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Liturgy helps people worship

How do we respond to the accusation “Liturgy is boring”? Do we get embarrassed and take the easy way out by saying that we are stuck with it? or by silently thinking, “I don’t know! We’ve always done it this way”?

We must admit that a tired, mindless liturgy can obscure our profound joy in Christ. But does it have to be that way? Sure, we sometimes fall into lapses of liturgical boredom, but God knows that. Only he can give us the desire to respond with heartfelt praise. Through Christ, we joyfully offer up to God our sacrifice of praise. We offer our bodies as living sacrifices to honor and please God. Sacrifice requires work. Liturgy requires work too. In fact, the word liturgy is from a Greek term that means “work of the people.”

Liturgy can be described as an interaction between Christ and his church. At its best, liturgical worship serves to move us to focus our attention away from ourselves and squarely on the words and works of Jesus Christ. The liturgy becomes a meaningful exchange between our complete reception of his forgiving love and grace and our offering of reverent thanksgiving.

Martin Luther was very concerned that the rites and rituals of the church were extinguishing the faith of the masses. He made the people active participants in worship once again by restoring the historical practices of the early Christian church.

Luther was convinced that people benefit most when the gospel predominates in worship. He felt that this could be best applied in a worship setting through the use of the liturgy. Christ works through us and becomes a part of our lives through his Word and sacraments. A deep and maturing faith relies on God’s Word and, in turn, finds great joy and meaning in a worship order that focuses exclusively on the Holy Scriptures.

Public worship is a conversation between God and his people—a dynamic response to God’s grace that has been going on since the beginning of creation. Creating a meaningful liturgical service in today’s culture requires a great amount of effort. To open hearts and minds to God’s Word, the pastor and members will strive to develop a liturgical worship that is timely and genuine. Joyful acceptance of liturgical worship becomes a heartfelt attitude. It is faith in action. As a result of this attitude, a pastor will welcome, invite, and encourage his congregation to fully utilize its gifts in music and arts to provide refreshing variety in worship.

Public worship is a conversation between God and his people.