This is a very good question and one that I have pondered on for many years in my youth. Like why do we have to do the same thing over and over and over again? For me there has always been a small line between worship and routine. We do things just because it is how our parents grew up and our parents’ parents grew up.
I really like how the Anglican Prayer book defines how liturgy can be effective:
“Liturgy becomes true worship when the people of God, clergy and laity, clothe it with the devotion of heart and mind. Then it becomes a flame, kindled and re-kindled by the Holy Spirit, for our benefit and for God’s glory.”
Devotion of heart
How I relate to this phrase is that I believe that anything that we do has to come from that starting point “clothed in devotion of heart and mind.” If we do not put our heart into what we are doing for God it will never be counted as a form of worship, something that the Pharisees were very much criticized for. They were teachers of the law yet their hearts were far from God. The positioning of the heart is important for giving God true worship,
Devotion of the mind
To worship in mind to me is also something that is important, in that when we know what we are doing it can be more beneficial for our worship to God. Having the right mind set when we approach worship is also important and cannot be underplayed. The fact that we need to comprehend what we are saying and doing is vital to allow our hearts to engage with the liturgy, and this I feel is what liturgy does for us. It allows our minds to engage with the content that I hearts might respond and so to allow for ministry of the Holy Spirit to take place. This then is to lead us to give God glory and not lip service, and in turn God shows up to move us to a deeper connection with Him which then goes beyond the liturgy of the people and into the private spaces with God.
My experience of liturgy
When thinking about my history in a traditional Anglican church I have to admit that often the words seemed very far from what one was feeling or even something I could relate to. However I have come to gain a new understanding to the words after I came to accept Jesus in my life. The words have somewhat taking on new meaning. I have to acknowledge as well that as liturgy was drawn up by a few Christians many years ago and can seem out of context the very essence of what is in there one can still take as being valuable. For instance the need to glorify God, as well as a collective community of church to repent and ask God for forgiveness for where we have fallen short, and also to be reminded of the sacrifice that Jesus made and that I am too a member of the body and have been invited to the table.
We have a man at our church uncle Gerald that is a stalwart in our church, and helps in leading fellowship of vocation, and his number one statement is, “If you do not know why you are doing what you are doing then the people will not see the value in it, but the people need to be taught the why.” I often did not care for the why, my mind was already negative towards liturgy seeing it as a recital of words that are just lip service to God and not really impacting the hearts and lives of people. In my case generally when it comes to the valuing of liturgy this is often admired by senior parishioners and not so much with the young people, but as I have traveled from church to church I have realized that this is different for each case.
Are the words relatable?
This is something that I struggled with and often times have said no, but recently I attended the Taize conference that was held in Cape Town I have learnt that whether words are in your own language or not, or to the tune of your favourite genre, when the masses of God’s people gather to pray in earnest, God is there in the atmosphere. This was such a tangible experience of God that for me at the offset I thought could not happen not in our context. Chanting prayers have no place for young people from all over. I am glad to admit that I have never been happier to be wrong. God can use any expression of worship to get people to open their hearts to Him, and the way that the church became one in that space was incredible. Shoo..
So what is my take on liturgy?
Well I believe it to be like anything else, if you have no desire to connect with the material you won’t. It does not matter what prayers you put up on the overhead, or what hymns/worship songs you use if you have no desire to appreciate God in it then you will not. I have seen a church where the young people sing the worship music played by the band, and disregard the hymns and vice versa with the adults. We got to get to a place where we can be appreciative of all types of expressions of worship to God and to not disregard ones preference to another’s which brings about exclusivity.
I do believe that liturgy is a way of allowing people from different context to gather and worship God in unity, can the liturgical language be more modern and updated? Sure, but then for the sake of inclusivity how do we go about making everyone feel relevant and accommodated in our gatherings? This is the job of us that lead, to create the spaces where young and old, people of different languages and cultures can all find a space within liturgy that can be defined as the ‘work of the people’ and thus allow all to worship with a devotion of heart and mind.
The Responding Servant 