Worship Remembers

Let’s go back to the beginning. Jesus’ Bible, the Apostles’ Bible, is the Old Testament. Christian worship finds its roots deep in the Old Testament. 

• Abraham, the wandering nomad and Father to Israel, built altars and offered sacrifice wherever God appeared to him.
• In Moses’ time, the tabernacle served as a portable sanctuary for the Israelite tribes journeying through the wilderness. There the presence of God would come to the people of God.
• Solomon founded a lavish temple in Jerusalem which lasted more than three centuries until its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BC. When the Jews returned from exile they built a new temple, which though less splendid than its predecessor, at least until Herod the Great renovated it, has served as the center of Jewish worship to this day. Though all the temple buildings were destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, the foundations remained, and by the western (wailing) wall the Jews still pray.

From the beginning of the Scriptures, we see chosen people meeting God in sacred spaces. Now, when we survey the theology that undergirds what is happening in the tabernacle and the temple, I am struck by the centrality of remembering. 

Consider Deuteronomy 6:20-25 (ESV):

20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’

God does not call his people to remember their worship. No. He calls them to remember his saving acts.

When your kid asks you, “Why do we do all this? Why do we live this way?” You tell your child, “Because we must never forget what the Lord has done for us.” 

Deuteronomy is filled with commands for God’s people to remember.

• Remember how God appeared before you in his awesome presence at Mt. Horeb (4:10).
  Remember how he redeemed you from slavery in Egypt (5:15, 15:15, 16:12, 24:18-22).
• Remember the power by which he humbled Pharaoh.
• Remember how he provided for you in the desert for 40 years (8:2).
• Remember how he gives you the ability to produce wealth as he swore to your forefathers (8:18).
• Remember how God gives you the land because of who he is, not what you have done (9:7).
• Remember how God showed you his mighty deeds before your very eyes (11:2-7).
• Remember the haste and affliction of your God’s Passover (16:3).
• Remember God’s power to afflict and heal (24:9).
• Remember the days of old (32:7). 

Worship, in Israel, happened at the family level and a national level. God instituted a calendar with 7 feasts that will order their worship in time. This is where Christians get the idea of a church calendar, by the way. 

1. Passover: To remember God’s deliverance from Egypt
2. Unleavened Bread: To remember the escape from Egypt and God’s provision of bread.
3. First Fruits: To remember that God is the one who gives the harvest. 
4. Feast of Weeks: To remember the giving of the Law at Sinai
5. Rosh Hashanah: To remember God’s judgment and anticipate that day
6. Yom Kippur: To seek the forgiveness of God; a scapegoat is sacrificed for the sins of the nation.
7. Feast of Tabernacles: To remember when the Jewish people lived in wilderness tents before entering Canaan. 

Biblical people worship God by remembering his work in history. This pattern continues into the New Testament. Consider Mary’s Magnificat: My soul magnifies the Lord because he has done great things for me. He has been faithful to his promises; his mercy extends to all generations who fear him. He is a promise-keeping God. 

The very first Christian sermons call their hearers to remember that former times have been fulfilled in Jesus, that in him a new era has dawned, and that we should all repent and obey him: 

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 

Acts 5:29-32

In Jesus, the Christ, the story of God reaches a climax. The Messiah has come, you killed him, but the God of our Fathers (note the past orientation there) has raised him from the dead, SO repent and believe and receive the Spirit! 

Respond to Jesus, the revelation of God! Worship, in the Bible, is our response to God’s revelation. We cannot know God unless he makes himself known to us. And he makes himself known to us in history in the person of Jesus Christ. God has kept his promise to Adam, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and David. 

Old Testament worship was looking back to the Exodus and looking forward to a greater Exodus! It looked back to a God who redeems his people while anticipating this God redeeming the whole world!

God is glorified when we remember and recall all he is and all he’s done for us. The gospel is the foundation of Christian worship.

Jesus the Christ has saved us from our sins. Jesus the Christ has freed us from death, hell, and the grave. Jesus, the Christ, has brought us into the family of God.

We remember God’s work in history. We respond to him in worship.