What is Worship?
By: ~ The Rev. Michael Van Horn, Ph.D.
Human beings were created for worship. The triune God has invited us to
share in His life, and Jesus, our High Priest, leads us into the presence of
God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our celebration of worship is the central
way we make ourselves present to what God has done and is doing through Jesus
Christ.
Worship should never be a spectator sport. We are invited to engage as
whole people in the public service of remembering God's covenants with His
people. The liturgy is not our words, but the Church's words, given to us by a
gracious, self-revealing God. We need worship, as one writer says, because we
need the "weekly practice at not being God" and discovering just who
the one true God is. It is only with this vision clarified that we can ever
discover who we are, and flourish as human creatures. A service of worship
church contains four basic elements: The Gathering, the Word, the Table, and
the Sending. Each of these elements intentionally forms us into the people of
God, mindful of God's gift of Himself:
1. Gathering as the People of God –
We come together, out of our various and distinct places of service in
the world, to be joined together as one people with one purpose; to be
re-oriented to God's life and God's world.
Silence
- We pause briefly to hush the "noise" of our lives, recalling that,
left to ourselves, we have nothing to say to God.
Call to Worship and Invocation - Here we recite our purpose for gathering and are
reminded that we come only at God's gracious invitation. For this gift, we can
only respond by saying "thank You."
Confession of Sin and Words of Pardon - We do not come before a holy God on
our own terms. We have sinned. We have hurt others and ourselves. Confession is
honesty about who we are in the light of who God is. We confess our sins
together, with the whole Church, because we do not stand alone in our
brokenness. Yet, we come to confession not to grovel in anxiety, but to empty
our hands of our own "solutions" so that we can receive God's gift of
promised forgiveness in Christ.
Peace
- As forgiven and reconciled people, we have been called to a ministry of
reconciliation in the world. Since God has forgiven us, we can forgive others
and live at peace with them. We start with the family of God, speaking words of
peace in Christ, and continue by extending that peace in all our relationships
and choices.
Praise
- Learning again that God has met us in our need, and has abundantly forgiven
us, we celebrate in songs of gratitude and joy. Once again, these are not
merely our words, but words given to us by God in His Church.
2. Listening to God's Word
The center of our worship is the revealed speech of God. God has spoken
to His people "words of eternal life," and we take time to simply,
reverently, and humbly listen to what God is saying. The Scriptural story is
our story, as the people of God. This is a story of people caught up in God's
grace, human faithfulness and failure, and God's constant loving kindness
toward us.
Scripture – There can be as many as four passages from Scripture read, (Old Testament, a Psalm response, New
Testament Epistle, and a Gospel reading). These texts, often taken from a
three-year lectionary cycle, are shared in common by Christians from many
denominations around the world. Here we remember that God is speaking to all of
us, the whole people of God, and our response at this Word is one of gratitude:
"Thanks be to God!"
Sermon
- The sermon is a prayerful attempt to proclaim the Word of God within our
lives together as followers of Jesus Christ. God's Spirit continues to speak to
us, and we are compelled to hear the daily call to faithful discipleship.
Creed
- Biblical worship always includes response. In our affirmation of faith, we
are invited to corporately affirm what the Church proclaims. With this
confession, we join our voices to the Church around the world and throughout
time, saying, "Yes Lord, we believe, and will obey."
3. Gathering at the Lord's Table
Here we begin to act as obedient disciples, through giving of our lives,
interceding in prayer for others, and sharing in the meal that identifies us as
people of the kingdom - the body of Christ for the world.
Offering - Like the rest of the worship service, the offering is a meaningful
symbol. By giving to the ministries of the Church as an act of worship, we are
acknowledging a deeper, larger reality: All of life is a gift from God. What we
joyfully give in worship should keep us mindful that everything we have is a
gift of God and should be used for His glory.
Prayers of the People - God has ordained us to be priests. Part of that
priesthood is the work of intercession. In the prayers of the people we begin
the lifelong task of bringing before God - through the ministry of Jesus, in
the power of the Spirit - the needs of the world, the church, our communities
and families, and ourselves.
The Eucharist - Communion is the reality of participating in the life of God through
the gift of Jesus Christ to us. Here we give thanks to the Father for His work
of creation and redemption; we remember the Son, Jesus, for His life-giving
life, death, and resurrection even as we await His coming; and we ask for the
presence of the Spirit to join us to the life of Christ and to transform us
into kingdom people, who seek to live lives of justice and peace in the world,
until the day the Kingdom of God fully arrives.
4. Going out into God's World
Worship makes "sense" of the world, inviting us to see and do
the world God's way. The end of the service is really a beginning: the
beginning of a life of worship in which we love God and neighbor, seeking to
"do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God."
Sending
- Having heard God speak, having learned the Good News, having been nourished
at the Lord's Table, we have been commissioned for the work of Jesus in our
homes, places of work and play, in the whole creation. The "sending"
offers words of direction - marching orders - for the people of God: "Go
in peace to love and serve God and neighbor." We have work to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment