Christian worship: A matter of justice

Abstract

This article highlights the value of Christian worship in the lives of Christians. It argues that worship should sensitise Christians towards justice and the practice thereof and it highlights my personal observations of the religious actions of some churches, contrasting their lack of concern for justice with God's positive concern for justice. The article defines Christian worship and explores-and establishes as indissoluble-the relationship between Christian worship and justice. The article also explores the meaning of the concept of "justice" and concludes that the link between worship of God and acts of justice is similarly indissoluble. Expanding on this link, and exploring the relationship between Christian worship and justice, the article further establishes that the practice of justice is a constituent part of authentic Christian worship. The implications of justice-focused Christian worship are found to be quite meaningful: helping church members to accept and respect the humanity of all people, especially the weak, the vulnerable and the voiceless; changing situations of dire need; bringing about serious and genuine transformation in the lives of both the rich and the poor; and affirming the value of active Christian presence, community and vocation. In conclusion, I recommend that the faith community actively identify with the poor, with those infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS, with foreigners and with other marginalised people, and that they do so in prophetic, priestly and kingly presence.

Full text

217 Missionalia 40:3 (Nov 2012) 217-232
Christian worship: A matter of justice
Matsobane J. Manala1
Abstract
This article highlights the value of Christian worship in the lives of Christians. It argues
that worship should sensitise Christians towards justice and the practice thereof and it
highlights my personal observations of the religious actions of some churches,
contrasting their lack of concern for justice with God’s positive concern for justice. The
article defines Christian worship and explores—and establishes as indissoluble—the
relationship between Christian worship and justice. The article also explores the
meaning of the concept of “justice” and concludes that the link between worship of
God and acts of justice is similarly indissoluble. Expanding on this link, and exploring
the relationship between Christian worship and justice, the article further establishes
that the practice of justice is a constituent part of authentic Christian worship. The
implications of justice-focused Christian worship are found to be quite meaningful:
helping church members to accept and respect the humanity of all people, especially
the weak, the vulnerable and the voiceless; changing situations of dire need; bringing
about serious and genuine transformation in the lives of both the rich and the poor;
and affirming the value of active Christian presence, community and vocation. In
conclusion, I recommend that the faith community actively identify with the poor, with
those infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS, with foreigners and with other
marginalised people, and that they do so in prophetic, priestly and kingly presence.
Keywords: Christian worship, justice, relationship, central prophetic message,
marginalisation, love, respect, the poor, the HIV and AIDS infected,
foreigners, identify.
1 Introduction
Christian worship has been the core activity of the Christian church since its
inception; it is also at the heart of the missio Dei. Missio Dei should here be
understood as referring to what the American missiologist James A. Scherer
says was Luther’s understanding of the concept (Engelsviken 2003:481):
For Luther, mission is always pre-eminently the work of the triune
God—missio Dei—and its goal and outcome is the coming of the
kingdom of God. Luther sees the church, along with God’s word and
every baptized believer, as crucial divine instruments for mission. …
It is always God’s own mission that dominates Luther’s thought, and
the coming of the kingdom of God represents its final culmination.
Missio Dei is indeed the work of God, of which Christian worship forms the
very heart. Many churches hold mandatory weekly gatherings at which they
have fellowship around the Word. Some denominations also hold additional
quarterly gatherings at which they have fellowship around both the Word
1Prof. Matsobane J. Manala is an Associate Professor in the Department of Practical and
Systematic Theology at the University of South Africa. He teaches Practical Theology
and serves as discipline leader. He can be contacted at manalmj@unisa.ac.za.
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Christian worship: A matter of justice 218
and the sacraments. Bickel (2005) writes about sacraments from a
Calvinistic perspective:
Historically, Calvinists have recognized that Jesus instituted two
sacraments: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. During the Reformation
of the Church, John Calvin defined a sacrament as “an outward sign
by which the Lord seals on our consciences the promises of his good
will toward us in order to sustain the weakness of our faith; and we
in turn attest our piety toward him in the presence of the Lord and of
his angels and before men” (Institutes of the Christian Religion,
Book 4, Chapter 14). In other words, a sacrament does two things:
1. A sacrament sustains faith in the gospel by confirming its
promises.
