感謝讚美上帝護理的大能与豐盛的供應。 本網誌內的所有資源純屬學習交流之用。

2020-03-15

37 敬拜——神所赐的一种仪礼模式Worship - God gives aliturgical pattern
《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs,巴刻(J. I. Packer)著/張麟至译,更新传道会,2007年。
https://yibaniba.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post_98.html
http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/worship.htm


37 敬拜——神所赐的一种仪礼模式
Worship - God gives a liturgical pattern

来啊,我们要屈身敬拜,在造我们的耶和华面前跪下;因为他是我们的神,我们是他草场的羊,是他手下的民。(诗95:6-7

在圣经里,敬拜乃是有理性的受造之物,对于向他们自我启示之创造主的合宜反映。以感激之心将所有神所赐给的美物、所有对神伟大和恩惠的认识,奉献回去给神,为的是尊崇祂、荣耀祂。敬拜包括:赞美神的所是;感谢神的作为;渴慕神籍着更进一步怜悯、审判与能力的作为,使祂自己得着更多的荣耀;并信靠神会关切我们自己和别人未来的福祉。肃然起敬的惊奇,和感激不已的庆贺,都是敬拜心情的一部分;当大卫将约柜抬到耶路撒时,他[坐在耶和华面前]谦卑惊奇——在这两种情况之下,他的敬拜很明显都讨神的喜悦(撒下6:14-167:18)。从神有所学习也是一种敬拜方式:留意祂指引的话语是尊荣祂;不留意就是羞辱祂。蒙悦纳的敬拜要求敬拜者(手洁心清)(诗24:4), 并籍着身体的服事和口中敬慕的话语,表达出对神甘心的崇拜。

敬拜是建基在立约的关系上,神籍立约向祂所拯救和宣告属祂的人,约束祂自己。这点在旧约的敬拜里是真的,就像在今日基督徒的敬拜中是真的一样。约下敬拜的精神,如同旧约圣经之模式所显示的,乃是在得以靠近大能之创造主的特权下,以极端的自我谦卑的心态,诚实地承认自己的罪恶、愚昧和需要,因而感受到一种敬畏混以喜乐的情操。因为神是圣洁的,而人是会犯罪的,在这世

界上,敬拜就必须是这样的。正如敬拜是天上生活的中心(启4:8-115:9-147:9-1711:15-1815:2-419:1-10),敬拜也必须是地上教会生活的中心。此外,在每一位信徒的生活中,无论是私下的,或是以团体的方式进行,敬拜都应当成为他主要的活动(西3:17)。

当摩西所制定的礼义里,神赐给祂立约的百姓一个完整的敬拜模式。所有真敬拜的要素都包括在其中,虽然有些是预表性的,这些预表都向前指向基督,而且在祂来到之后,就不再有效了。诗篇中的赞美和祷告是供以色列人敬拜之用。基督徒在今日敬拜中也大可使用这些诗篇,只是当诗篇指着旧约时代与神的约有关的预表特征——如:地上以色列的君王、国度、仇敌、战争、富裕和贫穷的经历、神的管教,加上犹太人敬拜模式里的预表等等时,基督徒必须在心思作些调整。

神赐给以色列人仪礼模式的主要特征如下:

1.安息日是六日工作后的第七日:乃是安息的圣日,要当作创造(创2:3;20:8-11)和救赎(申5:12-15)的纪念日来遵守。神坚持祂的子民守安息日(出16:21-3020:8-931:12-1734:2135:1-3;利19:3,3023:3;另参赛58:13-14),而且视破坏安息日为死罪(出31:14;民15:32-36)。

2.每年三度全国性的节度(出23:14-1734:23;申16:16),在期间,百姓聚集在神的圣所献祭,欢庆神的丰赐,寻求祂、与祂和好、与祂交通,并一同吃喝表明其喜乐。逾越节和无酵节在每年犹大宗教历的正月十四日举行,纪念出埃及(出12章;利23:5-8;民28:16-25;申16:1-8);五旬节,又叫收割节,表明毂物收成的结束,是在逾越节之安息日后的第五十天举行(出23:1634:22;利23:15-22;民28:26-31;申16:9-12);住棚节,又叫收藏节,从宗教历的七月十五日到二十二日举行,庆贺农业节令的结束,也是提醒他们神是如何率领以色列人经过旷野的(利23:39-43;民29:12-38;申16:13-15)。

