.'old' is the new 'new'.

I’ve been attending a church that follows a liturgical order of service. Obviously this is quite a change for me…except for, of course, my encounter with the Episcopalian church back at school (but I seriously didn’t even know that there was such thing as a Presbyterian Hymnal….you mean THE Baptist Hymnal isn’t the only one?!). Liturgy was very unfamiliar to me, and at first I was skeptical of the entire ‘read what’s in the bulletin, respond, sit, stand, listen, respond, stand, sit’ thing…thinking ‘how do I really remain engaged and how do I really worship’ (as if we had defeated mindlessness in church services by adding loud drums, flashing lights, and a whole bunch of charisma).

This was in the bulletin this past week.

“How do I know I’ve worshipped? Ask yourself, ‘Has my mind grasped the truth?’ ‘Has the truth touched my emotions?’ ‘Has the truth led to a changed life?’ If all three are not organically connected, worship may be an intellectual event, and emotional experience, or a volitional pressure- but none of these alone is worship. In the words of theologian Peter Toon, ‘you know that you have worshipped when the mind descends into the heart”

“Many are unfamiliar with the use of a structured liturgy (order) in worship. The word liturgy means ‘the work of the people’. It points us to worship as an act rather than as an experience. The experience comes as a result of the act; for we have come to do something (worship) and the blessings we receive are in response to what we have given.”

A couple weeks ago was the first time I had ever read the Nicene Creed corporately. There was so much power and energy in joining with a community of like-minded believers declaring to our God, affirming to each other, reminding ourselves, and joining with brothers and sisters throughout history in proclaiming who God is, what He has done, and who we are because of all of this. I trembled when I first read, “for us and for our salvation he came down from heaven….for our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate.” I was empowered when I heard, “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life” being declared over my feeble life that is empty outside of the ‘one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from light, true Go from true God.”

I really love this new journey of discovery in church, theology, worship, community, a sort of trekking into unfamiliar territory for me. I have been trying to incorporate the liturgy into my week, spending a day with Liturgy of Celebration, a day (or two) with the Liturgy of Confession, then experiencing the Liturgy of Consecration and ending with the Liturgy of Communion. There really is something beautiful to reaching outside of my personal resources and levels of familiarity and discovering God and His Church and Our relationship in a whole different light.

And in order to make this post somewhat beneficial to you, my faithful reader, I encourage you to add a new and unfamiliar practice to your relating with God, and you know I don’t mean in terms of a formulaic dry deed, but allow it to bring a freshness to your interactions with Him, maybe stirring within you a child-like excitement to discover this huge God who is not limited to that with which we are familiar or comfortable.