“ For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt”
Convergence is the occurrence of two or more things coming together. In today’s post I attempt to bring together all that I have been digesting over these 5 weeks of study and reflection concerning the varied worship practices covering the wide sweep of Christian History. One thing is certain. One can only observe these matters from 30,000 feet when you only give 5 weeks to something as rich and diverse as Christian worship history. With that as a preamble I now seek convergence.
The significant value that surfaces in my heart from this five week study is the call to humility.
One thing I notice is that the worship practices of any given era were often viewed as contemporary, even risky or dangerous for its time. I noticed how many of the ‘new’ practices were birthed out of their present perspective of what had gone before them, with an attempt to adjust where they thought adjustment was needed, to reclaim that which they were convinced had been lost or diminished, and then weave those threads into a creative, contemporary ‘new’ expression of worship. Though our cultural dynamics and our technologies are unlike any age before us, worship history serves to remind me that I am not part of a first generation discovering the new and the contemporary. I find this exciting and humbling (always a good thing).
We viewed worship history through the lens of language. First there is the language of Time and Space. Time and Space is what provides us with patterns and locations. Regarding the use of space, I respond to a phrase from White , ‘the human spirit associates beauty with worship.(1) We look at space and ask how can we use this space to accent the beautiful and the authentic. Time is a gift and when we worship we are choosing to use our time for the sole purpose of nurturing remembrance. This is vital.
“Biblical remembering makes the power and the saving effect of the event present to the worshipping community. . . . God loves our worship when we remember his saving deeds in Jesus Christ. Our worship tells that old, old, story. That’s the story God gave the world, and that story is the content of worship. Through worship the world learns its own story. And how will others hear unless we do God’s story in worship, calling people to remember God’s story? …Forgetting brings death, but remembering brings life.” (2)
I needed to be reminded of how death accompanies forgetfulness. Whenever God’s people forgot the attributes of God they became distant and found themselves in exile. By nature I am forgetful and I need to be in a community that uses time and space to call to mind again and again God’s relentless loving actions towards us.
In those times and in these places we gather as a community to hear the retelling of our story as ‘succulent chunks’ of scripture is read. We are proclaiming…’this is the story we are part of’. As a community we respond to God in prayer. Prayer invites a diverse people to that level place of commonality. Our unity finds expression in prayer as we all seek to be a people who trust God more than we presently understand Him. History is calling me to be faithful to these two practices: “Public Reading of Scripture & Public Prayer”. Like others I too, breathe the air of ‘individualism’ and I must be intentional to find communal expressions of scripture reading and prayer as languages of worship.
In an earlier post I borrowed a poet’s phrase ‘touching the unseen’ to capture my reflections on the sacraments, particularly eucharist and baptism. I am most grateful for the metaphors that were outlined by Dan (3). My question henceforth is, ‘Is our community being faithful to portray the invisible moves of grace in ways that are visible? How can I communicate what is occurring in a particular sacramental action without diminishing or overshadowing the language of the sacrament itself.
Fittingly this course is called Essentials Red when you consider the colour red to represent passion. Perhaps the two remaining worship languages of music and art are the most passionate of all the languages. So, why would I ever by surprised by widely varied and passionate responses from people to these two languages? Whether it is a hymn or spontaneous song; whether it is classical sculpture or modern poetry, regardless of the expression there will be some who will despise the expression and there will be others who will identify deeply with the very same expression.
I seek convergence. How do I respond to what God has been speaking to me? I am asking Him for courage and vision to promote the varied expressions of these passionate languages believing that they were given as gifts to us from a passionate God. I hope to do so with a meekness that comes from wisdom.
(1) James White, Introduction to Christian Worship (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), 102
(2) Robert E. Webber, Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008),43-44
(3) Dan Wilt, Essentials Red,(Studies in Worship Theology and Biblical Worldview – Fall 2008, pdf) The language of Baptism. The language of Eucharist.
Touching the unseen – I continue to love you and what comes from you dear friend.