I recently talked to a friend of mine about a concern his family shared about our church's practices. You know, the happy conversations we like to have with our loved ones. The shared concern was that our community practices the art of liturgy and that, to them, it was a work of righteousness from "dead religion."
This has not been the first time I have heard a complaint about liturgy, and it will certainly not be the last.
Two years ago, I was a student chaplain at ORU and was required to lead a weekly devotional discussion with the guys in my dorm. Towards the end of our first meeting, I pulled out printed copies of a liturgy I found in my book of Common Prayer. I thought this action would help unify us as a dorm community as we lifted up one unified prayer to Christ. However, I was confronted by a wide-eyed freshman who wanted to know if I was Catholic and if he needed to move hallways. He had already taken the time earlier that week to point out that I was wearing a Chance the Rapper "3" hat and that he says some words you should not say to your grandmother, so I really should have expected this. At the same time, I did not see the error in reading that liturgy. There were no false teachings, most of it was quoting the Psalms.
I was befuddled as to why anyone would not be okay with reading a formal prayer. However, the majority of the Church lives in a post-reformation age where for the last 500 years, we progressively abandon any and all practices of our fathers. Sadly in doing so, we also have a tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water.
However, liturgy is a form of worship that can be equally pleasing to God as singing hymns, reading scripture, taking a nature walk, and praying in the Spirit. The truth is that I found a lot of spiritual liberation from liturgy. The prayers give me words to say when I have none and direct my heart to Christ's. It does not matter how long ago they were written, there is nothing dead about the practice of liturgy.
The people of God have been practicing the art of liturgy long before the days of Christ. A fundamental statement to Judaism, known as the Shema, says: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deut 6:4–5). During the times of Jesus, the average Jew would pray these two verses four times a day. Praying the Shema directed the Jewish people that amongst their Roman occupied culture with many gods and practices, they were to be loyal to the one God, YWHW, and follow him with their whole being. The practice of declaring the oneness of God then would direct and orients his people into further prayer as to how they were to live faithfully throughout their day. Paul alludes to the Shema throughout his letters, showing that he possibly carried this prayer practice until his death (Rom 3:30; 1 Cor 8:6; Gal 3:20).
The next example is from a piece(s) of scripture(s) that I am sure you are all familiar with internally; Matthew 6:7–15 and Luke 11:1–4. If I were to say "Our Father, in Heaven," you would probably say "hallowed be your name" with no reservations. Although this is a passage from Matthew, we have commonly come to know it as "The Lord's Prayer," and have said and read it since we knew how to read and talk. In Luke's account, the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, and Jesus gave them this prayer. It is not the only thing to pray, it works as a template for prayer. (I encourage all of you to sit down and pray through the Lord's prayer, stopping at each line and exploring its meaning). However, there is nothing wrong with saying the Lord's prayer as it is written when our hearts are aligned with the meaning and subject of the prayer. That subject being God and the meaning being his will. You could say that the Lord's Prayer is the first Christian liturgy.
This has not been the first time I have heard a complaint about liturgy, and it will certainly not be the last.
Two years ago, I was a student chaplain at ORU and was required to lead a weekly devotional discussion with the guys in my dorm. Towards the end of our first meeting, I pulled out printed copies of a liturgy I found in my book of Common Prayer. I thought this action would help unify us as a dorm community as we lifted up one unified prayer to Christ. However, I was confronted by a wide-eyed freshman who wanted to know if I was Catholic and if he needed to move hallways. He had already taken the time earlier that week to point out that I was wearing a Chance the Rapper "3" hat and that he says some words you should not say to your grandmother, so I really should have expected this. At the same time, I did not see the error in reading that liturgy. There were no false teachings, most of it was quoting the Psalms.
I was befuddled as to why anyone would not be okay with reading a formal prayer. However, the majority of the Church lives in a post-reformation age where for the last 500 years, we progressively abandon any and all practices of our fathers. Sadly in doing so, we also have a tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water.
However, liturgy is a form of worship that can be equally pleasing to God as singing hymns, reading scripture, taking a nature walk, and praying in the Spirit. The truth is that I found a lot of spiritual liberation from liturgy. The prayers give me words to say when I have none and direct my heart to Christ's. It does not matter how long ago they were written, there is nothing dead about the practice of liturgy.
