Gathering: Serrmon

Last week we embarked on a new sermon series called The Shape of our Liturgy: How Our Liturgy is Shaped, and How Our Liturgy Shapes Us. Now let’s make sure we know the basic definition of a liturgy. Liturgy comes from the Latin word for “the work of the people.” Basically, our liturgy is the order or structure of our worship. And one of the first things that I recognized when I attended my first few Anglican services, having come from a baptist background, is that our worship has a lot of things going on. And we do have a lot going on in our service, and we’re okay with that, because we believe that they all matter a great deal. The minute we begin our worship together, every section, every movement is grounded in the Scripture, and we believe that because of that, it shapes us in light of what the Scriptures teach. Not only is there a shape to our liturgy, but we believe that repeated practices actually shape us.

So in order to bring those of us who are new to this tradition into a deeper understanding of the way of our worship and also for those of us who’ve been worshiping this way for years, to recover the significance and purpose of our liturgy, we’re going to take a look at each movement and show how it is grounded in God’s Word.

Last week we looked at the overarching shape of the liturgy: the Call and the Response. Our liturgy is always shaped as a dialogue. Some liturgical leader, who represents Christ, calls out to God’s people, who represent Christ’s bride - the church, and they respond back. Last week we talked about how this isn’t just the shape of our Liturgy, it is the shape of the Christian life. This is the shape of grace. God comes to us in grace and speaks first. He doesn’t leave us in the silence of our sin, but he speaks forth and when God speaks, he brings life. Just like when God spoke in the beginning, and Creation came to life, so now when God speaks through his word, a redeemed people comes to life. When God’s word is spoken to God’s people, it shape us. It forms us into who He proclaims we are. And when God calls out to us in grace, our response is praise. Our response is worship and adoration. So the shape of our liturgy mirrors the shape of our life in Christ. God calls to us in grace and in truth, and we respond with praise.

Now, this week I want to do one more preliminary sermon before we jump into the actual movements of the book of common prayer. This week I want to look at the very first liturgical act that everyone here engaged this morning. You may not have realized it, but the liturgy of Sunday actually began long before we sang our Procession Song. It began when you got out of bed, and came to church. Our liturgy necessitates a gathering together, because our liturgy is inherently embodied. The very first liturgical act is when your alarm goes off, getting out of bed on the Lord’s Day, and coming to worship with His people.

This morning I want to look at two things. First, I want to look at the formative nature of gathering together for worship. We are embodied creatures. We are physical creatures, and we are formed and shaped through repeated physical practices. Second, I want to remind us that we gather together as ministers of the gospel. Our presence among God’s people is an act of service to one another.

So turn with me to Hebrews 10:19-25.

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

So we see here that the author begins this section with an image of our assurance in Jesus Christ. We are absolutely confident that we can approach the living God, because we have been washed pure by the blood of the Lamb. We have a great high priest who ushers us beyond the curtain and into the very presence of our Heavenly Father. One of the most neglected moments in Christ’s life is arguably one of the most important, and that is Christ’s ascension. When Jesus ascended, he took his seat at the right hand of the Father in heaven, and as part of his role as our great high priest, he brings us with him.

The high priest in the OT, before he could go into the innermost part of the Temple, he had to be purified with water and blood. But there were so many restrictions in place. He had be washed again and again, and he could only go into that part of the temple once a year, and only for a short time. But you and I have perpetual and eternal access to the Father because we have a great high priest who has washed us by his own blood, and he has baptized us with the Holy Spirit, so we might be forever in God’s presence.

This is what the author of Hebrews is saying: You have as much assurance as any human being can ever have, that you are the beloved of God. If you have placed your faith in Jesus, you have all the confidence a human can have, that God welcomes you into life with him.

And then what does the author say? Don’t give up meeting together.

There is an increasingly popular sentiment in our culture, and you’ve undoubtedly hear it from friends or family. “I’m a Christian, but I’m not really a church person.” Hebrews 10 says that doesn’t make any sense. Nowhere in the New Testament can you be a Christian outside of the church. It’s a category mistake. To be a part of the people of God means that you are a part of the embodied people of God, warts and all.

Now what is going on in our passage? He talks about holding fast to the confession of our hope; about being assured of our status before God as his beloved children. Well the question that we’ve got to ask is, “How do we grow in our assurance? How do we hold fast to our confession? How do we know that when life gets hard and messy and horrible; that our Father still looks upon us with unending love and affection? That he hasn’t ever and will never turn his back on us?”

Well, this is the place where we grow in our assurance. John Calvin is famous for saying that the church is the schoolhouse for the disciple. This is the place where we grow in our assurance and grow roots so that we may hold fast the confession of our hope.

But how does that happen here? How do we grow in assurance? How are we formed? And why do we believe that it’s important to be formed liturgically?

Well, we believe that knowledge, formation, and character are all formed in embodied practices. We can’t escape our body. We are inherently physical beings. And how we grow and develop people is always a cultural, social, and physical task.

Let me give you a couple examples. Most of you know that I love college football. Now, I’ve never played the sport because my parents looked at my body type and made a wise decision. But here’s the thing, whenever I watch football, I am always amazed at how the quarterback can keep track of everything he has to keep track of on every single play. I mean, here’s a guy who’s life is in danger, anywhere from 3 to 7 300lb men are trying to take him out, and he has to elude their advances, while reading the defense, and finding an open receiver. It’s absolutely way to much to ask anyone to do.

