I often see issues of theology and the desire to search out the Word of God as a matter of academic or devotional study. Most certainly this is important - even critical! But I also look at the witness of the Old Testament, and while this was certainly a vital part of the Israelite tradition, corporate worship was very often the matrix of theologizing, making the task of theology, at least at the level of the average Israelite, principally a doxological process and not an academic one. The principle was lex orandi, lex credendi - the rule of worship is the rule of belief. In other words, how we pray is how we believe. One can see this in seed form in Acts 2:42, where the early Christian community is devoted not only to the apostles teachings, but to the koinonia (communion), the breaking of the bread and the prayers. Worship is meant not simply as a discursive exercise, then, but rather as a transformative encounter (ala the Upper Room) with the transcendent, living God and His glory. Worship most certainly revolves around a shift in perspective, not just of the mind, but also of the heart. God condescends (catabasis) to be with man in order to elevate him (anabasis) by grace. This seems to me to be the heart of worship - a saving, redeeming encounter with Christ in the communion of the Holy Trinity. It is in this manner that we are able to open the (noetic) eyes of our heart and see beyond ourselves.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 01:31:04 +0000
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