“ For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt”
In our Essentials Red course we are studying the different languages of worship. This week I’ll reflect on a question that has been living with me all week.
When we gather as faith communities each Sunday is there any possibility that we might be setting aside foundational elements of worship, for the sake of relevancy to the felt needs of our community?
For instance, do my efforts to ‘hit the mark’ through a sermon, or my attempts to discern ‘the point of ministry’ move my focus from what is truly essential?
Now I realize this is not an either/or situation, but I am trying to discover a healthy tension between ministering to my community and that of calling the community to re-locate themselves in the STORY.
I have enjoyed the class discussions this week concerning the languages of public scripture reading and public prayer. The dialogue has been rich and the ideas were plentiful. Some of my classmates come from a liturgical background and their insights have been beautiful. Others of us are from traditions of contemporary corporate worship. The latter group, of which I am part, seem to be yearning to discover fresh ways to recover expressions of worship that have somehow been diminished, though they were once rich in the fabric of church history.
There is a keen interest in worship history and as Robert Webber challenges, “the road to the future runs through the past”(1).
Here is what I learn from the past. Historical church was faithful to the practice of telling and retelling the STORY. There was faithfulness given to the public reading of scripture so that over a period of time the saving actions of God are recalled and re-experienced. {Without experiential connection to the story, the actions quickly moves into a dead ritualism)
Is it not true, that our human nature is to forget? We become so easily distracted by current events. We become so easily discouraged by anxious thoughts concerning what the future holds. Often we look for ‘practical’ answers to our ‘panicky’ questions. Since our greatest problem is forgetfulness, then our greatest need must be Remembrance. With remembrance, hope returns.
This is a lesson we can learn from the history of the Jewish synagogue, to which we can trace some of our basic church practices.
Here are some quotes from James White(2) as he explains the history and function of the Jewish synagogue.
“It [Jewish synagogue] seems to have originated to fulfill a nationalist function: the survival of Israel while in exile in Babylonia”
What was at stake was the issue of identity. The author then goes on to write,
“Israel kept its identity by remembering. It remembered what God had done for God’s chosen people whose history made them unique.”
“Recalling what God had done and rejoicing in those memories…..was that worship or education? It doesn’t matter because the result was the same. Israel could survive through worship when countless other kingdoms were obliterated by the sword. And the power to remember, reinforced generation after generation by worship, was too powerful even for the tyranny of Babylonia.”
“Homesick Jewish exiles gathered to read, reflect on, and rejoice in what God had done for their people. And every time they told the familiar stories their self-identity was renewed.”
“Survival came through remembering.”
How many of us experience serious wounds because we forget? Our memories fade so quickly.
In my family, we continue to benefit from the family album. Both my wife and I inherited portions of the family album from our respective parents. We recall the stories and we retell them to our children and grandchildren, and within that retelling we re-experience many of the memories. Our imaginations are charged with life. Our family identity remains intact.
Likewise as Christians we need to hear the story told and retold. We need to find fresh and creative ways to recover and re-experience the ‘exodus spirituality’ like that of Israel as they observed Passover; The escape from slavery; The conquest; The captivity; The hope for The Messiah.
Today we must celebrate and re-experience the Incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and Mission of God.
So, with renewed energy and focus I want to find ways for our community to read out scripture, and fusion it with public prayers of praise, thanksgiving, confession and repentance so that our community of faith will always remember and always hope, not losing sight of our ‘given’ spirituality. The salvation that belongs to us by faith and faith alone.
(1) Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Time, forming Spirituality through the Christian Year ( Grand Rapids, Baker Books 2006),11
(2) James White, Introduction to Christian Worship (Nashville, Abingdon Press 2000), 152-153
