The rhythm of worship

As a Christian who has chosen to be in a liturgical setting, this is an important time of the year. Liturgy really means work or service so it should also imply that our worship is more interactive, the work of the people being the worship of God. The implications for our worship are that we don't have congregations in the sense that their job is congregating to listen, that we are there to do more. Our worship asks that you sing, participate verbally in responding to prompts to worship or affirm your beliefs, that you join with others in the public confession of sinfulness in failing to love God with all your heart and the failure to love your neighbor as yourself, and to receive the forgiveness that comes through Jesus' death on the cross.

After that work is complete, you are invited to respond to an altar call. Most Protestant churches have an altar call and someone responds once to that call and they are then baptized and good to go. In our tradition, we believe that those who are already baptized need continual renewal due to the ongoing reality of sin in our lives. The practice of weekly communion is a reminder of our continuing need for the cleansing work of the cross and a reminder of the hope of the resurrection and its power for mission and ministry. The ending of the service is actually a commandment to mission, either "Let us go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit" or "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord." We do it all again next week in the knowledge that we didn't do as well this past week as we should have.

That liturgical rhythm is important to me. I need to hear an Old Testament lesson, an epistle and a Gospel lesson to remind me that the story of God is one story and that the Word of God is unchanging, all those lessons tell of one God with one passion, to call a people to Himself and for Himself that they might build His kingdom on earth as a reminder of how it is supposed to be and a sign of what will be. I need to proclaim my faith in the timeless creeds to remind me that what I really believe about life and the world isn't just materialism, that what is, is. I believe in a God who created all things, that He sent His Son to die on a cross for my sins, that the Son came back from the dead after three days, lived among His disciples for a time and then rose to the right hand of the Father where he waits for the end of our time to come and judge the world, and that His resurrection means I will be resurrected from the dead and live forever if I believe these things. I believe that the Spirit of God lives in me and that gives me hope, faith and power for living a life more in line with God's will.

It is important to me that I confess my failures in the certain knowledge of the forgiveness of God and that I receive afresh the bread and wine that symbolize the body and blood of Jesus which are my surety. It is important that others participate in that work with me to remind me that I am not alone either in my faith or my failure to be all that I should. That work or liturgy is what keeps me moving ahead with hope and it is what keeps me humble.