THE QUIET HOUR

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 9 March 1935, Page 14

THE QUIET HOUR

Contributed by Basil Metson WHY WORSHIP? “We are come to worship. Hiin.” Matt. 2:2. “They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”— Jesus: John 4:24. Mankind has spent more thought and energy on its worship than on any other enterprise. No sooner did man begin to 'hunt for food than lie began to hunt for q. god. In the Old Testament we have a bird’s eye view of man’s progress in worship in all its stages. A Pilgrim’s Progress from tho dark groves of - the merely cruel, to heights of faith and truth represented by the temple worship. And the climax of the journey was reached in tho New Testament in the coming of the perfect woqshipper—Jesus, who made God more knowable and lovable, and declared the Father’s longing to receive the worship of man.. “For tho Father seeketh such to worship Him.” There are various kinds of worship, namely, worship which is the conscious definite approach of the individual to his god, and family worship, a form of worship perhaps sadly out of date. Too seldom do we see scenes now such as those described by Robert Burns in his imperishable poem: “The Cottar’s Saturday Night.” Then there is public worship in company with others, a fellowship in praise and prayer and meditation on the part of believing hearts who neglect not the assembling of themselves together. To the question “Why Worship?” We have unavoidable answers. First, man’s spiritual nature

DEMANDS A LIVING WORSHIP OF A LIVING GOD.

It is like a hungry man seeking food. Man is not a “stomach with appendages.” The breath of the "infinite is in him and he cannot live by bread alone. In the history of the Church there can be traced' over 500 attempts to provide an ideal way of worship. All through .the ages something satisfying has been sought to meet the deep needs of the soul of man. To-day practical materialism is rampant, and to some, Christ seems a long way off. Hence true worship is vital, checking our too earthward tendencies, and luring us into better, brighter ways, habits and service.

SECONDLY, JESUS HIMSELF SET US THE EXAMPLE OF WORSHIP.

“And He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up: and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and stood up for to read.” Luke 4:16. What did He go there for? They could teach Him nothing He did not already know. Many folks in Nazareth were very imperfect. He knew the worst of them. What He saw in some of the prominent religious people of His day in that synagogue we may learn from His own bitter words descriptive of their hypocrisy. He must have heard many dull talks and much profitless liair-splitting of Scripture, yet He went there by habit and choice to worship God. We cannot affect to be wiser than Jesus, therefore we urge the force of His example in favour of cultivating the habit of worship. Wise and good men in all ages have nourished the spirit of worship. Hence we are brought into the best company on earth when we enter the joyous fellowship. The “Lady of the Decoration” once said that “AS A STEADY DIET SHE PREFERRED THE SAINTS

to the sinners,” Throughout the centuries the noblest hearts have been the worshipping hearts. It was ti-ue when Jesus was a baby sleeping in His mother’s arms, it was true when He hung upon the cross, and it is true to-day. There is a spiritual telepathy and infection of faith. Soul helps soul to realise God. We share the sighs, the tears, the joys, the defeats and victories of the united Churcli of Christ on earth.

Thirdly, another reason for worship is that it is

A POTENT INFLUENCE WORKING FOR HUMAN WELL-BEING and the redemption of mankind. The Church, I know, is not a dry-cleaning establishment into which a man can go and come out cleansed of all the stain of sin. And yet the true Church helps to make Christ a living reality to the tempted, the beaten, and the lost. He purifies and cleanses in an amazing way and public worship plays a large part in reclaiming the worst. One of tho most impressive among the many beautiful works of Whittier is a poem bearing as its title the one word “Worship.” The poet recalls: “Red altars kindling through a night of error” ; speaks of “mothers offering blood of their own blood and bone of their own hone”; of “pale wizard priests who swung their white censers in burdened air as if pomp and rituals, the savour of gums and spices could the Unseen One please” ; of ‘‘the oppressor kneeling before his priest, abased and lowly, crushing human hearts beneath his knee of prayer.”

Since those days many changes have been wrought. The race of mankind has learned that Christianity cannot dwell side hy side with such misconceptions, ideas and practices. Thus with the spread of Christianity has come also the leaven of a new conception of religion’s demands upon the human race. The mission of Christ was to establish a religion of love to take the place of a religion of fear and dreaded ritual. The worship which God deigns to bles.s seeks, to restore the lost, binds broken spirits, feeds the widow and cares for the fatherless. Then the poet follows with the clamant call to such fruitful worship : “Not such the service the benignant Father jßeqnfreth at His earthly children’s hands; Not the poor offering of vain rites., but rather The simple duty man from man demands.’’ “t>, brother man! Fold to thy heart thy brother, Where pity dwells the peace of God is there; To worship rightly is to love each other, | Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed I a prayer,”-

I Where the old conception failed the Christ-spirit of loving sympathy will' never fail to lift fallen men and women, to hind hearts that are broken, to strengthen the weak and comfort the cheerless. So true worship fosters generosity, kindness and unselfishness and enables us to bear constant witness to the Heavenly Father in whom we believe. Fourthly, w r orship brings Jesus to us and us to Him, and for that reason it is indispensable. We need it and We need it often. Without it the soul within us will WITHER. AND HIE AND WE SHALE BE IN DANGER of becoming like animals fighting one another. There is no other hope for the world and So;* -ejch (individual thanj this Jesus and His way of life.