7. "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit." (See THREE HOURS'
SERVICE.)
Worship.--Our word _worship_ is the modern form of the early English
word _worthship_. And while the word was originally used to denote
honor or respect paid to any one worthy of it, it came in time to
be used exclusively of the giving of honor to God, of which He
above all others is worthy. Thus we have the word applied almost
exclusively to what we now call Public Worship. By this is meant
the united homage of the members of the Church rendered to God as
their Almighty King. And it is to be noted that whilst God accepts
the worship of each individual or family, yet He loves more the
Public Worship of His Church, for we read in the Book of Psalms,
"The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of
Jacob." While this is very manifest to any careful student of the
Bible, yet in these our days there is nothing so misunderstood as
the nature and obligation of _Public Worship_. So much so is this
the case it has been declared that Worship is a "Lost Art." This
has come to pass, no doubt, from the misapprehension of the purpose
of this "assembling of ourselves together." The common idea is that
we go to Church to "hear preaching." But preaching is not worship,
nor is it the chief purpose of our coming together in the House of
God each Lord's Day. We come together _to worship_, and the true
idea of worship is to give, to render homage. Worship is an
unselfish offering. It is giving God the praise. It is the grateful
homage of grateful creatures to Him who {281} has blessed them and
preserved them. Preaching is but an incident of such an assembly
gathered for such a purpose, and oftentimes is not really necessary.
It is also to be noticed that the Church's true worship is the Holy
Communion; all other services are but adjuncts to the one service
appointed by our Lord Himself. In the Primitive Church an ordinary
Christian would not have considered that he had kept the Lord's Day
as a day of worship if he had not attended a celebration of the
Holy Communion. When, therefore, our people grasp these Scriptural
ideas, then no longer can it be said that worship is a "Lost Art"
among the American people. (See HOLY COMMUNION; also RESPONSIVE
SERVICE.)
X
X.--The letter X resembles the shape of the Cross of St. Andrew,
which has come into quite prominent notice as being the badge of
the BROTHERHOOD OF ST. ANDREW (which see).
X P.--These letters belong under this head only in appearance as
they are in reality the first two letters of the Greek word
_Christos_, meaning "Christ." The X is the Greek letter _Chi_ and
is equivalent to the English letters "ch"; the P is called _Rho_
and is the same as the letter "r;" they thus represent the first
three letters of the word _Christ_. These two Greek letters are
used in Church decorations either separately or as a monogram, as
a symbol or emblem of our Lord. {282}
Y
Y Cross.--By reason of its shape, the Cross embroidered on the
CHASUBLE (which see) is called the Y Cross, and is intended to
represent the outstretched arms of our Blessed Lord on the Cross,
and symbolizes the Sacrifice which He there offered for the sins
of the whole world, of which the Holy Eucharist is the perpetual
Memorial.