March 3, 2023
The Art of Worship
As I continue to offer reflections on the practices of our faith for our considerations this Lenten season, I am reminded of the musings of Danish Lutheran philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was living in the in the early decades of the Enlightenment, where anything “supernatural” was to be rejected because it was not rational. At the same time, he experienced the worship of his Lutheran church, to which he felt called to ministry, as being pristine in its content and execution. It was filled with the music of Bach and performed by the finest vocalists and instrumentalists. But he found it lifeless. Not because it was performed unenthusiastically, but primarily because it was performed by the wrong people. Kierkegaard claimed that the people went to worship to passively receive. The scriptures are clear, we are to come to worship prepared to offer our gifts in concert with others as a corporate act of worship to God (1 Corinthians 14:26).
We are the artists who offer worship; and the art of worship is the work of the people. Pastors prepare and lead a worship service, but we do not offer worship to or for the congregation. It is the congregation who offers worship to God. We all offer our gifts together, with some set apart to offer their gifts to accomplish things we all cannot do as well (sing, play instruments, read scripture, preach, greet, serve, and so on). And this is done to build each other up as people of faith and to honor God with thanks and praise. But most of all, it is to respond to God’s gracious offer to be restore us to healthy relationships with ourselves, our world. Ultimately we restore our relationship to God by offering ourselves to God with pour whole selves—both our gifts and our needs.
The understanding that worship is the work of the gathered people is rooted in one of the New Testament terms used for worship. It is the combination of “laos” (people) and “ergia” (work) which combined is “leitourgia” (liturgy). We think of liturgy as a style of worship, but it is the nature of worship in any form which invites people to be the principal performers. Worship is a ritual, and ritual is not a spectator sport.
With this understanding, we provide worship services that invite you to participate. Sometimes you participate outwardly and actively, other times you participate inwardly and reflectively. Both are equally acts of worship, one is extroverted and one is introverted. Some of us are more introverted and some more extroverted by nature, so we provide opportunities for both types of participation. We also try to cover a variety of expressions of worship in each service, and cover the full range of experiences and their expression in worship over the course of a year.
I offer two concrete examples; the first is singing. We sing a number of times in a service, and they all serve different purposes. In Lent we begin by confessing our sins, receive the promise of God’s forgiveness and respond by praying for God’s merciful response to our sins to continue in our life. We do this by singing the Kyrie. Singing our prayers together is often easier than reading them together. Before the sermon where you are guided in an extended meditation on the scripture (introverted) we often sing, either in response to the texts just read or in preparation for the sermon. After the sermon (again introverted worship), we respond, sometimes spoken, but more often sung, either of which will lead us to offer our petitions and intercessions to God. Singing enables us to join our voices together in worship more easily. Still, some of us are more gifted musically and can sing we are unable to sing. So we have music played and sung as worship for us, inviting us to worship by reflecting on both the lyrics and the the music and drawing our attention to God.
Second, is leading worship. When Paul writes about the church, he assumes that all who are participating are baptized. (Romans 6:3-4) Traditionally those who led worship wore robes based on the white baptismal gowns worn since the second century. All who lead worship are set apart by their gifts, and they are set apart to both represent and serve the congregation. We pastors at First Covenant Church wear albs, white gowns the identify our authority coming from our baptism. The sign of this authority being affirmed by the church is the stoles we wear over our shoulders. These are given by the Covenant Church at our ordination service, and I was given a stole by you all by at my installation. When any of us leads worship, ordained or lay, we do so as one of you and offer our gifts to enable the congregation to worship together. According to Paul, this is what all baptized are called to do, and do together.
This week before you come to worship, I invite you to pray that your participation may contribute to our offering of worship, that it might glorify God and encourage others in their walk with Christ. Rather than coming primarily to receive, come prepared to offer, done as a response to God’s incomprehensible offer to restore us to right relationships with one another and with God.
~ Pastor Todd