Here’s an essay I wrote back in 2000 as a basis for discussion amongs the preachers and worship leaders at my church, Holy Trinity Norwich.

1. Starting-Point: Scripture or Tradition?

Our starting-point should not be, ‘Where can we find scriptural warrant for our current practice’; but rather, ‘What form of public meeting might be suggested if we went back to Scripture and ignored, for a moment, what we have become used to?’

2. Scriptural Basis: Old Testament or New Testament?

The relationship between the OT and the NT is that of type and anti-type. Christ’s priesthood, sacrifice, and intercession supersede the entire Mosaic system for putting away sin (Heb 7-10). Baptism (Mat 28:19) and the Lord’s Supper (Mat 26:26-29; 1 Cor 11:23-26) replace circumcision (Gal 2;3-5; 6:12-16) and Passover (1 Cor 5:7-8). According to Paul, the Jewish festal calendar no longer binds (Gal 4:10; Col 2:16). Notions of ceremonial defilement and purification, imposed by God to enforce awareness that some things cut one off from God, likewise cease to apply (Mark 7:19; 1 Tim 4:3-4). Many within the Reformation tradition argue that the Sabbath is not abrogated, but renewed with a casuistry of doing good rather than doing nothing (Luke 13:10-16; 14:1­6), and re-counted, on the basis of one-plus-six rather than six-plus-one. It seems that the apostles taught Christians to worship on the first day of the week, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, “the Lord’s day” (Acts 20:7; Rev 1:10), treating it as the Christian Sabbath.

3. Use of Scripture: Regulative or Normative?

Many within the Reformation tradition hold to the regulative principle, which says that all the significant events in worship must have positive warrant in Scripture, though incidentals are to be regulated by Christian common sense in the light of more general Scriptural principles. The principle is stated thus by John Owen: ‘God’s worship hath no accidentals…all that is in it and belonging to it, and the manner of it, is false worship, if it have not a divine institution in particular.’

The regulative principle is defended on the following grounds: (a) revelation is essential to guide us in this weighty matter of acceptable worship; the light of nature (or even of ‘sanctified common sense’) is wholly inadequate; (b) the reason there are far fewer regulations about public worship in the NT than in the OT, is not because God would have us devise elements of our own, but because the shadow has been replaced by the reality (Christ), and worship consists more of the inward, less of the outward; any attempts at outward splendour are in fact retreats back into the OT! Some would add that the abandonment of the regulative principle has a poor track record, and has led to an unhelpful elaboration, institutionalisation, and externalisation, of the church’s worship.

This approach may be contrasted with the “Normative Principle”, which has been associated, especially since Richard Hooker’s “The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity”, with the Anglican Church, which says that whatever is not forbidden in Scripture is allowed in worship. Advocates of the normative principle might point out that there is no writing in the New Testament corresponding to the book of Leviticus. What we find in the NT is not a manual of prescribed practices, but a set of dimensions of fellowship with God and his people. After all, Jesus did not prescribe any particular form of worship for his disciples, but he did teach them to guard against the outward and the ostentatious, and emphasised sincerity of heart, Mt 6:1-18. John 4:24 is key:- “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

4. The Key Purpose: Worship or Edification?

It is almost universally assumed that Christians meet together in church to ‘worship God’. For the NT, however, the main focus lies elsewhere. For Paul, of course, ‘worship’ is a whole-life attitude and activity, Rom 12:1. Our Sunday meetings are only a part of this. Accordingly, it is not the language of worship, but the language of building-up (edification) that Paul uses to indicate the purpose and function of Christian gatherings (1 Cor 14:3-5, 12, 17, 26; 1 Thess 5:11; Eph 4:11-16). This edification is not just an individual, but a corporate thing (note the OT emphasis on ‘the people of God’, and the NT emphasis on ‘the body of Christ’). According to Eph 4, Christ builds his church through the people he has given to the church – apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers. The focus here is on ministries of the word that serve `to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up’ (Eph 4:12). The goal of ministry, and therefore the purpose of gathering, is that ‘we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph 4:13). Edification occurs through prophecy (1 Cor 14:3) and other verbal ministries of exhortation, comfort and admonition by congregational members (Eph 4:26; cf. 1 Thess 4:18; 5:11, 14; Eph 4:15). Of primary importance in the process of building up God’s people is the regular and systematic exposition of Scripture, together with the teaching of “sound doctrine” by those equipped and appointed for the task (cf. 1 Tim 4:6, 11, 13; 5:17; 2 Tim 2:1-2, 14-15; 4:1-5; Tit 1:9).

