The Centrality of the Eucharist to Christian Worship

From the weekly bulletin 3-17-19 of the Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity 

    Throughout the ages, Christ's followers have gathered to hear God speak through Scripture, praise Him in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, offer prayers of petition and thanksgivings, and of course, participate with Him in the Lord’s Supper, obeying Jesus' commandment to "do this in remembrance of me."    

    The liturgy of the Lord’s Supper, however, is more than remembering; it is participating in this event in the present.  As surely as Jesus was present with his disciples 2000 years ago, Jesus is present with us at our celebration of that event.  Jesus promised us that He would be present.  Christ is not only with us the Lord's Supper, He is touching us, nourishing us, blessing us and changing us as we gather around His Table. 

  The liturgy of the Lord’s Supper is known by various names, but in our tradition it is most commonly known as The Holy Eucharist.  Eucharisto is a Greek word meaning Thanksgiving, and if you understand Christianity at all, you know that we indeed have much for which to be.  The word Liturgy from it Greek root means, “Work of the People;" so, in the Eucharist Liturgy we are not observers of worship, we are doers of worship.

    Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper infuses new meaning in another table celebration, the Jewish Passover Meal.  Passover is a remembrance of the deliverance of God’s people from the Angel of death and into a new life of hope and promise.  In the Eucharist we celebrate the reality that Christ is our Passover.  Through Christ, death passes us over and we are given new life in Him.  We eat the broken bread and share the common cup as a sign of our unity in faith and belief under this reality.  The Eucharist is God's family gathered around God’s table, a reality that last forever.

The Lure of Liturgical and Sacramental Worship

From the Lent 3, 2019 bulletin, The Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity, North Augusta, SC

Liturgical/Sacramental worship seems to be very different from that of sister churches of other denominations around us, but the fact is that liturgical/sacramental worship is by far the dominant style of Christian worship in the world today.  It has been so throughout the 2000-year history of the Church.  Being situated in the Protestant Bible Belt as we are, this fact often does not seem obvious. 

What has sustained this type of worship over countless generations?  A fellow Presbyter in our diocese, the Rev. Winfield Bevins, wrote a book (Ever Ancient, Ever New, Zondervan, 2019) which focuses on the appeal of the liturgical and sacramental, particularly among many young Christians today.  His book is well worth reading.  I will mention a few points he makes that resonated with me: 

·Liturgical and Sacramental worship is holistic; that is, it looks to the whole Bible, the whole revelation of God in Christ, and the whole person- body, mind, spirit.  

   It is participatory.  Worship is not just something that is to be observed from the pew or something someone else is doing for us.

 ·It facilitates a sense of mystery and transcendence and pulls us away from our focus on ourselves toward a focus on God and His presence among us.

 ·It meets our desire for historical rootedness.

 ·Liturgical worship connects the broader church through common worship that dates back to the earliest Christians.

 ·Sacramental and liturgical worship is Biblically faithful.  It anchors us in the Apostolic Faith that has been codified in not only the Bible but also in our historic liturgies.

Of course, this is not to slight other ways of worshiping which obviously feed the spirit of the faithful and glorify God, but liturgical/sacramental worship has blessed Christians for almost 2000 year now, and it blesses us Anglicans to this day.

Father Rob

Journey into Wholeness

     Years ago Nancy and I participated in a conference titled “Journey into Wholeness in Christ,” led by Conlee and Signa Boutishbaug, two itinerate teachers in the Church.  This conference sensitized me to the reality that my day-by-day walk with Christ is not only a journey into holiness (becoming like Christ) but also a journey into wholeness (being healed in body, mind and spirit by Christ).  This journey in holiness and wholeness in all its facets is what the Church calls “Sanctification.”

