Living Liturgy

May 8, 2011 / Third Sunday of Easter

Luke 24:13-35

What do you think of when you hear the word “liturgy”?  Obviously it is a church word.  Perhaps you think of it as a word to describe worship – that church over there is highly liturgical while that other church has no liturgy.  I’ve heard some of you say you like the liturgy at Saxapahaw, and I’ve heard others say we’re too liturgical. I would say any time people gather to worship God their worship is highly liturgical, no matter what the order of worship is.

Often the word liturgy is used to describe the structure of worship.  A highly liturgical service is one that is highly structured, with printed prayers and responses, specified times for standing or kneeling, times when the people sing and times when there is silence.  Generally there is a clear pattern of Word and Table.  On the other hand, we think of non-liturgical worship as more free-flowing – songs are sung, scripture is read, prayers are said, and the preacher shares a message.  Maybe there isn’t even a bulletin! 

Given these distinctions, you might wonder how I can say that any time people gather to worship God their worship is highly liturgical.  I can say this because liturgy means the work of the people.  Let me repeat that: liturgy means the work of the people.  It is the people who gather to pray and sing, to hear God’s word read and proclaimed, and to break bread together.  It is the work of the people – both those in leadership and those who participate – that makes our worship of God worship.  We are not passive observers who come to watch church, but active participants in the liturgy – in the work of praising God.  Whether a worship service is highly structured or not, it is the work of the people – the liturgy that we participate in – that is our best effort to worship God.  And in our worship we encounter the risen Christ.

The story of the walk to Emmaus is one of my favorites.  Two men leave Jerusalem, deeply saddened by the death of Jesus.  As they walk and talk, a third person joins them.  As they continue down the road together the three share the story of Jesus.  When they reach Emmaus, the two invite this third person to stay with them, and in breaking bread together they recognize that this third person is Jesus.  Then, even though it is late, in joy the two race back to Jerusalem to share the good news that Jesus is risen from the dead. 

Consider this: In this Easter story, we witness the liturgy we participate in each Sunday.  See the pattern: First, we walk together, inviting others to join us.  Second, we share the story of Jesus Christ, both from our experience and from scriptures.  Third, we break bread together.  And finally, we go back out into the world to share the good news of the new life we have found in Jesus Christ with others. 

Do you see that as we live into this liturgy we encounter the risen Christ?  Jesus promises to meet us where two or three are gathered.  Jesus is walking with us as we tell the story.  Jesus is profoundly present in the breaking of the bread.  And Jesus goes before us into the world.  Perhaps this is why every Sunday is a little Easter – every Sunday we are given the opportunity to encounter the risen Christ through our liturgy – the work of the people.

Of course, the interesting thing is that the walk to Emmaus doesn’t happen in the temple or a synagogue or a sanctuary.  It happens on the road to Emmaus, a town that is about seven miles from Jerusalem.  Emmaus cannot be found on any map.  There is no evidence that such a town existed at the time of Jesus.  While archeologists and scholars have argued about the location of Emmaus, I love that we don’t know where it is.  This allows us to recognize that Emmaus is the place each one of us is going to today; the place we are searching for as we seek to encounter Jesus.  The road to Emmaus prepared the disciples to actually see the risen Christ. 

The walk to Emmaus doesn’t happen in the temple or a sanctuary because the temple and the sanctuary are not the only places God shows up.  God shows up in all the ordinary places in our lives – as we talk with friends, as we journey with others, as practice hospitality, as we share meals with others.  But too often we fail to recognize God in our very midst.  I think we often fail to recognize that Jesus is walking with us because the liturgy we practice in worship doesn’t translate into the liturgy of our every day lives.  We see what happens in worship as somehow separate from the rest of our lives.

Today I want to invite you to see our liturgy – everything the people do in worship – as preparation for our work in the world.  I invite you to look at this time when we gather together to worship God as a time when we establish habits and patterns that shape every aspect of our lives.  We’d be here a while if I unpacked each part of our liturgy, so let me focus on three habits and patterns: gathering, story telling, and breaking bread.

Gathering.  I suspect many of you think worship begins with our greeting.  I want to shatter that perception.  Our liturgy begins the moment we arrive in the parking lot.  As we say hello to one another, as we hug and ask how the other is doing, we are engaging in worship.  A friend of mine recently went to a church that advertized on their web page that they were welcoming of all people.  She arrived early, participated in worship, and hung around after.  Not one person said hello to her.  Not one!  Our worship begins when we welcome one another, and when we welcome the stranger.  Just think how different the story of the walk to Emmaus would have been if the disciples had ignored or dismissed Jesus when he came up to them on the road.  Our worship begins when we gather, when we greet each other, when we welcome each other.  This points to an important truth – we cannot fully worship alone!

After we gather we tell stories.  Again, some of these stories happen before we ever enter the sanctuary.  We hear about those we love.  We talk about what has happened during the week.  Just as the disciples were talking about the events of that Holy Week so long ago, we tell stories about our families, our community, our work.  And then, in Sunday School we tell stories about Jesus.  And, as we gather in this space, we hear and tell even more stories about God – we sing the stories, we hear the stories read in Scripture, and the preacher tells more stories.  At the heart of our liturgy – the work of all the people – we tell the stories of Jesus Christ, beginning with Moses and all the prophets. 

Following our story telling, we gather at the Lord’s Table.  Our story telling has prepared us – perhaps our hearts are burning within us – and we are hungry for Jesus.  We take the bread and pray together the Great Thanksgiving – a prayer of thanksgiving for all that God has done.  Then we break the bread and give it to one another.  For the disciples at Emmaus, it is in the breaking of the bread that they recognize Jesus in their midst.  Today, we know that Christ has promised to show up each time we break bread together.  For me this is the most awesome part of our liturgy because no matter what else has happened as we have gathered and told stories, in this moment we know Jesus Christ is powerfully present in this piece of bread – the body of Christ, broken for you – and this sip of the fruit of the vine – the blood of Christ, shed for you.

Gathering, story-telling, and breaking bread.  These three practices are at the heart of our worship of God.  They are the central elements of our liturgy – the work of the people – all of the people, young and old, new to the faith or life-long believers, stranger or friend.  And in these three practices we establish patterns and habits that shape every aspect of our lives.  As we go out into the world we gather with other people, in our homes, in our places of work, even at the pub.  And as we gather we tell stories.  Certainly we tell stories of our own lives, but like the disciples who rushed back to Jerusalem, we also tell stories of our encounters with the risen Christ.  We tell the Bible stories to our children.  We tell the stories of our church to our neighbors.  We sing the stories of Jesus, we pray the stories of our God, we live in the story of Christ’s death and resurrection.  And then we gather at our tables and break bread together, inviting strangers to join us, and giving thanks to God for all that God has done.

The liturgy that we participate in as we gather to worship God shapes the liturgy of our every day lives.  This week I want to invite you to be intentional as you gather, tell stories, and break bread together.  Recognize the ways you are living into the liturgy that you have participated in here in worship as you gather in love, as you tell stories that help you to know Christ and make Christ known, and as you break bread, seeking to be a humble servant of Jesus.  I suspect you will discover that the living Christ is walking with you, sharing in your stories – the joyful ones and the painful ones!  I hope you will find that Jesus is at the table with you as you share a meal with others.  I pray you will powerfully encounter our resurrected Lord in all that you do – for he is present, he is risen, he is Lord.  Thanks be to God!