Sermon list

"What is Worship really all about?" HOW TO BE THE CHURCH Series
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost	June 12, 2005
Ascension Lutheran Church	Jackson, MS
A sermon by Pastor Tom Clark

 

This summer I plan to branch out a bit and not always preach directly from the lectionary, that “set” of Scripture readings read in most Christian churches about world on any particular Sunday.  These lessons vary year by year on a three year cycle (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and the long season of Pentecost).  There’s a good reason for churches to follow the lectionary.  Following the lectionary allows church-goers to hear most Scripture read and, hopefully, explained through the sermon, not just preacher’s favorite verses.

But there are also sometimes compelling reasons to stray a bit from the lectionary.  It allows pastors to address needs within the congregations that they serve.  So while I may stray a bit this summer from following the lectionary strictly, my tendency will be, whenever possible, to pick up something in the “set” lesson that relates to whatever other text I may have chosen.  It’s an imperfect plan, but I’ll try to be faithful to the meaning of Scripture.

            So, as I start out on this rambling, preaching adventure, I felt that I needed to address an issue that has come up recently.  No, I’m not thinking of the modern debate on how we should address sexuality within the church.  The issue I’m thinking of is not that of political ideologies trying to co-opt Christians to support their cause.  No, the issue I want to address often crosses lines between those who consider themselves conservatives and those who consider themselves liberals and those who consider themselves neither.  Actually, it’s an old, old issue—this is just its newest incarnation.  What is this issue?  Worship style within the church.  Lutherans are not the only denomination struggling to deal with it.  My mother-in-law’s Baptist church in Atlanta has had to deal with it, and it has done considerable damage to the life of that large church.

            I know that change does not come easy to Lutherans.  Have you heard the joke about how many Lutherans it takes to change a light bulb? “Change? What do you mean ‘change’?”

So, first, let me say that I have a rather extensive introduction to what is my true sermon topic – “What worship is really all about.”

            Several years ago, I’ve realized we needed to be moving in a direction that recognizes both expressions of praise and musical tastes are changing.  We introduced a contemporary liturgical setting, “Now the Feast and Celebration” by Marty Haugen, that we now use over half the time. 

Then a few years ago, after one member came to the Council and asked us to try more “praise” style music in our worship, I agreed to work with her and try a format that would do that.  We did several services, trying to schedule one service per month.  It took a fair amount of time—choosing the songs (this was the easy part), obtaining copyright permission when needed, typing the words for some of these we did not already have, and fitting it all into a bulletin/program format that both musician and the congregation could follow.  I decided some time ago that I needed someone else to do this, and Johnson has agreed to take charge of it.  We will resume when he and the worship committee we are forming are ready to take on the work.

            I have to say that the reception to the “praise” services has been mixed.  Some really liked this kind of service; others said that it made a good alternative occasionally; others said, “Do we really have to do these?”  At least two individuals told me, “Let us know when you’re going to do one of these services, and at which time slot – 8:30 or 10:30 – and we’ll make sure and go to the regular service.” 

Our current plan is to continue singing a variety of hymns and songs, with more and more quality new stuff being added.  But then that’s the problem, isn’t it?  What is a “quality” hymn or song or service?  What is quality to one is trash to another. 

            And we don’t even a good name for this kind of service.  Is it a “praise service”, as many have called it?  Does that mean what we have been doing all these years is not really “praise”?  Or, is it just a different kind of praise?  If so, what?  “Regular” praise?  Or, “bland” praise? Or, even “dead” praise?  (Someone a few weeks ago used that term.)  Maybe we need a “name that service” contest.

            And what’s proper style for our context in Jackson, Mississippi.  No one doubts that we are in “Baptist-country.”  But, that’s nothing to complain about.  Instead, give thanks to God that they reach so many people.  However, do we need to copy them?  I have not yet figured out why anyone searching for a church would chose “Lutherans imitating Baptist” over Baptist doing what comes natural.  I don’t think we can’t “out-Baptist the Baptist.” 

            As for the preferred style of worship in Jackson, the evidence might surprise you.  Percept, a company that does demographic studies of church culture, has research saying that the preferred worship style in Jackson, MS is traditional.  Granted, the music accompanying the worship may vary from organ to piano to orchestra.  And certainly not everyone prefers traditional hymns or style.

            And that brings me to topic I want to address today—WHAT WORSHIP IS REALLY ALL ABOUT.  When the New Testament writers use “worship” or “praise” they are most often talking about correctly remembering the one who is worthy of worship rather than the mode of worship.  Their concern is that worship be directed to God through Jesus Christ, the only one through whom we may receive eternal life.

 

Listen to these verses about worship:

 

·         1 Cor. 14:13f Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret.  For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive.  What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also.

·         Ephesians 5:18f Do not get drunk with wine ... but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

·         Colossians 3:16f Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

·         Hebrews 13:15f Through [Christ], then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. [Note that worship—here understood as “sacrifices”—that is acceptable to God are more about “doing good and sharing” than about praise style.]

