The Old Testament idea, captured in Greek word proskuneo, implied a physical falling down in reverence before a visible majesty. This happened as people came to visible, incarnate Christ in Gospels. And it happened in Revelation as saints and angels and elders were actually in presence of visible, risen Christ. But in age between ascension and second coming Christ is not visibly here to worship. Therefore, worship is radically internalized and delocalized. In Matthew 15:8-9 Jesus says, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me.” Worship that does not come from heart is vain, empty. It is not authentic worship.

Consider what Paul does to some of other words related to Old Testament worship. For example, next most frequent word for worship in Old Testament (after proskuneo) is word latreup which is usually translated “serve” as in Exodus 23:24, “You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them” (NASB). When Paul uses this word for Christian worship, he goes out of his way to make sure that we know he means not a localized or outward form for worship practice but a nonlocallized, spiritual experience. In fact, he takes it so far as to treat virtually all of life as worship when lived in right spirit. Here’s another example, in Romans 1:9 he says, “I serve [or worship] [God] with my spirit in gospel of his Son.” And in Philippians 3:3, Paul says that true Christians “worship” [God] in Spirit of God…and put no confidence in flesh” (NASB). Then again he says in Romans 12:1, for Christians to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Paul sees all of life and ministry as an expression of that inner experience of worship.

To be continued...keep faith. Worship Lord with everything in you, any time, any place. Pastor t.

True Christians know that their faith is a personal journey with their Lord, giving to Caesar what belongs to him, and giving back to God what is His. Laws are meant to provide justice for all. Religion is for each individual. Jesus asked that his disciples spread word of God, not inflict it on those that don't believe in exact same translation of Jewish text. How long can we allow Religious Organizations to pass judgment on others when they are not accountable for their own actions? How long can we allow our elected officials to legalize hate? How different are feelings of disgust between couple of same-sex today than feelings in past when two people of different color where together? How different are arguments in defense of this bigotry are today than they were towards children? Malcolm X once quipped about not needing to overseas to fight terror; he had plenty in his own backyard. Understanding is a pre-cursor to action. You don't have to be gay to understand state-sponsored discrimination, nor does feelings have to be justified by bodies swinging from a tree. Canadians have another chance to defy their Big American Brother and take a stand for same-sex marriage. Canada needs to show world what a true free democratic society is all about, and we people need to support that government for that direction. Do not let your voices remain silent on this issue, gay or not.