Monday, March 29, 2004

We will be playing with some material from “Holy People” by Gordon Lathrop.



Continuing to give a description of the Christian ‘assembly,’ Lathrop writes:

According to the classic description of this basic symbol, then, this meeting is not – or ought not to be – a crowd, a cheering section, a gathering to hear a lecture or a sales pitch, an audience. It is not a collection of consumers come to an expert, a gathering of the uninvolved come to be entertained.

Another kind of assembly – a gathering together of persons in which each of those gathered has a participatory role, in which the central matters of worship are at the heart of this shared participation – constitutes the most basic symbol of Christian worship.



There is a big difference between being an observer and being a participant. One of the most powerful pieces of the liturgy will always be for me the times when the congregation –as a whole – is engaged in the singing of a hymn. This is a time when the people – the whole assembly – lets go and sings. In congregations with big organs, it means the organ backs off and leads the people so that the people can be heard and the organ plays its part in the singing of a hymn. But we need not stop there. The assembly is to be invited into a full participation that helps to bring the Word forward in the lessons, the words of the liturgy, the movement to the meal, sharing of the peace and the many ways we find ourselves connected to those around us and in that, to the action of the whole assembly.



Connection: Next time you are in worship, make note of how often you are actively participating in the worship. And remember, the sermon is not a time of nonparticipation.



Lord God, you continue to invite us to participate in the life of the body of Christ and in worship we are given one opportunity to come together and do just that. Lead us into a more profound participation in the community of gathered saints each time we come together. Amen.