5. Architectural Model: Temple, Synagogue or Home?

It could be argued that, from a New Testament perspective, the Christian church is modelled on one of the following:-

(i) The temple. Jesus obviously held the temple in great esteem. However, he taught the subordinateness of the temple and its whole system of worship, Mt 12:6; cf. his reference to Hos 6:6. His chief interest in the temple seems to have been as a “house of prayer” and an opportunity to reach and touch the people. He intimated the abolition of both centralised sanctuary and ceremonial worship in Joh 4:21,24. In Acts, we find Peter and John going up to the Temple ‘at the hour of prayer’, and they are found teaching in the Temple at dawn, the first hour of prayer.

(ii) The synagogue as a model for the church is suggested by Acts 13:15; Jas 2:2. Synagogue worship formed the starting-point for Christian worship, given that the whole sacrificial and ceremonial system terminated for Christianity with the life and death of Jesus himself was a regular and reverent attendant and participant, Mk 1:21,39; 3:1; 6:2; Lk 4: l 6ff, 6:6. Paul’s practice at the beginning of each evangelistic mission was to visit the synagogue, using this as an opportunity for preaching. It is not possible to say how long Christians continued to attend Jewish synagogues or to what extent they incorporated elements of either the structure or content of the Jewish services.

(iii) The home. Although synagogue-worship may not have been abandoned after Pentecost, the home became the main focus for Christian gatherings. There was an important precursor for this in the domestic religion of the Jews, with various shared meals to celebrate, for example, the beginning of the sabbath or to hold the passover Christians early formed the habit of meeting, probably weekly, for a meeting which involved a common meal, in the course of which they remembered the Lord’s death. The earliest form of Christian church architecture developed from the church-in­the-home model rather than the later one of the basilica. It was not until Christianity became a recognised religion in the 4^th century, that its worship moved out of the private home into the public basilican church. The bishops became important public figures, having the status of magistrates, and Christian worship became a public performance, with its ceremonial becoming increasingly elaborate.

Against any emphasis on the geography or architecture of worship, we must place the insistence of Acts 17:24f – “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.”

One thing is surely clear: whereas in the Old Testament, the presence of God was localised at the temple in Jerusalem, in the Christian era we must think of God’s presence as localised in Christ himself. We do not look to find God in any particular place, be it a mountain-top, a garden, a cathedral or a chapel. We look to where Jesus is, at the right hand of God.

6. Ministry: Sacerdotal or Charismatic?

In a famous essay, J.B. Lightfoot asserted that the Christian ministry can be called a priesthood only in a very restricted sense. This is derived partly from the eloquent silence of the NT on this matter, when it could so easily have lifted sacerdotal words and concepts from Judaism and applied them to Christian ministry. It is also derived from the Epistle to the Hebrews, which leaves no place for a Christian priesthood in the sacerdotal sense. The Christian ministry is priestly only in the following, and much narrower senses: the minister represents God to man, and represents man to God.

‘The word `priest’ is astonishingly absent as an order within the early church, in view of an abundance of priests Jewish and pagan in the world around. In connection with Christians it appears only four times in the New Testament, always referring to the whole redeemed people of God…[1 Pe 2:5-9; Rev 1:5-6; 5:9-10; 21:6]. The theme of the priesthood of Christ is worked out in Hebrews but without any suggestion of an order of Christian priesthood. Its conclusion is that the self-sacrifice of Jesus has finally abolished all cultic sacrifice…The early Christians…were quite clear that whatever terms might be suitable to describe their ministry, the world of priesthood could not provide them’ (Melinsky)

`The uniqueness of Christ’s sacrifice does not mean…that we have no sacrifices to offer, but only that their nature and purpose are different. They are not material but spiritual, and their object is not propitiatory but eucharistic, the expression of a responsive gratitude…The New Testament describes the church as a priestly community, both a “holy priesthood” and a “royal priesthood”, in which all God’s people share equally as “priests”. This is the famous “priesthood of all believers”, on which the Reformers laid great stress. In consequence of this universal priesthood, the word “priest” (hiereus) is never in the New Testament applied to the ordained minister, since he shares in offering what the people offer, but has no distinctive offering to make which differs from theirs.’ (Stott)

Accordingly, ministry in the NT is essentially charismatic – that is, based on gifting by the Holy Spirit. ‘Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good’ (1 Cor 12:7). Moreover, in the various NT lists of the charismata (Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11), gifts of service and administration take their place alongside the more extraordinary gifts. It is, of course, a matter of continuing debate among the churches whether these extraordinary gifts may legitimately be claimed today.

