Preparing for worship
11/10/13 05:43
My family and the people with whom I work know that I occasionally go on a rant. I will keep talking about a subject that is bothering me until the people who have to listen are tired of the subject and sometimes wondering whether or not I am upset with them. Of the subjects of my rants are things about which I have no immediate control. In fact, one of the triggers of the rant is my losing control. I hope that I am becoming more mature, more aware and less obnoxious as I grow older, but there are times when my conversation is not as balanced as I would like.
Yesterday the topic of my rants was the worship service we are planning for Sunday morning. Here are the simple, non-rant facts: We are a complex and very busy community of Christians. Our church always has a lot going on. There are a lot of people who are attached to individual projects and programs. Their dedication to a specific project is what makes the overall church work. We cancelled worship last week due to the storm. We can’t imagine just skipping Worldwide Communion Sunday, so we will celebrate communion this week. This week’s service was already full with recognition of readers as part of the children’s time, the installation of our associate minister, recognition of ordination anniversaries, and more.
It seems that even after 35 years as an ordained minister and having served as a licensed minister for several years before my ordination I get uptight about worship. I like worship to flow smoothly. I like it to be a meaningful experience for participants. I don’t want worshipers to think that I take their gift of time lightly. I want to treat them with respect. It also seems like the bigger or more complex the service, the more uptight I get. And when I get uptight, I can be less than gentle with the folks around me. In previous years I have dimmed the joy of Christmas Eve for our family by getting so nervous about Christmas Eve services.
There is another important of which I have to remind myself over and over again. Worship is not puppet theatre, with my role being the puppet master who controls every action on a stage. Worship is the people of God gathering before God with the Holy Spirit moving in our midst. We cannot control the movement of the Holy Spirit, nor should we attempt to do so.
God does not expect every worship service to be perfect. Neither do the people we serve. What is expected is that each of us bring our best to God. That is why we prepare. That is why we practice – so that we can offer our highest and best. And doing our best is sufficient.
We often describe faith as belief in things that cannot be directly observed. One of my oft-quoted verses of scripture is Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” I know that faith has other dimensions as well. One of those dimensions is releasing control. Back in the 1930’s the acceptance of a higher power or a power greater than ourselves became a very important part of the treatment of alcoholics. Understanding that the individual cannot control every aspect of life is an important part of recovery from alcoholism. The term is a mainstay of Alcoholics Anonymous.
It should be obvious to me, a Christian Minister, that worship isn’t about me. I may hold the tile of senior minister, but that does not make me in charge of God and it does not make me in charge of the people of God. I am a person with a specific role in planning and leading worship. One of my responsibilities is to never forget that it is God who is in charge of our lives. When we bring our best to worship it is sufficient.
My worries and uptightness is less than my best.
My rants about the things I cannot control are less than my best.
It is not uncommon for me on Fridays to tweak a worship service. The staff planning is completed. The bulletins are printed. There are elements that cannot be changed. But there is still time to work on the words of a prayer or revise a section of a sermon. Fridays are usually relatively light traffic days at our church and there are a few moments when I can think and pray. As I do so today I will keep in mind that Sunday’s worship service is longer than usual. That means that I should not waste words and I should not waste time. As a storyteller, I often go in for long narratives. Repetition is part of the storyteller’s art and it is an effective tool for teaching the Gospel. But it is only one way of approaching prayers and preaching. Some of the most powerful words ever spoken are in the form of poetry. It is carefully refined language, taking every word seriously and asking what can be eliminated as well as what can be added.
This week I need to think like a poet and not like a storyteller. Many of the great words of our faith are words of poetry. My rants are never poetic. I often don’t even get my ideas in the right order when I am speaking passionately.
One of the treasures of our congregation is that we are firmly committed to multiple leaders. The sanctuary was designed with 16 chairs in the chancel so there would be room for many worship leaders. We work with three ordained ministers in most services. This Sunday there are additional ordained and lay leaders who have roles. Each has control over choice of words and style of delivery. I need to see my place in this constellation of worship. When my part is well-prepared and my words carefully chosen I can relax and worship with the congregation when others take the lead.
