Back to Basics: The Reorientation of Worship

So much has changed since March. I was texting with a dear friend who was in Seattle in January, and she texted that within six months, no one would dream of going out in public without a mask. While I was alarmed at what she was telling me, I thought she was being a little dramatic. And yet, this week, I spent around $100 on masks for our family as we begin to venture out more and more. In January, we were oriented with regard to how we presented our faces in public. And then, we were disoriented; staying in, debating the efficacy of masks, the possible risks, bemoaning the discomfort; and now we are reorienting, finding what is breathable but still protective, measuring our faces and studying the size guides, looking for masks that fit our personalities because this is the new way we will be presenting our faces in public.

Every aspect of our life is constantly going through this process – orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. This is the process of all change. It’s just that right now, we are going through massive shifts – in how we work, in how we learn, in how we are entertained, in how we socialize, and in how we are church. And when we have to shift how we do something, it is really important to ensure that we don’t let the baby get thrown out with the bathwater. We need to pause, really in every area of our lives, and ask why as we figure out this new world we find ourselves in.

So, this sermon series is all about the WHY of church? What are the purposes of church? The Presbyterian church sees as foundational six “Great Ends of the Church” – six foundational purposes that undergird all that we do. Last Sunday we began by exploring the one that is the cornerstone of all that we do. The church exists for the preservation of the Truth. The truth that is embodied by the person of Jesus the Christ, the truth that God so loved the world, the solidarity of God with sinners is so deep, that no matter where we are from, who we have been, or how much we doubt, God refuses to stop loving us.

Therefore, in response, we worship God, so the second purpose of the church, the second great end of the church is the maintenance of divine worship. On March 11th, we had Wednesday night dinner together. On March 13th, school let out for Spring Break. On March 14th, it was clear that gathering for worship on the 15th was not advisable and it was also clear that we would worship. Session met. Doug, our Director of Christian Education, Jim, our Director of Music, and I discussed the possible “how”’s. But the “why” was never in question.

As those who study church trends write about the effects of the pandemic on churches, they observe that churches that are reopening are dramatic seeing declines in worship attendance. They are prognosticating that this is the new reality, that the liminal time of the pandemic has sped up the trend we already were seeing of people drifting away from regular, weekly church attendance. But, I don’t think the drift away is about people not needing worship. I think it is about churches drifting away from their purpose long before the pandemic.

In studying for this sermon series, I am reading everything that I could find in print on the Six Great Ends of the Church, and almost all of what is written about the “maintenance of divine worship” is about how to worship. How our Sanctuaries are to be designed, with a font and a pulpit and a table and the Word in the center, the types of prayer to be offered, the occasions in life to be marked by worship – weddings and funerals, graduations and new jobs to be celebrated, moves to be blessed, services of healing to be offered – ensuring that Scripture is “read and interpreted faithfully, together with sacraments celebrated in testimony to the gospel.” Incredibly important!

But, again, why? Why is it important?

Is it because the Lord commanded the Israelites through Moses, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength”? Is it because God spoke through the prophet Micah, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Can’t we do those things as individuals? Do we really need to go to church to love God?

As Nic and I talked about in the children’s time, we can worship as individuals, in fact, that is exactly what Moses and Micah are saying God wants us to do! All of our lives are to be lived in praise, in response to the incredible truth that we preserve – Jesus, who embodied that God so loved the world, the solidarity of God with sinners is so deep, that no matter where we are from, who we have been, or how much we doubt, God refuses to stop loving us.

So, if we can pray anywhere, any time, about anything, if we can read the Bible for ourselves now that we have not only the printing press and it is translated into English, and it is even available to carry with us right here on our phones, if we volunteer our time to people in need, show mercy in our relationships, if we are good people…why corporate worship?

I know, for many of us, we miss our friends. We miss the love and nurture of the Farmington family…that’s next week’s Great End of the Church. Why is one of our purposes the “maintenance of divine worship”?

Have you ever been in a relay race with a baseball bat, that you have to circle three times, and then run? You know that feeling when you first drop the bat and look around, and your world is spinning and you are off-balance, and you aren’t even sure which direction to run? That’s what a week in the world does to us; it disorients us. But then we come together to worship.

The Apostle’s Creed declares that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to gather us into one body – that is what we mean when we say we believe in the holy catholic church, we are gathered into the one body of all believers. And as we gather virtually, we experience the presence of the Holy Spirit uniting us even though we are physically apart.

We gather to worship to gain our balance – to be reoriented. We gather to praise God and reorient our lives so that the Truth is the center, the foundation.

Rev. Dr. Howard Rice, a Presbyterian pastor and seminary professor, was asked by the Office of Theology and Worship within the Office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to literally write the book on the Maintenance of Divine Worship. They published a 6 book series, one on each of the great ends of the church. Most of the book focuses on how we worship, but he captures WHY we worship in just one paragraph. It is so basic. “We worship because without worship we forget our identity and begin to believe the lies all around us: the false promises of advertising that the lure to accumulate more possessions. Without God, we are less than fully human.

Because God created us in God’s own image, we are never more truly happen than when we are acting out our identity in praise, thanksgiving, and acts of commitment. When we worship, we are most fully the people God intends us to be. As the church, we never act more like church than when we worship.”

As Jesus made his way to Jerusalem, he told the disciples that he had to suffer many things and be killed and be raised on the third day. It is in that conversation that we find the passage from Matthew’s Gospel that is our text today. “What will a person give in exchange for his life?” asks Jesus. What is your life worth? What gives your life worth?

You were formed in the image of God; when we come to worship, we come to be reoriented to our true identity. We come praising God, and then we acknowledge that we have been disoriented, head to bat, spinning in circles, and we confess our sins. By the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the image of God in us is reoriented, reconnected, redeemed. We are set back on firm footing. And then we learn the race, our faith is formed. “You want to follow me?” asks Jesus. Say no to yourself, and yes to God. With every step, follow my lead. Have compassion for those who are hungry and hurting. Study my words, but also my life, and pattern your life after mine. Then we return to the world to run the race set before us!

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.