So how does he do it? Well, in practice, that young man has run that play a thousand times. He knows where his receiver is going to be on the field, because he’s thrown that exact same pass to that exact same guy a thousand times. How do you form and shape a quarterback? You have them run the plays over and over and over again.

Think about it this way. Imagine a team has put the X’s and the O’s on the white board. They’ve seen the charts. They’ve memorized what the routes look like, and have talked at length about how to block and find gaps and get open. But they’ve never actually run the plays in practice. Have they learned the plays? In theory. But when they take the field on Saturday, things aren’t going to go so well for them. Because their bodies don’t know how to run the plays. Their subconscious doesn’t know how to run the plays, because true formation happens through repeated embodied practices.

This is how all of learning happens. You submit to a process of learning, and you go back to it again and again and again. How did we learn to be Freedom-Loving Americans? Well, we said the Pledge of Allegiance every day at school. We went to firework shows every year on July 4th. We sang the national anthem before every sporting event. We attended parades and learned history and celebrated holidays, and over the course of a lifetime we are formed into a particular cultural and social identity.

Well you know, the church is no different. We are liturgical creatures and therefore we believe in liturgical worship. You see this all over the Old Testament. Worship in the Old Testament was incredibly structured in order to form a specific kind of people. Their church calendar was structured in order to form a specific kind of people. And our worship is structured in order to form a specific kind of people.

We are a people who believe in confession and forgiveness, something that is quite unique these days. Our culture has no concept of admitting guilt and no concept of forgiving someone for their past misdeeds. But here, you can confess and admit your guilt. And here, having admitted your guilt, you can be fully restored. Oh, how our world needs to hear and see that story play out.

We are a people who pass the peace to one another. Our God has set us free from animosity and comparison against one another, and we’ve been made priests in order that we might bless one another.

Every week we gather under the cross, proclaiming that we are a people under the reign of a king. We are monarchists! When we gather together, this is a political rally.

Every week we recognize that we have been given a new family. This is why it is entirely appropriate to call one another brother and sister. And it’s quite handy if you’ve forgotten someone’s name, you can just say, “Good morning, brother!” Because it’s true!

This is who we are. This is the kind of people that Christ has made us to be, and so we need a liturgy that will form us according to his design.

Because the world knows all about this. The world of marketing knows how to capture your identity through liturgical practices, and they use repeated action to sway you into their world and buying what they are selling. A brief example of this: how do you refresh your social media feed on a smartphone? You pull down on the screen. You know where that comes from? The idea behind it is to imitate a slot machine, the world’s most addictive gambling machine.

The world knows that we are liturgical beings, and so we need a church that has a greater liturgy that tells us who we actually are in Christ, because we are constantly being bombarded with de-formative liturgies.

And so to be formed week in and week out by the one true story of redemption in Christ alone, we come here. To find assurance and to hold fast. Do not give up, meeting together for church.

But before I close, I want to also remind us of something, and that is that we don’t just gather together to be formed, but we gather together in order to serve one another. Look again at Hebrews 10.

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Every week I wake up on Sunday with a lot of responsibility. I get here early to help set up. I pray through the sermon. I get ready for the absolutely ridiculous task of standing in for Christ through the words of our liturgy, something I am deeply unqualified for except for the calling and grace of God. I have a lot of responsibility on Sunday mornings, but Hebrews 10 seems to suggest that all of you wake up with responsibility too. All of you have a task as well, to stir one another up to love and good deeds and encourage one another.

We are called to be a different kind of people. In a world of narcissism, we are liberated to truly see one another’s needs and genuinely serve one another in love.

There are so many times in the New Testament that the church is called to be ministers to one another. The call is everywhere. Jesus says in John 13:35, love one another. Romans 15:7, welcome one another. 1 Corinthians 12:25, care for one another, 2 Corinthians 13:11, agree with one another, Galatians 6:2, bear one another’s burdens, Ephesians 4:32, forgive one another, Colossians 3:16, teach one another, 1 Thessalonians 5:15, do good to one another, James 5:16, confess to one another, 1 Peter 4:9, show hospitality to one another.

And it should go without saying, but all of this is dependent upon being together. Our service to one another must be embodied - we must be present. We must gather together.

We are called to be servants of one another, the question is not, “Who is at the top of the church?” The question is, “Who is at the bottom?” That’s where we’re all called to be.

But we must also remember that in order to serve, we need folks who are willing to be served. Many of us are far more comfortable serving others than we are in being served. But part of being a community of worship is being a community of vulnerability. Not only do we risk loving and serving one another, but we risk asking to be loved and helped by others - because in Christ Jesus, there is no shame in needing help, because in the Lord’s economy, help is cheerfully given.

So two things for you here: 1) When is the last time you genuinely asked someone how you could pray for them? The great service of the church that we so often forget is the power of prayer. I challenge you some time this week to text someone and ask how you can pray for them. 2) For those who need service, courageously asked for help. A community of trust and worship is a community where we can risk to be vulnerable with others, and we trust that the Spirit of God who dwells in our brother and dwells in our sister, will hear our need and respond with grace.

Our gathering together is the first act of our liturgy, and it is an important way in which we serve one another, and through service to one another we are being liturgically formed into the image of our servant King Jesus.