The November issue of Presbyterians Today
focused on church leadership, especially the qualities needed in the
leaders who will guide the church in the future. Although I found most
of the suggestions helpful, I felt that the articles too often suggested
bending to cultural trends without appropriately challenging them. As
good news the gospel offers a relevant word to the particular people and
situation addressed. That relevance often challenges more than it
comforts.
One
article quoted these thoughts of a homiletics professor: "Today's
culture promotes independence and nonconformity and celebrates a world
full of options. ... In a 24/7 world of endless opportunities,
obligations, and information, many adults exercise an exacting ...
formula for time management based on immediate and tangible rewards and
will no longer dedicate an hour on Sunday morning to something that
doesn't help them make sense of the other 167 hours of the week." If I
understand the point, it troubles me.
Some
folks will not find their way into a faith community through Sunday
worship or worship at any time. That has always held true and may hold
truer now for younger folks who, like their grandparents, place a
premium on doing something to help someone. I also agree that worship
wastes precious time when it lacks connection with the world in which
those present live. I emphatically reject, however, focus on "immediate
and tangible rewards," especially rewards. The dictionary near my desk
defines a reward as "something given or done in return; especially a
gift, prize, or recompense for merit, service, or achievement." We stand
on dangerously shallow theological ground when we declare, "I've been
good and shown up for worship, God; so give me something." We sometimes
receive blessings from a worship service (or any service in Jesus' name)
simply by showing up. Showers of grace fall indiscriminately and we
always receive more than we give. Yet, liturgy remains literally and
practically "the work of the people." God moves most powerfully in those
who come to do that work, who seek to participate and offer themselves
to God.
Most
of us enjoy music, but it speaks most powerfully to the choristers and
other musicians who spend hours in preparation and show up intending to
sing and play to the glory of God. We've all endured insipid and
irrelevant sermons from unprepared preachers. Yet, even the worst sermon
often yields to the Living Word when we listen intentionally for
something worth pondering. When we come to worship expecting to receive a
reward without making a commitment, we likely will return home hungry,
having blinded ourselves and others from the blessings available.
Unless
we are willing to ask a question larger than, "What's in it for me?"
and to seek a greater good than personal satisfaction, we will lead
lives with abundant contacts but scarce and shallow relationships, lives
filled with activities but void of meaning, lives shaped by many
choices but lacking a solid core of conviction. I enjoy reading the Sunday New York Times,
but need to seek, encounter, and receive a reality, a presence, a God
who offers light in darkness, security amidst wars and violence, comfort
in illness and death, and a peace that passes understanding amidst
doubts and perplexities. Those blessings never come as a reward. They
flow from a relationship, and relationships require time, effort,
commitment, and much more than merely showing up.
We
are magnificent creatures, but life and worship are not all about us.
If they are, we are the most self-deceived and the most to be pitied of
all. Our true identity requires effort to uncover and receive, and
offers far more worth than self-centered satisfaction ever can yield.
Grace and Peace,
LP
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