2. A sacrament declares that the one who receives it is a true
worshipper of God.
The gatherings may be spirit filled and dynamic, and might include
enthusiastic singing and dancing, as well as fervent prayer. Such gatherings
represent the communion of Christians—individually and collectively—
with God and with fellow Christians. Christian worship is of primary
importance in that it is an opportunity for the appointed encounter between
God and human beings. A further important value of Christian worship is
that it brings people together on a regular basis for a common purpose. It is
thus a meeting of the loving God with God’s redeemed people. It should be
understood and experienced both as an occasion of God’s coming to God’s
people and of God’s people meeting their loving, caring and saving God—
for praise and adoration, and to have their focus shifted from
self-centredness and self-interest to God, to other-centredness, and to
selflessness. Chapman (2001:274), affirming this demand for selflessness in
worship writes, citing Percy Dearmer:
The best hymns of Christendom are as free as the Bible from the
self-centred sentimentalism, the weakness and unreality which mark
inferior productions. The great hymns, indeed, of all ages abound in
the conviction that duty lies at the heart of the Christian life—a
double duty to God and to our neighbour; and such hymns, like the
Prayer Book, are for all sorts and conditions of men.
Altruism is the required attitude of God’s worshippers. The focus should be
on God and on others as required by God’s justice.
1.1 Observing the reality of religious actions of some Christian
churches
When one interacts with and observes some churches in their practice and
articulation of worship, however, it becomes clear that they regard it as
intended exclusively for their own communal interests. Such a view of
Christian worship tends to influence congregations to be inward looking and
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219 Matsobane J. Manala
to neglect Christ’s commandment of love towards God and towards others.
The church that is inward-looking in its character is nothing but a
self-worshipping community—which is, without doubt, idolatrous. White
(1987:2) raises a painful situation that is inimical to Christian worship:
“Those marginalised by society are likely to be marginalised in worship …
Those whose full human worth is likely to be denied outside of worship are
almost certain to be similarly marginalised within worship.” Women and
children have, for many years, been at the receiving end of this
marginalisation. The seriousness of this marginalisation is expressed
vigorously by former United States President Jimmy Carter (2009), who
went so far as to leave his denomination as a result of gender
discrimination. He writes:
I have been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible
teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort
to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people
around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern
Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It
was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s
leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming
that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for
original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their
husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or
chaplains in the military service.
This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted
to one religion or belief: women are prevented from playing a full
and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop
at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This
discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has
provided a reason, or excuse, for the deprivation of women’s equal
rights across the world for centuries.
Such conduct can only render Christian worship inauthentic. Wolterstorff
(1991:9) highlights some differing approaches to Christian worship that rob
it of its authenticity: firstly, being verbal about worship but without
seriously and practically living out what is professed in and about worship;
secondly, being too dogmatic and conventional about who should be leading
the worship services (the question of ordination or non-ordination); and,
thirdly, excluding women from leadership in worship. For those espousing
the first approach, Christian worship is, in reality, untruthful and does not
honour God. Regarding the second and third approaches, it appears that, as
a result of insistence on clericalism and sexism, justice is not being served.
It is my observation that some South African churches appear to believe that
placating God with exotic liturgical actions is sufficient and pleasing to him.
This attitude persists, despite the pain, oppression, marginalisation and
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Christian worship: A matter of justice 220
deprivation that the voiceless people of this country suffer and have to
endure, even with apartheid defeated. Even those churches that helped break
apartheid through their eloquent and prophetic words and conduct seem to have
abandoned this divine prophetic imperative. Guroian (1997:373) blames this
attitude on the secularisation of the West: “The deterioration of Christian
worship and disciplines of prayer has deprived the churches of necessary tools
of discernment and creativity to build ethics from within the ecclesial body
itself. Ordinary Christians very often adopt secular moralities without knowing
the difference between these moralities and Christian ethics.”
1.2 God’s concern for justice and the practice thereof
God is pleased, however, only when worshippers are concerned with and
practise justice. Being concerned with and practising justice is indeed in
accordance with the true marks of the church, as Guroian (1997:374) points
out, citing the report of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute consultation of
November 1994:
The traditional marks of the church—oneness, catholicity, apostolicity
and holiness—are all to be expressed in the moral life of its members.
