Series Title

Series Title: In View of his Mercy, On Being Worshippers

“The Work of the People”

July 13, 2003

I remember well the first time I participated in a Catholic Mass. I went with a Catholic friend and his family to their parish church where I was essentially a fish out of water. All around me people were standing sitting, kneeling; speaking and singing, and there seemed to me to be no rhyme or reason to it. No one explained what was happening and there wasn’t an instruction manual to follow. I just stood awkwardly in the pew and tried my best to follow along—which I didn’t do very well. I would describe my experience as Mr. Bean goes ballroom dancing.

Compounding my clumsiness was the language that they used. Words like Eucharist, introit and liturgy made it feel at times like I had entered instead a foreign country. Suffice it to say much of the mass was lost on me.

Now, none of this is to in any way speak ill of the Catholic Church. As I have learned over the last few years, there are many godly Catholic men and women, and many things they do in their ceremonies of worship contain rich symbolism.

I tell the story, however, partly to identify with those who may be new to church, or may be unclear as to what goes on in a service like this. If you’re new here, or just visiting today, it’s likely you will feel somewhat strange. Unless you have some church background, the songs we sing, and the words we speak might make you feel as I felt the first time I went to a Catholic mass. I want to encourage you, however, to hang in there with us this morning. I believe that you’re here for a reason, and that God himself led you here. During the next few minutes I’m to teach about why we do what we do, so maybe things will be a little clearer.

The second reason why I told the story of the Catholic mass is because a word I heard for the first time that day is a word I’ve come across many times since, a word that means something to me today, and, whether we know it or not, means something to all of us. That word is “liturgy”.

Now, you’re likely in one of two camps when it comes to “liturgy”. You’ve either never heard the word before, or, like me for a long time, you’ve associated it with Catholic or other mainline congregations, and as a result have disregarded it as a word that doesn’t concern you.

Where am I Going with this?

Now, maybe you’re wondering where I’m going with this. Bear with me as I explain. I’ve been leading us through a series about worship and what it means to be worshippers.

Through the first part of the series, we learned some key things:

·        The only thing Jesus ever asks of us is to worship him.

·        Worshipping Jesus means to respond to his mercy and his supremacy. (Adoration and thanksgiving)

·        Therefore we are called to a whole-life worshipping Jesus.

·        That authentic corporate worship changes us in that what we do here together speaks into our lives and makes us ready us to live as worshippers of Jesus in the world.

In other words, what we do here together in worship is extremely crucial to a life of worship. Now that brings us to the second half of the series, and to my purpose in bringing up “liturgy”.

For the next three weeks we’re going to examine what we do here together on Sunday mornings. Today I want to lay the foundation for that examination. We’re going to walk through our service, our “liturgy”, and explain what each segment means, and what it tells us about Jesus.

On Liturgy

Liturgy is a word that has gotten a bad rap over the years. Today, some modern congregations take pride in declaring that they are non-liturgical in an effort to distance themselves from the image of the dull, boring, robotic gatherings associated with mainline congregations (Catholic, Anglican, United and Lutheran).

Liturgy comes from the Greek word, Leitourgia, and means literally, “the work of the people”. Liturgy is used to describe the role of the people in corporate worship. Liturgy implies that authentic worship is a group effort, that it takes work, and that everyone is invited to participate. “Liturgy” says that it is the whole people who work to enact worship, not just a group of “performers”. Worship is good when we all participate, when all the people join together.

Liturgy refers to the routine of a church congregation as they worship Jesus together. Therefore, it can be said that every church congregation, whether they say so or not, is liturgical because each congregation follows a certain pattern when they’re together.

Good and Bad Liturgy

Now, there is good and bad liturgy. When liturgy becomes stale, ritualistic and legalistic then it has ceased being good. For example, if each week all we sang were the same songs, prayed the same prayers, read the same confessions, and heard the same message, it would quickly become dull. Another example of bad liturgy is if the same people did all the same things week after week. If liturgy is the work of all the people, it needs to involve people—either in leading or reading, or participation.

If the elements of a worship gathering change week to week, that is bad liturgy because it breeds insecurity. For example, some of you have said that you count on community prayer and confession/forgiveness because it connects you with the community of faith. Though we often do those things differently, we most always do them.

Good liturgy needs to say three things:

1. We worship the God who is UNCHANGING and FAITHFUL. This is another reason why the main elements need to be included week to week. We live in a world that is constantly changing. The latest and greatest are passé within minutes. Relationships, jobs, homes, and, sadly, church congregations are switched and swapped almost daily.

Worship through good liturgy provides a gift to this ever-changing world by providing an example of steadiness and security by declaring that God, supreme over this ever-changing world, is unchanging and faithful.

2. We worship the God who wants our WHOLE LIVES. Singing, moving, sharing, thinking and listening are characteristics of our liturgy. It symbolizes the whole-life call of Jesus. Jesus taught that it’s not good enough to be a casual follower of him, and that there is no such thing as a part-time disciple. So in our worship we want to model that.

3. We worship the God who calls us to RESPOND to Him. A good liturgy draws people in and calls for response and participation. Good liturgy, as we know by now, guides us in authentic worship. The biblical truth is that Jesus has always called his people to respond to him. So that is why in our liturgy we allow for testimonies about Jesus, that is why we have communion here at the front, and why occasionally we are asked to respond following the message.

The Christian faith is a physical faith. That means we not only believe in an omniscient, all-present God, but we believe that that God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus, fully human, fully physical, taught us to follow his way. He had flesh and blood and hurt and laughed and ate and worked—all to the glory of His father—and then he says to us, “Follow me”. To read Jesus’ life story in the Bible is to read about a way of life that reflects commitment to God. Faith in God and His truth cannot merely be a mental exercise. We are called to worship—to respond—with all of our heart, soul mind and strength. So in our worship liturgy, we are asked to respond in different, physical ways: by standing, greeting one another, giving money, using our Bibles, coming to the front for communion, and raising hands.

