This morning after prayers we got into an important conversation: Lent is approaching, how is that going to change what we do on Sunday? And what about Ash Wednesday and Shrove Tuesday?
I call such questions wrestling with the meaning of rituals. You see the purpose of liturgy was not to have a very controlled way to worship God, though that is how it is experienced today. I have had people come to me in fear and trembling because they were not sure what would happen if they did something outside of what was in the bulletin or the known liturgy. When you experience such fear in people you very quickly realize that the church has been using something so beautiful like liturgy as an instrument of control and not as a witness to the grace of God. And you also come to the realization that it is time to break loose from control and abuse; it is time to restore its beauty, which is in its meaning and what it was purposed to do in the first place.
For instance, the creed after a sermon is not supposed to be a ritualistic reading of things you otherwise publicly or privately accept that you don’t even believe in anymore. If that is the case, then why even go through the ritual of reciting the creed? How can we claim to be authentic when in the very act of reading the creedal statement we are being hypocritical? Take for example the very first statement, I believe in one God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. Do we? Do we really practice our life as if there was one God? Are there other gods in our lives? Father? And, then there is the whole debate of creation vs evolution. I think you get my point.
So then what is the point of the creed being said after a sermon? The idea of the creed being said after an inspiring sharing of the Word of God was that people moved by the Holy Spirit would rise, unable to hold their emotions, and say with full authenticity, “I believe”! This would be an affirmation of God’s grace and love retold by the preacher. It was never meant to be a formulaic repetition of a document – at least not till the urge to control what people believed took over the church’s prime reason to exist: be a witness to God’s love and grace.
Liturgy is meaningful. Liturgical church has unfortunately killed its meaning with its abusive control. It is not a surprise, therefore, that authenticity is such a problem and hypocrisy one of the prime reasons why people do not wish to be church anymore. The solution is not abandoning liturgy but reclaiming it for its purpose: an authentic expression of God’s love and grace.
I look forward to our community engaging in a vibrant conversation around the Table about how to authentically express God’s love and grace while restoring the meaning and purpose of liturgy that has been passed down to us from cultures far and wide. Yes, cultures far and wide. The liturgy we follow did not originate in USA.