Oneness calls for deepening love and communion; catholicity involves
being welcoming to the rich diversity within community; apostolicity
suggests reaching out to neighbours in sharing truth received from
Jesus Christ; and straightforward, unself-conscious goodness is an
essential dimension of holiness. These are central expressions of what
it means to be the body of Christ.
Concern for justice and the practice thereof are thus the ontological
dimension of the church and essential requirements for Christian worship.
This is emphasised by Wolterstorff (1991:10), citing the words of the Old
Testament prophet Amos about God’s dislike of, and disgust at, the
Israelites’ worship that neglected justice:
I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn
assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offering and cereal
offerings, I will not accept them, and the peace offerings of your
fatted beasts I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of
your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let
justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing
stream (Amos 5:21–24).
Given the significance of worship, one could assert that (a) regular
congregational engagement in Christian worship occasions is one of the
defining characteristics of the Christian church; (b) embracement of the Old
and New Testament Scriptures as normative for life and work is another
defining characteristic of Christian worship; and (c) justice is central to
Christian conduct, both inside and outside of Christian worship
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221 Matsobane J. Manala
(Wolterstorff 1991:6). These three defining characteristics produce true
worship only when they are all the concern of the worshipping community.
In this article, I will describe two important concepts briefly:
“Christian worship” and the requisite “justice”. Thereafter, I will reflect on
the relationship between liturgy and justice and, from this, the implications
for Christian worship will emerge. This should make it possible to reach
meaningful conclusions and make recommendations that may help the
church return to authentic Christian worship.
2. Understanding Christian worship and its nature
It is difficult to define “worship” in such a way that every aspect of its
make-up is covered sufficiently well. It is important, though, to note that
worship is undoubtedly a central religious activity of humankind in
reverential honour of its deity. Robinson (2000:25) gives a brief but broad
definition that is interesting to note: “worship is an [human] activity in
response to God’s Lordship”.
Kibiku (2006:103) is quite apt in his definition of “worship”:
[W]orship means reverence offered a divine being or supernatural
power; an act of expressing such reverence. [It is] a form of religious
practice with its creed and ritual. According to Graham Kendrick,
worship is worth—worship expresses the value placed on someone
or something. The true quality and depth of our love for God will to
a very great degree be evidenced by the quality and depth of our
worship. When we value somebody, we do things to demonstrate that
love; we put our thanks, appreciation and adoration into words, we
give thanks, gifts and show that we care in practical ways. Indeed
how often do we hear the complaint, “you say you love me, but you
never show it?” Talk is cheap, but actions do speak louder than
words and are a test of whether our words are genuine.
Central to such understanding of worship are the following two important points:
(a) worship is the act of expressing reverence to a divine being or supernatural
power; and (b) worship is an expression of acknowledgement of the value placed
on the one being worshipped. Kibiku (2006:103) further writes:
Further definition of worship is praise, adoration, confession,
proclamation and reverence of God. This is celebration of
worthiness. The Greek word for worship is “proskyrieo” which
means “to kiss” (the hand), to come forward, prostrating or bowing.
Bowing or kissing is an attitude of submission and obedience and
involves giving ourselves unreservedly to God. True worship springs
from deep within the heart and is expressed in our relationship with
God and also with others. It should actually affect everything that we
do in Church life and outside it. We worship God and work out that
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Christian worship: A matter of justice 222
worship by loving one another. If we are critical or negative with
others, we’re not really expressing our worship to God. So a good
definition of worship is: Loving God in the presence of his people
and loving God’s people in the presence of God.
Highlighted in the preceding definition are three important activities emanating
from the attitude displayed by the worshipper towards the worshipped, as well
as towards his or her fellow worshippers and, indeed, towards all humanity: (a)
celebrating God’s worthiness; (b) displaying an attitude of submission and
obedience to God; and (c) the act of loving God and God’s people.
