Where do you worship God? Do you worship Him in your workplace? Do you worship Him in your classroom? Are you willing to worship Him in your home? Will you worship Him while running your errands? Have you stopped to think where Jesus worshiped?
I venture to assume most of us think of worship as an official event we participate in within a church building. Over the years we have become accustomed to this being our worship. It has become a human tradition that we hold on to dearly. Don’t misunderstand me, worshiping together in a church building is great.
Have you stopped to think about all the places Jesus worshiped? Do you know there are only a couple times in the gospels that mentions Jesus worshiping in a temple? If He didn’t worship within a building, where did He worship? Jesus worshiped on a mountain, in a garden, in people’s homes, and beside a river. He worshiped wherever He was.
If Jesus didn’t typically worship in a “house of worship,” why are we so hung up on that being our place of worship? Perhaps we will argue that the church has always worshiped in a church building. Au contraire my dear. The church has not always worshiped in church buildings. In fact, over that last several years, not to mention the early church, worshipers of God have been worshiping in numerous other places.
Speaking of the early church, there was no such thing as a church building for the first two or three hundred years. The early church was often on the run and worshiped in caves. They met in someone’s home. In fact, in large cities, the church met in multiple people’s homes in order to have enough space to accommodate everyone.
Please allow me to relate to you some places where I’ve worshiped. I’ve worshiped in homes, a campground, a park, a rest area, and the most memorable was on a mountain top. You see, we climbed a mountain in the Shenandoah Valley on a Sunday. I know, for some that would be sacrilege. Yet, a group from our church left early in the morning to make the drive, climb up the mountain over rocky outcroppings, and reach the top around noon. We all carried our lunches in backpacks and sat down to eat. Once we were done with our meal, we held a short worship service with singing, praying, and a short message. There is nothing so glorious as to worship God on a mountain top while looking down on the fall colors and even eagles flying below us. Absolutely majestic! The worship might very well be the most awesome worship those of us on that trip had ever experienced.
Now, back to our earlier question. Where do you worship? Does the place you currently find yourself make a difference to you? Will it keep you from worshiping? Folks, we are all worshiping differently than we did this time last year. Yet, we should not allow that to stop us from worshiping our God, the Creator of all things, regardless of our current situation.
I pray we all reflect on the places Jesus worshiped. I pray we accept that our houses of worship are a human tradition and not God’s. I pray each one of us will worship God wherever we are. Reflect on Jesus’ life for advent. Take a serious look at where He worshiped. Worship God where you are. Worship Him every day.
Matthew 5:1-2 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.
Marty Pressey 