Does
worship shape and form us as Christians? This is the question
that lies beneath the ancient Latin phrase lex orandi, lex crendi
(literally, “the rule of prayer is the rule of belief.”)
What we think about our relationship with God and with each
other finds expression in the words and actions in worship.
However, many times we approach worship with the idea that we
are free to construct our own liturgy from a variety of motives—within
limits. But what are those limits? The most instructive limits
we could set for worship are those that allow the liturgy to
shape us, rather than limits that allow us to shape the liturgy.
On the one hand, the liturgy that we shape, if we are not careful,
lends itself to a pattern of forming our own ideas of who God
is and what God expects of us. On the other hand, the liturgy
that shapes us, especially a full liturgy of Word and Sacrament,
will convict us, offer us grace, feed us with the Word, and
send us out to be Christ’s disciples.
We see this played out in many aspects of worship. Take, for
example, the offering. When we focus so much of our “offering”
around money, we distort the most important aspect: offering
ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,
which is our spiritual worship. In other words, offering is
about the way we live for Christ each day—caring for the
poor, sick, hungry; working for peace and justice; and showing
Christ’s love to all people, even our enemies. When there
is no communion, the height of ritual action may be around the
collecting of money. Sometimes the offering plates are put on
the table where there is no bread and wine. Perhaps we should
consider what this says about the importance of money. This
is especially true in American culture, where many give more
power to money than to the gospel. Many of us can point to this
shift of power happening in our local churches. Money is important
to ministry but not nearly as important as faithful discipleship.
We must always be aware that for some people money and prayer
are all they are able to give. We need money to keep the church’s
mission alive. The spiritual gift of generosity should not be
diminished. However, neither should the fact that the way we
live each day is an offering to God and fulfillment of our baptismal
vows.
How can we make the offering reflect the fullness of our response
to God’s call to discipleship? One way may be to provide
cards on which people can write down ways they will offer themselves
to God (i.e., pray each day, spend a lunch break feeding homeless
persons, recycle more). They can place these cards in the offering
plate along with their tithes. What other ways can you think
of to make offering more expressive in our lives of faith each
day? |