Christian worship is, therefore, an activity of the worshipping person
(or persons)—one that takes place as part of an encounter and relationship
with God and with other worshipping persons. It is thus a covenantal
dialogical act that takes place as part of an encounter between a human
being and his or her God, an encounter that may include other human
beings. Burns (2009:375), citing Hovda, writes: “[W]hat is most important
about public worship is that we gather the sisters and brothers together for a
festival, a celebration of the reign of God (not yet terribly evident in daily
life nor in the institutions of society), that helps us feel so good about
ourselves, so important, so dignified, so precious, so free, so much at one.”
It is, however, not just about celebrating the reign of God and feeling good;
it is about acting in divinely inspired, good and helpful ways. Chapman
(2001:272) states about Dearmer: “For Dearmer, worship didn’t exist in
another world—it wasn’t about escape, about making us feel nice and fuzzy
or warm and content like sipping from a glass of whisky in a comfortable
armchair. Rather, it was about giving the best from this world, the best of
human creativity, back to God.”
Worship entails an act of God, who is the initiator, and a human act in
humble and obedient response. Worship is meant to be a lived-out reality
and not just confessed or sung about (Labberton 2007:20). “Since worship
is more than texts, every gathered, communal Christian assembly, in
whatever ecclesial tradition, can be said to enact some sort of liturgy,
scripted or unscripted, whatever its relation to particular sets of texts for
prayer and particular works of art.” (Burns 2009:373). Liturgy is said to
mean “work of the people” or public service. It is clear therefore that
worship must inspire and activate people towards performance of works of
justice. It has to inspire service to God and to others. Burns (2009:373),
explicating the concept of liturgy, adds: “Hence, it is often closely allied in
contemporary liturgical theology with the notion of participation; ‘full,
conscious and active participation’ being widely regarded as principal key
to the renewal of worship.”
The focal point of Christian worship is and remains the glorious God and
his love made concrete in the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of
his Son, Jesus Christ (Manala 2009:13). What the above statement of faith
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223 Matsobane J. Manala
means is that only God is to be worshipped (Wheeler 2003:17) and obeyed.
Murdock (2006:3) points to the centrality of God in the Reformed tradition,
saying: “Central to this tradition is the affirmation of the majesty, holiness,
and providence of God who creates, sustains, rules, and redeems the world
in the freedom of sovereign righteousness and love”. Christian worship is
indeed expected to express worshippers’ gratitude—in a way that pleases
God—for God’s self-giving to them in the form of Christ. As White (1987)
points out: “An important dimension of worship is its divine context.”
One could indeed justifiably say that Christian worship is an
imperative for all Christian believers. Kelly (1998:262) writes: “[L]iturgy is
the Christian community’s consciousness of grace.” Conscious of the grace
of God and its value in their redemption individually and corporately, the
faith community finds itself obligated to act in gratitude towards God,
God’s people and God’s world. Giving what can rightly be considered
compelling reasons for worship, Crowe (2007:465) says: “I offer two
reasons that a theist might provide for the claim that worship is obligatory:
(1) a divine command and (2) the demands of justice with respect to God’s
redemption of humanity”. Accordingly, observance of God’s will and
commands, as well as the demands of justice, are the main drivers of
Christian worship. Justice, without doubt, is an essential component of
Christian worship. Aquinas is cited as having said: “[R]eligion is a moral
(rather than a specifically theological) virtue connected to justice. … Thus,
religion is a virtue of rendering God his due.” “Aquinas makes it clear that
religion includes worship, both as an attitude and as a set of patterned activities”
(Crowe 2007:470). Having pointed out that Christian worship is an imperative
for all Christian believers, it must be understood as an imperative that is
achievable because, as Purcell (1997:144) points out: “In fact, [t]he
sanctification of man [sic] consists of his [sic] being enabled to glorify God.”