The truth is that I found a lot of spiritual liberation from liturgy. The written prayes give me words to say when I have none and direct my heart to Christ's.
Prewritten does not Equal Uninspired
The most common concern I have heard about liturgy is that it is prewritten prayer and that the Holy Spirit cannot move through dead words. That is not always the case. In fact, there is plenty of evidence to show that God can speak and inspire us through the prewritten words from our ancestors. God is not against the art of liturgy; one could say that liturgy is a part of scripture.The people of God have been practicing the art of liturgy long before the days of Christ. A fundamental statement to Judaism, known as the Shema, says: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deut 6:4–5). During the times of Jesus, the average Jew would pray these two verses four times a day. Praying the Shema directed the Jewish people that amongst their Roman occupied culture with many gods and practices, they were to be loyal to the one God, YWHW, and follow him with their whole being. The practice of declaring the oneness of God then would direct and orients his people into further prayer as to how they were to live faithfully throughout their day. Paul alludes to the Shema throughout his letters, showing that he possibly carried this prayer practice until his death (Rom 3:30; 1 Cor 8:6; Gal 3:20).
The next example is from a piece(s) of scripture(s) that I am sure you are all familiar with internally; Matthew 6:7–15 and Luke 11:1–4. If I were to say "Our Father, in Heaven," you would probably say "hallowed be your name" with no reservations. Although this is a passage from Matthew, we have commonly come to know it as "The Lord's Prayer," and have said and read it since we knew how to read and talk. In Luke's account, the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, and Jesus gave them this prayer. It is not the only thing to pray, it works as a template for prayer. (I encourage all of you to sit down and pray through the Lord's prayer, stopping at each line and exploring its meaning). However, there is nothing wrong with saying the Lord's prayer as it is written when our hearts are aligned with the meaning and subject of the prayer. That subject being God and the meaning being his will. You could say that the Lord's Prayer is the first Christian liturgy.
What Do We Say About Our Current Words?
Just because a prayer is prewritten does not inherently mean it is uninspired by the Spirit. Again, it is all about the heart behind the words. If we are to follow this flow of logic, how can we explain our spiritual songs? Think about, some of these songs directly address God, the Lord, and the Spirit like a prayer would do. Take, for example, "Good Good Father" by Chris Tomlin; when we sing that song, we are telling God how good he is and how thankful we are to him. However, the words we say are not ours, they are Chris' words that we are borrowing for the sake of worshipping, and with his words come his theological beliefs. To me, the only difference between asking the Spirit to lead us when singing "Oceans" and praying a liturgy, is that one is set to music we find comfort in hearing.Practice
I know the conversation on liturgy is just getting started (Elliot will be sharing more on it next week), but I want to go ahead and give an example to see if liturgy is a spiritual practice that helps you. This is the Prayer of St. Francis, named after the monk who's disciples wrote it. I find this prayer to shift my mind to have the mind and heart of Christ. It shows me my need for him throughout all the annoying things we run into every day. Try saying it each morning as you are getting ready for work and see how it inspires more prayer throughout the day.
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is an injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
And where there is sadness, joy.
"O Divine Master, grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we find ourselves being born in eternal life.
Amen."
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is an injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
And where there is sadness, joy.
"O Divine Master, grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we find ourselves being born in eternal life.
Amen."
For more liturgy, look into Shane Claiborne's Common Prayer or Every Moment Holy.
- Eric J. Blessing
- Eric J. Blessing
Return-to-player is the amount of all wagered cash paid again to gamers over time. When selecting a web-based slot machine, the upper the RTP, the higher your likelihood is of successful. If you want extra selection, though, you 1xbet may see this one as a drawback. As another plus, Red Dog provides loads of free on-line slots, so find a way to|you presumably can} apply lengthy as|so lengthy as} you want earlier than you decide {if you want to|if you wish to} play slots for real cash. If you enjoy your slot machine games using a cell device, you may love Cafe Casino.
ReplyDelete