The Old, Old Story

It seems that the older I grow, the less sure I am in my assessment of life, in my spiritual faith.  I recognize this tendency because I find that I ask more tentative questions that I offer certain answers.  And recent questions as I sat in church include these.  Why did we invent liturgy?  Why do we have lectionaries of ordered scriptural readings to guide us through the church year?  And the simple answer is that we are selective beings, and left to ourselves we will surround ourselves with that which makes us comfortable, or content, or secure.  We will edit and redact until the spiritual story and setting suits us perfectly.  And in that comfort zone we will stagnate or decay; worse yet we will solidify and become set in concrete, unchanging, and losing the ability to effect change in our world.

Liturgy insures that each time that we gather in the name of Jesus, we do those things that are important to our spiritual wellbeing and growth.  Paul told the church that "all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner."  (I Corinthians 14:40).  Without a sense of what should be present, what priority it holds, and how it should be participated in our church services could become a hymn fest, or an all-night preaching service, or extended silence and contemplation, or concerts of prayer...whatever suits our fancies.  We see the hints of liturgy  in Acts 2:42, "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostle's teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."   The elements of liturgy unfold in that passage, the word, shared life, the sacraments, corporate prayer; a skeleton around which diversity and variety can still be accommodated so as to be fresh, meaningful, and relevant.

 Liturgy is the moment in time in which we express our spiritual reality, Lectionary is the context. Using a lectionary helps us to avoid telling only part of the story of God's threefold action in our world, creation, providence, deliverance. And it guards us against losing the center of the story, Jesus. As the old hymn tells us, the repetition and cycle of the lectionary help us to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.  

And in that hymn we find the key elements of why lectionary preaching remains, in my opinion, one of the most powerful tools to fostering life in our church congregations, and raising up the next generation of churchmen and women.  Simply put,
Tell me the old, old story of unseen things above....
Tell me the story simply, as to a little child...
Tell me the story slowly, that I may take it in....
Tell me the story often, for I forget so soon....
Tell me the story softly, with earnest tones and grave....
Tell me the story always....
Tell me the same old story....
Tell me the old, old story, Christ Jesus makes thee whole.

The Gospel, Pure and Simple

It often amazes me how hard it is to be a Christian and identify yourselves with any particular denomination, church, or particular flavor (i.e. pentecostal, evangelical, emergent, or home-church, just to name a few). I'm thinking about Pentecost. Peter preaches one short sermon and 3,000 people are added! And these guys and gals were serious. They devoted themselves to the apostle's preaching, they broke bread together, they prayed and praised, and they were filled with awe at what they were experiencing. And all of that without church membership, sunday schools, weekly home fellowships, new believer's classes, or coffee hours. Just repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, and welcome brother or sister. How unlike what we are used to. I mean, which of our churches would know what to do with 3,000 believers at an altar call? Why for goodness sakes are we praying for revival, we wouldn't know what to do with a large influx of people if they came. Or, we'd do with them what we have always done and little by little they would stop coming. Why do we make Christianity so darn complicated, when pure and simple it is found in these words of Jesus, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and heavily laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me...and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light." Everytime I read those words I have this feeling that this is not a message Jesus is offering to the unrepentant and lost, but to those that already belong to Him. Why is it so difficult to live as a Christian in the church today? It's at that point I hear another gospel warning, "Woe to you...you shut up the kingdom of heaven from those around you; for you will not go in yourselves nor will you allow those who want to enter to go in." It's time to lay aside all of this denominational and congregational nonsense and get back to the gospel, pure and simple.