Worship can be said to be bifocal because, while it focuses on God
and God’s glory as “work of the people”, it also focuses on people as “work
for the people” (Burns 2009:374). Purcell (1997:145) attests to this truth
when he says: “What we wish to maintain is that liturgy manifests an
essential structure as ‘for-the-Other’, whether this other be the divine
majesty or the human other.” This expresses, succinctly, the link between
worship and justice. Worship is, in this regard, both the glorification of God
and service to God’s people. The Christian memory of the central salvific
events forms the source and motivation for justice. The following
meaningful words of Gurioan (1997:372) point to Christ’s redemption, his
life, death and resurrection, as well as his second glorious coming, as the
source and motivation for Christian liberty and virtuous living:
Christian liberty and virtue arise out of the church’s memory of the
central salvific events in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. We Christians even engage in the rather odd liturgical activity
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Christian worship: A matter of justice 224
of remembering the future. Sunday is not the seventh day of the
secular week; it is the eschatological eighth day or the first day of the
New Creation. So on that day, under the symbol of the eucharist, the
church not only remembers the past, it also remembers the future;
indeed the prayer of anamnesis in the earliest Christian liturgies and
Orthodox liturgies to this day call to memory not only Christ’s
crucifixion, resurrection and ascension but also “his awesome and
glorious second coming”.
The memory of these central events—which includes the future dimension
—has to be transformative and metanoic. Such transformation cannot do
otherwise than lead the Christian worshipper to expected holiness and,
therefore, to the doing of justice. Gurioan (1997:376) demonstrates how the
lex orandi is linked to the lex credendi and the lex bene operandi, saying:
“[E]ach informs, influences and deepens the other two in the ground of our
beseeching and our prayerful praise of God.” Weaver (2002:3) also affirms
this when he rightly states: “Authentic Christian worship bears fruit in
Christian living.” He proceeds: “Worship begins with God, but its end and
goal is the transformation of human life so that the image of the God who is
worshipped in Jesus Christ may find expression in the life and conduct and
relationships of the worshipper. Lowell Mason’s hymn reminds us that
‘Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.’ ” (Weaver
2002:3). The life of the worshipper is thus bound to be reflective of God’s
loving grace. Chapman (2001:272) writes about the views of Dearmer on
liturgy: “The liturgy was there to express God’s justice: it was about
performing our roles as citizens of the new Kingdom.” It is, therefore,
important here, in an attempt to understand this significant virtue connected
to our Christian worship, to reflect briefly on justice.
3. Understanding justice
Justice is a difficult concept to comprehensively fathom and define. Rich in
meaning and significance, the term demands that an attempt be made
towards obtaining further clarity as to its meaning. There are at least two
ways of understanding “justice”, namely as a punitive or corrective act of
God against a disobedient people, and as an obedient act(s) of God’s people
following God’s demand for justice. These two meanings are discussed by
Berguist (1993:54–61) in light of two opposing interpretations of Amos
5:21–24 by the two opposing schools of thought.
Lissitzyn (1932:632), finding it difficult to define the term “justice”,
writes: “The word ‘justice’ is itself rather difficult to define. According to
Alpian, ‘ “justice” is the constant wish of rendering to everyone his [sic]
right.’ ” Indeed, the pursuit of justice is in many countries loud and clear,
continuous and unstoppable. While I understand and agree that justice is
constant, I believe that justice cannot and should not be understood simply as
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225 Matsobane J. Manala
a wish but also as a desirable real action in the “rendering to everyone…
[their] right”. It is the equitable availing of life-giving amenities to all human
beings. I believe it is for this reason that former South African President,
Nelson Mandela, is cited as stating justice in more concrete terms when he
said: “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It
is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a
decent life. While poverty persists, there is no freedom [my emphasis]”.
It is understandable, therefore, that the International Conference on
Globalisation for the Common Good (2005) defines “justice” as a core issue
for life: “Justice is the heart of all creation. It is the profound feeling of
oneness with all other beings in the universe. Today, it finds its most vital
expression in social and economic fairness, concern for others and the
vigorous defence of human rights.” This is indeed what makes Christian
worship genuine worship. It is reminiscent of the meaningful words of
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, cited by Fuchs (1993:18), regarding the church: “The
Church is only the Church when it is there for the other people.” In the same
vein, it can with justification be said that any display of self-centredness,
aloofness and self-seeking on the part of the church and church worship
disqualifies such a church and such worship. Only when it is concerned
with, among other things, the plight of other people and when it is
committed to addressing that plight in order to bring about shalom for those
people is Christian worship genuine and proper. It was Jesus who raised this
issue quite clearly in Matthew 25:31–46 when the King rewarded the
righteous people because they had cared for the vulnerable and by so doing
had cared for him. To the unrighteous, the King gave no reward but rather
condemnation because they did not care for the weak and vulnerable and in
so doing had neglected to care for him.