It is a challenge worthy of additional practice. After all these years, I still don’t have it all figured out. I am grateful for God’s patience.
Yesterday the topic of my rants was the worship service we are planning for Sunday morning. Here are the simple, non-rant facts: We are a complex and very busy community of Christians. Our church always has a lot going on. There are a lot of people who are attached to individual projects and programs. Their dedication to a specific project is what makes the overall church work. We cancelled worship last week due to the storm. We can’t imagine just skipping Worldwide Communion Sunday, so we will celebrate communion this week. This week’s service was already full with recognition of readers as part of the children’s time, the installation of our associate minister, recognition of ordination anniversaries, and more.
It seems that even after 35 years as an ordained minister and having served as a licensed minister for several years before my ordination I get uptight about worship. I like worship to flow smoothly. I like it to be a meaningful experience for participants. I don’t want worshipers to think that I take their gift of time lightly. I want to treat them with respect. It also seems like the bigger or more complex the service, the more uptight I get. And when I get uptight, I can be less than gentle with the folks around me. In previous years I have dimmed the joy of Christmas Eve for our family by getting so nervous about Christmas Eve services.
There is another important of which I have to remind myself over and over again. Worship is not puppet theatre, with my role being the puppet master who controls every action on a stage. Worship is the people of God gathering before God with the Holy Spirit moving in our midst. We cannot control the movement of the Holy Spirit, nor should we attempt to do so.
God does not expect every worship service to be perfect. Neither do the people we serve. What is expected is that each of us bring our best to God. That is why we prepare. That is why we practice – so that we can offer our highest and best. And doing our best is sufficient.
We often describe faith as belief in things that cannot be directly observed. One of my oft-quoted verses of scripture is Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” I know that faith has other dimensions as well. One of those dimensions is releasing control. Back in the 1930’s the acceptance of a higher power or a power greater than ourselves became a very important part of the treatment of alcoholics. Understanding that the individual cannot control every aspect of life is an important part of recovery from alcoholism. The term is a mainstay of Alcoholics Anonymous.
It should be obvious to me, a Christian Minister, that worship isn’t about me. I may hold the tile of senior minister, but that does not make me in charge of God and it does not make me in charge of the people of God. I am a person with a specific role in planning and leading worship. One of my responsibilities is to never forget that it is God who is in charge of our lives. When we bring our best to worship it is sufficient.
My worries and uptightness is less than my best.
My rants about the things I cannot control are less than my best.
It is not uncommon for me on Fridays to tweak a worship service. The staff planning is completed. The bulletins are printed. There are elements that cannot be changed. But there is still time to work on the words of a prayer or revise a section of a sermon. Fridays are usually relatively light traffic days at our church and there are a few moments when I can think and pray. As I do so today I will keep in mind that Sunday’s worship service is longer than usual. That means that I should not waste words and I should not waste time. As a storyteller, I often go in for long narratives. Repetition is part of the storyteller’s art and it is an effective tool for teaching the Gospel. But it is only one way of approaching prayers and preaching. Some of the most powerful words ever spoken are in the form of poetry. It is carefully refined language, taking every word seriously and asking what can be eliminated as well as what can be added.
This week I need to think like a poet and not like a storyteller. Many of the great words of our faith are words of poetry. My rants are never poetic. I often don’t even get my ideas in the right order when I am speaking passionately.
One of the treasures of our congregation is that we are firmly committed to multiple leaders. The sanctuary was designed with 16 chairs in the chancel so there would be room for many worship leaders. We work with three ordained ministers in most services. This Sunday there are additional ordained and lay leaders who have roles. Each has control over choice of words and style of delivery. I need to see my place in this constellation of worship. When my part is well-prepared and my words carefully chosen I can relax and worship with the congregation when others take the lead.
It is a challenge worthy of additional practice. After all these years, I still don’t have it all figured out. I am grateful for God’s patience.