|
When We Worship
Jesus Christ is the living and abiding Word of God. By the power of the Spirit, this very Word of God … is read in the scriptures, proclaimed in preaching, announced in the forgiveness of sins, eaten and drunk in the Holy Communion, and encountered in the bodily presence of the Christian community. … God gives the Word and the sacraments to the church and by the power of the Spirit creates and sustains the church among us. … God calls the church to exercise care and fidelity in the use of its means of grace, so that all people may hear and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and be gathered into God’s own mission for the life of the world.
(The Use of the Means of Grace, principles 1 & 2)
This Introduction to our reason for worship gives us a sense of the form which we follow today. However, it’s important to remember that within the form there is a great diversity of expression, once which conforms to the language and culture of those worshipping.
Worship takes place in particular assemblies within particular contexts. Yet every assembly
gathered by the Holy Spirit for worship is connected to the whole church. Worship unites the
people of God in one time and place with the people of God in every time and place. We use
patterns, words, actions and songs handed down through the ages to express this unity and
continuity.
(Evangelical Lutheran Worship ELW, pg. 6)
Worship is meant to be authentic, “real” in the sense of meaning and intent among those
participating. Worship is not a spectator sport, but rather deeply involves all who assemble each time. Certain forms or structures connect the church of the early 21st century to the church of the early 3rd century. But within each era there are different expressions, various understandings and expectations, changed meanings and impressions that are communicated through the assembly in its praise and prayed to God. Although it sometimes seems incongruous, there is a Unity of faith in our Diversity of expression.
Some common actions or words have always been a part of Christian worship. All communities behind the New Testament writings treasured baptism as the way one enters the church, but also as a sign of the hope and promises of God. The gospels begin with it, modeling a pattern in which the Christian communities also begin. The reading of scripture as a liturgical practice is seen not only in Jewish worship practices during Jesus’ time but also in the communities of the early church, where the Old Testament texts were read along with the accounts of the Apostles and the Epistles written to the newly planted churches in the empire. Preaching – expounding on the Word as handed down and applied to the lives of the church proclaims God’s desire for all the world to come to know him. Prayer for the needs of the world, confidently in Jesus’ name and in the power of the Spirit, brings the gathered into the priesthood of all believers, where we stand before God pleading not just for ourselves but for the world. Finally, sharing the Lord’s Supper is shared as directed by Christ (“do this” Like 22:19) and Paul (1 Cor. 11:24-25). By this regularly occurring practice, Christ is made know to us in the breaking of bread (Luke 24:30-31).
So, we have some basic components of Christian worship upon which to build an authentic and expressive faith, one in which we come to expect that God in Christ is present among us in our gathering, in which the Spirit invigorates and empowers us to live out the faith we hold dear as signs of God’s love for the world.
Shalom.
Pr. Mark
| 