3.赎罪日,在宗教历的七月十日举行。此日,大祭司带着血进入至圣所,为赎以色列人前一年所犯的罪;代罪的羔羊即送到旷野,象征那些罪业已离去了(利16章)。

4.日常的献祭制度,包括了每日的和每月的燔祭(民28:1-15);还有各种不同的个人献祭。这些祭的共同特征乃是:任何被献的祭物都必须是没有瑕疵的,而当祭牲被献时,它的血必须倾倒在燔祭坛上,以完成赎罪(利17:11)。

个人洁净的仪文(利12-15章;民19章)和奉献(如献上头生的:出13:1-16),也是神所赐敬拜模式的一部分。

在所立的新约之下,举凡旧约圣经的预表都让位给它们的预表的本体(antitypes)了;基督的祭司职任、在祂十字架上的献祭,和祂在天上的代求,超越了整个为除罪而籍摩西所设立的制度(来7-10章);而洗礼(太28:19)和主的晚餐(太26:26-19;林前11:23-26),即取代了割礼(加2:3-56:12-16)和逾越节(林前5:7-8);犹太人的节期历法不再有拘束力了(可7:19;提前4:3-4);安息日也更新了,要人按着宁可行善好过无为的决疑法,来决定行事的原则(注1)(路13:10-1614:1-6),日子的算法也改为在一加六,而非六加一的根基上,重新计算。使徒们教导基督徒在七日的头一日,即耶稣复活的日子、[主日](徒20:7;启1:10),来敬拜主,把这一日当做基督徒的安息日。这些改变是重大的,然而构成真敬拜的赞美、感谢、渴慕、信托、纯净、侍奉等,却从古至今都未曾改变过。

(注1)译者注:决疑法是一种良心按着律法的权衡,而有的行为反应。但是人的良心是有罪的玷污,不见得能反应神的意思。法利赛人最喜欢用决疑法而无所为,他们常以耶稣在安息日的善行为把柄,攻击祂。可惜,他们的决疑法错了,耶稣曾经向他们挑战:[假冒为善的人哪!难道你们各人在安息日不解开槽上的牛、马,牵去饮么?......你们中间谁有马或有牛在安息日掉在井里,不立时拉它上来呢?](路13:1514:5)耶稣的决疑法是让良心按着律法对爱人、救人的权衡,而有的行为反应(参路13:1669)。


WORSHIP
GOD GIVES A LITURGICAL PATTERN

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.... PSALM 95:6-7
Worship in the Bible is the due response of rational creatures to the self-revelation of their Creator. It is an honoring and glorifying of God by gratefully offering back to him all the good gifts, and all the knowledge of his greatness and graciousness, that he has given. It involves praising him for what he is, thanking him for what he has done, desiring him to get himself more glory by further acts of mercy, judgment, and power, and trusting him with our concern for our own and others’ future well-being. Moods of awestruck wonder and grateful celebration are all part of it: David danced with passionate zeal “before the LORD” when he brought up the ark to Jerusalem, and sat in humble amazement “before the LORD” when he was promised a dynasty, and his worship evidently pleased God on both occasions (2 Sam. 6:14-16; 7:18). Learning from God is worship too: attention to his word of instruction honors him; inattention is an insult. Acceptable worship requires “clean hands and a pure heart” (Ps. 24:4) and a willingness to express one’s devotion in works of service as well as in words of adoration.

The basis of worship is the covenant relationship whereby God has bound himself to those whom he has saved and claimed. This was true of Old Testament worship as it is now of Christian worship. The spirit of covenant worship, as the Old Testament models it, is a blend of awe and joy at the privilege of drawing near to the mighty Creator with radical self-humbling and honest confession of sin, folly, and need. Since God is holy and we humans are faulty, it must ever be so in this world. As worship will be central in the life of heaven (Rev. 4:8-11, 5:9-14; 7:9-17; 11:15-18; 15:2-4; 19:1-10), so it must be central in the life of the church on earth, and it should already be the main activity, both private and corporate, in each believer’s life (Col. 3:17).

