Worship

From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism
Jump to navigation Jump to search

See this page in the original 1992 publication.

Author: Wondra, Johann

Latter-day Saint worship is defined as coming unto the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, in spirit and truth (D&C 93:19; cf. JST John 4:24). All of life may be worshipful, as manifest in prayer and in devotion, in the ordinances of the gospel, including the Sacrament, in selfless service to mankind, and in the culmination of all worship in the temples of God.

The Lord spoke to the Prophet Joseph Smith, "I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness" (D&C 93:19). Worship is idolatry unless it is reverent homage and devotion to the living God.

A modern revelation warns against the worship of false gods: "They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own God, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol" (D&C 1:16). Modern prophets have counseled Latter-day Saints against the worship of idols under new names: success, money, prestige, lavish pleasure, fashion (see Kimball, p. 4).

Much traditional religion assumes that only if God is "utterly other," that is, mysterious and unknowable, can he be properly reverenced. For Latter-day Saints, the foundation of worship is not the radical contrast but the intimate kinship of the Father and his children. Christ was near unto God because he was "the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person" (Heb. 1:2). By keeping his commandments and walking in the way of his ordinances, every person walks in the path of the Master. In inspired worship, "truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy" (D&C 88:40). The outcome for Christ was that he could pray, "as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in thee" (John 17:21). Beyond this, worship cannot reach.

The restoration of Christ's Church began with the lament from on high, "They draw near to me with their lips but their hearts are far from me" (JS-H 1:19). Worship involves the heart and the whole of man. Unified worship-which occurs when those assembled are of one heart and one mind and are "agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me" (D&C 27:18)-prevails with the heavens. "By union of feeling, we obtain power with God" (Relief Society Minutes, June 9, 1842, Church Archives; cf. TPJS, P. 91).

Worship also involves the mind. "Love the Lord thy God with all thy…mind" (Matt. 22:37). The living God has a "fulness of truth," is "glorified in truth and knoweth all things," and is "more intelligent than they all" (D&C 93; Abr. 2, 3). As Elder B. H. Roberts wrote, worship is the soul's surrender to God: "This submission of the mind to the Most Intelligent, Wisest-wiser than all-is worship" (TPJS, p. 353, n). Thus, daily prayer and study, penetrating, pondering study of the gospel and the scriptures, are commended to all Latter-day Saints. "It is not wisdom," said Joseph Smith, "that we should have all knowledge at once presented before us; but that we should have a little at a time; then we can comprehend it" (TPJS, p. 297). Jacob Neusner has compared this linkage of worship with the mind to Jewish study-worship of the Torah (Neusner, p. 55). Such communion with God leads one through and beyond the written and the spoken word to the source of Light.

WORSHIP AND SERVICE. For Latter-day Saints, the life of consecrated labor surpasses the life of withdrawal. Thus, although proper worship may require fasting, self-denial, discipline, and sacrifice, the religious life is in the context of the natural and social life. Daily labor is the fulcrum of religion and the locus of holiness. One may bring the spirit of worship to every aspect of life and community life, of which the dedicated family is the apex and paradigm. Nothing is so menial, so servile, so trivial that it is irreligious, as long as it is the way of duty and as long as it is done "in the name of the Son." "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him" (D&C 59:5).

WORSHIP AND THE TEMPLE. The Hebrew verb la-avodh, "to worship," also means "to work" and "to serve" and is associated with the temple. Early in Church history, "the house [Kirtland Temple] was constructed to suit and accommodate the different orders of priesthood and worship peculiar to the Church " (John Corrill, A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1839, p. 22, italics added), and it has been so with all LDS temples since. The Spirit of the Lord and the descent of his glory are promised the Saints in the House of the Lord, which is defined as a "house of fasting and a house of prayer" and a "house of worship" (D&C 88:119; HC 4:205). Anciently, the temple was the locus of feast and provided the joy of sacred place (Hebrew simha makom ). An Aramaic link of the Hebrew word for joy (hdw ) connotes both inner and outer joy and relates to temple service. Today, in LDS spiritual life, the temple is a place of the most "solemn assemblies" and the administration of ordinances on behalf of the living and the dead. Within the precincts of the temple, one experiences this shared joy in its most complete form. In Judaism after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the home became the surrogate temple, the table an altar, and the study of the Torah, especially on Shabbat, the focus of worship and rejoicing. Worship was centered in prayer and sacrificial service. In Christendom the sacraments and private devotion were thought to replace the temple. In the LDS experience, all these forms of worship are regained, renewed, and confirmed in the temples (see Temples: Latter-Day Saint Temple Worship and Activity).

In their modern history, Latter-day Saints have worshiped in sobriety and solemnity as well as with rejoicing and gladness. And they have also worshiped in the midst of affliction. Modern revelation commends worship "with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance," especially in the midst of "fasting and prayer," which is defined as "rejoicing and prayer" (D&C 59:14). Thus, on the Eve of their exile from Nauvoo, the Saints assembled in the Nauvoo Temple and prayed, feasted, sang, and danced in rejoicing. They crossed the river in the dead of winter, but still were admonished, "If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God with supplication, that your souls may be joyful" (D&C 136:28-29). They were not too exhausted after the day's travel to build a fire and share songs of the heart, testimonies, and spiritual gifts. In the same spirit, a century and a half later, amidst the Teton Dam disaster (1975), the Latter-day Saints were counseled by their leaders to end each day by bringing out the violins and rejoicing, acknowledging the hand of the Lord in all things (Ensign 6 [Oct. 1976]:95; cf. D&C 59:21).

"The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads" (D&C 25:12). In the last days, it has been prophesied, "all shall know me who remain, even from the least unto the greatest, and shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and shall see eye to eye, and shall lift up their voice, and with the voice together sing this new song, saying: The Lord hath brought again Zion; The Lord hath redeemed his people, Israel, According to the election of grace, Which was brought to pass by the faith And covenant of their fathers. The Lord hath redeemed his people; And Satan is bound and time is no longer. The Lord hath gathered all things in one. The Lord hath brought down Zion from above. The Lord hath brought up Zion from beneath. The earth hath travailed and brought forth her strength; And truth is established in her bowels; And the heavens have smiled upon her; And she is clothed with the glory of her God; For he stands in the midst of his people. Glory, and honor, and power, and might, Be ascribed to our God; for he is full of mercy, Justice, grace and truth, and peace, Forever and ever, Amen [D&C 84:98-102].

When Zion is finally established in the last days, "all who build thereon are to worship the true and living God" (TPJS, p. 80). Each year people from many lands will come up to worship at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Eventually, "all nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name" (Ps. 86:9).


Bibliography

Hatch, Verena U. Worship in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Provo, Utah, 1968.

Heidenreich, John. "An Analysis of the Theory and Practice of Worship in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1963.

Kimball, Spencer W. "The False Gods We Worship." Ensign 6 (June 1976):3-6.

Neusner, Jacob. The Glory of God Is Intelligence. Salt Lake City, 1978.

JOHANN WONDRA


A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z