I got a Facebook message this week from a member of Aldersgate. She wrote to tell me thank you for last week’s worship, which I appreciated. It was a complex subject (for those who weren’t there we responded to the question “what is the stance of the UMC on same sex marriage?”) and we were all a bit nervous about it. But having dealt with the Atonement a couple of weeks ago and then Justification or Salvation before that, a difficult social issue seemed par for the course. So, I was glad to be thanked for navigating some difficult waters. (If you want to know what was said, check the website aldersgatecommunity.com, we’ve got the sermon posted now)
But then the next thing my Facebook messenger said was “Maybe it is time for something lighter!” We are all breathing a bit heavy under the load this summer here at Aldersgate. Maybe we do need something a little less intense, a little less ... I dunno ... serious? Important? No, not important. It’s all important. But perhaps a little less...um...life and death? Yeah, maybe that is it. Some of these issues, some of these doctrines seem so out there, so heavy. We need something lighter. Something like worship. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Worship, a little diversion. A little music and prayer, if we’re in the mood. Something to while away an hour on a Sunday morning.
Let’s talk about how we worship. The question that was submitted was “What is the meaning of all the seasons and colors and symbols of the Christian Year?” OK, that’s easy. Just a little lecture on liturgy, on variety and texture of worship. Yeah, let’s just sit back and think about this for a moment. No big deal.
Let’s see, maybe a text about making worship pretty. Hmm. Oh, I know. Let’s do this one:
Exodus 35:1-19 Moses assembled all the congregation of the Israelites and said to them: These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do: 2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwellings on the sabbath day. 4 Moses said to all the congregation of the Israelites: This is the thing that the LORD has commanded: 5 Take from among you an offering to the LORD; let whoever is of a generous heart bring the LORD's offering: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen; goats' hair, 7 tanned rams' skins, and fine leather; acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breastpiece. 10 All who are skillful among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded: the tabernacle, 11 its tent and its covering, its clasps and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 12 the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the curtain for the screen; 13 the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance, the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin with its stand; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 the finely worked vestments for ministering in the holy place, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron, and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests.
Um, well. OK. Just skip over those opening verses and we have a meeting of the building committee. Or maybe the Altar guild. You know the folks who are responsible for making sure that things are in order on a Sunday morning. You know, the folks who add a little something, an accent, a bit of color, some texture to our worship experience. Not essential, we think, but nice.
And yet here is Moses implying that there is something serious going on here. True, he doesn’t say you have to bring this stuff. He says “whoever is of a generous heart” bring in these things. But he does seem to imply that it is necessary. For the worship experience of the community as a whole, we need these things – precious metals, colorful fabrics, lush furs, aromatic oils and gemstones. Then we construct a space to contain it all. Not just in a hodgepodge, but in an order that guides our thoughts and our experience toward the creator of beauty in appreciation and awe.
Moses doesn’t say you have to bring something to add to the worship experience, but that maybe you want to. All who are skillful among you, he says. Generous on the one hand, skillful on the other. It is like he is trying to find where you plug in. Because plugging in is important.
The connection between the question listed above and this idea of worship is that we want to find meaning in the space we create for worship. We want it to tell a story, or make a connection, to send us on the journey of faith. So, we have devised a system whereby we can be reminded of where we are on that journey. I’ll run through it quickly on Sunday, but basically it is built on the highlights of the life of Jesus Christ - anticipation, birth, revealing (epiphany), temptation, passion, death and resurrection - half the year, and then the Christian life - or living out the implications of Christ’s life - the rest of the year. In other words we lay our lives alongside Christ’s life in a continual rhythm of worship and discipleship.
Which I guess, then begs the question as to the importance of this thing after all. This worship thing. This if you’ve got a few moments on a Sunday why not show up, if you’re not otherwise occupied, thing. At least that is what it has come to be for us, most of us these days. But if we go back to the awkward couple of verses that introduce our passage for this week, we seem to sense a different level of significance.
“Whoever does any work,” says Moses, whoever has other stuff to do, other distractions or responsibilities, other duties to perform or activities to fill a busy calendar, “shall be put to death.” Um, a bit harsh, surely. Well, I’m not advocating a return to the death penalty for missing church. But maybe we have gotten a little lax about how important this worship thing is. It is worth our generosity. Moses doesn’t ask for leftovers, scraps that we have lying around going unused, he asks for gold, for purples and crimsons, the expensive stuff that isn’t easy to get. It is worth our skill. We spend a lot of time working for our own benefit, making our space comfortable and nice to look at, why not do the same for God?
I know it sounds ominous to talk about worship being a life and death matter. And it is, or was. But maybe what we need to hear is not a threat to get yourself to worship or else! But instead to hear a God who knows what we need, what we need to make life worth living. That without this essential component to a healthy and rich and colorful life, we are dead. At least dead to the possibilities. Dead to the depths of living and loving that God intended us to know and experience.
