We are beginning our final book for the Theology of Worship course, Glimpses of the New Creation, by W. David O. Taylor. In the first chapter of his book, Taylor gives us a foundation of what worship is. However, he does not do this by simply giving a definition to base everything else off of, rather he gives patterns that speak to and direct our presupposed definition of worship. He explains that what worship is, how people define it, is affected by what patterns of worship they prioritize. In his chapter he went through ten different patterns, but I will focus on three I either resonated with or found interesting.
The first pattern that I related to was the pattern of Christ’s worship. In this pattern, worship is prioritized by the fact that we not only direct our worship towards Christ, but we worship with and through him as well. This pattern has a lot of theological implications like Christ as our High Priest who intercedes for us, but also the unity with Christ that Jesus prays for in John 17. I find this mystery to leave me awestruck every time. That we have the honor to not only worship Christ but we get to do it with him. And, that Christ has the ability to also humble himself to be a mediator for us. I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand this, but I know that it is beautiful.
The second pattern that I found interesting was the pattern of things the Psalter invites us to say in worship. This one felt less theological than all the ones prior to it, so I think that is why it also piqued my interest. Taylor showcases in the pattern that in the Psalms there is direction for worship, and it is actually where we get a lot, if not most, of our language for worship. So, when we prioritize this pattern of worship, we prioritize a grounding in the poetic elements of Scripture. This, while it showed me I hadn’t considered the Psalms this way before, also made sense and seemed like a way I could agree with worship being prioritized. I’m not sure I would start with this pattern explicitly, but it would be implicit in my definition.
A third pattern that I found interesting, especially in contrast and connection with the Psalter patterns, was the pattern of New Testament worship. I think I gravitate more towards this one than the Psalms, knowing I like to take inspiration and guidance from the early church as much as possible. The greatest difference between this and the Psalms pattern is the focus on corporate worship. Developing corporate patterns that imitate the early church. Finding the purity of their worship. Like the pattern of Christ’s worship aligns us with the life of Christ, this pattern aligns us with the life and history of the early church.
I am excited to see how Taylor expands from these patterns and calls the worship and church leaders to new heights and new depths of theology and formational worship!
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