Liturgical Worship
In seminary, a group of students talked with a Presbyterian pastor about church planting. The students were all Anglican or Lutheran. When the topic of liturgy came up the pastor remarked on it being "useful only if it helps to attract people to the service, the moment that it becomes a hindrance to people coming it should be abandoned." I think it was at this point that the students all realized that they were on very different pages from this pastor.
There is a worldview that sees all material things around us as objects to be used, it is very functional. On the other hand, there is a sacramental worldview that seeks to see the world as God sees it. All creation finds its fullness in God and when used for God's purposes. In other words, the world reflects God and his work to us. A key distinction is that the sacramental worldview looks (perhaps expects) to encounter God in the world around them. Now there are good and necessary times to engage the world in a way that utilizes the tools given to help us, but it should not stop there.
How we approach church planting is a helpful way to show how a sacramental view makes a difference. Many churches take the approach that Walmart might take when figuring out where to plant: look at the demographics, whether there is enough foot traffic, and of course location, location, location. Now there is some wisdom to this, if people can't find your church you have a problem.
The Church, however, for millennia has sought to build churches where the work of God has been displayed (i.e. the church built over the house of St. Peter in Capernaum or any number of shrine churches). If there is not a particular spot that was associated with a miracle or historic figure then relics would be brought in and sealed into the altar. This idea comes from the Church meeting in the catacombs and the prayers of the people being joined to the prayers of the church triumphant. The Church later brought the relics with them as they moved out from the catacombs and placed them in the altar. This emphasized that the Church now is tied to the past work of God in the life of a particular person or location. These places joined to the prayers of the Church militant and the Church victorious are seen as thin places. These places of prayer are then embodied in the building of a church and connected to the work of God through the lives of saints. If we expect heaven and earth to meet in the liturgy then let it not just be we ourselves that are brought up into this reality but let all of creation that has participated in the work of God be present too. We look to join our prayers with the work that God has accomplished.
Do we look around us and see where God's working? Do we pray to be given spiritual eyes? Do we take prayer seriously? Or, do we trust more in our ability to bring about what we think God wants? Before we (Christians in general) try and figure out how to make a church "effective" should we not do what God has already commanded us to do?
God has told us how to worship him. In the Old Testament, God has depicted how he wants to be worshipped. He tells them to build the temple and the Ark of the Covenant so that they are beautiful. The priests are to wear clothes representing their position and remind people what they are doing. There is to be fasting and feasting. We are to give a percentage of what we have to God. There are bowls of incense to image our prayers ascending to heaven. There is to be the teaching of the law. We could go on and on.
When we get to the New Testament, particularly in Revelation we are given an image of heavenly worship that includes these same elements: a High Priest (Jesus Christ), a sacrifice, incense, prayers, beauty and grandeur, songs of praise to God, the faithful from all over the world, and even a heavenly feast. The distinctions from the Old Testament are found in how Christ has fulfilled different aspects. Some things in the Old Testament were shadows of what has been fulfilled in Christ and so they look different in the fullness of heavenly worship.
In the liturgy today, we realize that while we are not fully at the heavenly liturgy the heavenly liturgy is brought to us. The reason the Old Testament temple looked a certain way and God commanded them to do specific things and why we worship and follow the liturgy as we do is because both reflect the heavenly reality. The liturgy is an image of what is going on in heaven. This is why liturgy is not just a tool to attract people, we are not allowed to change important aspects to fit our preferences, and we cannot allow categorical innovation in our worship. We worship this way because at its core this is how God has commanded us to worship him. It is because our worship is meant to reflect the true heavenly worship. This is not to say that there aren't differences in liturgies, customs of different parishes, or even preferences between clergy. However, the core of the liturgy remains the same, and the images, words, elements of worship, and liturgical framework are drawn from Scripture, forming our worship of the heavenly reality.
When we worship, we don't just worship by ourselves. We worship with the church throughout time and space, even those who have gone before us and are present in the heavenly reality. Let us look around at the work that God is doing, expect to meet God in our daily lives, and join in the worship and work that he has been accomplishing throughout the ages.
"Through the Veil"
Fr. Aaron