jonno saunders

Liturgy: Inhabiting the Story of God

Call To Worship

You might not think much of this, but the first thing we always do on Sunday is gather. From many different places, home situations, life stages and backgrounds, we join together in one place. The greek word for ‘church’, ekklesia, in the Bible literally means ‘assembly’; i.e. a people coming together. Some of us are old, some are young. We live in different places. Some of us have had a great week, some of us wish this week had never happened. We are diverse and ‘scattered’ and in many ways you would expect us to be divided. Yet we gather together as one united people because of Jesus Christ:

[The high priest] prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.[1]

It is God who welcomes us. He moves first and gathers us together. He calls us from all our different lives to meet with him and meet with one another. Every time we gather, every time we get in the car or on the tube or walk to church on Sunday we live out the unity in diversity that comes through Jesus.

But why is God gathering us? In a liturgical worship service you might have heard a Scriptural call to worship such as this:

Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvellous deeds.
Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory.[2]

God is calling us to worship him. The call to worship is read by a leader but it comes from God. And it comes to all people, including you, regardless of your social status, your income, your moral record, your age or ethnicity. God wants nothing less than our complete devotion to him, in every area of life. This is what is means to be human—to worship God.

Every day we are bombarded with calls for our attention, for our time, for our devotion. Our phones buzz in our pockets, saying “pick me up!” News websites update every minute, saying “don’t miss this!” Our bosses send us emails saying “do this now!” Our kids demand our time and our money, saying “feed me!”

But God’s call is above all others. He wants us to give him our attention and time and devotion before anything else. He says Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.[3] In the midst of the world’s cacophony of disordered powers, God calls us to bow before the power that is above all others.[4]

We are called to worship God—both immediately as we gather, and in all of life as we scatter again to make his glory known everywhere. Of course this doesn’t mean that we’re not accountable to our bosses or shouldn’t feed our kids. It’s a matter of who comes first. It’s significant that we meet for corporate worship on Sunday, biblically the first day of the week. God is our priority. He comes first.

This might feel challenging but it’s worth noting God’s call to worship is not only a command, it’s also an invitation. We need God. We need to come to him and take our attention off ourselves and get our priorities straight because when we worship other things it messes up our lives and the lives of others. So God invites us to come out of our mess and see him for who he really is—the God... who alone does marvellous deeds.

[1] John 11:51–52.

[2] Psalm 72:18-19.

[3] Matthew 4:10.

[4] Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act Of Worship: Living God’s Call To Justice (IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 115.