As Christians, we are called to worship God. This is what many of us “do” on Sunday morning; we go to church to worship God.
To worship is to show reverence, respect and admiration. And, I do believe, this is what we do on Sunday mornings. Oh, it is more than this, but at the root of what we do....we come to worship God: to show reverence, respect, and to give thanks.
But what we must not miss is this is not the end-all, be-all. We worship God in order to become holy. The word “holy” means to be set-apart. To be different than....different than what? Than those who do not worship God.
Not merely that our words are different, but that who we are is different---our actions are different; our choices are different; our responses are different. All because our actions, choices, responses, beliefs, and words are founded in Christ Jesus. They are founded in sacrificial love, the good of the whole (rather than simply the good of self); they are founded in compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and grace (you know, giving out of love instead of giving due to deserving).
In the Anglican Church, we have clarified and defined this type of love, this type of discipleship that lives out the Gospel, in the Five Marks of Mission:
The Mission of the Church Is the Mission of Christ
~ To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
~ To teach, baptize and nurture new believers
~ To respond to human need by loving service
~ To seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation
~ To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth
The first letter of Peter clearly reminds us: Be ready for action. Faith isn’t merely about what we do on Sunday mornings. What we do on Sunday mornings (worshipping and giving thanks to God) should be transforming us so that we can worship God all the other days of the week by how we live. How we act and respond and treat others.
Let us worship God with our very lives.
