Formed by Worship to Be in the World

Today’s article is shared from the Alban Institute at Duke Divinity School.

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Lisa G. Fischbeck

As early as the fifth century, the church proclaimed lex orandi, lex credendi, the law of praying is the law of believing, or more commonly put, “as we pray, so we believe”. This means if you want to know what Christians believe, you study what we do and say in worship. And what we say and do in worship not only expresses what we believe, it also forms what we believe. And what we do.

Ideally, worship strikes a balance of awareness of both the immanent and the transcendent nature of God — that God is among us and forever beyond us. At its best, liturgy also forms our individual faith and forms us as a community of people, the church, for ministry in the world.

… Before we get to the liturgical benediction, how might worship strengthen people to engage with others faithfully “out there”?

We can start by finding ways to engage with each other in worship.

1. See and hear each other.
   Anything we can do in worship to break free of the idea that we are there as individuals to get our own needs met and to worship God for our own sakes, will help us to be attentive and engaging in the space outside of church…
   Processions provide another opportunity to see others and be pulled from our personal-needs-based worship…
   Hearing others can make also us more attentive to God and the other. Singing a cappella invites us to hear God in the voices of those around us. Allowing for prayers from the congregation does too…
2. Pray for the laity in their life and work in the world. Pray so they can hear it. Consider commissioning lay ministers…as caregivers in the world, as people who work in business or government, or law, or the arts. Let the congregation say to them: “We commission you to this work and pledge to you our prayers, encouragement, and support. May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen you, that in this and in all things, you may do God’s will in the service of Jesus Christ.”
3. Find opportunities to worship in the public square.
   Take the liturgy to town. Be on the lookout for occasions to gather in prayer in public spaces, and to invite others to join. Any time we worship in a public rather than within the walls of a church building, our awareness of our identity as Christians and people of the Way, is heightened…While we may experience some discomfort in public expressions of faith, moving through it can be empowering and formative.
4. Let go of perfect worship and the perfectionism it models.
   The downside of carefully thought out, even perfect, worship, is that it suggests that anything to do with faith and faithful living needs also to be carefully thought out, even perfect. This inhibits a whole lot of spontaneous faithful interaction outside of church…Without letting go of the reins altogether, we can show that it’s okay to make mistakes, we can model the giving and receiving of forgiveness, and good humor, too.

Do we believe that our worship can empower us as a people to engage with the world for the common good? If so, let’s consider how our worship might form us to make that known.

To read this article in its entirety, click here. 

Blessings,
Tracy