In the early Church, many Christians simply met in homes. This was not necessarily a theological statement about the strengths or weaknesses, benefits or inconveniences of such, it simply was the reality of what many faced. Here we are today, Christians scattered throughout this country (if not the world) no longer able to gather in larger groups in a building not called “my home.” How shall we worship?
While technology affords believers of the 21st-century opportunities not available to those of the 1st- and 2nd-centuries, we should at least ask ourselves how the saints of old conducted their houses of worship. In considering this, we may have questions about how we set out to respond to the challenges we face today. A good starting place may be: why did they worship in homes?
This question is more than a matter of simple logistics. What was the heart, the purpose of their worship? The 17th-century document, the Westminster Confession of Faith, tells us that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Whether the believers in Judea, Antioch or Rome would have said these exact words, the sentiment holds true. We worship as believers to give God the glory and through this we find our joy in Him. So, have you made your home a house of worship?
What might this look like? As my wife and I wrestle with this idea, we find that God provides very basic instructions: pray, sing and read the Scriptures.
Liturgy is a word some of us associate with rites and rituals, others with a tradition you used to belong to, and some with what your local church does on Sunday. The word conveys the meaning of work, or service for the people. As God’s people, no longer able to gather with the larger body of believers, how do we go about the work of worshipping Him on the Sabbath? If you are the leader in your home, then what liturgy will you provide to those in your home? We have developed a liturgy that looks like this:
Read a Psalm
Pray
Sing Songs (usually two hymns from a hymnal we have)
Read Scripture (we try to draw one passage from the Pentateuch and/or OT History books, the Prophets, the Epistles and the Gospels)
Pray
Sing Songs
Read a Psalm
Through this work, this rhythm, we find ourselves as a little family seeking to glorify God through the simple actions He’s called us to: pray, sing and read the Scriptures.
This is not a critique of all the online opportunities just a mouse-click away. Rather, it's a reminder that, though certainly not a replacement of the larger gathering of believers, we are each called to glorify God and enjoy Him forever - and this is active. This activity may just strengthen "muscles" that have weakened over time, waiting for others to lead and serve us. In such a season as we're in, perhaps the Lord is making a way for each believer's home to become a house of worship.