Entering sacred time and space II
“I just don’t get anything out of Church”
I (and I assume many of you) have said this at one time or another. If fact, that may be where many of you are at this time. I hear this often and have given this a lot of thought as I prepare worship services.
To begin a discussion of our worship, I think we should begin with the word, “liturgy”. “Liturgy” means “the work of the people”. That means that our worship is the fruit of all baptized Christians gathering for a single and faith-filled purpose –we celebrate each Sunday as “a little Easter” and we rejoice in our membership in that event.
We worship together – one Body, one voice, one heart. If I go into worship not realizing that I am a member of this Communion of Saints, believers united one to another, the living and the dead, beyond time and space, I go into my worship time all alone.
To gather on Sundays is to let myself be a part of something bigger and more faithful than I am alone. I sit next to another and I want for that person what I want for myself. I want for the person I am holding a grudge against the same encounter of God for which I hope.
Each person in the pew has a role to play in how they and others experience the liturgy. It is not just the music, or prayers, or sermon. It is how much each of us puts into the worship our deep longings, our greatest love, and our clear intention to make this about God and not me.
Worship is not about what I get out of it. It is what I put into it. I must realize that I am not the audience, not an observer, not a passive recipient of Sunday worship. I am an active participant and the more active I am in worship, then more grace-filled (enriched) my worship will be.
Now worship can be dry and lacking. But even then God is present and will have something, a small word for you. We all want a liturgy that is rich in meaning and speaks to the mind and the heart. Liturgy is also more meaningful when we understand what we are doing and why. Understanding the rich symbols and the apostolic roots of our worship will enrich your worship experience.
I do not mean enriched as in leaving church feeling “high” or “pumped”, nor is it always feeling affirmed. To have a worship life that in enriching I need to know that sometimes worship will convict me and cause me to see a part of me that needs to change – be converted into the image of Christ. Sometimes liturgy (worship) will remind me of what I should be doing (or not be doing). I will not always feel good after the service – but I will have felt God.
How does this begin? I think, by knowing that when I go to the throne of God in worship, as I enter that sacred space and time on Sundays, God will always meet me where I am (not always a good feeling) and God will offer me the grace I need (even if I don’t particularly want it). I do not need to convince God to do anything – I need to be convinced (converted?) to knowing that God wants something for me and that in my worship I will encounter it.
In other words: What is my expectation on Sunday as I walk into the worship space? Do I expect an encounter with the living God or do I expect the preacher, the music, the service, or others to make my encounter with God “real”. Am I a passive recipient or am I an active participant? That does make a difference.
Peace,
The Rev. Dr. Gerald Sevick
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