LITURGY
Every church is called to worship God. That is one of the primary ways “to live life in Christ to the fullest.” But there are lots of ways to worship God. ‘Liturgy’ describes the way we worship God at King of Kings. We are an Anglican church, and liturgy is a rich part of our Anglican heritage that we want to hold onto, and offer to the wider body of Christ in Charlotte. There’s a lot of depth and richness in our liturgy. One of the things we want to do at King of Kings is make our liturgy accessible. We want people to understand it so that through the liturgy, they may have a powerful encounter with the living God. While there’s a lot to say about liturgy, it’s worth mentioning four things about liturgy that give a taste of its richness and depth.
First, Liturgy is participatory. It’s participatory because it invites the participation of all worshippers. Liturgy actually means “the work of the people.” So when we come together, ALL of us are doing worship, not just a small group at the front. At various parts of our service, the whole congregation is invited to fully participate – such as corporate prayers, reading of scripture, reciting the creeds, a confession of sin, offering of our gifts, and partaking of the bread and the wine.
Second, Liturgy is drama. By drama, we mean that liturgy re-enacts God’s great salvation story. This happens in at least two ways. First, every week our worship service re-enacts major elements in the story of salvation. For example, in Communion (also called the Eucharist), we re-enact Jesus’ death, resurrection, and coming again through our prayers and the taking of bread and wine. The second way that liturgy re-enacts the salvation story is that we use a liturgical calendar, also call the church calendar. So not only Sunday by Sunday, but every year we remember major events in the story of salvation. Advent, for example, is the season right before Christmas when we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah. Pentecost is the season after Easter when we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Third, Liturgy involves our bodies in worship. We believe that good worship should involve our emotions, our minds, our spirits, but also our bodies. Our liturgy involves all five senses. We can taste, touch, hear, see, and smell bread and wine. Lots of symbols and hand motions are used to aid us in our worship of God. We use different colored fabrics and garments that speak about God’s goodness and enrich our worship.
And finally, Liturgy is historic. In the liturgy, often we are saying prayers that have been said for hundreds of years. This connects us to the work of the Holy Spirit throughout history. Many faithful believers have gone before us and offer us a richness and depth in liturgical worship that we wouldn’t be able to achieve on our own. We say the Nicene Creed every week which connects with what Christians have believed for two thousand years. The history of Jesus’ church is important and we want our worship to reflect that. Liturgy helps us do this.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is our most important value. It has the last word. The Holy Spirit was given to us, by God, as the primary way in which we are “to live life in Christ to the fullest.” The work of the Holy Spirit is mysterious and expansive. It’s impossible to nail down all that he does in us. But here are a few highlights of what it means to be a church which values the Holy Spirit. It certainly won’t cover everything, but it’s a start.
First, the Holy Spirit keeps us centered on Christ. If we’re walking in the Spirit, we will stay truthfully anchored in Christ. One of the Holy Spirit’s main jobs is to point to Christ. So if you stick with the Spirit, you’ll stay centered on Christ.
Second, the Holy Spirit empowers us. He gives us the power to live out our other values. If we don’t live through the Holy Spirit, we can forget about community, and learning, and mission, and liturgy. But as we walk in the Spirit, we’ll be able to live out those values in powerful ways. The Holy Spirit has also given gifts to God’s people which empower them “to live life in Christ to the fullest” and help others mature into that vision.
Third, the Holy Spirit leads us. As a church, we want to be a community that “attends to the voice of the Spirit”… deeply and frequently. He will speak to us. He will guide us. He will teach us how to apply Jesus’ teaching in any given situation. He will show us the Father’s will.
Fourth, the Holy Spirit frees us. Sometimes we forget about what it means to walk in the Spirit. It seems easier to follow a set of religious rules. But soon we find that keeping religious rules is impossible. They make us tired, and frustrated, and weighed down by guilt. As followers of Christ, we are freed by the Spirit from religious requirements which produce guilt. We still pursue an ethical lifestyle of the highest degree (which we call righteousness), but we do it through the Spirit. We overcome sin in our lives, not by rules, but by the Spirit. Galatians 5 is an important chapter in scripture which shapes the way we understand the work of the Spirit in our lives. The fruit in our lives comes from the Spirit not from religious observance.
There’s certainly more to the Holy Spirit than mentioned here. But one thing is clear. The only way that we can “seek to live life in Christ to the fullest” is through the Holy Spirit.
[1] This quote comes from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series.