In the Mosaic legislation, God gave his covenant people a full pattern for their worship. All the elements of true worship were included in it, though some of them were typical, pointing forward to Christ and ceasing to be valid after he came. In the book of Psalms, hymns and prayers for use in Israel’s worship were provided. Christians rightly use these in worship today, making mental adjustments when the reference is to typical features of the Old Testament dispensation of God’s covenant—Israel’s earthly king, kingdom, enemies, battles, and experiences of prosperity, impoverishment, and divine discipline, plus what was typical in the Jewish worship pattern.

The main features in the liturgical pattern that God gave to Israel were as follows:

(a) The Sabbath, each seventh day following six days for labor: a holy day of rest, to be observed as a memorial of Creation (Gen. 2:3; Exod. 20:8-11) and redemption (Deut. 5:12-15). God insisted on Sabbath-keeping (Exod. 16:21-30; 20:8-9; 31:12-17; 34:21; 35:1-3; Lev. 19:3, 30; 23:3; cf. Isa. 58:13-14) and made Sabbath-breaking a capital offense (Exod. 31:14; Num. 15:32-36).

(b) Three annual national feasts (Exod. 23:14-17; 34:23; Deut. 16:16) in which the people gathered in God’s sanctuary to offer sacrifices celebrating his bounty, to seek and acknowledge reconciliation and fellowship with him, and to eat and drink together as an expression of joy. The feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread, held on the fourteenth day of the first month, commemorated the Exodus (Exod. 12; Lev. 23:5-8; Num. 28:16-25; Deut. 16:1-8); the Feast of Weeks, also called the Feast of Harvest and the Day of Firstfruits, marked the end of the grain harvest, and was held fifty days after the Sabbath that began Passover (Exod. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:15-22; Num. 28:26-31; Deut. 16:9-12); and the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths, also called the Feast of Ingathering, held from the fifteenth to the twenty-second day of the seventh month, celebrated the end of the agricultural year, as well as being a reminder of how God led Israel through the desert (Lev. 23:39-43; Num. 29:12-38; Deut. 16:13-15).

(c) The Day of Atonement, held on the tenth day of the seventh month, when the high priest took blood into the central shrine of the sanctuary to atone for Israel’s sins during the previous year, and the scapegoat went into the desert as a sign that those sins were now gone (Lev. 16).

(d) The regular sacrificial system, involving daily and monthly burnt offerings (Num. 28:1-15) plus a variety of personal sacrifices, the common features of which were that anything offered must be flawless and that, when an animal was offered, its blood must be poured out on the altar of burnt offering to make atonement (Lev. 17:11).

Rituals of personal purification (Lev. 12-15; Num. 19) and devotion (e.g., consecration of the firstborn, Exod. 13:1-16) were also part of the God-given pattern.

Under the new covenant, in which Old Testament types give way to their antitypes, Christ’s priesthood, sacrifice, and intercession supersede the entire Mosaic system for putting away sin (Heb. 7-10); baptism (Matt. 28:19) and the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) replace circumcision (Gal. 2:3-5; 6:12-16) and Passover (1 Cor. 5:7-8); the Jewish festal calendar no longer binds (Gal. 4:10; Col. 2:16); notions of ceremonial defilement and purification, imposed by God to enforce awareness that some things cut one off from God, cease to apply (Mark 7:19; 1 Tim. 4:3-4); the Sabbath is renewed with a casuistry of doing good rather than doing nothing (Luke 13:10-16; 14:1-6), and re-counted, on the basis of one-plus-six rather than six-plus-one. It seems clear that the apostles taught Christians to worship on the first day of the week, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, “the Lord’s day” (Acts 20:7; Rev. 1:10), treating it as the Christian Sabbath. These changes were momentous, but the pattern of praise, thanks, desire, trust, purity, and service, which constitutes true worship, continues unchanged to this day.