Sermon - 2014-03-19 - Scripture and Worship

For the first few centuries of gathering, people who we would call Christians did not call themselves that.  Instead, they would call themselves: People of the Way.  They would often gather together in people’s home or at the local synagogue, to sing, share stories that were important to their faith and be reminded of their faith in God, particularly in Jesus Christ.  They followed the same model of worship, the same ritual of living and understanding derived from the Jewish faith in which many of the people came from.  These people who followed The Way, were often rejected and the subject of blame within the community.  They were new, radical and seen as a means of destroying the traditional way of doing things.  This way of worship and living was done for several hundred years.  

Then around the year 300, the Ceasar called all Christians to send their leaders to gather together along with all of their written resources and ways of worship.  As they gathered, they talked about what they had in common.  That was their starting point.  What books did they regard as important.  What was at the heart of their understanding and living out a Disciple of Jesus Christ.  As they compiled these resources, people argued about what they held as important and key to the faith but they had to work together as the Body of Christ.  As the Church was being formed and looking to a united future in all the lands that were gathered there.  

One of the key resources that the gathered leaders compiled was a list of Biblical texts that would become our Bible.  Not all the books that were brought forth by everyone was adopted as being part of the Bible.  There were books that were left out that the leaders there did not think conveyed the meaning God had for the world or the books that contained brief snippets of history, or other stories of people but did not relate to the faith of the whole people of God.  Not only this but it was around this time that the leaders also brought forth the Apostle’s Creed.  Along with the Bible, the council agreed upon some key elements of worship that would be good for all to be exposed to for their well rounded worship of God and care for one another.

Let’s fast forward into history to the Reformation.  That’s at 300 to about 1500.  Here, Martin Luther translates the Bible into the language of the common ordinary person.  For twelve hundred years, the majority of people could not read the Bible but simply had to understand what other people told them about it.  They were told the stories, they memorized key understandings and this is one of the main reasons that we have stain glass windows that depict stories of the Bible within our churches.  It would help others understand the stories through visual aids.  However, Martin Luther allows people to read the Bible for themselves.  To read and understand God’s Word for themselves.  Along with Scripture, he also took worship and put the whole service into the words of the average person.  They could finally understand the blessing, the confession and forgiveness, and all the other parts.

This caused a great struggle that took place with who has authority to determine what is right and wrong within the Christian faith.  For Catholics, it was that leaders who took the time to study God’s Word and the history of tradition, should be the ones to determine which was right and wrong.  For Lutherans, it was that the whole majority of people would be lead by Scripture and the Holy Spirit, in determining what was right and wrong for the people that gathered as the Church.  

Let’s fast forward to today.  We have in our world, the most educated people, people who are able to read and write, people who are able to take the time to discuss some of these topics and how they can impact their own life.  They have the most resources in understanding Scripture, they have translations in several hundreds of languages and each translation that is found within their own language has it’s own presentation of information as a focus for the reader to dwell on.  For the past 30 years, many congregations have gathered around the Biblical texts that were agreed upon in the Revised Common Lectionary, a three year rotation of Scripture readings so that in every congregation, the same Scripture would be talked about and in daily life, people would be able to talk about their own faith and their thoughts on the Bible.  However, if a person only comes to church and hears the Biblical readings, they will only receive 24% of the Bible.  They will hear the same stories over and over again.  

Our own worship service that we do, has become for many so much of a routine or words that we say that we do not stop and think about each word and the meaning behind them.  For the words that we speak on a given worship service has a way of shaping and forming your entire life.  As you dwell upon the words, as you think of their meaning and the place that God is taking you with them.  You may be amazed at what is truly happening within worship.  

This week, I would encourage you to open up a hymnal and really slowly read through the words of the Worship service.  Think upon them, dwell upon them and pray using them.  Go section at a time.  Then after you have done that, perhaps you could also blow the dust off of that Bible that has been sitting on the coffee table or book shelf and open it up.  Open it up to the Gospel of John and read through the whole Gospel over the next week.  

May the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, lead you and guide you to encounter God’s love and mercy, throughout time and in your own life.  Amen.