God-Centered Worship
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
One of the reasons I love Anglican services (and liturgical services in general) is that - unlike most of my evangelical experiences - they seem to get the "vertical" aspect right. For example, when they start the service at the Anglican church closest to us, the priests walk in behind an altar boy carrying a large cross - a symbolic thing meant to make it clear that the focal point of what is about to happen is not the preacher. I've never left a service there feeling like God is small or distant. Sure, such a vertical focus can often minimize the "horizontal" aspect, such that real community doesn't actually happen, or it does, but looks and feels more like a country club.
But - like probably the rest of you - I'm busy. I'm tired. Most days, I'm worried or stressed about something that's usually minor, and when I go to church, I'm distracted and not all there. And what I need to hear is not "5 Steps to a Stress-Free Life" complete with a list of disconnected proof-texts that tell me not to worry. Instead, I need to hear that the personal, sovereign God of the universe is still trustworthy, still active, still in control. He is still all-powerful and totally good. My problem is not that I don't know the secret to success, but - to be quite honest - that I forget very easily because my faith is weaker than I'd like.
As the Bishop of Durham puts it:
"Telling the story, rehearsing the mighty acts of God: this is near the heart of Christian worship, a point not always fully appreciated in the enthusiastic, free-flowing worship common in many circles today. We know God through what he has done in creation, in Israel, and supremely in Jesus, and what he has done in his people and in the world through the Holy Spirit. Christian worship is praise of this God, the one who has done these things."
-- N.T. Wright, Simply Christian
This is not meant as criticism towards any pastors. I think most pastors work very hard and truly agonize over how to meet the spiritual needs of those in their congregation, easily distracted people with too little faith, like me. I'm just saying that - with my little faith in mind - remind us. Tell us the stories of the great God - tell us in the songs we sing, in the messages you preach to us, and even in the way you format the service. Strengthen our weak faith by reminding us that God is far bigger and far more faithful than our very temporal perspective allows us to see.
Labels: Hope, Redemption
