On Worship

 

On Monday night, 

I began a six week course entitled 

The Foundations of Worship.

 

I’ve thought about worship a lot over the course of my life.

I’ve experienced worship in a variety of different styles and ways, 

And I’ve taken courses and workshops on worship before,

But I’ve never been involved in a course quite like this one.

And we’ve only had one session.

 

The professor, who is the rector and Dean at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary,

Has an ecological, worldview-influenced view of worship.

He believes that worship restructures time and space

And connects people throughout the ages in a great symphony of praise.

In other words, 

Worship transcends this world and connects us to a spiritual reality that logic cannot explain.

 

And yet we use our logic and we use our humanity to offer what we can in worship.

When we partake of the bread and wine,

We are bringing gifts of bounty and harvest. 

When we listen to the Word, 

We are bringing gifts of openness and intellect. 

When we fill the sanctuary with flowers, 

We are bringing gifts of beauty and the fields. 

When we light candles to remind us of God’s presence,

We are bringing gifts of the elements and air. 

 

When we come together in worship, 

We are forming relationship with God and humanity. 

We are gathering all creation with unified purpose,

Healing and restoring spirits and then

Sending them out into the world to love and redeem the world through Christ. 

 

Worship happens individually, yes.

But worship is more than individual sport. 

Worship is life-changing, communal activity that

Focuses us on more than ourselves 

And helps us see “God’s kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

 

Worship brings us into the very presence of God 

Through confession, forgiveness, Word, music, table, and creation. 

Before Monday night, 

I had never considered the latter, 

But now I will never look at the flowers of the week the same. 

 

So may we be a people of worship, 

Who see worship as connecting and life-transforming, 

A holding space, 

A profound ritual, 

A revelation of God, 

A relationship with the cosmos, 

Now and forevermore. 

 

Amen.