Deuteronomy 30:15 - 20 / Psalm 119:1 - 8 / I Corinthians 3:1 - 9 / Matthew 5:21 - 37
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, February
12, 2023, by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“OF WORSHIP AND LITURGY”
(Homily
texts: Deuteronomy 30:15 – 30 & Matthew
5:21 - 37)
This
morning, let’s take a somewhat unusual approach to our Old Testament reading
from Deuteronomy, and our Gospel text from Matthew. Let’s look at how each of
these texts share the theme of seeing God clearly, and God’s intent and holy
ways, clearly.
Our
approach will route us through the business of worship, and specifically,
worship that it liturgical in nature and style.
We
might begin by defining what worship is.
The
word itself comes from a contraction of two words: Worth + ship. In other
words, we might say that worship is the practice of giving value (worth) to
something or someone.
In
the Church, the practice of worship (worth + ship = giving value or worth) is
the practice of giving to God the value and due attention that God deserves.
The
blunt truth of living is that it’s easy to forget God, or to lose sight of Him,
given the daily ins and outs, the demands on time and attention, the things
that we are obligated to do or to accomplish.
Given
this reality, then, Sunday worship becomes important. For time spent in Church,
hearing the Scriptures read and broken open in a homily, sharing in the singing
of hymns, being together in Christian fellowship and love, and in the sharing
of the sacramental[1] life of the Church, all of these things are meant to remind us of God’s central
place in our lives. Worship, then, refocuses us and pulls our eyes and our
attention away from the things of the everyday world.
Worship
that is truly worthy of the name is that which uses symbol, word and actions
that point beyond themselves to the unseen presence and reality of God. (The
idea here is to use the visible and the tangible to connect us to the invisible
and unseen reality of God…this is the very fundamental definition of a Sacrament.)
Liturgy seeks to do these things, for liturgical worship uses established
patterns and practices which come to us from an ancient time. Liturgy seeks to
remind us of the history of God’s relating to His people.
Worship
may make use of a space which is unlike any other. Its appearance, its design
and architecture, its decorations and the use of images, statues and the like,
are all meant to convey a sense of the holiness of God. (Of course, it isn’t
mandatory that the worship space be unlike other spaces, but – I think –
worship is enabled if the holiness of the worship space is uniquely arranged to
point our attention heavenward.)
Recognizing
that worship, faithfully done, seeks to redirect our attention and our gaze
toward God reminds us that worship realizes that God is the audience for all we
do when we engage in worship. Worship, therefore, can’t descend to being
entertainment, for worship isn’t about us, not really. Worship is about God.
Nearly
everything about God and about what we know of God is mediated to us in one way
or another.
Take,
for example, our Old Testament reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, and our
Gospel text from Matthew, appointed for this morning. Both texts seek so remind
us of the holiness of God and the rightness of God’s will and law. The truth of
God is conveyed in the words of the text. The text itself seeks to redirect our
attention away from what we might think are good and desirable ways of living,
to a higher and better understanding that is in sync with the ways of God, ways
which are higher than our ways. The Scriptures, then, mediate God’s truth to
us, using the words and the meaning of the text.
Likewise,
worship that is the product of careful planning, careful preparation, and
diligent conduct is at its best when it, too, enables our senses to focus on
God and on God’s totally-other nature. Good worship then, mediates the reality
of God, using symbol, text, and actions.
One
final thought is in order: Worship that is liturgical in nature encounters a
world in which many – if not most – people know next to nothing about the
Christian faith, or about the Church and its purpose for being. And, added to
this reality is the fact that if many outside the Church have so little
familiarity with it, then it’s even more likely that they won’t know much about
a liturgical way of worshipping. Given those realities, assisting those who
come to join us for worship by assisting and guiding them to be to negotiate
its progress becomes an important act of care and welcoming for those who are
new to our fellowship. After all, liturgical worship requires all of us to take
an active role in its conduct…..there can be no spectators when the worship is
liturgical in nature, for the very word “liturgical” has as its roots a
definition meaning “work of the people”.
Lord,
we pray that our worship may bring glory to your Name, and may enable us to see
you more clearly and to follow you more nearly.
AMEN.
[1] A Sacrament is defined as being an “outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace”.
