The Gift of the Liturgy - Pastor's Column Sept. 2022
The Gift of the Liturgy
It’s no secret to those of you who attend worship or receive home communion from me that I love the liturgy. The liturgy is the word that refers to a form or structure of worship. It comes from a combination of Greek words that literally mean, “work for the people” or “public service.” The liturgy of worship (prayers, readings, music, sermon, meal) is our work, our service to God. But God is also active in such worship in service to us. The Germans call this notion, Gottesdienst – our service to God, God’s service to us.
Some parts of our liturgy change each week. We have a different set of appointed readings for every Sunday of the year, and thus also a different sermon. The hymns and the choir anthem change each week to support the readings. The petitions of the prayers may change slightly to reflect the content of the readings, the current events, special occasions, and the needs that are known to us. But many parts of the liturgy remain the same and contained prescribed words that do not change. These include the Kyrie (Lord, have mercy), Hymn of Praise, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, The Great Thanksgiving at Holy Communion, and other spoken or sung dialogue.
The portions of our liturgy that do not change and contain prescribed words are a gift to us from those early Christians who preceded us in the faith. A couple weeks ago, I came across a quote shared on Facebook that resonated with me for that very reason. The quote follows:
“The liturgy is of comfort to the disarrayed mind. We need not choose our thoughts; the words are aligned, like a rope for us to cling to.”
When I read those words, the thought that came to my mind was how thankful I am that we have the words of the liturgy at our disposal to use. If I were to expound on the quote, I would say, “Day after day, week after week, in the midst of everything, the liturgy gives me words to say, pray, and sing to God when I am weak and at a loss for my own words.”
It is surely possible that worship in the same way with the same words week after week could become mundane, or perhaps even boring. Perhaps you have wondered why we worship in such a way. If you find this to be true, perhaps the quote above and my explanation will help with understanding why we use the liturgy as we do. The church did not develop its liturgies overnight but over the centuries. There is a gift in that we do not have to figure out the best words to say in every new worship service. Our words often fail us, especially in times of sorrow, pain, or grief when we are at a loss for words. But we have the Spirit-inspired and treasured words of the liturgy to serve as our guide.
Another incredible gift of the repeated portions of the liturgy, is that of ritual. The more we sing and/or speak the prescribed words, the more they are committed to memory. They become ritual; they become second nature. The words are there in our minds for us to use whenever we might need them and for prayer at any time. Scientific studies have shown that as we age and our minds begin to struggle with memory loss, or disorders such as Alzheimer’s or Dementia, the part of the brain responsible for keeping rituals lasts the longest. Ritual words such as the Lord’s Prayer are sometimes held and remembered long after all else has deteriorated. That gift brings us full circle to the quote that the “liturgy is a comfort to the disarrayed mind.” It truly does “provide a rope for us to cling to” in our life of faith.