This morning I stumbled upon an interesting post exchange at Rev. Thomas McKenzie’s place talking about worship . . . . it got me thinking about how we understand worship in our own OC/IC context. What do each of us bring to the experience; how is our unique brand of the Christian faith expressed in our worship?

Before I invite you to jump in an share your thoughts – I figure its only fair that I should drop a few ideas in your lap (my own play and exploration with his thread) to start with.

One thing that I found odd in this exchange is the idea that worship is a moment when we, in the words of Phil Wilson “step away from ourselves and focus completely on God and the wonderousness of His presence.” At first I thought I understood this – then I realised that I did not understand it the way he understood it (I think?) and then. . . .

What is “worship” to me?

One element that is certainly there – and that I think both men pointed to directly and indirectly is that worship is doxological. A quick look, for example at the various Eucharistic prayers used across the sacramental tradition confirms this. But what it also confirms – and I’m not sure I’m seeing this in either correspondant – is that at that heart of the communal life of the sacramental community is Christ in the Eucharist, and in that moment as we are giving thanks to God for all things, Christ is showering us with his Grace. Worship is about the relationship we share with Christ.

Rev. Thomas points to a statement of a Pentacostal friend of his that “ I am a spirit, I have a soul, I live in a body” – he rejects this idea, as do I, and for similar reasons (I think) stating that we cannot step away from ourselves in the moment of worship. I would take this farther. First there is the problem of dualism/Gnosticism whereby the body is “merely” a shell, and has no sacred value, or (in the extreme) is actually intrinsically evil. Our doxology is offered for the whole of God’s creation – the bread, the wine, the hands that made them, and the sweat that produced the raw materials. In the first moments of creation it was wholly sanctified – in the mechanics of the Incarnation that sanctification was renewed. Just as in the Incarnation we understand Christ to be a “whole person” who is both flesh and spirit, we too, who are Christ in the World, when we worship, do so as “whole” persons, and not as divided selves.

Because we worship as a “whole” person then, that “act” of worship is an experience, one that involves the body as much as it involves all the other elements of our being – worship is all consuming. In writing this I’m recalling the hymn: “come let us worship and fall down before Christ, Oh Son of God, Risen from the Dead, save us who sing to you. . .” In this one phrase worship involves the mind, the spirit, the tongue, and the flesh as we cross ourselves and bow deeply in reverence and awe before the presence of Christ.

Worship has everything to do with the experience of our “whole” selves.

Rev. Thomas says something that took me completely by surprise – “Worship is sacrifice. I am giving up something of value, mainly my essential self expressed in a wide variety of liturgical ways. I might find this event emotionally satisfying, but I might not. In fact, worship may case me to suffer. That doesn’t make it less worship.” I’ve had to sit with this for a while. My immediate reaction was something akin to “whoah horsey!” But now I’m wondering if it is merely that I would have used a different vocabulary to say the same thing . . . so here’s my shot at it, and Rev. Thomas if you’re reading this tell me if we’re on the same page or no. . . .

The doxological character of worship is not done in a vacuum. Thanksgiving – is always realised in connection with a relationship. Thus, an act of worship is an act of communion – when in that moment we find ourselves united wholly with the divinity.

Our relationship with Christ is one of realisation of the fullness of being human, loved, and yes “in formation”. To my mind nothing is sacrificed here – only gained. I do not loose my self-awareness, rather in that moment I become more at one with who I am as one striving to realise the fullness of my baptismal call – to be a living image of Christ in the World. I do . . . . as my mother would say “drop the act” that is in the moment of worship I drop the many protective layers, facades, and barriers we erect during our daily experiences that give a false sense of who we really are, close us off to others, and to Christ. Here, I’m thinking of the cherubikon: “Let us who mystically represent the cherubim, now lay aside all earthly care that we may welcome the king of all. . .” These false senses of self – are a hinderance to worship, an impediment to our relationship with both the person of Christ, and the “body of Christ” – to surrender them, and hopefully one worship moment at a time, to eventually abandon them entirely is not a “sacrifice” but a moment of liberation from sin.

Rev. Thomas makes an important point when he says: “When I worship, my question should not be ‘did I have a good experience, did I enjoy it?’ Rather, I should ask, ‘was it faithful, was it true, was God blessed?’ And, if it is then God has been worshipped and I have the opportunity to be satisfied with that.” I do not disagree with him here, but I think I would take it in a slightly different direction. The Apostle teaches us to pray always. Prayer does not always need verbiage to be realised – the point of the teaching then, is that we strive in everything we do, every word, and deed, to be in communion with God – we consecrate that moment to God – life itself consciously lived is worship it permeates all aspects of our life.

In our OC/IC context I wonder – do we often invest too much energy in fiddling with the rites and rituals that punctuate our worshipful lives so as to make statements of one sort or another? And in so doing – do we not loose sight of the doxological character of worship? If worship is about the wholeness of our being – if it naturally demands the participation of our whole self – ought we not to question the wisdom of creating worship forms that are more about scoring political or “ekklesiological” points with “an audience” than they are about being true to the faith?

Likewise what are some of the positive contributions we have to share with other traditions about the nature and mechanics of worship – our small communities, and eclectic theologies do shape the way we experience and express worship – lets talk about those and celebrate them not only among ourselves, but also with others.