Justice can, therefore, rightly be viewed as the real measure of the
success of Christian worship. The success of our worship is indeed
inextricably linked to genuine concern for justice. The International
Conference on Globalisation for the Common Good (2005), after affirming
the “conviction that people everywhere prosper where justice and equity are
honoured”, states: “Globalisation for the common good is predicated on a
global economy … whose aim is generosity and the promotion of a just
distribution of the world’s goods, which are divine gifts.”
Justice is, without doubt, one central demand of God placed on God’s
people. It is indeed the central prophetic message to God’s people.
Examples of prophetic sayings from the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah with
regard to God’s demand for the practice of justice follow. Isaiah 56:1: “This
is what the Lord says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right for my
salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.’ ” In
almost the same vein, the prophet Isaiah states: “Is not this the kind of
fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of
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Christian worship: A matter of justice 226
the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break the yoke?” (Isa. 58:6). Caring
for and seeing to the freeing and protection of the vulnerable are demanded
of God’s people. The prophet Jeremiah too is clear in articulating God’s
demand for justice. In Jeremiah 21:12, we read: “O house of David, this is
what the Lord says: ‘Administer justice every morning; rescue from the
hand of his [or her] oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath
will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—burn
with no one to quench it.’ ” How else will the oppressed experience the love
and mercy of God if it is not through God’s worshippers? The oppressed are
defenceless people who have no one else to turn to when circumstances
necessitate their search for refuge. Again, Jeremiah points to God’s demand
for justice when he says: “This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and
right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed.
Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not
shed innocent blood in this place.” (Jeremiah 22:3). The Scriptures quoted
above make it clear that believers—specifically Christian believers—cannot
afford to be mere confessors but must also care for those in life-denying
circumstances. God places orphans, widows, the oppressed and foreigners
(or aliens) in the path of Christian worshippers to challenge them towards
true and active compassion. The worship of God is, or should be,
indissolubly linked to acts of justice.
4 The relationship between Christian worship and justice
At the centre of, and serving as the identity-giving aspect of Christian
worship, is justice. This means that Christian worship minus justice can never
be genuine worship. Jesus Christ, who is the focus of Christian worship,
taught and practised justice through and through. For example, he taught in
the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
justice, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matt. 5:6). He also said: “Blessed are
those who are persecuted for the sake of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.” (Matt. 5:10). Justice, according to the above assertions of Jesus, is as
indispensable a component of Christian worship as Christian lifestyle. It is
something for which to strive and to endure the harshest of persecutions.
Wolterstorff (1991:6) writes in this regard: “In calling humanity to practice
and struggle for justice, and in blessing those who do, Jesus was standing in
continuity with the great prophetic tradition of the Old Testament”. Justice is
thus also a divine imperative of the God of the Old Testament. It is understood
that, even today, God wants Christians to practise and strive for justice—
especially in one of their most sacred activities, namely worship. As
Wolterstorff’s title “Justice as a condition of authentic liturgy” (1991:6)
proclaims, justice is actually a condition of authentic worship.
The question is: in what specific ways are the two related? Observing
the conduct and reactions of people—those who concern themselves with
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227 Matsobane J. Manala
social justice issues, those who concern themselves exclusively with the
practice of liturgy, and those concerned with evangelism—as Wolterstorff
(1991:7) does, one realises that there is tension, aloofness and suspicion
between one and the other. The relationship, therefore, is not always easy to
maintain. For Christians, however, this is not a matter of social justice or liturgy
or evangelism. Christians are expected to follow a more holistic approach.