7. The Sacraments: Central or Peripheral?

The Lord’s Supper seems to have been celebrated on a weekly, perhaps even a daily, basis at first. It was originally held within the context of a larger meal, sometimes called a ‘love-feast’. The very simplicity of the sacraments that Jesus ordained stands as a warning against elaborate ceremony and dependence on holy places and holy actions. `The heart of spiritual worship is hearing what the Lord says to us, responding to him in prayer and praise, and encouraging one another in his fellowship.’ (Clowney)

Compared with the diaconal and eldership ministries, the NT has relatively little to say about the sacramental nature of the Christian ministry. Paul clearly regarded the administration of baptism as a subordinate duty, which he was willing to delegate to assistants, 1 Cor 1:17. Similarly, the Lord’s Supper is regarded as a corporate activity, 1 Cor 10:16f; 11:25. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that presidency would have been provided by an apostle, prophet, or evangelist (if present), or by one of the local elders.

Justin Martyr, around AD 150, records how Christians from town and country gathered to hear readings from ‘the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets’; these were then interpreted by the president of the assembly; prayers were said; bread and wine were brought to the presider, who ‘to the best of his ability’ gave thanks to God the Father over them ‘in the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’; the bread and wine, as tokens of Christ’s body and blood, were then distributed for communion, the deacons taking them also to the absent members.

Much recent liturgical revision has attempted to reflect this dual emphasis on word and sacrament. The following elements might be considered to be essential:-

• readings from Old and New Testaments;
• the sermon;
• prayers for church and world;
• the presentation of the gifts;
• the prayer of thanksgiving for Christ’s saving acts;
• the sharing of bread and wine.

8. Scriptural Models: Present or Absent?

The question remains, Can we discern in Scripture any models for ordering our public worship?

A possible model from the earliest days of the Christian Church is suggested by Acts 2:42 ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.’ It is unclear, however, whether this is to be understood as an ‘order of service’ or as a list of things that the Christians did on various occasions.

Alternatively, and drawing on a range of Scriptures, the following pattern might be proposed:-

• Call to worship, Ex 19:20; Neh 9:5f.
• Confession, Psa 24; 26:6.
• Singing, Psa 100. (Note that music itself is not an element per se of public worship, but rather a circumstance; a way of praying, praising, proclaiming or exhorting.)
• Reading from Scripture, Lk 4:16ff; Acts 13:15; Col 4:16; 1 Thess 5:27.
• The church is founded on the word of God, and its mission is to spread the word of God. See 2 Tim 4:1-4.
• Prayer: this was so central in the worship of the synagogue that it was called the place of prayer’, Acts 16:13.
• Lord’s Supper, I Cor 11:26.
• Benediction, 2 Cor 13:14.

The problem here is that there is no record in Scripture of any act of worship in which all of these elements were definitely present. And if there were such a record, we would still need to determine how far our own worship should be guided by such a pattern.

9. Conclusion

Looking at the NT generally a number of features emerge. It is clear that Christians gathered regularly to hear the word preached, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, to sing psalms and hymns, to commission ministers and missionaries, to offer prayer, to give money. There seems, however, to have been no such concept as ‘having a service’. The ‘business’ part of church life, such as organising for the care of widows or the relief of famine, was all bound up with the ‘worship’ part of praying and singing and teaching.

Perhaps, then, we should looking to Scripture less for a model, and more for a set of qualities that should characterise public worship. Such qualities might be:-

• Simplicity
• Humility
• Unity
• Spirituality
• Liberty
• Beauty
• Festivity
• Generosity

Bibliography

I would like to express my gratitude to the following authors and publishers, none of whom has given permission for me to use their work in the above essay:-

A New Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship (SCM)

Bennett, C. ‘Worship among the Puritans – the Regulative Principle’ in ‘Spiritual Worship’ [Westminster Conference Report, 1985]

Clowney, E. The Church (IVP)

Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (IVP)

Dictionary of Paul and his Letters (IVP)

Gangel, K.O., Re-examining Biblical Worship, Bib. Sac. 1985

Jones, Wainwright & Yarnold (eds) The Study of Liturgv (SPCK)

Lightfoot, J.B. Commentary on Philippians

Melinsky, H. The Shape of the Ministry

Packer, J.I. Concise Theology and Among God’s Giants (IVP)

Stott, J. The Cross of Christ (IVP)

JEM — 7/2000