Liturgy.

Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group.

Growing up I knew nothing of what "liturgy" was. I went to, and continue to go to, a non-denominational church that focuses on practicing New Testament doctrinal truth. When I say that phrase to people who grew up denominational they tend to look at me a little funny and ask how that's different from any other denomination. I often wondered that very same thing, especially in high school. It wasn't until God challenged me in 2020 to truly study it for myself that I got answers. Over the last few years studying denominations and their practices has become a bit of a pet project. It can feel tough at times to not subscribe to a denomination, as when I respond "I'm non-denominational" or "I'm a born again Christian" I often receive silent nods or the occasional comment of, "What does that mean?" Anabaptist is one denomination where I agree with the majority of their tenets of beliefs, but even that isn't quite it. (See here for their confession of faith, and laugh at the irony of me saying that.) Recently, I have been following an Anglican on social media, who is married to a Presbyterian, and they attend a Baptist church. That sentence makes my head spin. The division within the Christian world is baffling at times, but certainly understandable. Even in Christ's time and the time of the Apostles, division was rampant. Take Galatians for example and consider Paul and Peter's falling out over Jews and Gentiles. Division is as old as time itself and we each have a duty to God and to those around us to know what we believe and to know the why behind what we practice. (Romans 14:5)

As a non-denominational Christian, something that is asked to me occasionally is why we don't participate in creeds, catechisms, or liturgical practices. Especially by my friends who grew up Catholic. This question was brought to the forefront of my mind once again when I came across an article put out by the Anglican Compass titled, "The Liturgy Will Pray for You: A Journey through Grief with the Book of Common Prayer." I was skeptical of the title and hoped I would be proved wrong; I was not. This article walks through the loss of the author's mother and how the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) gave much peace when he was at a loss for words himself. I will not be referencing the post beyond a single quote used in it.

"A day will come when you will not be able to pray in your own strength; on that day the liturgy will pray for you." (Unknown Rabbi)

I immediately feel icky reading this quote. Perhaps icky isn't the right word, but I don't have a good word for it. I feel disheartened, or perhaps even sad is a better word. I get a funny feeling and my nose scrunches up reading it. Over the past few months a close friend and I have been discussing this tangent of thought. She and I spent many hours discussing Lent earlier this year and how several non-denom Christians in mega-type churches are engaging in liturgical practices, Lent, and are instituting a Sabbath back into their week. The question we have for them is why? Why do they feel the need for these actions? To my way of thinking it seems that the farther from scripture churches go, the more young Christian's are searching for stability and are finding it in tradition. Liturgy, in its actual definition does not give issue, but "The Liturgy" such as the BCP, or the Liturgical calendar, always strike me as a Pharisitical practice; the Pharisees focused on works primarily and faith as a secondary afterthought. While those who follow the Liturgical calendar, or attend catechism, are striving to make God the center of their lives, the argument remains that if Christianity was works based then there was no need for Christ's sacrifice. Our discussion on Lent left us both with the conclusion that while there is not anything inherently wrong with Lent, the idea that we can forfeit something we idolize for 40 odd days out of the year and pat ourselves on the back is ridiculous. If we are truly new creations in Christ, then we have the gift of the Holy Spirit and thus the fruit of the Spirit, one being self-control. It isn't enough to simply give up one thing one time a year and call it self-control or self-denial; rather, we are called to take up our cross daily (Matthew 16:24-25) and remove the things of the world from our lives. Self-denial and self-control must be part of our every day. (Paul's letter to Titus is a great study on self-control.)

Pardon my tangent, but it felt applicable. "A day will come when you won't be able to pray in your own strength..." This statement feels, dare I say, sacrilegious? I am sure it was meant with good intentions, however, it gives the idea that we pray in our own power on a constant basis and only occasionally do we need to rely on something, or someone, else. I would argue that the day for losing our strength has long come and gone. We begin without strength. We are never able to pray in our own strength; if it had anything to do with us, we would constantly fail. We do constantly fail even with the Spirit's help. But our prayers are carried to the Father, through the Spirit. Without the Spirit and true salvation, our words are useless. This same argument applies directly to salvation. We simply cannot do anything in our own strength. We are without strength, as Romans 5:6 tells us; "For when we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly." We are both parties mentioned; without strength, and the ungodly. If this is the truth about salvation, it makes sense that it would remain true when considering prayer.

When life is easy, prayer can become a thing long forgotten. Trials and tribulations are used by God to push us towards him, towards growth, and into a deeper relationship with him. When I read the phrase, "the liturgy will pray for you," I am astounded that people are ready and willing to forgo scripture itself and turn to something else. The earliest version of the BCP was produced in 1549 under King Edward VI of England and gave prayers for morning, evening, baptism, marriage, funeral services and much more. At that time, access to the Bible was rare, and the everyday person relied heavily of the bishops, popes, and church leaders for guidance. However, we do not live in that era. Man has moved beyond the inability to access scripture independently, (the majority of man, I am aware that there are many peoples who do not have acces to the Bible in their own language.) God gave us his own liturgy; the Psalms. Within the Psalms you will find prayers of longing, rejoicing, worship, and despair. Songs of peace and gratitude, but also of weeping and remorse. Prayers for the morning, words spoken in the evening, etc. When God has given us His very own inspired Word, why turn anywhere else? And when words fail us, Paul gives us a rich truth to dwell on in Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." We have this incredible gift of the Spirit, of an advocate, counselor, friend, comforter and a hundred other things.

The Greek word for Spirit is παρακαλετέ (paraklete) and it is used fives times throughout scripture. Four times in the Gospel of John and once in 1 John. It is translated as advocate, helper, and counselor primarily. Time and again in scripture, especially in the New Testament and in the book of Acts, we read of the Spirit's intervening on our behalf. When my words fall short I can lift up my heart in silence and rest in the confidence that God is hearing my heart's cry. I know the Spirit is carrying my sorrows and requests to the very throne room of the great King himself and is advocating for me. I can turn to the Psalms and dwell on the inspired Word of God when I am in need. I take no issue with the BCP or creeds or confessions of faith. They do well to summarize the Bible and served to simplify it in days gone by. The issue arises when those catechisms and liturgies take the place of the Bible and of a true relationship with Christ.

That is the real danger of prayers, liturgies, creeds, and so on. They rob man of the relational aspect of being a child of God. Relationships take work, lots and lots of it. Constant upkeep and growth are needed for any relationship to succeed. Honesty, vulnerability, and trust are needed. The only way to build those things is to dive in head first and show up. Make time for God. Study his word and write down His liturgy. Dwell on scripture and look at your own heart and pour out your own words to him in times of need, in times of joy, and in all seasons. He is waiting for you to come to him. To take that first step and to initiate. He already hit the ball into your court by sending Christ to die for us. So now, its up to you to hit it back. To continue the conversation and to continue it genuinely. Not through the words of others. But your own, honest to goodness, heart thoughts. Dwell richly in His word. Make it personal. There is nothing wrong with supplemental things, but don't let the supplement supplant the real Word.

Xo,

Ais