5. Implications for Christian worship
Justice is constitutive for Christian worship. Labberton (2007:170) sees the
public witness of God’s people as resting on whether Christians live out
their identity. Justice is the core character of Christian worship. It sensitises
Christian worship to focus outwards, to love, respect and help the poor and
destitute people of God. Vorster (2007:80) says: “The biblical concept of
justice as it is used in the Old and New Testament is a soteriological concept
with direct cosmological implications.” This statement clearly points to the
demands placed on Christian worship in its relation to justice. Vorster
(2007:80) also writes: “The justice that God gives should result in a life of
justness between people (Amos 5:24). He who belongs to the covenant
should behave in a way befitting it. The cosmological implication of God’s
justice is therefore that believers should seek and promote justice in
inter-human relations”. Justice, in this regard, implies that Christian worship
(as an act of the redeemed people who are therefore new creatures in Christ
and who are gathered before the just God) cannot do other than good, either
in the moment of worship or outside the sphere of worship.
Justice promotes mutual love and respect, as well as total respect for
the rights of others. It helps church members accept and respect the
humanity of all people, especially the weak and voiceless. White (1987)
writes about justice and its influence on worshippers: “Justice within the
church’s worshipping community ascribes full human worth to all members
of the body of Christ.” Christian worship brings different people together to
worship God, but also to intensify their compassion towards the poor,
widows, orphans and strangers.
Christian worship changes situations of dire need and brings about
serious and genuine transformation in the lives of both the rich and the poor.
Labberton (2007:169) points out that justice-embedded worship promotes
mutuality. He writes: “To know those who live in Christ for the sake of
others while facing overwhelming circumstances all around them has been
transformative to me.” This transformation extends beyond self to society as
a whole. In this regard, King (1988:91) writes: “Liturgy and sacraments do,
in effect, flow from the deepest roots and wellsprings of life and experience.
They celebrate life as a precious gift and a challenging task, even though it
is sometimes beset with hurt and injustice. Christian rites are also intended
to transform life, not only within us personally but in our society and world
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Christian worship: A matter of justice 228
as well.” The implication then, of justice-focused worship is that it brings
about transformation from a life of confession to a life of life-giving,
Spirit-inspired action working towards the expansion of God’s kingdom for
the realisation of God’s shalom. The word “shalom” is here used to denote
wholeness or completeness in terms of peace, well-being, safety and so
forth, Preceptaustin (n.d.) states: “The root meaning of shalom is to be
whole or sound and this leads to translations that speak of completeness,
wholeness, well-being, welfare and peace. Shalom also includes the idea of
vigour and vitality in all dimensions of life. In short, shalom speaks of
holistic ("holy") health for our souls and spirits.” The worshipping
community is required to do justice in order for the poor and oppressed
people to experience such glorious wholeness.
Gerkin (1991:91–164) discusses three important normative metaphors
for pastoral work namely presence, community and vocation, which prove
to be relevant in my discussion of the implications of striving for and
practising God’s justice. Christian presence, community and vocation are
quite essential in our contemporary world, characterised as it is by poverty,
the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection and by xenophobic attacks. The
justice-inspired Christian presence, community and vocation among the
poor, among those infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS and among
foreigners would indeed light up the lives of the marginalised and dejected,
empower the powerless and give voice to the voiceless, suffering people of
God. This is possible because, as Gerkin (1991:107) points out, these
metaphors are not abstract references but refer to the concrete and practically
meaningful availability of Christian worshippers in contexts of distress. A
worshipping Christian community—one that is concerned with issues of
justice—through its actions displays acceptance of the other in the same way
each of its members accepts himself or herself. This is akin to what happens
in the context of Ubuntu (Manala 2002), that is, mutual respect and
acknowledgement and helping those in need for the survival of all.
The poor, along with foreigners and people living with HIV/AIDS, will
understand and experience the real meaning of the good news of salvation and
join in praising and magnifying God when they find themselves in the
company of Christian worshippers who strive for and offer justice.
Sub-Saharan Africa, of which South Africa is a part, is noted for its
HIV/AIDS prevalence. Writing in Divine Justice Human Justice, Dreyer
(2002:86) states:
In this region alone, 3.8 million adults and children became infected
with HIV during 2000, which brings the total number of people
living in this region with HIV/AIDS to 25.3 million. This means that
approximately 70% of people with HIV/AIDS live in Africa, south
of the Sahara desert. More than 75% of the 21.8 million people who
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229 Matsobane J. Manala
have died of AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic lived in
sub-Saharan Africa.
