What Does It Mean to Glorify/Worship God?
Luke 7.1-10
Even though glorifying and worshiping God are so central to the Christian faith, it is rare that we actually know the essence of glorifying or worshiping God. For many of us, we think of it is serving God or singing songs. Understanding this as loving God can be helpful, but this raises another question: what exactly is love, especially in the context of a human-to-God relationship?
Just a few weeks ago, we saw that in Luke 5.20 (also in Hebrews 11.6) that trusting Jesus Christ is one of the core principles of glorifying or worshiping God. We see the same emphasis here in today's passage where it says that Jesus "marveled" at the faith of the centurion (Luke 7.9). "Marvel" is a good translation for the Greek verb, but it can also mean to wonder, admire, or be astonished. In other words, the centurion's faith made a great impact on Jesus!
In all of Scripture, there are only two other instances where Jesus "marvels." One is the same account but from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 8.10) and the other is also about faith (Mark 6.6). According to Scripture, Jesus does not "marvel" frequently; but when he does, it is about our faith.
What was it about the centurion's faith that made such a strong impression on Jesus? In this passage, it is because of the centurion's trust in Jesus's authority. Similarly for us, do we place our trust in the authority of Jesus? Do we truly believe that he is sovereign over all circumstances—even our personal setbacks or the troubling news of this world? Do we truly believe that he has the power to heal and to provide—even in miraculous ways?
Jesus's response is noteworthy. He says: "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." (Luke 7.9). The phrase "not even in Israel" is a rebuke to not only religious leaders, but to the so-called people of God. They, like us, had distorted understandings of worshiping or glorifying God. They thought that their relationship with God was solid because of they were Israelites. This rebuke is very appropriate for many of us who grew up in the church, who are leaders in ministry, or who feel falsely secure in our relationship with God. The question is: are we trusting Jesus in all areas of life today?
So we see that one of core ways of worshiping or glorifying God is by trusting in him. This is why having faith in him is absolutely essential if we are trying to please him (Hebrews 11.6) and why faith comes up so frequently in the New Testament. Why is it that God takes our trust in him so seriously? It is because God is intensely relational and continually reminding us of who he is. This is why a very helpful way of looking at our relationship with God is seeing it as a response to God's character and his involvement in our lives. Are we submitting to, believing, and celebrating his character and involvement? Or are we distorting, suppressing, or rejecting? Are we living in worship or in sin?