·         Revelation 5:9f They sing a new song:  “Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God.   Power & riches & wisdom & strength, & honor & blessing & glory are his...”. (Recognize that? It is the modified form from Revelations 5 that we sang this morning as our hymn of praise.)

 

My fear is that if we may become so focused on what each faction sees is the “right way” to worship—either traditional or contemporary—that we loose sight of what is the true task that worship serves: offering praise and thanks to God for his love revealed in Jesus Christ. 

            Last summer, I had the chance to sit in a presentation by Marty Haugen, who composed the contemporary liturgy we use most Sundays, where he explained in a very clear and helpful way how we should look at worship.  (You can read his explanation at http://www.martyhaugen.net/living_body_of_christian_worship.htm)¹

            First, Haugen says that the heart of Christian worship is our giving praise and thanks to God for God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ.  This is the center and without it, nothing else that we do matters.

            Secondly, though Jesus did not leave his followers with a careful list of instructions about what their worship should look like, Christian worship quickly evolved a basic structure that can be observed even in Scripture.  Christians proclaimed and prayed and sang from the Hebrew Scriptures, and they blessed and broke bread and wine together as part of a sacred meal (as the apostles had done many times with Jesus).  As the church grew and spread to different cultures, gathering and sending rites were added to complete what became the “skeleton” of Christian worship. 

            Thirdly, in the early centuries of the Christian movement, other elements that we still use today began to take shape.  Haugen says that the skeleton of Christian worship…

 

…has been enfleshed differently by every culture and every denomination and in

every historical period. And this is not only natural, it is essential.  Just as Jesus lived in a culture, in a moment of history, in a religious tradition, so does every Christian community. The eternal and infinite message of God’s love is revealed again and again in constantly changing, particular and peculiar gatherings of believers.

 

The “flesh” parts of Christian worship are not essential to every time and place, but they offer us a good way to consider how worship has been done and offer us patterns (though not “straight-jackets”) that we often find helpful to follow.

            The final “layer” of Christian worship that Haugen talks about is what he calls the “clothing”—that stuff that is the least important but often generates the most passionate disagreements.  In this layer he includes such stuff as musical style, instrumentation, vestments and choir robes, furniture and physical, "traditional" hymns and "contemporary praise songs", and the time of the worship service.  It is not that this stuff is not important; it is just far less important than what lies at the heart—offering thanks and praise to God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ. 

            The focus of worship should always be on thanking and praising God, not on patting ourselves on the back or catering just to what would best entertain those gathered for an hour or more on Sunday mornings.  But worship does have another important task—strengthening us for the task of being workers in the Lord’s vineyard.

            The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are indeed few.  Barbara Brown Taylor says that next to the calling of the disciples, Matthew’s story about Jesus sending them out is one of the most challenging stories in the whole Bible.  Taylor says,

 

Can you imagine?  There you are, perfectly content to be a follower, when Jesus comes home all worn out one day with his hair hanging in his face and his clothes ringed with sweat and dirt.  He looks around at those of you who have been with him all along and says, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.  I need some help, and I’m nominating you.’  Then he holds his big hands out over your heads and says a prayer that travels down your backbone like a chill, giving you authority over demons, over disease – even over death – and when he has finished, you open your eyes and look at each other to see if you can tell any difference.  Next you take a deep breath to test whether anything has changed inside.  Do you feel wiser, stronger, more capable?  Nope. Just blessed, sort of.  Sort of tingly and curious and, well, ready – not for anything in particular, just generally ready for whatever is next.

 

She says that then he starts calling names, [and now I’ll paraphrase her in order to fit our context] “Jim and Ethel, you take Brandon; George and Bridgette, you take Ridgeland. Ron and Tracie, Madison.  Sandy & Gilbert, I’m thinking Jackson for you.  Here’s what I need you to do: preach the kingdom, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the outcasts, cast out demons.  Boy, do I need a weekend off.  You all have a good time. I can’t wait to hear the stories you bring back.  Now get out of here!  Go, go, go!”

            Taylor ends by saying, “It does not happen exactly like that at church, but it happens all the same. At the end of every service, while the last word of the last hymn is still ringing in the air, a voice from the back of the church says, ‘[Go in peace.  Serve the Lord!’] Those are not words for consumers of God’s love. Those are words for the providers.” ²

            As for worship styles, we Lutherans could probably do some work on our form and content and it would not hurt us—too much.  But if we want to be faithful to what the goal of worship is all about, we should not take our eyes off what lies at its heart—the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.  No amount of spicing up or hand-waving or blame-casting can take away the responsibility we have of living for the God who gave himself for us.  No amount of external show can replace having the internal peace of knowing our salvation is dependent on God alone.  We receive the strength for the tasks God has prepared for us, not by the enthusiasm of our praising, but by the assurance God gives us as he reminds us that he marked us with the cross of Christ forever.  Go in peace.  Serve the Lord.

 

Works cited:

¹Marty Haugen, “The Living Body of Christian Worship”, article posted on Haugen’s website http://www.martyhaugen.net

 

²Barbara Brown Taylor, “Heaven at Hand” in Bread of Angels [Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 1997], pp. 151-152.