This is a serious challenge for the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa—and South
Africa is said to be among the worst affected countries within this cluster
(Dreyer 2002:86). Christian theologians and worshippers are challenged to
release the floods of justice, to display and enact unconditional acceptance, as
well as any practical assistance that those infected and affected may need. Yet,
Dreyer (2002:86) asserts that HIV/AIDS is one of the most neglected
problems among theologians and South African religious communities. This
view supports my own observation in respect of the attitude and conduct of
many Christians within my denomination.
The Christian community, as a sensitive community, cannot be
negligent in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Manala (2010:525)
rightly asserts: “[T]he church can only be meaningfully helpful if it identifies
with the vulnerable in a prophetic, priestly and kingly presence and action.”
According to Koopman (2008:253), the Christian community should protect
the vulnerable and marginalised by “being advocates of human rights, rights
that resist the violation of dignity and that help dignity to flourish by
championing for values like equality, freedom, justice and equity”. Calling
such a stance the preferential option for the poor, “The practical implication
of this preferential option for the poor is that, through its conscientisation
efforts, it must seek to arouse and mobilise the poor and oppressed to a take
firm stand against poverty, oppression and suffering and join the God of the
Exodus and of Jesus the Christ (the liberator) to become instruments of their
own liberation (Martey 1993:98).” The poor, the oppressed and the
marginalised need this empowerment and the worshipping Christian
community has the vocation to accomplish this in the spirit of justice.
The plight of foreigners is a further indictment on a worshipping
Christian community that also worships people for being South African.
Where is justice when foreigners suffer severe attacks? The xenophobic
attacks of 11 May 2008 in Alexandra township, and the subsequent spread
thereof to other provinces (see Zondi 2008; Landau 2010), is an ugly blight
on a state that is supposedly democratic—one that has an entrenched human
rights constitution and a Christian tradition, both of which demand the equal
and humane treatment of people. Christian worshippers are called to pray for
tolerance and peace, as well as to call strongly upon the xenophobic to repent
and to teach them the altruistic love and embracement of the other that were
displayed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Christian worshippers should actively
campaign against xenophobia and make it their business to protect foreigners.
6. Conclusion and recommendations
This article has attempted to define Christian worship. Its definition of
Christian worship can be summarised thus: (a) celebration of God’s
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Christian worship: A matter of justice 230
worthiness; (b) displaying an attitude of submission and obedience to God;
and (c) the act of loving God and God’s people. These three basic truths
about Christian worship have been found to be the very essence of Christian
worship, worship that cannot be complete without God’s justice.
The article has defined Christian worship and highlighted the value of
Christian worship in the lives of Christians. It has argued that Christian
worship should sensitise Christians towards justice and the practice thereof.
It has also highlighted observations of the reality of Christian religious
actions taking place in some churches, as well as God’s concern for justice
and the practice thereof. The article has explored the meaning of the concept
“justice” and concluded that the worship of God is, or has to be,
indissolubly linked to acts of justice. In exploring the relationship between
Christian worship and justice, it was established that the practice of justice
by the Christian worshipping community is constitutive to authentic
Christian worship. The implications of justice-focused Christian worship
were found to be quite meaningful: helping church members to accept and
respect the humanity of all people, especially the weak and voiceless;
changing situations of dire need; bringing about serious and genuine
transformation in the lives of both the rich and the poor; and affirming the
value of active Christian presence, community and vocation.
Observations of my own denomination, as well as a literature review,
have however pointed to the deficiency in terms of the practice of justice.
For instance, Dreyer (2001:86) rightly points out that: “HIV/AIDS is one of
the most neglected problems amongst theologians and South African
religious communities.” Considering the three basic truths that constitute
the essence of Christian worship, and the fact that authentic worship is one
that engenders acts of justice, something drastic needs to be done for the
worshipping community to bring to concretion its celebration of God’s
worthiness, the display of its submission and obedience to God, and its love
of God and of God’s people.
What must be done? The Christian community must identify with the
poor, with those living with HIV/AIDS and with foreigners and other
marginalised people in prophetic, priestly and kingly presence, that is,
teaching and advocacy, serving them sacrificially, protecting them against
oppression and campaigning for their rights. This is the measure of
Christian justice.
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231 Matsobane J. Manala
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