I know there are some for whom physical response is uncomfortable. I understand that because, frankly, I have felt uncomfortable with it in my own journey. I would often rather sit and acknowledge what I’ve heard in the privacy of my own heart. Exhibiting some physical response to the message, for example, can make us uncomfortable.

But as I understand scripture, discomfort is not always bad. The earliest Christians stood in the middle of angry crowds and proclaimed the gospel. I would call that highly uncomfortable, but certainly good. The cross was not comfortable for Jesus, but was it good?

In worship we need to understand that we’re worshipping a Savior who calls for a response from his people: “take up your cross and follow me”; “get up and walk”; “go into the world and make disciples”. When Peter first preached the Good News of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, he was asked, “What do we do with this message?” Peter replied, “Repent be baptized.” (Again, public physical response.)

I don’t mean to belabor this point, but I think of the three statements worship must make, responding physically is the most difficult for us. It makes us vulnerable, and we might look funny. But if we can remember Who it is that calls us to respond, and that worship is all about Him, perhaps then it wouldn’t be so hard.

Our Liturgy

I thought it would be fun and instructive to go through the elements that make up our liturgy. Before we do, I want to mention one thing. Here at Zion our corporate worship—our liturgy—is planned by people set apart by God to lead worship. This is not a job for the faint of heart, nor is it for everyone. Our worship leaders are uniquely gifted for the task of pointing the assembly, as it were, to God. However, our worship leaders are not performers. They are facilitators, pointing us to God, yet joining together with the rest of the people in the work of worship.

Worship leaders must, and do, put a lot of work and prayer into preparing. Our worship leaders generally plan corporate worship based on three criteria:

1.    Is God the Subject/Object of all we do?

2.    Does worship nurture believers’ character?

3.    Does it deepen this community of faith?

With those questions in mind, they prepare. What they bring is what we go through here together…

Song of Welcome

-A sort of “Let me take your coat, it’s really great to be with you…”

-Draws us together

-Sets a tone of God-centeredness

Announcements

-Important responsibility as the one doing the announcements is participating in worship, why?

-Tells of the activities of the people

-Describes what God is up to in the day-to-day dealings here.

-“Tell me what you’ve been up to…’

Call to worship/Candle Lighting

-The more formal beginning

-This is sort of the moment when the doors are thrown open and the Bride appears and the hush of awe comes over the congregation.

-Physical reminder (Candle) of Who we’re here for, and Who brought us together.

Songs

-We sing, first of all because the Bible tells us to: Psalm 147,“How good it is to sing praises to our God”; Psalm 149, “Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly…; Psalm 98, “Sing to the LORD a new song for he has done marvelous things…”; Ephesians 5, “Speak to one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” And on and on it goes.

-Our God deserves our adoration, our love, our passionate response to his character. Music, we all know, stirs those emotions and helps us to communicate them.

-There’s another reason why we sing. How many people remember the song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”? How could you forget? Singing helps us to remember things. “How Great Thou Art”, “Jesus Loves Me This I know”, “Jesus, Hope of the Nations” we remember truths about who Jesus is easier because we’ve sung their words…

Bible Readings

-When we come to worship, we come to focus on God. Therefore, a key element is reading the Bible—God’s word to us.

-First Testament (Links us with our forbearers), Psalm (Jesus’ prayer book), Gospel (the life and teaching of Jesus himself), and an Epistle (the way Jesus’ teachings are lived out by the church.

Confession & Forgiveness

-Points us to God’s supreme act of grace: the cross. Reminds us that we’re sinners, and for us sinners, Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. But that God hates sin and calls us to confess (repent) it to him and receive His forgiveness.

Community Prayer

-Deepens our community by sharing our lives, and by enacting the Bible’s call to bear one another’s burdens.

Offering

-Often seen as a pause, or intermission, the offering is really an active prayer. The offering is an invitation to respond to Jesus’ call to depend on him for His provision. For me, the offering is a ‘rubber hits the road’ moment where the head and heart truths I’ve been singing about become actions. It is a moment where God asks me, “Do you really believe this stuff enough to trust me in the everyday details of your life, with your money?”

Kid’s Song/Story

-This is the part of our liturgy, I think, needs improvement. The biblical truth is that not only are children to be included in our worship, Jesus actually describes children as models of faithfulness. We adults are to learn from the church’s children.

Message

-The biblical truth is that there are people called to teach about God’s word in greater depth. It is my role to teach God’s word through the message, or sermon.

-Preaching is a biblical mandate. In the Bible, preaching is described as one of the ways the people are guided into right living. So the sermon is important. But even preaching is a corporate event. I may be the one charged to speak, but we need to be together in it. When we’re joined in the study of Scripture, God teaches all of us together.

Benediction

-At the end of our worship together, I will usually give a word of encouragement or declaration of some main truth before we go from here. That is called the Benediction. We call it “The Going Out”. The purpose of this is to declare God’s truth one final time together, and send us out with that truth lingering.

Lingering Longer

Finally, we provide a place of quiet and reflection following the conclusion of our corporate worship. We think that it is important that people have a chance to think and pray about what has happened in our worship. Sometimes people have been challenged by God in a certain area of life and they want a place to consider these things. Others just want to dwell in the relative quiet of the sanctuary. That’s why we ask that our visiting take place in the other part of the building.

These are the essential elements that make up our liturgy, that guide our work of worship. I created this handout for you to take home and consider. As you think on our worship liturgy, ask yourself if these elements say what worship is to say about God: We worship a God who is unchanging and faithful. We worship the God who wants our whole life. We worship the God who calls us to respond. Let’s pray.