The work of the people
This is the first in a series of short reflections on our communion liturgy, in which the insights of several writers will be shared. This series will help us to lay a firmer hold on what it is we do together on Sunday night.
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s I launch into this series of posts on the liturgy, it seemed a useful thing to begin with the word “liturgy” itself. The Latin derivation of that word is “the work of the people,” and that actually says something quite significant about how we understand worship. What it points to, first and foremost, is that worship is not a passive thing, nor is it something offered by a few leaders to entertain or edify or even inspire a congregation. Liturgical worship is an active thing – a piece of work – offered by everyone who gathers.
deprivileged? That, to borrow an image from Walter Brueggemann, the church has been moved from judge’s bench to witness stand, where we’ve found that we are but one in a whole series of others, all waiting to give witness in an increasingly pluralistic society? The truth is that we are no longer a key societal arbiter of what is right or true or good, but one of the many voices asking to be heard. We are in a situation analogous to Israel in exile – though our move into exile has not been marked by that level of violence and upheaval – wherein our language and our practices are not echoed, carried or supported by the broader culture; certainly not in any significant way.
Our version will be a creative re-imagination of this tradition, including not only prayers but also poetry, reflective prose, lyrics, and possibly even short fiction. The illuminations will include drawings, but also photographs and just about any other medium that can be successfully translated to the printed page.