Maybe worship is a life and death kind of thing after all. Maybe it is intended to be a rehearsal for living life. In which case maybe we ought to take it a bit more seriously. Maybe we ought to spice it up, color it up, texture it up, sensational it up. You think? Or maybe we just need something lighter.
Shalom,
Derek
But then the next thing my Facebook messenger said was “Maybe it is time for something lighter!” We are all breathing a bit heavy under the load this summer here at Aldersgate. Maybe we do need something a little less intense, a little less ... I dunno ... serious? Important? No, not important. It’s all important. But perhaps a little less...um...life and death? Yeah, maybe that is it. Some of these issues, some of these doctrines seem so out there, so heavy. We need something lighter. Something like worship. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Worship, a little diversion. A little music and prayer, if we’re in the mood. Something to while away an hour on a Sunday morning.
Let’s talk about how we worship. The question that was submitted was “What is the meaning of all the seasons and colors and symbols of the Christian Year?” OK, that’s easy. Just a little lecture on liturgy, on variety and texture of worship. Yeah, let’s just sit back and think about this for a moment. No big deal.
Let’s see, maybe a text about making worship pretty. Hmm. Oh, I know. Let’s do this one:
Exodus 35:1-19 Moses assembled all the congregation of the Israelites and said to them: These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do: 2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwellings on the sabbath day. 4 Moses said to all the congregation of the Israelites: This is the thing that the LORD has commanded: 5 Take from among you an offering to the LORD; let whoever is of a generous heart bring the LORD's offering: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen; goats' hair, 7 tanned rams' skins, and fine leather; acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breastpiece. 10 All who are skillful among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded: the tabernacle, 11 its tent and its covering, its clasps and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 12 the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the curtain for the screen; 13 the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance, the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin with its stand; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 the finely worked vestments for ministering in the holy place, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron, and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests.
Um, well. OK. Just skip over those opening verses and we have a meeting of the building committee. Or maybe the Altar guild. You know the folks who are responsible for making sure that things are in order on a Sunday morning. You know, the folks who add a little something, an accent, a bit of color, some texture to our worship experience. Not essential, we think, but nice.
And yet here is Moses implying that there is something serious going on here. True, he doesn’t say you have to bring this stuff. He says “whoever is of a generous heart” bring in these things. But he does seem to imply that it is necessary. For the worship experience of the community as a whole, we need these things – precious metals, colorful fabrics, lush furs, aromatic oils and gemstones. Then we construct a space to contain it all. Not just in a hodgepodge, but in an order that guides our thoughts and our experience toward the creator of beauty in appreciation and awe.
Moses doesn’t say you have to bring something to add to the worship experience, but that maybe you want to. All who are skillful among you, he says. Generous on the one hand, skillful on the other. It is like he is trying to find where you plug in. Because plugging in is important.
The connection between the question listed above and this idea of worship is that we want to find meaning in the space we create for worship. We want it to tell a story, or make a connection, to send us on the journey of faith. So, we have devised a system whereby we can be reminded of where we are on that journey. I’ll run through it quickly on Sunday, but basically it is built on the highlights of the life of Jesus Christ - anticipation, birth, revealing (epiphany), temptation, passion, death and resurrection - half the year, and then the Christian life - or living out the implications of Christ’s life - the rest of the year. In other words we lay our lives alongside Christ’s life in a continual rhythm of worship and discipleship.
Which I guess, then begs the question as to the importance of this thing after all. This worship thing. This if you’ve got a few moments on a Sunday why not show up, if you’re not otherwise occupied, thing. At least that is what it has come to be for us, most of us these days. But if we go back to the awkward couple of verses that introduce our passage for this week, we seem to sense a different level of significance.
“Whoever does any work,” says Moses, whoever has other stuff to do, other distractions or responsibilities, other duties to perform or activities to fill a busy calendar, “shall be put to death.” Um, a bit harsh, surely. Well, I’m not advocating a return to the death penalty for missing church. But maybe we have gotten a little lax about how important this worship thing is. It is worth our generosity. Moses doesn’t ask for leftovers, scraps that we have lying around going unused, he asks for gold, for purples and crimsons, the expensive stuff that isn’t easy to get. It is worth our skill. We spend a lot of time working for our own benefit, making our space comfortable and nice to look at, why not do the same for God?
I know it sounds ominous to talk about worship being a life and death matter. And it is, or was. But maybe what we need to hear is not a threat to get yourself to worship or else! But instead to hear a God who knows what we need, what we need to make life worth living. That without this essential component to a healthy and rich and colorful life, we are dead. At least dead to the possibilities. Dead to the depths of living and loving that God intended us to know and experience.
Maybe worship is a life and death kind of thing after all. Maybe it is intended to be a rehearsal for living life. In which case maybe we ought to take it a bit more seriously. Maybe we ought to spice it up, color it up, texture it up, sensational it up. You think? Or maybe we just need something lighter.
Shalom,
Derek
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