Most religions define worship as something we do for God. This mentality has crept into many Christian churches as well, that we come to church to praise God. The traditional definition of the word “worship” is to ascribe honor, to adore, or to pay homage to something or someone. This is well-intended, and Scripture talks about our conduct in God’s presence being reverent and pious, but when we examine the Scriptures, they use very different language to describe the action happening in the synagogue, temple, and later, in the early Church. After all, God does not need our worship.
One of the words that the Bible uses for the service is leitourgia, the Greek word from which we get the word “liturgy.” Liturgy is a public service offered by one person on behalf of a group of people. In Scripture, it commonly refers to the work of a priest offering sacrifices for and distributing them to the people of Israel. This is also a word used in the book of Hebrews for Christ’s high priestly office—offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the whole world and continuing to mediate the New Covenant between God and man by giving Himself to us for the forgiveness of sins.
In the Divine Service, the liturgy, Christ is performing a service for us, not we for him. He acts through His called and ordained servant, the pastor, to deliver His Word and Sacraments to His people. In the Reformation era, the Lutherans called this Gottesdienst—God’s service. God gives. We receive. His Spirit creates faith in us in the waters of Baptism. His Word does what it says. He forgives and strengthens us in the Lord’s Supper. We respond with prayer and thanksgiving and build one another up with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The primary action is from God to us, then we respond by speaking and singing His Word back to Him.
The Divine Service has two main parts: the Service of the Word and the Service of the Sacrament. This basic pattern comes from both Old and New Testaments and has been handed down to us through all of Church history (Acts 2:41-45). Our doctrine and belief come from Scripture and inform how the service is structured. So also what we do in the service shapes our faith over time. Doctrine and practice work hand in hand to orient our faith and life toward the Word of God.
For further reading, see the introduction in the front of our hymnal, Lutheran Service Book (2006), p. viii-ix.