The Case for Family Worship: The Example of Cornelius

Once again Pastor Hamond begins a chapter by stating that there is no more support necessary for interpreting this passage of Scripture as being a clear support for family worship. The conclusion that a family should conduct family worship seems self-evident in the author’s mind.

Acts 10:1-2 reads, “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was kown as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household.” The phrase fear God is used in a seemingly interchangeable way through out the Old Testament. “You shall not fear other gods,” is found in 2 Kings 17:37 and Exodus 34:14 reads, “for you shall worship no other god.” These passages tie “fearing God” and “worshiping God” together and one statement should lead us to think of the other as well. This argument seems fairly strong because the person who fears the Lord will likely also worship Him.

He goes on to speak of the character of Cornelius. Pastor Hamond shows that this passage speaks of a Gentile (not Jewish, which is a big deal) God-fearer and that this Gentile is a superior example of how to be a good and faithful follower of God. This is confirmed as we read the passage.

To help us understand exactly what is happening in the Cornelius story in Acts 10, Pastor Hamond must explain the Jewish practices in the New Testament era. There were several categories of believers in the Jewish Church.

1) There were the Jewish people born into Jewish families and enjoyed a Jewish upbringing.

2) There were Gentile people born into Gentile families who took on the sign of the covenant (were circumcised) and performed the Mosaic rites.

3) There were Gentile people born into Gentile families who feared God but did not take on the sign of the covenant and did not perform the Mosaic rites.

It is to this later class that Cornelius belongs but we see that he is an example of a faithful follower. It is here that we see what brings salvation. Salvation is not by works (circumcision being a work or action) but by believing and that belief can be counted as righteousness (as it was with Abraham) only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The existence of these three classes of people and the mention of Cornelius as a great man shows the shift that the Christian church was making when compared to the practices of the Jewish church. Salvation is for all.

The conclusion of the chapter is that this godly man is to be imitated and is a great example of faith. He was a godly master of his family, personally devout man, and relationally he feared God. The author also makes clear that this is the first Gentile and uncircumcised man that is presented with the gospel in the New Testament. God saw it to devote the entire 10^th chapter of Acts to this story and we should understand this story in light of what God was doing. The gospel message was for all men for the power of salvation. And so Cornelius and his entire family feared God (or worshiped God) and we must not assume it was only in corporate worship but this was a characteristic of his entire life and family. Again, while this does not appear to support a definitive commandment for family worship, it does clearly present its value in encouraging and building up a healthy Christian family. It seems to not perform family worship would be detrimental to the growth of the Christian.

The Case for Family Worship: The Example of Christ

This chapter is the simplest to summarize and is very straightforward. Pastor Hamond spends the beginning of the chapter handling the obvious objection that Jesus did not have a family. While his mother and brothers were around, they appear more as disciples than family. There is also little evidence of obvious family worship once Jesus begins his ministry.

He then defines the 12 disciples as Jesus’ family and shows that the elements of family worship are present in his ministry and practice in a private manner among Jesus and the twelve disciples. This point remind me of my college days when I became a believer. Those guys that led me to Christ were certainly like family and we gathered to read Scripture and pray. We didn’t sing because we were not particularly gifted in that area. Needless to say, this little group of men probably did function like a family and the disciples did call Jesus, master. The word master sounds a lot like the Old Testament passages we studied where slaves and servants counted as those who were under the care of the patriarch.

So if we are to accept that Jesus and the disciples were a family of sorts, then we can logically study this little group when we are considering family worship.

1) He instructed them privately as his own domestics (the author’s word) – He treated these men as those in his household and taught them privately apart from the group the followed him. This point cannot be argued against for Jesus had many encounters teaching the disciples on various topics during their travels and he did so apart from the larger crowd that gathered.

In Matthew 13:51, Jesus says, “Have you understood all these things?” and the disciples respond, “Yes, Lord.” Here were see our calling as the heads of the household to account for the understanding of our children regarding spiritual things after they have heard the Word of God expounded.

2) He also prayed with his own domestics – He spent time in prayer with those he held most dear. He sought them for support and led them in the way life a life of continual prayer.

In Luke 9:18 we read, “And as He was alone praying, His disciples were with him.” This passage shows us that we are not reading about solitary prayers but private, family prayers since his disciples were with him. There is an understanding as we read the Gospels that this was a customary practice. Luke 11:1 says, “And… as he was praying in a certain place, when he finished, one of his disciples said to him” showing us that the practice of prayer together was a regular occurrence.

3) Finally, he sang psalms with his domestics – We see that Jesus also sang praises with the disciples, which is surely a part of worship and here it is a part family worship as those closest to him were gathered.

In Matthew 26:30, “And when they had sung a psalm, they went out.” The author here spends a moment on the psalm, hymn, spiritual song debate but seeks to dismiss it as it is not pertinent to the current debate. The fact remains that Jesus and his ‘family’ sang psalms together in private.

He concludes this brief chapter on the example of Jesus first, by summarizing the argument: They were taught together by the word of God, they praying together, and they sang praises together and second, by speaking about the Passover meal. If you look to the Old Testament in Exodus 12: 3-4 we see instructions that the Passover is to be held each man in his own house. The Passover was a family practice and Jesus clearly seeks to participate in the Passover meal with his disciples. “The Teacher says to you, where is the guestroom, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples” (Luke 22:11).

We see that Jesus treats the disciples as his family and he desires to worship with those people closest to him. We will no doubt agree this should be the aim of every Christian in their station in life. If we hold our family dear should we not teach our children to listen to the Word of God, pray to that loving and merciful God who gave us His Word, and to sing His praises each and every day? These things make up worship and we see that worship was an everyday part of Jesus life with his family. Let us not neglect to follow the example of Christ above all others.