due" (Jeremiah 10:7). This means in turn, again in simple terms, that worship must be occupied with God, the Triune God, and not the fancies, emotions, likes and dislikes etc., of men. Here is the rub: so much worship, whether "traditional" or "contemporary" is pre-occupied with people's fancies. By contrast, let us come into the sanctuary, not with the thought, "What can I get(!) out of this?", but rather, "Are my approach, and my praise etc. acceptable to the infinite 'God over all'?" Then we will indeed be led into His holy presence, and find the joy of that presence (Psalm 43:3-4).