Regardless of what sort of spirituality you practice, there is a liturgy to the practice. The liturgy is a structure that the acts of the practice follow. These are easy to see in a worship service, but it is not limited to worship events. When a professional sports event begins, there is a civic liturgy that we follow. When there is a wedding there is a reception liturgy. Birthdays, start of school days, family gatherings have their own liturgies.
What is the point of liturgy? How do we know if it is “good” liturgy? Beyond the content of the worship the liturgy (the structure and order of things) serves a different function, but what is that function? I would submit that the function of liturgy is to be like a tea kettle and what makes for a good tea kettle is being able to hold the dynamic boiling water.
When people gather for worship, there are so many emotions, anxieties, celebrations, hopes and fears. The gathered body is dynamic and full of energy. This energy is neutral, but we all know that energy does not stay neutral for very long. We see an energetic group can turn into a mob and do great harm rather quickly. We also can see an energetic group to rally for a pro-social cause and build a house in 24 hours. It is the function of the liturgy to properly hold the energy of the collective body.
Like a kettle, the liturgy must be stronger than the energy of the contents. The liturgy must be able to stand through different temperatures and not shatter. It must be directional enough to channel the energy well and, if possible, be built to help the energy sing. It needs to be able to have the endurance as the energy dissipates and cools off. It consistent in its ability so that when it is time to gather the energy again, people can be confident that the energy can be properly held.
The water in the kettle does now “know” what it will become. But the water in the kettle always becomes more than it can imagine. Will it become the foundation for life-giving tea? The warmth to the cold heart? The agent to help purify or clean a wound? Liturgy does not squelch the energy of the gathered body but helps the body transform into something they could not imagine before they gathered. Something transcendent, something greater than the sum of their parts.
The worship liturgy is not there to resolve the anxiety, tension, fear or excitement of the body. The liturgy is the container that holds all of that. Too often church leaders use the liturgy to resolve the this anxiety. The liturgy is not a cure or a resolution. Liturgy is a kettle, and let us not be lukewarm.