Divine Drama of Worship

You arrive in the parking lot frazzled.  The morning had not gone according to your plans.  Maybe you are late because your children refused to get dressed or you got a distressing phone call or some how time just slipped away.  Now, parked out in the Boonies, you hurry trying to get to the sanctuary.

Stop for just a moment and consider the threshold of the sanctuary doors.  I know many people talk about the divide between the secular and sacred; as though the sanctuary is God's home turf and outside the four walls of the church is a playground of another sort.  But, how in the world is that in concert with Genesis 1, where God creates all that is seen and unseen?

Why does it feel like there is a gap between the world we live in Monday through Saturday and the world we enter on Sunday morning (or whenever you worship)?

One reason might be because of communal singing or organ music...not necessarily things I do on a daily basis.  Another reason are the pews...not exactly the most styling seating (or comfortable) ever constructed.  Another reason is the architecture.  Or the simple table set with an ordinary loaf of bread and cup of wine.  Or the task of shaking hands as you enter, putting on a happy face.

Most of the rituals surround worship happen only in worship.  That makes them unique and particular and peculiar.  Worship has a different vibe and that vibe grates at some people.  The rituals were emptied of their meaning for some people, not necessarily because of the church...but because we have sometimes failed to talk about why we do, what we do, when we do it.  We just assume that everyone knows why a call to worship is first and what an invocation is.

But the difference of space and rhythm and language is what creates a gap between Sunday morning and every other day of the week.  In some ways that is good.  It is good that worship has that feeling of other.  On the other hand, those differences can become obstacles too tall to get over for some.  Since worship is central to our faith and our identity, it is good to look at the movement of worship.

In the last post, I mentioned Soren Kierkegaard's vision of the divine drama.  If worship is a drama it needs to tell a story, it needs a beginning; middle; and end.  The beginning needs to introduce everyone to the cast of characters (which remember Kierkegaard said was YOU).  The introduction happens by passing the peace, by settling in with music, and through some entry prayer that I believe needs to provide people of God with a drawbridge between the world outside and inside.  Opening prayers that do not acknowledge we live in a beautiful and broken world in the majority of our life, are asking people to take a leap of faith to enter into worship.  The middle part of worship is engaging scripture and usually a reflection on scripture by a pastor.  You might think that is the climax of the drama.  But I believe the offering is.  NOT because I am interested in money and how much you put in the plate, but because I believe God is interested in our whole lives that you metaphorically place into the golden rimed plants as they clank by you.  When we offer all that is in our hearts, it is a powerful moment.  Maybe, offering could be first in that respect.  To offer your prayers, your gifts, your hopes/dreams for the coming week, could be the first part of worship.

Like all good stories, the point is not rigidity and that you always have to follow the same format.  Some of the most beautiful and creative stories, come out in fresh ways when you tell the story backwards, or start in the middle, or shake things up.  Story structures are permeable and our best worship is too.  So, let me ask you arm chair worship planners again.  Would you like the offering first and why?  Would you like the sermon last and why?

Obviously, what I am most interested in is your answers to "Why"?  I pray it causes you to reflect about what is at stake.  The  more we can do that, be honest, the more our worship can bless us with a trace of God's grace.

Blessings ~