“Worship is the gift of participating through the Spirit in the incarnate Son’s communion with the Father” (J. B. Torrance). Worship is something the church does corporately on the Lord’s Day. “Corporately” is another way of saying “communally.” Corporate worship reflects the divine communion of persons. And now, because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that divine communion of persons is not limited to Divine Persons, but it is shared with all kinds of people who enter into a relationship with God through faith in Jesus. Christianity is about one communion, one relationship in particular—the relationship between the Father and the incarnate Son in the Holy Spirit. That one communion is opened up to us by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The church is blessed to participate in that one communion by entering into the Son’s own place in his relationship with the Father in the Spirit.
Hopefully this isn’t too opaque or abstract to be truly meaningful for us. We may dive headlong into corporate worship, heart and soul and body, and abide in Jesus together as he abides in the Father. We are invited to participate in this new reality as really real. We truly participate in the divine life together as God’s new creation during the very ordinary rituals of the Lord’s Day liturgy. There is nothing more real in our relationships than what we do together in corporate worship. We really respond to God’s calling us to worship together. We really proclaim and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus together. We really pray and sing to our Father together in the name of his Son. We really confess our sins to God before one another. We really hear the assurance of God’s forgiveness of our own sins and the sins of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We really offer gifts of thanksgiving to God for the blessing of each other. We really hear the Good News about Jesus together in the reading and preaching of God’s Word. We really acknowledge Jesus before men in the corporate confession of our faith. We really declare that we enjoy reconciliation to God and that our relationships with each other are renewed because of Jesus when we pass the peace. We really eat and drink together at the Table—not just sharing an earthly meal, but a heavenly one in God’s presence, spiritually, that is, through the Spirit of Christ. We really stand as a people together under God’s gracious blessing.
It’s not that we experience “real fellowship” only when we connect over a midweek meal or a shared interest; corporate worship is the really real fellowship in Christ that reorders all other times together. It’s not that “real discipleship” only happens in a small group Bible study, one-on-one mentoring, or pastoral counseling; corporate worship is really real discipleship, where we truly learn what it means to follow Jesus and live with God together in his name. It’s not that “real prayer” only happens at the prayer meeting or in your morning quiet time; in corporate worship we truly pray together in the pattern of the Lord’s own prayer to his Father and ours. It’s not that “real evangelism” happens only out on the streets; corporate worship is where all kinds of people hear the Gospel addressing them in their unbelief. This worship is not just a token version of reality; corporate worship is the most real reality to be found in this world.
Do you feel the need to come to church as something like your need for Jesus himself? Do you view corporate worship as the primary place where you learn to live as a Christian? In what way(s)—if any—is your idea of sanctification connected to corporate worship? Do you find real strength for life with God in the “Ordinary Means of Grace,” the Word and Sacraments? Do you recognize how profound it actually is to confess your sins before others in the church, and to hear them also confess their sins regularly? Does your giving represent the sacrificial offering of your whole life to God as a response to his grace? How do you love and serve others while participating in corporate worship? How do you open yourself to receive their love and service? How do you view the intersection of evangelism and worship? How does corporate worship shape your life for the rest of the week? What do you think about the Trinitarian view of worship proposed by J. B. Torrance?
