Could the problem with Sunday worship be that it begins our week?
I have been taught throughout my life that there is no better way to begin your week than to begin it with worship.
Getting your priorities in perspective
Focus on God
Take time to quite your minds
Give your first fruits to God
All of these, and others, have been used to describe why worship on Sunday is a wonderful way to begin our week and it should be that way.
However I wonder if this mentality has also contributed to the decline of Sunday worship.
If this is the way we need to start our week, then it is easy to see how worship is for the individual. That is, worship is a way to enhance the life of the individual because it sets the week off in a certain way for the individual. We are told that when we preach we should preach so that we are excited about life and energized to go out into the world and make it better. All of this lends itself to view Sunday worship as an internal and individual practice.
But what if Sunday worship was not see exclusively as the beginning of our week, but the culmination of our week. That is what if Sunday worship was framed as a place where we come together and share where we saw God in the previous weeks workings on the Kingdom of God? What if we could not wait to get to Sunday worship and share with others where we saw God the previous week? What if we could not wait to get to Sunday worship and discover where others saw God moving in the previous week?
What if Sunday worship was a culmination of our week?
The story says God created the world in 6 days and then on the last day, the day when work was done, the day the work culminated, God observed Sabbath.
If Sabbath for God is practiced at the end of the week and celebrated as the culmination of the work done, why wouldn't we?
What if Sunday worship was the culmination of our week?
Prayer
We pause in these quite moments to center our hearts, thoughts and lives on you, O timeless God. Your movement in our lives is more vital than the blood in our veins and air in our lungs. We give thanks that we have the ability and the privilege to help transform this world into a place of love, peace and reconciliation.
God sometimes it is overwhelming. There is so much hate in the world. There is so much pain in the world. There is so much evil in the world, that at times it is overwhelming, immobilizing and drains our hope. We hear words of hate and destruction. We see bloated stomachs of starving children. We read of bombings of schools and hotels. We are inundated with so many images that it overwhelms us and we are left feeling hopeless and lost.
And yet, God, sometimes it is empowering. There is so much peace in the world. There is so much joy in the world. There is so much love in the world, that at times it is empowering, energizing, and ignites the deepest parts of our souls that we cannot help but sing and dance. We hear words of reconciliation. We see differences resolved. We read of people putting down their weapons. We are inundated with so many images that it empowers us and we cannot help but dance to the song you have placed in the world.
This is the world we live in; a world of paradox. This is the world you created and called “very good.” Just as there is much about this world we do not understand, so to there is much about you that we do not understand. But we give thanks for that which we do know that you have revealed to us through your Word, especially as it is embodied in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. And so we strive to be like Jacob who actively sought reconciliation with his brothers and neighbors. Embolden us to actively seek to reconcile the paradoxes we find ourselves in so that we might be able and willing to share the Good News that your grace surpasses logic and understanding. We join our sisters and brothers all sinners and saints as we pray.
God sometimes it is overwhelming. There is so much hate in the world. There is so much pain in the world. There is so much evil in the world, that at times it is overwhelming, immobilizing and drains our hope. We hear words of hate and destruction. We see bloated stomachs of starving children. We read of bombings of schools and hotels. We are inundated with so many images that it overwhelms us and we are left feeling hopeless and lost.
And yet, God, sometimes it is empowering. There is so much peace in the world. There is so much joy in the world. There is so much love in the world, that at times it is empowering, energizing, and ignites the deepest parts of our souls that we cannot help but sing and dance. We hear words of reconciliation. We see differences resolved. We read of people putting down their weapons. We are inundated with so many images that it empowers us and we cannot help but dance to the song you have placed in the world.
This is the world we live in; a world of paradox. This is the world you created and called “very good.” Just as there is much about this world we do not understand, so to there is much about you that we do not understand. But we give thanks for that which we do know that you have revealed to us through your Word, especially as it is embodied in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. And so we strive to be like Jacob who actively sought reconciliation with his brothers and neighbors. Embolden us to actively seek to reconcile the paradoxes we find ourselves in so that we might be able and willing to share the Good News that your grace surpasses logic and understanding. We join our sisters and brothers all sinners and saints as we pray.
Prayer
Constant God of Grace we have gathered in this place to give thanks and sing praise for the gifts and graces we have in our lives. For the strength to stand up this morning, we give thanks. For the food that came to us and will nourish us this day, we give thanks. We even give thanks for the breath we just took and the breath we are taking right now. Your presence not only makes life possible but it makes life worth living.
But life does not come easily sometimes and often due to the actions of ourselves and our sisters and brothers. Just as we recognize that it if your presence that makes life available to us, we recognize the times when we have taken life for granted. Our self-centeredness manifests in many different ways from greed to envy, from passive aggression to active violence. Forgive our self-centeredness in all its manifestations so that we might be able to become the people of reconciliation and grace living without guilt, shame or fear.
We seek these things not for ourselves alone, but for the world. We live in a world were guilt is plastered on television, shame is on the cover of every magazine and fear is sold to us in the evening news. While the culture moves to generate guilt, shame and fear so that people might be exploited and marginalized, you have called your Church to be a people moving to generate a different culture. A culture built not on guilt, but forgiveness; not shame but dignity; not fear but faith. We know we cannot build this culture, your kingdom, on our own. You have given us models to guide us: prophets, poets, mystics and sages. These saints have shown us so many paths which bring us closer to you and your desires. And while we are not there yet, we continue to move in that faithful direction. So give us the strength to stand in the morning and the food to nourish our bodies and the breath to keep our hearts burning for the peaceable kingdom.
But life does not come easily sometimes and often due to the actions of ourselves and our sisters and brothers. Just as we recognize that it if your presence that makes life available to us, we recognize the times when we have taken life for granted. Our self-centeredness manifests in many different ways from greed to envy, from passive aggression to active violence. Forgive our self-centeredness in all its manifestations so that we might be able to become the people of reconciliation and grace living without guilt, shame or fear.
We seek these things not for ourselves alone, but for the world. We live in a world were guilt is plastered on television, shame is on the cover of every magazine and fear is sold to us in the evening news. While the culture moves to generate guilt, shame and fear so that people might be exploited and marginalized, you have called your Church to be a people moving to generate a different culture. A culture built not on guilt, but forgiveness; not shame but dignity; not fear but faith. We know we cannot build this culture, your kingdom, on our own. You have given us models to guide us: prophets, poets, mystics and sages. These saints have shown us so many paths which bring us closer to you and your desires. And while we are not there yet, we continue to move in that faithful direction. So give us the strength to stand in the morning and the food to nourish our bodies and the breath to keep our hearts burning for the peaceable kingdom.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.