Hebrews 12:28,29 "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."
Why worship? Out of being grateful for what we have received--a kingdom (Romans 8:14-17). We are all heirs to this kingdom, all who have accepted life in Christ Jesus. Out of this knowledge should flow gratitude towards the Giver, God himself, for this great gift. In the spirit of this gratitude we should see the foundations for true genuine worship. Not out of a desire for power, control or manipulation of God to bend his will to ours so that we can receive what we believe he owes us. Not in the least. Instead, it should be out of the knowledge that we have received a gift beyond compare that we could never earn, but is given because of grace and mercy being the very character of God.
At the heart of the matter in remaining less than a degree off from true worship, which should be our goals, we need and must, and I do mean must, understand the difference in terms of two separate attitudes of worship. These two are represented by two distinct words (not from English, but from Hindu and Greek). The first, taken from Hindu, is puja. It means basically to "do service". The other, from Greek, is latria. This word means to "give worship". Why understand the two? Simple, in the context of Christian faith, they tend to intertwine and thus confuse what it is we are doing and why, especially as perceived by the outside world. Given this, we must be very careful, because they are not, not, not, oh, and they are NOT, the same thing. Yet, if we don't distinguish between them, we run the risk of the appearance of sin because of the attitude that underlies each.
In greater depth:
In Hindu, puja basically refers to what it is that a believer does in order to get the god they are worshiping to do what they want that god to do. For example, if one were to need a financial blessing, they would go to a temple and seek out the idol of Lakshmi and, if I recall correctly, pour milk over the idol as well as some other offerings and, given that you are doing this correctly, the god is supposed to then bless you. Puja allows a person to say to the god, "You owe me, I did this, now you have to bless me, I earned it". Luther took exception to this himself. When his eyes opened and he saw what Paul was writing about (saved by grace through faith and not of works, lest any man boast) he came to understand that there was nothing that man could do of his own to make God do something for him because that flies in the face of what grace means. Thus, no matter how many times you have prayed the Rosary, you have not earned any additional special favor with God for blessings of your finances or what have you. Prayer, in the Christian context, should never be puja, although many approach it that way. I have heard it said that, so and so cooked the best brownies and surely God would let them into heaven for being such a good person. That is a puja approach to worship.
Latria, on the other hand, is an attitude of doing works not out of expectations of earning points with God or creating some divine IOU. Instead, as James points out, the "works" are done as an expression of gratitude to God for what he has already done for us. It is the process of giving back to God what he deserves, recognizing that we could never fully balance the scales. So, going back to the god of fortune from above, instead of feeling the need to have that god provide monetary blessings and so go pour milk over the god's idol, the offering of milk is poured out as an offering in thanksgiving for what milk that god already provided. The Rosary is not prayed and meditated upon in order to create a divine IOU. Instead, it is prayed and meditated upon in order to soak our own hearts and minds in God, the life of Jesus, to move the other worldly powers (those not of God) out of the way by inviting God here and now, our meager part in fulfilling the Lord's Prayer--thy kingdom come on earth as it is already in heaven.
One degree off takes a person out of the comfort and safety of the honest relationship between God and his creation and places the person into a position whereby even though the god is allegedly god, they are bound now by what the believer does. This places the worshiper as superior to that being "worshiped" and worship is thus reduced to manipulation.
Are there occasions in Scripture whereby someone seems to get in God's face and God "changes his mind"? Yes, there are......on the surface. Underneath, that is not what takes place. What takes place is that a person is willing to put their self in the way of harming, making the sacrifice. This assuages what price something might cost. The ultimate representation of this is Jesus on the Cross. One unique point in time when all of God's wrath (that of God which must have recompense for sin) was absorbed in one sacrifice for all sin that was, is and will be committed so that any who would accept that sacrifice and the authority associated with it may experience God's grace and mercy.
Even with this example, however, I have to be mindful that God is God, period, end of argument. I can pray for all kinds of things, but the truth is, God gives as he wills. It is a mystery that my feeble mind cannot even come close to wrapping around.
When will the kingdom come? I do not know. But this I do, if we want the kingdom, we have to remember that we can never earn it. Puja will not bring it. There is no magic formula of the number of Our Fathers or celebrations of the Eucharistic prayers Latin or anything that I can do that will bring me God's favor.
I already have it.
That is His choice. I have to choose to accept it, by accepting the work of his Son on the cross, his lordship in my life and accepting the working of Holy Ghost within me towards sanctification.
The moment I think I can manipulate God by the way I sing to him or pray to him or walk on my knees or
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