      Sanctification is exchanging the ungodly influences of the world, the flesh and the devil for the divine influences of Christ and His Holy Spirit.  It is a journey in which the Holy Spirit makes us a totally new creation- not partly holy, not partly healed, but totally healthy, whole and holy.  Sanctification is being healed of both our fallen human nature, as well as the ravages and wounds inflicted on us by life in this fallen world.

      In one of our Max Lucado teachings from a few years back at Holy Trinity, Max drew a magnificent word picture for us of Heaven as a place of wholeness.  I appreciate the way he said it: “You are going to love Heaven because it is where you are at your best.    You are also going to love Heaven because it is where everyone else is at their best.  God impounds all imperfections at the gate.”   

     The wonderful reality for us Christians is that this journey into wholeness begins now.  “It is not just pie in the sky by and by; it is cake on the plate today.”                                                                            

Father Rob

The “Offertory" in liturgical worship

The Offertory is more than a transition from the “Liturgy of the Word” to the “Liturgy of the Table” in the historic pattern of Christian worship. It is also a time when we do several things of significance:  

First, we offer to God our tithes and offerings in gratitude for what He has given us and to the furthering of His Kingdom here on earth.  

Secondly, we also offer bread and wine representing the first fruits of our labor that the Lord will make into His Body and His Blood.   Offering our “first fruits” to God has roots in Old Testament worship. See Leviticus 23:9-14.

Chiefly, however, we offer and present unto God “ourselves, our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice unto Him.” The Lord does tell us in Scripture that what He desires above all is us.

Your Personal Theology

        Our personal theology determines how we understand God and understand our relationship with God and His Creation.  As for me, my life is formed around what is known as Apostolic Theology, also known as Orthodox Christian Theology.  Another name for it is Biblical Theology because in historic Christianity it is in Scripture that the Lord lays out His plan of salvation for us all.
        The Old Testament reveals that the primary problem in this life is our fractured relationship with God, fractured by our sinfulness and rebellion against His sovereignty as Creator of this world.  The corruption and evil that infects this world also witnesses to our estrangement from God.  This broken relationship with God is reflected in our broken relationships with each other.  The Old Testament is a testimony to our powerlessness to correct this situation.

        The New Testament is God’s revelation that He is, in fact, not powerless to correct this situation.  God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, and He does it in Christ.  God loves us enough to step into Creation in the person of Jesus to become for us “the Way, the Truth and the Life;” that is, the way back to the Father, the truth about Himself and Creation, and the source of a new and redeemed life with Him.  No other theology, no other worldview, and no other religion submits to the fact that we can contribute nothing to our salvation except faith and trust in what God can do for us.  

Father Rob

'Passing the Peace' on Sundays

1 Peter 5:14

Greet one another with a kiss of love.  Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

 Matthew 5:23-24

"If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go, first be reconciled to your brother or sister, 

and then come and offer your gift."

 Passing the Peace is the enacting of these verses and a liturgical celebration of the true reconciliation with one another that is available only through God in Christ.  The Lord exhorts us to be reconciled, not only with Him (Confession and Absolution), but also with one another (Passing the Peace), before we approach the Lord’s Table.

Fr. Rob

What Does a Healthy Church Look Like?

·         Taking conflicts and differences head on.

·         A culture of giving and sharing.

·         Spiritual growth and renewal as the norm.

·         Knowing and living the church as countercultural.

·         Lay people having a sense of partnership with the clergy in advancing 

       the mission of the church.

·         Freeing the clergy to do what they have been called to do.

·         Clearly defined priorities.

·         More mature Christians becoming spiritual mentors to those new to the Faith.

·         A sense of urgency in confronting the world, the flesh and the devil (There are people dying out there!).

·         Not ingrown but focused on outreach and evangelism.

·         Seeing the Christian life as a great adventure.

·         A rich, balanced and holistic spirituality of worship, spiritual growth, Christian service, and evangelism.

·         A commitment to honoring God on the Lord’s Day.

       My compliments and apologies to the people from whom I originally borrowed much of this list, the sources which are now lost to me.