Expressions of Worship

Every weekend our church sings songs to begin our worship services. Many times we clap along to the music. Some raise their hands. Every week we close our worship services with a song and people come to the front of the sanctuary to take communion. Many people get on their knees during this time. To some folks such actions might appear odd or they might wonder, “Why are they doing that in church?” Well, I would respond in suggesting that such physical expressions are actually a part of Christian worship. Physical expressions are actually intricately connected to the ideas or beliefs we communicate in a worship service.

I think that, sometimes, people understand Christian worship as an entirely intellectual exercise. As the church sings songs, we reflect on the spiritual implications of the lyrics. As the church recites scripture, we mentally wrestle with the intellectual ideas being proposed. As we listen to the sermon, we try to cognitively grasp the idea being presented and “understand” it. This is all wonderful and I would argue that such activities are a vital part of experiencing Christian worship. But I would also suggest that they are not the only part of our worship experience.

Psalm 95 begins by saying, “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation…” Six verses later, it continues, “come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our maker.” I find it interesting that the author of this Psalm encourages the faith community to sing as well as kneel before the Lord. Now, I am sure the writer is not suggesting that the only correct way to sing praise to the Lord is by getting on one’s knees. But the writer might be suggesting that the worshiper’s physical posture is connected to the worshiper’s spiritual posture. In other words, a good way to better understand and express humility is to physically express humility by kneeling. The author of this Psalm might be hard pressed to find an audience if writing, “Come let us worship in humility, look angry and shake your fist in the air defiantly.” It seems that what we do physically is interwoven with our ideas and beliefs.

So, when we clap our hands or raise our hands in our worship service, those gestures can actually be a part of our reflection on the words. Kneeling when taking communion may actually be THE reflection OF the words. If we really, truly feel that “the joy of the Lord is our strength,” hearty hand clapping might be warranted. If we really, truly believed that our Lord’s body was broken and His blood was spilt for us, wouldn’t kneeling at least be an option? Why in the world would our reflections on the joy, hope, humility, grace, love, forgiveness, and mercy of God Almighty be divorced from physical expression? It is hard to believe a person who says that the joy of the Lord is their strength when they have an angry scowl on their face!

As we worship together as a community and people clap their hands, raise their hands, or get on their knees in prayer, may we understand that their physical expressions are one way of reflecting their attitude of worship. Let me borrow from the lyric of “Holy is the Lord.” When we sing “we stand and lift up our hands,” may our raised hands proclaim an attitude of surrender to the Lord. When we sing, “we bow down and worship Him now,” may our knees bend in awe of our Infinite Creator. When we sing, “for the joy of the Lord is our strength,” may the clapping of hands be an authentic overflow of our joy in Christ!