Visitors to a liturgical church sometime joke about their dilemma, “Do I kneel, sit, or stand?”…a confusion at seeing a collection of manual acts, reminding them of the “The Vatican Rag” lyrics: “First you get down on your knees, Fiddle with your rosaries, Bow your head with great respect, And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!” Liturgy literally means, “the work of the people.” Worship in the early church was not a passive experience but a participatory action and event in which the assembled people of G_d actively worshipped together.

The model of worship which Scripture gives us is joyful service to G_d because we owe him our abundant praise: it is entirely G_d-centered and G_d-focused. Teaching and learning have their own essential place in the life of a believer, but worship is not the same thing. Spiritual practice is not just about the mind or the soul. We are a unity of body, mind, and soul. The actions of the body and mind are reflected in our soul, and our soul motivates us in the way in which we use our bodies.

Liturgy invites participants to worship G_d holistically, with body, mind, and spirit. Paul reminds the Hebrews, and us, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to G_d an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our G_d is a consuming fire.” So, does one kneel, sit, or stand? The answer is a complicated simplicity. Standing reflects our praise of the saved, resurrected, and hoped-for image of G_d. Kneeling shows our prayerful awareness of our created nature not of our own doing. Sitting suggests we are mindful of our need and trust for continued guidance and peaceful rest in the presence of the Creator.

Liturgical worship calls on us to act like the people that we are: neither masters of the universe, nor its refuse. We are the beloved children of G_d, transparent in body, mind, and spirit to the One who made us. “I am coming to you!” The driving question of worship is not “What is most conducive for the people?” rather it is “What is most glorifying to G_d?”

We worship while we wait anxiously, knowing everything is not yet fulfilled. As St. Paul says, Creation is groaning and waiting. Waiting to be freed from our bondage to corruption. Waiting for a worship to be shared by all the creatures of G_d; Glory revealed. Waiting, is not without hope, for in waiting we receive the divine gifts of life. Thomas Merton reminds us that every moment and every event of every life on earth plants something in the soul. Each moment brings with it bits of spiritual vitality, some bits though, imperceptibly come to rest in our mind and will.

It is odd that our groaning at G_d’s absence is itself an aspect of Divine presence. “I am going away, and I am coming to you,” The manner of Jesus coming, while secret, is no less real. Happily, for us, there are signs to give us confidence again and again. The water of baptism, the bread of heaven, the cup of salvation, the comfort of Scripture, and the millions of silent wonders of Creation are among the tiny bits where Grace seeps in to give a new supply of vitality in our worship, and for the living of our days. No matter how you worship, simply going through the motions is insufficient. As St. Paul told the Romans “offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord.”

Pax,

jbt