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Common Theme. God calls people to serve Him. Yes, God is all powerful. God is holy. God has a host of angels to serve Him. But God desires that we too would become His messengers, disciples, and children. We are not worthy of this calling, but God is powerful enough to cleanse us and gracious enough to do so. Some answer that call.
Hebraic Context. Worship of God is one of the cornerstones of the modern Church
service—the praise service. Some of our most treasured hymns come from passages that reflect the worship of God in all places and all times. Today, the hymn presented in Isaiah, “Holy, holy, holy” is sung around the world as it has been for thousands of years. Worship of God is a cornerstone because it is clear that men, angels, and all of creation are expected to worship God. David knew this and assigned Levites to sing the praise of God in the Temple: morning, afternoon, and evening. We are following in this tradition (as we should). But it is possible that our understanding of worship, a moment of praise in a church service, is too narrow. Worship isn’t just praise and thanksgiving.
Worship is the natural result of God’s epiphanic actions. We see many kinds of worship in the Scriptures: Obeisance and fear, praise and thanks, even lamentation leading to repentance. The Scriptures often show worship through instruments and song but the word that, perhaps, highlights the Hebraic idea of worship best is אבודה (avodah).
Avodah is usually translated as work. Words like eved (אבד, servant) are derived from avodah. Can work be the greatest form of worship? Psalm 138 shows us that praise and thanksgiving are an important form of worship. But, during the season of Epiphany, God isn’t the only one displaying who He is—yes, God shows His glory to Isaiah; Jesus showed His power to Peter, James, and John (along with many other disciples) through miracles, healing, and teaching; He also showed His power through the resurrection—today we should note that God displayed who He is through the testimony of men He called. Epiphany leads to action which, in turn, continues to reveal God to the world.
Isaiah sees the glory of God and then responds to God’s desire for someone to share His revelation to Judah, “Here I am! Send me.” Jesus showed His power to Peter, James, and John and then told them that they would become fishers of men and so, “they left everything and followed Him.” Jesus appeared to Cephas, James, and Paul following His death and resurrection and so they preached to others what they received (and asked those to whom they preached to teach others). Yes, God is the LORD of hosts and could use an army of angels to display His power but He asks that sinful men join with Him in revealing the God of the universe to our neighbors.
Worship should not be easy, simple, or separate to our lives. Peter was martyred on a cross. James, the half-brother of Jesus, was killed below the Temple. Paul was beheaded. What is our spiritual worship but this, “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”
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